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Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

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Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#81

Post by branchless »

germinalphrase wrote: post #67
branchless wrote: post #13

Henry George, Progress and Poverty. http://www.henrygeorge.org/pdfs/PandP_Drake.pdf His ideas are fabulous, but that aside reading it is a joy. He truly has a love for his fellow man that transcends all the usual pity-via-charity and sees real value in all. A forgotten favourite of many great thinkers. Forgotten for a reason!

I see the ideas of Henry George pop up in discussion occasionally, but reading the first few sections of "P and P" here is the extent of my exposure. Are his ideas taken seriously by mainstream economists?

Yes they are. Many famous economists have said they agree with George. I think he is most useful as a way of informing ourselves of the utter mess we have now. Read it and you will see the entire world in a new light. You just cannot "unsee" afterwards. Rentiers abound and it's truer now than ever.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#82

Post by jackfoxy »

macca321 wrote: post #3

Catch 22. I use Yossarian's behaviour to justify my own.

I could never get past the first chapter, The Soldier in White. Somehow I took it too personally, or realistically, or something, and I didn't want to continue this journey.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#84

Post by johngossman »

Lord of the Rings. I read a lot, so it is hard to pick any single book as most influential. LotR is not the first nor the best book I ever read (though I do love it). It has limited real life applicability. LotR is influential for me because I read it when I was 11 and it was the one that got me hooked on reading, which has been a huge part of my life ever since.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#86

Post by joatmon-snoo »

Tarrosion wrote: post #12

The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker. It's a history of macro trends in violence - wars, homicide, rape, etc. The burden of violence in the modern world is much, much lower than it was historically, even fairly recently. The book catches a lot of flak from people who reject the claim that the future will automatically be more peaceful than the past. I think this is poor criticism because that's not what t…

http://imgur.com/Wrtp9Z9

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#88

Post by cjf4 »

epaga wrote: post #18

The Gospel of John. A palpable sense of mystery is maintained from start to finish, but it arguably does better than any other book in the Bible at giving a deep look into the person of Jesus as he was seen and believed in by the early church. Additionally, there is a subtle sense of humor as the gospel author clearly enjoyed language and word plays and describes multiple misunderstandings that occur because of the a…

It's also notable for Jesus's consistent affirmation of his own divinity. Not that the synoptics don't, but John is much more explicit about it. For me, that does much to validate CS Lewis's liar, lunatic, or Lord argument.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#89

Post by GedByrne »

noir_lord wrote: post #50

Not a single book but the Discworld series of books by Sir Terry Pratchett. In particular the Watch sub-series. I grew up reading them from the late 80's on-wards and I actually can't separate my worldview from them anymore, his outlook on life became my outlook on life. Hope, Cynicism, politics, mortality (Death is a literal character), practicality and absurdity all feature in the series strongly. Some of my favour…

The same here.

I so wish that Sir Terry could be here now, helping us to make sense of what is happening with some silly little stories.

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