It's ok to "forget" what you read (https://medium.com/the-polymath-project/its-okay-to-forget-what-you-read-f4ef1c34cc01) as books update our mental models or how we perceive the world. What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
1–10 of 254 posts
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#2Fiction: Peter Watts - Blindsight
Nonfiction: Gödel Escher Bach
CS: David West - Object Thinking
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#3In no particular order ...
I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter - strongly influenced my beliefs about how consciousness works
Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter - made me think more deeply about so many topics
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer - made me both an animal advocacy activist and strongly influenced me towards a consequentialist moral
Neuropath by R. Scott Bakker - more on how consciousness works, this time through a work of fiction
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin - strongly influenced my beliefs about political systems
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins - changed how I thought about animal behavior and what living things do
Republic, Lost by Lawrence Lessig - strongly influenced my beliefs about US government
Manufacturing Consent by Herman & Chomsky - made me rethink my view of the media and news
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#4Poor Charlie's Almanack. It's a compilation of talks and essays from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet's business partner. This book has single-handedly changed my invest strategies and mindset. Instead of trying to buy low and sell high, Berkshire Hathaway holds a large cash position, until they find something they consider to be a sure bet, take a large stake and hold. I now have the quote "Be right and hold tight" written at my work table.
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#5Yesterday I was reviewing answers in this thread. Some might be applicable:
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#6Millennium series by Tejaswi
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#7Mind is a myth - UG Krishnamurti
Godel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
Unweaving the rainbow - Richard Dawkins
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#8The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#9Poor no more - Robert Chester Ruark
A Coffin Full of Dreams - Frisco Hitt
Oblomov - Ivan Goncharov
The Man Without Qualities - Robert Musil
Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?
#10The Dance of Gods novels by Mayer Allan Brenner, free download here: http://www.mayerbrenner.com/download/ They are like a Discworld where magic and programming are basically the same, of sorts, with a large, sprawling world with overlapping storylines. It's a great read and I came away with many interesting lines of thought whilst reading a very fun story.