The Best Books I Read in 2015

Post by andreyf » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 4:17 AM UTC

hueving wrote: post #111

manish_gill wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? I'm genuinely interesting in your line of reasoning.

Profiteering in comment sections pollutes the incentives for commenters. Sure the links were useful, but they were much less useful than a person providing a really insightful comment about a typical article that shows up here. I don't want one person making monetary gain over another.

Post by zecho » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 6:31 AM UTC

vonnik wrote: post #18

Anyone who refers to David Brooks as "the insightful New York Times columnist" has lost me as a reader. I can't remember the last time he had an original, or even accurate, thought. http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/i-dont-think-david-brooks-i... Here are two good books: * The Korean War: A History - Little known fact: The US took the wrong side in the Korean War by putting the former officers of the Japanese imperial…

Post by sveme » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 8:55 AM UTC

bmelton wrote: post #123

mturmon wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking for music best-of lists, as compiled from votes of critics: I've found these lists are not very helpful in finding music I actually care about. It's frustrating, because there seems to be so much utility there. I've explained it like this: To get on the list, something has to be considered at-least-good by a lot of people, and this tends to reward (1) herd mentality; (2) lowest-common-denominator. The list s…

Moreso for music than books, but I personally find that most of my favorites tend to have at least as many people that hate it as love it. Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", for example, is an extremely polarizing album. Between Mangum's nasally vocals, beginner-to-intermediate technical talent, the inclusion of saws and theramin as instruments; it all adds up to a love/hate affair. I'm not a big f…

Post by weavie » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 9:21 AM UTC

guscost wrote: post #100

Thing Explainer is fantastic. Some of the best presentations of complicated ideas I've ever seen. It's a spinoff from this classic: https://xkcd.com/1133/ Also check out a similar piece on general relativity: http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-space-doctors-big...

Post by puredemo » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 10:00 AM UTC

crusso wrote: post #66

oafitupa wrote: post #58

"Waking up: A guide to spirituality without religion" by neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris. Don't be so quick to dismiss it please, give it a try. It's not mysticism.

It's not mysticism It's the opposite of mysticism. It's a great neuroscientist-based look at meditation. I'd highly recommend it if you're interested in meditation but put off by all the mumbo jumbo you get from many other sources of meditation info.