Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

The book takes music theory as its subject, but explores perception, culture, the meaning of art, innovation, and other related ideas in its lengthy footnotes and tangents. It shows a world of practical considerations that go into art, which many would assume is primarily subjective.

Schoenberg is known as a composer for exploring atonality, and for having many students who became important composers.

But that goes for pretty much everything really. Catcher in the Rye in high school. Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

I think books can "change the way you think about almost everything" when you are younger, naive and idealistic. As you grow older, wiser and understand the world more, you leave those childish things behind.

Also, as einstein said : "Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."

I'm sure I'm not the only one that used reading as a crutch and a form of escapism and to waste time.

But if you want a book that left an impression on me, K&R's C Programming Language is one. It showed me that a technical book can be concise, well written and enjoyable to read.

- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion