I won't offer names, but I have a contrarian piece of advice: whenever you find yourself 'resonating' too much with a certain thinker, a certain religion, ideology etc. stop, take a deep breath and start asking why that is.
The odds that any particular person will always be right are basically zero. It's way more likely that you're just consuming things that reinforce prior beliefs and make you feel good.
Make sure that you're periodically engaging with people who challenge your beliefs.
And in particular there is a 3-volume series that was available for a few years that put together a lot of the work he had done during his lifetime, even though his most popular seemed to be "As a Man Thinketh".
It's been a number of years since I last read them, and unfortunately the publisher above went out of business so you can generally only find the titles above used, but I did enjoy the philosophy/thinking shared in the writing, even if their titles may indicate a somewhat religious slant, overall I'd say the writings focus more on leading a good life.
This is a good reminder I should read them again to refresh my memory on all that is discussed within the pages however, since it has been probably over 15+ years since I first read them thoroughly.
Jeffrey Sachs is my favorite public intellectual these days.
He has known a lot of powerful people, so when he discusses world events, he doesn't need to talk out of his behind. He's a serious enough scholar that there's substance behind his views.
He's not particularly iconoclastic. His opinions are mildly progressive, nothing outlandish.
What I value about him is that he's relentlessly reasonable, and that's hard to find online.
Epicurus. In addition to his life changing philosophy, check-out his physics. His notion of Clinamen [0] is basically quantum mechanics from 23 centuries ago.
Peter Zeihan seems to have a very strong handle on geopolitics. Do not approach his work lightly... it's very depressing if you're not in the US.
Daniel Schmachtenberger gave me a strong heads up on societal energy blindness
Kevlin Henney taught me far more about programming than I thought I even needed to know. I'll never approach multi-threaded programming the same way again.
Eric Weinstein made me aware of the embedded growth obligations that have de-ranged so many of our institutions. It was quite a wake-up call.
Alan Turing for model of computation
Kurt Gödel for incompleteness theorem
Erwin Schrödinger for "What is life?" book
Hugh Everett for many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics
Seth Lloyd for ultimate physical limits to computation
John von Neumann for self-replicating spacecraft or von Neumann probe
Robin Hanson for Grabby Aliens model
Nick Bostrom for idea of existential risk
Richard Dawkins for many God debates and books
John Stuart Mill for Harm principle
Elon Musk for rockets reusability
Diogenes for simplicity and Diogenes and Alexander anecdote
Horace for Exegi monumentum poem
[+] [-] leto_ii|3 years ago|reply
The odds that any particular person will always be right are basically zero. It's way more likely that you're just consuming things that reinforce prior beliefs and make you feel good.
Make sure that you're periodically engaging with people who challenge your beliefs.
[+] [-] thomassmith65|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] HL33tibCe7|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pessimizer|3 years ago|reply
Walter Jackson Freeman III: https://web.archive.org/web/20160627160850/http://sulcus.ber...
Eric Schwitzgebel: http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/
Walter Segal: http://www.segalbuildings.me.uk/
Adam Smith
David Graeber
[+] [-] poxwole|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aamargulies|3 years ago|reply
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB5ShJRcpNFPz_2uazuT4XJ3y...
I didn’t think it possible to learn this much this quickly.
[+] [-] ycombinatorrio|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] slater|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orware|3 years ago|reply
And in particular there is a 3-volume series that was available for a few years that put together a lot of the work he had done during his lifetime, even though his most popular seemed to be "As a Man Thinketh".
The Wisdom of James Allen I, II, and III: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-James-Allen-Including-Prosperi... https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-James-Allen-Difficulties-Trium... https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-James-Allen-III-Heavenlylife/d...
It's been a number of years since I last read them, and unfortunately the publisher above went out of business so you can generally only find the titles above used, but I did enjoy the philosophy/thinking shared in the writing, even if their titles may indicate a somewhat religious slant, overall I'd say the writings focus more on leading a good life.
This is a good reminder I should read them again to refresh my memory on all that is discussed within the pages however, since it has been probably over 15+ years since I first read them thoroughly.
[+] [-] thomassmith65|3 years ago|reply
He has known a lot of powerful people, so when he discusses world events, he doesn't need to talk out of his behind. He's a serious enough scholar that there's substance behind his views.
He's not particularly iconoclastic. His opinions are mildly progressive, nothing outlandish.
What I value about him is that he's relentlessly reasonable, and that's hard to find online.
[+] [-] mindcrime|3 years ago|reply
Ben Goertzel
Joscha Bach
Michael Munger
Michael Posner
Miguel Nicolelis
Melanie Mitchell
[+] [-] s1artibartfast|3 years ago|reply
They way he lay out and clearly communicate complex topics literally awe inspiring.
It is a deep pleasure to read and listen to him.
[+] [-] andrewprock|3 years ago|reply
Spent years proving 1+1=2, and delved deep into the intersection between reason and philosophy.
[+] [-] skywal_l|3 years ago|reply
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinamen
[+] [-] stene|3 years ago|reply
Mostly resonates with me because he seems to freely challenge established norms in very thought provoking ways.
[+] [-] soldeace|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jimkleiber|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mikewarot|3 years ago|reply
Daniel Schmachtenberger gave me a strong heads up on societal energy blindness
Kevlin Henney taught me far more about programming than I thought I even needed to know. I'll never approach multi-threaded programming the same way again.
Eric Weinstein made me aware of the embedded growth obligations that have de-ranged so many of our institutions. It was quite a wake-up call.
[+] [-] ilrwbwrkhv|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] randcraw|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] infamia|3 years ago|reply
John McWhorter, whom I admire very much as a person and a thinker.
[0] = The Law by Bastiat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gob_pa3BAU
[+] [-] soheilpro|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dperalta|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Isinlor|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] selfhifive|3 years ago|reply