Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#681

Post by tim333 » Wed, May 13, 2020, 2:29 AM UTC

The Moral Animal I found kind of mind bending though perhaps a bit downbeat. The basic thesis is that we evolved to deceive ourselves in evolutionary helpful ways as if you say 'I'm great, I should be the leader' and are lying people will see through it but if you say that and really believe it, even if it's factually incorrect, then it has a better chance of working. See many political leaders for examples.

Something upbeat I came across recently was Naval Ravikant's ideas on philosophy happiness and how to get rich. Not a book but you can see him on Rogan 1309 and google the get rich tweets / podcasts.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#682

Post by walleeee » Wed, May 13, 2020, 2:30 AM UTC

oldsklgdfth wrote: post #340

Technopoly by Neil Postman Industrial society and it's future by Theodore Kaczynski Both these books drastically changed my perception of technology. The role we think it has and the effects and consequences it does have. The main take away is that a technology contains an implicit bias that is absorbed by the user. More plainly put "to someone with a hammer, everything is a nail" applies to all technology.

> The main take away is that a technology contains an implicit bias that is absorbed by the user. More plainly put "to someone with a hammer, everything is a nail" applies to all technology.

McLuhan's Understanding Media posits something similar about forms of communication.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#683

Post by GlennS » Wed, May 13, 2020, 3:06 AM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #23

GlennS wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you may have missed the point? It's not about genes for selfishness.

I didn't get that impression at all. What I walked away from was a feeling of dire unease at the popularity of Dawkins' opinion that human beings are machines that can be broken and manipulated by their environment, and that social scientists can exploit this fact to their own ends, in industry, culture and war. It may be 'true' inasmuch as the fact that applying his theories give predictable results, but even the mo…

I really genuinely think you have misunderstood the book, and Dawkins' philosophy in general.

Dawkins isn't a social darwinist (and nor was Darwin for that matter). He doesn't believe that nature red in tooth and claw is the right way for people to behave. He's argued in many places that, as self-aware thinkers, we have the capacity and moral duty to rise above it.

If you want a target for your arguments, you should pick on an actual social darwinist like Nietzsche.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#684

Post by a_bonobo » Wed, May 13, 2020, 3:50 AM UTC

minhazm423 wrote: post #651

a_bonobo wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh if you can, try looking for similar recommendation threads from communities completely alien to you - law enforcement forums, midwife communities, car mechanics, biologists. HN is very insular in its interests as you can see with many posts here repeating. Midwives' recommended books probably have a higher chance of truly bending your mind into novel directions.

Any good examples of “foreign interest” forums?

I reckon subreddits are a good start, even though their lists are always domain-specific too:

Biology: https://www.reddit.com/r/biology/comments/6jfscw/what_are_so...

Law enforcement: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtectAndServe/comments/gc13w5/mus...

Midwives: https://www.reddit.com/r/Midwives/comments/32fw16/book_recom...

Any of the Ask* subreddits usually have practitioners answer: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnthropology/comments/bl759q/ant...

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#685

Post by a_bonobo » Wed, May 13, 2020, 3:53 AM UTC

bluejay2 wrote: post #237

"Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy" by Thomas Sowell. I read this as a teenager with only limited exposure to economics and it cleared up many misconceptions I held. "Psycho-cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz. A plastic surgeon shares his techniques for achieving your goals in life. 95% if not more of self-help books today borrow (consciously or not) ideas discussed in this book, and often discuss them wit…

If you want a bit of a political counterbalance to Sowell, try Chang's Economics: The User's Guide

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#686

Post by pippy » Wed, May 13, 2020, 4:22 AM UTC

carapace wrote: post #641

javajosh wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I for one don't consider this a satisfying solution (you could argue it does not count as a solution at all). How is the host supposed to evaluate the future? As I said in another comment, for that the host either needs iteration or an oracle, and both of those are missing from the premise of the question. It's like asking riddle where the solution is "Use a time-machine" when no time-machine is mentioned in th…

Yeah, I haven't quite got the hang of it myself. The encoding of formal logic in English sentences is fraught with ambiguity until you grok the specific style used. Here's an example (SPOILER ALERT: with solution) of what I mean. The English version is just a verbose translation of a simple Boolean table. ================================== Black-Hat Chuck ================================== :date: 2014-02-01 10:56 :su…

Here's a nice variation to the problem, and the solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5vJSNXPEwA

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#687

Post by retreatguru » Wed, May 13, 2020, 4:42 AM UTC

“20 Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation” or “ Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect“ both By Ian Stevenson.

I’m a heavy duty skeptic but these books pushed me over the edge away from scientific materialism towards a broader view of reality where consciousness survives death.

Excellent Well executed research.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#688

Post by smsm42 » Wed, May 13, 2020, 4:48 AM UTC

Also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23123088

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#689

Post by nbardy » Wed, May 13, 2020, 5:24 AM UTC

"A man's search for meaning" - Viktor Frankl

This book has more profundity than anything I've ever read. The type of sentences which cause you to stop and think, woah, what did I just read. The type of sentences where it is obvious the author has understood something you don't, but not obvious exactly what. The type of sentence that is short and simple in what it says, but with great depth in its meaning.

I'm about done with this book and I already want to re-read it. I've decided I'll read it once every few years. To remind myself of the important parts of living. The parts that are easy to figure about going about living day to day.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#690

Post by lambdatronics » Wed, May 13, 2020, 5:28 AM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #211

mjberg01 wrote: post #127

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig takes you deep into the philosophy on what is 'quality'. Once you see it you can't unsee it. A powerful excerpt from the book: 'So the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other task, is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one’s self from one’s surroundings. When that is done successfully then everything else follows natura…

Despite all the praise it got, I really struggled with that book. I hated it so much that I had to check if I didn't pick the wrong book by accident. I found that it's a very polarising book. It's life-changing for some, and garbage for others. There were a few insightful passages, but most of the book was pretentious rambling. It was difficult to understand what the author was even trying to say, with his head so fa…

The first time I tried to read it, I got frustrated with his style and quit -- I had been skimming over the story parts to get to the philosophy, and it was exhausting. I liked it better the second time when I wasn't as rushed.

For me the takeaways were: 1. Getting into a state of 'flow' is the ideal way to work. 2. Being dependent on technology one doesn't understand (& hence on people who do understand it) is an unpleasant fact of modern life. 3. Our culture still hasn't shaken the tendency to denigrate pleasure, and the subjective in general.