Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#361

Post by mindcrime » Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 9:21 PM UTC

hutzlibu wrote: post #332

mindcrime wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The morale thing was just an example to help illustrate the principle...

I know. And my point was, that you can take the statistic too far, especially when dealing with humans. And this is happening in my opinion since a while. Even Stalin said: "the death of one man is a tragedy, but the death of millions just statistic." And by his actions, they were just statistic to him. Humans are more than a number ... but when you are at a desk remote and only have numbers, than you are disconnecte…

So that being said, yes, having the numbers additional that signal a decline in morale for example, is probably not a bad thing to have. If this does not replace actual human contact, because human moral also drops, when they not feel treated as humans anymore and just as numbers.

Agreed. And this is true of every tool... it has a place, and when used properly it can be of benefit. But it can also be misused in a way that is harmful or destructive.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#362

Post by killjoywashere » Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 9:30 PM UTC

crimsonalucard wrote: post #358

jeswin wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens if Taiwan is invaded? Would the US stay neutral, or at that point would China become an enemy? If the US stays neutral, then who is a friend? You can only be truly friends with people who share your principles and values. Not all of them, but most or many of them.

If China childishly invades Taiwan then the US would have to childishly declare war. Isn't the whole point of the united states to be inclusive of all principles and values. I think the whole rivalry from both sides is more because China is projected to surpass the US economically. The US wants to keep its dominance out of pride and China wants to dethrone it, also out of pride. It's more of childish pride thing but…

You should read "The Dictator's Handbook". Dictators may be driven to externally irrational behavior by what appear internally to be an entirely rational chain of decisions. And I mean rational in the Homo economus sense of the word.

https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Po...

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#363

Post by lappet » Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 9:37 PM UTC

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings (1), a collection of 15 short stories, all of them retellings of folk stories from South & East Asia

(1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072KDDXC8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#364

Post by JVIDEL » Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 11:24 PM UTC

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Blindsight yet.

Awesome scifi book, it will blow your mind.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#365

Post by mindcrime » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 12:50 AM UTC

rramadass wrote: post #225

iQuercus wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a good recipe for making a lot of estimation errors. Worse, it will leave you feeling more confident than you should be. Then, when you least expect it, it’ll blow up in your face.

Exactly! This book has to be read with Nassim Taleb's books for a healthy dose of skepticism.

Even though I am a fan of Hubbard's work, I would agree with this to a point. I am also a big fan of Taleb's work, and I do believe that a healthy measure of skepticism in all things is a Good Idea™.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#366

Post by memetomancer » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:26 AM UTC

eyegor wrote: post #190

memetomancer wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

based on your lack of suggested alternative, I'm gonna guess you are just cutting shit down out of hand. i mean, what are you saying? _don't_ try to quantify stuff? rely on intuition? weak comment pal.

Please edit this to be less disparaging. I agree with your complaint, it's just presented in a mean spirited way. From the guidelines, > Be kind. Don't be snarky.

fair enough, I was being more flip than the parent comment warranted.

embarrasingly, I can't seem to figure out how to edit a comment so leaving this here:

OP: I am sorry for harshing ya. I shouldn't be so dang cranky. cheers.

* Edit: I guess I waited too long and the edit button is gone now.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#367

Post by dwd » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 4:43 AM UTC

severine wrote: post #333

narag wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

70s shows? I had not heard of them. I did know that Dragon Ball is loosely based on it.

Actually 80s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West_(1986_TV_s... And a more recent (2010) remake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Cheng%27en_and_Journey_to_t...

Hmm, never saw either of those.

I grew up watching this classic:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_(TV_series)

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#368

Post by dave333 » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 4:44 AM UTC

The Naturalist On The River Amazons

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2440

Not exactly unkown since it has its own wikipedia article but definitely worth reading, especially if you follow his journeys on Google maps.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#369

Post by crimsonalucard » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 4:51 AM UTC

killjoywashere wrote: post #362

crimsonalucard wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If China childishly invades Taiwan then the US would have to childishly declare war. Isn't the whole point of the united states to be inclusive of all principles and values. I think the whole rivalry from both sides is more because China is projected to surpass the US economically. The US wants to keep its dominance out of pride and China wants to dethrone it, also out of pride. It's more of childish pride thing but…

You should read "The Dictator's Handbook". Dictators may be driven to externally irrational behavior by what appear internally to be an entirely rational chain of decisions. And I mean rational in the Homo economus sense of the word. https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Po...

Thanks I'll check it out. Sounds similar to the tragedy of the commons where the opposite phenomenon is in affect.

Rational decisions made by individual actors when measured in aggregate become irrational.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243

Re: Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?

#370

Post by blackrock » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 8:20 AM UTC

pergadad wrote: post #308

bordercases wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

International cooperation is only really feasible with a hegemon. Pick a hegemon. You should pick the US.

Ask all the countries the US invaded or where it initiated coups for its own interests... most of South America and the middle East saw themselves at the receiving end of such events. I personally would prefer the US over China but I'd also prefer NO hegemon, especially when that hegemon tends to abuse its power.

When did China ever invade the United States? Or any other distant western country?

Is this the great fear of white Americans? That the Chinese would load a billion soldiers on an aircraft carrier and invade the shores of Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles? Does China even have an aircraft carrier that can cross the Pacific?

This must surely be the plot of a bad B movie, and starring Ben Affleck.