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Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

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Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#251

Post by hvass »

Evgeny wrote: post #56

For the mind: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/01953... A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy - William B. Irvine Not only a description of the Stoic philosophy, which is, unfortunately, not very well known today, but also a great practical guide to a variety of techniques that can be included into daily activities easily, and will increase happiness. For the body: http://www.am…

You're definitely going to like The Obstacle Is The Way if you want to go deeper into stoicism.

It is based on that line from Marcus Aurelius's Meditations and it's about turning obstacles upside down.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#252

Post by ivansavz »

No BS guide to liner algebra --- I'm the author --- in writing about this subject, I had to (re)learn all the details. It is truly a beautiful subject with lots of applications. I recommend anyone interested in math to look into linear algebra as it is the best stepping stone into advanced math.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#253

Post by tiatia »

Eleutheria wrote: post #167
david927 wrote: post #43

Capital in the Twenty First Century, Thomas Piketty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Cen... I've always been a bit embarrassed for the economics profession; it's always seemed to me that it could be where math meets sociology and psychology, but is instead where politics meets unfounded conjecture. Piketty changed that for me. He does true science here. I read it because I noticed that it has…

So capitalism has problems, he failed to determine the cause (the state) and failed to propose efficient solutions (more taxes, austerity for the people, more interventionism) and you praise it as true science? That book is a marxist pamphlet in a thousand pages. For the love of god, never read Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt or you would consider him the bastard son of Einstein when he was fifteen.

For the sake of Jesus, read this posts and use your brain:

"There is No Steady State Economy (except at a very basic level)" http://ourfiniteworld.com/2011/02/21/there-is-no-steady-stat...

Limits to Growth–At our doorstep, but not recognized http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-02-12/limits-to-growt...

Wealth And Energy Consumption Are Inseparable http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2012/01/wealth-and-energy-...

Galactic-Scale Energy http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/galactic-scale-e...

I have not read "Economics in One Lesson" but if I remember right, it is Austrian and takes ideas from good ol' Ludwing van. Today I must say, Mises views were often very short sighted, he had little understanding of money and in the end also a limited understanding what capitalism is (and why it will end).

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#256

Post by LiweiZ »

joshux wrote: post #250
vkb wrote: post #15

Two: 1)Antifragile by Taleb. It has given me a whole new framework with which to think about the world. He is consistently one of the only "modern thinkers" that I trust, and who delivers no b.s. 2)Confessions of an Economic Hitman by Perkins. Not a new book, and I didn't read it this year, but when I did read it, it made me realize that the world works much differently than I understood it to on the surface, and tha…

+1 for Taleb's books. His Black Swan book actually inspired me to pursue a startup. However, his ideas are not actually that original (which is not a bad thing). One might get similar level of knowledge(albeit takes more time) from reading stoic philosophy, Popper's philosophy of science, tacit knowledge (Michael Polanyi) and complex system sciences.

+1 for complex system sciences. I guess that's where most of today's lean/simple/ecosystem things come from.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#257

Post by joshux »

MrMattWright wrote: post #122

Inspired to do: Connected http://www.amazon.com/Connected-Surprising-Networks-Friends-... I was utterly amazed by the concept of Social Network Analysis, how emotion travels through a network, how the 6 degrees thing works. Did you know someone you have never met can affect your weight? I was so amazed I started a company building a CRM from the ground up using graph theory. We launch in Q1 2015. Inspired to be: The…

Connected is on my audible that I'm planning to listen to. I'm also interested in networks, 6 degrees..etc.

May I ask how you apply what you learned from the book to your startup? I'm quite curious.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#258

Post by rasengan0 »

marcusgarvey wrote: post #180

The Open Focus Brain. http://www.amazon.com/The-Open-Focus-Brain-Harnessing-Attent... "According to Dr. Les Fehmi, a clinical psychologist and researcher, many of us have become stuck in “narrow-focus attention”: a tense, constricted, survival mode of attention that holds us in a state of chronic stress—and which lies at the root of common ailments including anxiety, depression, ADD, stress-related migraines, and mor…

Yes, this work should get more attention (no pun intended). I still can't believe how clear Dr. Fehmi's writings are on types of attention, particularly this Open Focus... good stuff: imagine the distance between your eyes (gets me everytime even though i've practiced different types of meditation)

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?

#259

Post by superasn »

dabit3 wrote: post #23
superasn wrote: post #16

Programming related: Perl cookbook (helped me to setup my first online business and do what i do today) Life related: The Power of Habit (didn't skip a single day at gym for 3 months non stop because of what i learned from this book)

I looked up "The Power of Habit" and came away with a few books, which one are you referring to?

This one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/06...
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