131–140 of 151 posts
"JOB: A Comedy of Justice" by Robert Heinlein "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsing
Seconded. I think this one does a good job at resetting one's worldview to the state of 'what do we actually know?'
"The Gods Themselves" is a easy to read but truly mind blowing book. Asimov's characters are a bit wooden but the ideas in the book really got me to look at the world differently. The line "I have an idea, a simple idea, based on the quite obvious fact that the number two is ridiculous and can't exist." has stayed with me for over a decade now as has the surprising lovemaking of the aliens. For a hard read that you m…
There's an interesting song based on the moral conflict faced by the three aliens in "The Gods Themselves", by Bob Kanefsky, and sung by Julia Ecklar: [1]. Kanefsky may be familiar to many HN readers for his song "Eternal Flame", about the superiority of Lisp to other languages, also sung by Julia Ecklar [2]. [1] http://www.last.fm/music/Julia+Ecklar/_/Meltdown+(Julia+Eckl... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OjT…
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand also, not a book but very good "The last question" Isaac Asimov [1] [1] http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html
It gave me a new respect for entrepreneurs.
1984 made a very strong impression on me.
'The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature' by Steven Pinker.
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Could you explain why you find Atlas Shrugged mind blowing? I read "we the living" and "The fountainhead" and found them quite annoying. Haven't read Atlas Shrugged, just curious if I am missing something.
Not the GP but here is my answer. NOTE1: spoiler alert. NOTE2: please don't think of me as some heartless Objectivist - I have adjusted my views since I read it about 10 years ago but at the time, the following points were earth-shaking revelations to me: * It revealed to me how influence peddlers in society use a combination of coercion and guilt to suppress an individual's individuality * It revealed that these "th…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you explain why you find Atlas Shrugged mind blowing? I read "we the living" and "The fountainhead" and found them quite annoying. Haven't read Atlas Shrugged, just curious if I am missing something.
I read The Fountainhead when I was 18 and I found it absolutely mind blowing. Needless to say, I was quite impressionable at the time, and a young atheist. The book served as positive reinforcement to me, emphasizing on belief in oneself, rather than belief in God. It was also the perfect fodder for my teen angst, wrapped in delicious ideological and intellectual mysticism. This led me to be an unapologetic jerk to e…
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/03/boo...
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind http://www.amazon.com/Origin-Consciousness-Breakdown-Bicamer... I found it on this list: http://spacecollective.org/wilfriedhoujebek/4076/Summery-Boo... Where also the following books some of which I read to (Vehicles is really good) can be found: The White Goddess - Robert Graves Graves' grammar of poetic myth works at so many levels at the same time…