Ask HN: Books on specific topics that have applied to many areas of your life?

[arikr]

What are books that you read for a specific topic, that you've found massive use for in a variety of areas in daily life?

I thought to submit this thread after reading

> Reading the book (on operant conditioning, with particular emphasis on how it can be used to train dogs) was transformative for me. Operant conditioning is such a major force in shaping our behaviour. I learnt an awful lot of things from this book which should have been taught in school; I see the principles around me in action every day, but they're just not the kind of thing one habitually pays attention to.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11425249

In regards to a book about dog training.

Other books I've seen this mentioned about:

- "The Inner Game of Tennis"

- "Nonviolent Communication"

- "The Design of Everyday Things"

- "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk"

What are books you read on a specific topic, that have ended up changing your view of daily life, or being useful in many more situations than just the topic of the book?

[muzani]

Never Split the Difference. It's about hostage negotiation. A lot of negotiation tricks don't work when dealing with irrational, desperate, insane people. It covers how to build rapport with these people, get them to talk themselves into supporting your argument, and just understanding people deeply enough for them to give you everything you ask for but walk away satisfied with the deal.

[rkho]

I'm listening through this book right now on my daily commute and it's possibly the first time I've clung onto every word in an audiobook.

[charlysl]

1984 - because it was the first book in English that I read front to cover, with a dictionary by my side, and learned so much recurring essential vocabulary that after that effort I could read anything; by now I have read much more from the much larger pool of writings in English than in my mother language. And, of course, it made me look differently at so many things.

Things Fall Appart - because it helped me understand how religions like Christianity and other initially subversive beliefs spread, and the sudden impact of Western culture on other cultures.

Anthropology (Marvin Harris) - because it impacted the way I look at humanity, society and history, and also helped me understand that marxism is much more than an arguably failed political doctrine.

The Bernstein Tapes about Critique of Pure Reason - I am still working through this, but has already impacted my conception of what knowledge is

History of Western Philosophy (Bertrand Russel) - because it made me understand the interwining between ideas and history. A desert island book

Concepts Techniques Models of Computer Programming - still working through it, because ir is making me realize I had no clue about programming and design. Best programming book I have come across

The Prince (Maquiavelli) - because it completely changed the way I look at politics and society

The Making of The Atomic Bomb - because it is a great way to see the incremental progress of science, and made me realize how much those at the leading edge extract from a few crumbles of information. Also the starkest description of the impact of industrialized killing in WW1,

[abuiles]

+1 on "Nonviolent Communication" - if anyone is interested I have some directive like notes from the book here https://blog.abuiles.com/reading-feed/nonviolent-communicati... -- going through the book is important for the context but this can give you a quick overview of what it is about.

Other books in my list are:

- Punished by rewards by Alfie Kohn

- On the shortness of life by Seneca

[cniemira]

Another +1. "Nonviolent Communication" as well as "Crucial Conversations" can be life changers if you follow even a little of their guidance. The techniques I've picked up have helped me build stronger relationships with my spouse, my children, my customers, my employees, and my peers.

There are other books on communication, but these are my top two. They're actionable, in that they provide specific techniques as well as discussing thoery. Both books lay a similar foundation that any book on communication worth its salt will likely have in common: we're all emotionally driven beings and we communicate most effectively when we're able to separate observations from judgements.

[pixelperfect]

I have not read the book "Nonviolent Communication," but anecdotally, the several people I know who have mentioned reading this book tend to speak in an abnormally passive aggressive, condescending, and overbearing way. I am curious if this is just a fluke or if others have had the same experience.

[shanusmagnus]

"Impro for Storytellers" by Keith Johnstone is so relevant to pretty much everything about life and communication that I'm reading it the way people used to read the bible -- every night or two I take it off the nightstand and read a random passage, and think about it.

[Zanni]

Impro is incredible. The best improv book ever written and one of my go-to references for all theatre projects.

[troydavis]

You’ll get enough non-fiction recommendations. Something fictional (barely) and a lot more relaxed: The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro. It’s a chance to think about work/life split, life accomplishments, and professional vs personal identity.

If you like that, check out Larry’s Party by Carol Shields.

[Cyph0n]

I just finished reading "The Remains of the Day" earlier today!

[wu-ikkyu]

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. The book is a historical analysis of the culmination of zen buddhism from its roots in hindu, buddhist, and toaist philosophies. Watts presents a perspective on how to approach your everyday life (relationships, communication, work, play, boredom, stress, anxiety, happiness, sadness) that is contrary to how we're taught to live in the "western world".

[ivm]

I find his books a bit wordy and boring but his "Out of Your Mind" lectures are amazing.

Though "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki is a much better introduction to the topic – Watts had a scholarly approach to it and lacked the actual practice.

[hackits]

Wish I could up-vote you more, but I do agree Alan Watts was a turning point in my life.

[gerdesj]

I'll present "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett as foil that notes that one should be really careful about what happens when one presents a foil to a (any) religious based offering.

[gtycomb]

"Elizabeth I and her Circle" by Susan Doran from OUP, and related biography. What got me glued to the 1500's reign of Elizabeth I is her art of far reaching strategic management when organizational resources are sketchy, and living in times of great social uncertainty.

[wpietri]

Franz de Waal's "Chimpanzee Politics". It's nominally about the social relationships of a chimp colony in a Dutch zoo. But it made me see the extent to which humans are just another great ape, and a lot of human dynamics are really primate dynamics, especially around social power.

Johnstone's "Impro". It's about improvisational theater, and mainly meant for people learning improv. But the section on status transactions helped me see a lot about how we express those primate dominance dynamics. There's also great material on the nature of creativity.

"Getting to Yes" is a great book about business negotiation, but is lessons about shifting discussions from zero-sum to positive-sum are things I use a lot.

Braitenberg's "Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology" is a way of thinking about psychology (and our inference of mind) by examining imaginary robots.

"The Toyota Way" and other books on Lean Manufacturing are about running extremely effective manufacturing operations. But they have deeply changed how I think about systems of making software and running businesses. Other great books in this category include "Toyota Kata" and "Principles of Product Development Flow".

"Crossing the Chasm" is about how tech products get adopted. But its mindset around segmenting audiences and building credibility taught me a lot about any sort of social change.

"Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men" is nominally about abuse in romantic relationships. But its insights about power and control have been useful to me way beyond that. E.g., so much behavior in large corporations is inexplicable if you look at it in business terms, and perfectly sensible if you think about if from the perspective of, "What would a person with abusive tendencies gain from this situation?"

Also, hearty +1s for books "Design of Everyday Things", "Finite and Infinite Games", and "Punished by Rewards".

[g0tham-]

In terms of near-universal applicability, Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' comes to mind. You could substitute every occurrence of the words 'war'/ 'opponent' /'enemy' with just about anything you are looking to master / defeat.

[ambrosite]

A Mathematician's Apology by G. H. Hardy. Went into it thinking I was reading a book on math and ended up reading a book about life.

[fescue]

"In the Blink of an Eye" by Walter Murch (sound and editing on Apocalypse Now, Godfather, the Conversation, and so many more). The book is about film editing but actually about how humans absorb information.

[Zanni]

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This is the book I've recommended more than any other, and have been thanked by people I've recommended it to disproportionately. He's got a few other books--Do The Work, Turning Pro--that cover similar ground, but The War of Art is the best of them by far.

[e19293001]

The best book for me. I read this everyday.

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

I've learned a lot from this book. It made me calm and influenced my decisions.

For those who are interested and want to see an example here is an excerpt from the book:

July 1st

DO YOUR JOB

“Whatever anyone does or says, for my part I’m bound to the good. In the same way an emerald or gold or purple might always proclaim: ‘whatever anyone does or says, I must be what I am and show my true colors.’”

— MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.15

The Stoics believed that every person, animal, and thing has a purpose or a place in nature. Even in ancient Greek and Roman times, they vaguely understood that the world was composed of millions of tiny atoms. It was this idea—this sense of an interconnected cosmos—that underpinned their sense that every person and every action was part of a larger system. Everyone had a job—a specific duty. Even people who did bad things—they were doing their job of being evil because evil is a part of life. The most critical part of this system was the belief that you, the student who has sought out Stoicism,have the most important job: to be good! To be wise. “To remain the person that philosophy wished to make us.” Do your job today. Whatever happens, whatever other people’s jobs happen to be, do yours. Be good.

There's more gems in this book. Guaranteed!

[SirLJ]

More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby - solidified my experiences in the market with great examples for my "hobby" - developing trading robots and resulting in constantly making more money that my real job in IT and giving me my FU money and ultimate freedom in life...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Money_Than_God

[Dowwie]

"Thinking, Fast and Slow", in particular the explanation of prospect theory.

[xaedes]

I recommend reading George Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces".

This is about comparative mythology, aka comparative story telling. He works out the core elements and common concepts that appear in story telling across cultures and time.

It opened my mind to be able to understand all kinds of storys on another level.

In school I always hated literature. It was like they tried to make me do something I just didn't understand at all. Literature was just random stories for me and all interpretation and attribution of meaning was fruitless and had I to just guess/fake it. Yea maybe my education was just bad who knows, doesn't matter now.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces changed that. Now I was open for all the literature and saw everything in a new light. I could recognize common concepts in stories and human life in general.

It also opened my mind for later Alan Watts reads on the interconnected-ness of everything. Someone already recommended "The Way of Zen" by Alan Watts, which I can only approve of! I'd also like to add "The Book - On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are", also by Watts.

[kapilkaisare]

Isn't it Joseph Campbell?

[jpmelos]

"Mindset: The New Psychology of Success". By Carol Dweck, PhD. This is a game-changer. It taught me what we believe is what really defines what we can or cannot do.

[culturalzero]

Just believe you can believe, and you will believe.

[nextos]

Antifragile. Poor Charlie's Almanack.

[brad0]

This is completely not tech related but I came across a PDF a few months ago called Endgame. I got it when I believed I was having issues with meeting and attracting women.

It kickstarted a series of events that’s completely changed my life. Initially for the worse but in a whole a massive positive.

[gonational]

Could you please tell us about your experience? I’m intrigued (and I think at least a couple others are as well).

[jmt_]

Endgame by Samuel Beckett?

[thisisit]

link please?

[Bulkington]

“The Double Helix”

Rich on so many levels—must read for anyone considering grad school with a real, research component. Also a good, broad look at team/organizational dynamics—and, surprise: the best self-promoter wins.