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What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

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Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#151

Post by WA »

Herring wrote: post #108
endtime wrote: post #7

I recommend The Way of the Superior Man ( http://www.amazon.com/Way-Superior-Man-Spiritual-Challenges/... ). My roommate lent it to me after an ugly breakup. The title is a little silly (I certainly wouldn't describe myself as "spiritual") and I don't agree with every word of it, but after reading this book I finally felt like I understood women and relationships, and I met my now-wife a few months after reading it.…

I've just read half of it & I'll probably end up finishing it because it's so interesting. But I really dislike the implication that leadership skills (purpose, reliability, equanimity) are intrinsically male, while childishness is intrinsically female. At least now I know what type of women to avoid.

It is a bit more complicated than that, which doesn't become clear in Way of the Superior Man. I read almost all of Deida's books and liked them a lot, but they all have the downside of too much spiritual babble and being a bit too abstract like "giving your deepest gift". What does that even mean?

Thing is - and this becomes more clear in his other books - men and women both have similar skills, but both have a TENDENCY to feel more comfortable in a specific skill set.

So, on the one hand I love Deida's advice. It is oftentimes on the spot. Very clear and even actionable at times. But on the other hand, it oftentimes is also too abstract, too simple, or too black-and-white. It almost feels like he's describing his favorite action movie star and if you read it that way, you can get the impression that he describes film heroes (super clear purpose, cannot be distracted, live on your edge). While a film hero can be an inspiration, it is oftentimes still a heavily simplified character.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#152

Post by Joeri »

Books that actually caused changes in my life:

Yes Man ( http://www.amazon.com/Yes-Man-Danny-Wallace/dp/1416918345 )

This book made me realize that I was defaulting to "no" in many aspects of my life. After this book I changed many things in my life, and ended up meeting and dating my future (now present) wife. Overall my life has been much improved by defaulting to "yes".

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work ( http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Sorrows-Work-Alain-Botton/dp... )

Gave me insight into how there is a huge invisible fabric of society that we take for granted, and how I consistently underrated many categories of jobs. One change I made after reading this book is to respect the jobs that I took for granted, like the clerk at the checkout counter. I now give attention and respect to people that I used to treat like furniture before.

Books that would have changed my life had I read them sooner (and not have to learn their lessons the long/hard way.)

The Happiness Hypothesis ( http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Hypothesis-Finding-Modern-An... )

The notion this book puts forward of the subconscious as a powerful but stubborn elephant and the conscious as its well-meaning but often impotent handler provides much insight into why people act against their own interests, and why they tell lies about themselves and their own actions. One of the things I had realized beforehand (through many years of struggling with social interaction) that the book also covers is how we all tell a story of our life in which we are the hero, and how we rationalize our actions to fit the story instead of adapting the story to fit the facts.

Peopleware ( http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-S... )

The book covers why building software is primarily a people problem, not a technical problem. Again, I had already realized this, but it would have been nice to learn it sooner. Some stuff is outdated, but it's still one of the top books on building software in my opinion.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#153

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

Some of the answers are specialised e.g. "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" - I don't feel the need to read that, nor e.g. "The Easy Way to Stop Shooting up Heroin" either. If you do smoke then go and read it, sure. But "I don't smoke" isn't the most unusual or most super of powers.

At least one of them - Ishmael is junk. I've read it, and it's facile newage woo. I'd suggest instead one or two good scientific books on human nature and history by the likes of Pinker, Dennett or Diamond.

And one or two good books on coding. Coding well, instead of hacking out unmaintainable buggy code, is an unusual power and will keep you gainfully and happily employed for a long time ;)

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#155

Post by makomk »

markyc wrote: post #17

[free today]: Porned Out: erectile dysfunction, depression, and 7 more (selfish) reasons to quit porn http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A5X2FV4

There's been a lot of pseudo-scientific bullshit spewed about porn and masturbation by people looking to justify their moralising, and frankly from the summary I can't see how that book's going to be any different.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#156

Post by kriro »

bennesvig wrote: post #73
kriro wrote: post #34

My candidates (not in order): Getting Things Done (Superpower: Time Management) Bargaining for Advantage (Superpower: Negotiation) The Art of Learning (Superpower: Learning) Telling Lies (Superpower: Facial expressions etc...somewhat of a cheat since you'll probably need to read more on the topic) Economics in One Lesson (Superpower: Understanding the fundamentals of economics...and wandering down the dark,Austrian p…

The Art of Learning is one of the best books I read this year. If you liked that, you'd also probably enjoy The Inner Game of Tennis and Mastery by Robert Greene.

"Inner Game of Tennis" is excellent. I have also heard good things about "Learn to Draw: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" but haven't read it (yet)

Actually "Pragmatic Thinking & Learning" is excellent and I totally forgot about it. I'd probably swap that into my list.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#157

Post by adidash »

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (http://www.amazon.com/Siddhartha-Hermann-Hesse/dp/1613823789). Not really a superpower but did help me understand lot more about life and how everything is connected. I have read it multiple times and the interpretation has been different each time - a new insight into the way we see life.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#158

Post by paulovsk »

adidash wrote: post #157

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse ( http://www.amazon.com/Siddhartha-Hermann-Hesse/dp/1613823789 ). Not really a superpower but did help me understand lot more about life and how everything is connected. I have read it multiple times and the interpretation has been different each time - a new insight into the way we see life.

Really? Could you expand on that? I've read it this year and haven't found it special. A little tiring, actually.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#159

Post by eli_gottlieb »

edw519 wrote: post #67

The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want by Mike Hernacki There are many inputs that affect success: intelligence, hard work, work ethic, emotional balance, determination, and even luck. I believe that the single most important of these over which we have the most control is determination. This book is provides a pretty good recipe to cultivate your own determination. I'm even going to tell you t…

The secret is not found in a book. It can be spoken and shown, but not written down.

Those of us who know it have a saying. "Who the HELL do you think I am!?"

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#160

Post by aufreak3 »

orangethirty wrote: post #93
kolektiv wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should never comment after a fine and bibulous meal, but... I'm not sure how appealing I find the idea of a society where people thought in that way. Perhaps Bacchus is distracting me from the nuance of that point however.

You are misisng the point by analyzing it from a negative perspective. Read it again but as a positive. "I am willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want." Doing whatever it takes means getting a minimum wage job to be able to pay for college. Finish college and work your way into a good starting job. Then working your way up to a good position. Doing whatever it takes to get what you want is the right attitud…

Spot on. And to those arguing that it necessarily implies violation of morals, if happiness and a clear conscience are also what I want, where does the trouble lie? Consider your utility function in its entirety and not just a local optimization like "I want to succeed with my business".
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