I'm agnostic and I agree with you. I'm not a big fan of anything outside of the Gospel, but Jesus Christ's teachings are truly timeless and revolutionary, even today. Real of fake, his philosophy is the backbone of a modern, empathetic society.
I'm agnostic and I don't agree with you. Sure, there are without any doubt some wise statements to be found in the Bible.
But each and every of those thoughts have been presented and discussed in other books in a more concise, clear, less ambiguous and more applicable fashion.
Additionally, the Bible is full of rather tasteless anecdotes - judging from a modern perspective.
I have a similar answer but wasn't sure how well it would be received on HN.
I come from a diverse background and generally found myself between extreme ideologies all around. From the hardline Islamic beliefs I encountered in the Middle East, Christian Evangelicals in America and the New Atheist movement in Europe and America.
I found solace in the Jap Ji Sahib [1], viewing it from a deist perspective. It helped me develop a regular meditation practice.
[1] Jap Ji Sahib is the first 40 verses of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy text. Here is a version: https://granth.co/
Is Romans 9:12-21 the right reference? I might not be looking into it enough, but it doesn't seem like "do what it says for a week" material. That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with your suggestion.
I don't think this is that amazing given the fact that our whole society is based on this book.
Also one can argue that this is common sense and build in into (most) humans, or life for that matters, plenty of animals try to protect their families too without any bible or god.
I also read Anna Karenina (I am a big fan of Russian literature) - but none the less (or maybe rather b/c of that) I am curious to learn how this book did change your perspective on your life?
I literally jumped in my chair and facepalmed myself when I saw you'd included Meditations and I'd left it out. Damn. Thank you for reminding me how great that was. Putting it in now :)
Meditations (Marcus Aurelius) - incredibly clear ideas probably clear-up 80% of issues you have with everyday life
The Bible (& The Gnostic Gospels) - I love the idea that Jesus was a real guy who (literally) petrified his childhood playmates because they "vexed" him by dispersing his anti-gravity water :)
Atlas Shrugged - no excuses
Self and Others - personal pyschology
Seth Speaks - a lady channels an interdimensional being
The Road Less Travelled - a psychoanalyst's memoirs
Letters to a Young Artist - encouragement for going your own way, a series of letters
The Alchemist - help you read the signs from the heart of the World for your own path
An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, et al (T. Suzuki) - really interesting, non-duality, higher third unification of opposites
Hear the Wind Sing (Murakami) - really bizarre and pure, his first one written late nights at kitchen table after working in a bar, before he became famous
Rich Dad Poor Dad - solid advice
Discrete Maths (Rosen) - interesting and very learnable, a great reference
An Imaginary Life (Malouf) - great clarity of writing
The Solid Mandala (Patrick White) - amazing observation of people
This is a required textbook for my Discrete Mathematics course. I also recommend it! Although I wish there was more visuals in the book, it is a great textbook.
"Godel, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hopfstadter. I was in high school when it came out, and it really opened my eyes up to the field of computability. The philosophy was interesting, too.
"Holy the Firm" by Annie Dillard. Not really about religion, more about our relationship to the world. A beautifully written little book.
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. This one works on me at several levels: The physics (which are explained well), the sheer titanic scope of the Manhattan project, and the meta-knowledge that someone was able to write a book this good.
"The C Programming Language", by Kernighan and Ritchie. Probably the single most influential book on programming that I've read.
- Losing my Virginity, by Richard Branson and Edward Whitley. It made me realize I've never really hustled in my life. Reading it was a humbling experience. When I finished the book I was on the verge of tears, an odd mix of shame and wonder.
- Impro, by Keith Johnstone. It's about theatre, human flaws and taking back your self-expression. I'd gift it to anyone I know, if I could.
'What's for supper?' a bad improviser will desperately try to think up
something original. Whatever he says he'll be too slow. He'll finally
drag up some idea like 'fried mermaid'. If he'd just said 'fish' the
audience would have been delighted. No two people are exactly alike,
and the more obvious an improviser is, the more himself he appears.
If he wants to impress us with his originality, then he'll search out
ideas that are actually commoner and less interesting. [...]
People trying to be original always arrive at the same boring old
answers. [...]
An artist who is inspired is being obvious. He's not making any
decisions, he's not weighing one idea against another. He's accepting
his first thoughts. [...]
Striving after originality takes you far away from your
true self, and makes your work mediocre.
"It made me realize I've never really hustled in my life. Reading it was a humbling experience. When I finished the book I was on the verge of tears, an odd mix of shame and wonder."
A stunningly good book about cognitive biases, with fairly understated claims and backed up with studies. Excellent advice for life and it's changed how I view decisions and interactions. [edit - if you want it and can't afford it, get in touch and I might be able to buy you a copy]
The Evolution of Cooperation - Robert Axelrod
Rather hammers the prisoners dilemma a lot, but it does feel justified. It's been maybe 9 years since I read this and it was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this question. How does co-operation work? What properties are required for co-operation? If I recall correctly it examines these questions from the scale of bacteria to nation states.
Definitely one of the most mind blowing book I ever read. Loved it.This could be summarised in : "I know that I know nothing". It's incredible how our mind is biased in so many way to the point of being untrustworthy.
I like these posts as much as everyone else, but this is literally at least the third one this week. Maybe it could become a recurring monthly thing like the hiring posts.
Walden: "Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post-office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications."
I find these threads are often very interesting, but can we please make sure to include something about the book or about how it changed your perspective? If I just see a title it doesn't add much value to the discussion. Thanks for taking the time, y'all.
Excellent idea! The minute I saw the thread I knew that it was going to pan out this way: first, there will be three or four threads and I will be excited about books I hadn't heard of before. But soon it will turn into 20 and then 100 lists of books, overwhelming me and ultimately leading me to do nothing.
However, if people could write (and some of you have) little excerpts and details about what is significant about a book, I'd love it. More than "shows you what is truly important" please, I believe that it might but I will also assume that it concludes that love is more important than money, or some variation of that idea. And I really don't want to read another book that tells me that unless it will make me realize it on some new level through a specific perspective.
By taking the point of view that "negotiation" is not "convincing morons to do what I want" but "let's try and solve this together", the author introduces a couple points about how to deal with all sorts of conflicts and difficult situations. I read it several years ago, and yet there's not a month in which I don't put at least one of its lessons in use.
I found it a lot more useful and honest than the famed "How to influence friends and win people" but, somewhat ironically, I never used it in any negotiation involving money.
Interesting. I hate books that teach you how to negotiate like a scumbag (ie most trial attorneys and car salesmen) so this is a refreshing change of pace. I will put this on my to-read list. A book in similar vein is "Getting to Yes". which influenced me greatly in how to handle disputes. It was recommended by Charlie Munger, in his book "Poor Charlie's Almanack" (antoher great book).
Also, check out "Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger". Both that and Poor Charlie's Almanack are two books that describe the Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger way of thinking. In fact, I found out about "Getting to Yes" through those two books. Read them, these three books changed my outlook on life in a big way.
Mostly by introducing me to the Stoics (Aurelius especially) and a variety of Eastern, especially Zen Buddhist, works.
Revolutionary Road -- Yates
Yay, mentioned that one in two threads today and it's not even noon yet!
A History of Western Philosophy -- Russell
Vonnegut in general. Bluebeard serves as a good overview of his major themes and ideas, to pick just one book. The part about how people with small talents who were once valued by their communities have been rendered eccentrics of no special value to anyone by easy, cheap, global distribution of media is always near the front of my mind.
This is embarrassing. I grew up with sorta fundie parents (they got better) and dropped out of school early (religious schools...), so it might be different for HNers that had a solid mental upbringing.
A Brief History of Time because it pretty much slapped any thoughts I had of a supernatural universe/god right out of my mind. I know it's not highly regarded, but for a rather ignorant guy, it woke me up.
The Selfish Gene (inc The Extended Phenotype). This is one I think is the most powerful, even for people that had OK education. Showing how life could possibly evolve, just with random mutations and non-random survival made it real to me that we live in a natural world. And not just that, but that since it's so obviously a natural world, it's up to us to decide what is right, what our purpose is. The earth and nature aren't going to help us there - it's our call, full stop. That is huge, and many otherwise seemingly well educated people don't seem to get it.
Heuristics and Biases. (Though Thinking Fast and Slow might be more approachable.) This book opened me up to the fact that I'm running on busted hardware. That I've got serious, unfixable, biases built into my brain. That a lot of what I do is a fast but inaccurate parallel system at work. (Interestingly, this is the essence of Taoism, wu wei).
Lately, LessWrong. (Available as a book called Rationality: From AI to Zombies). These sequences have helped me, well, get less wrong, slowly, at making decisions and general thinking. I try to be aware of when I'm being biased and incorrect. I make better predictions and actively try to update my priors, instead of just confirming my previous beliefs. As I get older (34) I find I'm unwittingly acting close minded on occasion, and need to actively work against it.
I found out that the people who claim it changed their lives mostly think that they are the smartest, most important people in the country. Beware of the elite who think that the country is there to serve them and that it is criminal how the government demands taxes to help those who were not born into wealth and privilege.
[+] [-] claar|11 years ago|reply
No wait, don't go. I'm serious here.
Read Proverbs -- from a purely atheistic mindset if you must. Very practical business and life advice if you're willing to hear it.
Read Ecclesiastes. Don't spend your life chasing after the wind -- you can't take it with you.
Read Romans 12:9-21. Do what it says for a week.
Read about Jesus washing His servant's feet (John 13:1-17). Serve your team/family, put them first.
It's confirmation bias, but I'm continually amazed how the "next new business/life strategy" was already written ~2-5 thousand years ago.
(edit: Romans reference fixed, thanks)
[+] [-] Red_Tarsius|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] plongeur|11 years ago|reply
But each and every of those thoughts have been presented and discussed in other books in a more concise, clear, less ambiguous and more applicable fashion.
Additionally, the Bible is full of rather tasteless anecdotes - judging from a modern perspective.
[+] [-] vowelless|11 years ago|reply
I come from a diverse background and generally found myself between extreme ideologies all around. From the hardline Islamic beliefs I encountered in the Middle East, Christian Evangelicals in America and the New Atheist movement in Europe and America.
I found solace in the Jap Ji Sahib [1], viewing it from a deist perspective. It helped me develop a regular meditation practice.
[1] Jap Ji Sahib is the first 40 verses of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy text. Here is a version: https://granth.co/
[+] [-] tubbs|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bhayden|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] markyc|11 years ago|reply
PS: Proverbs 22:29 is a motivation for me to always improve my craft
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.
[+] [-] Mimu|11 years ago|reply
Also one can argue that this is common sense and build in into (most) humans, or life for that matters, plenty of animals try to protect their families too without any bible or god.
[+] [-] mknits|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] grey-area|11 years ago|reply
The Order of Things or Madness and Civilisation by Michel Foucault - a look at how our culture and time limit the horizons of our world view.
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy - a complicated set of love stories set in 19C Russia - brilliantly observed.
Godel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter - an exhilarating skip through the wonderland of western maths, art, music and philosophy.
Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston - a great insight into the first computer revolution - interviews with a lot of very interesting people.
[+] [-] cheriot|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] plongeur|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] humanarity|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] humanarity|11 years ago|reply
The Bible (& The Gnostic Gospels) - I love the idea that Jesus was a real guy who (literally) petrified his childhood playmates because they "vexed" him by dispersing his anti-gravity water :)
Atlas Shrugged - no excuses
Self and Others - personal pyschology
Seth Speaks - a lady channels an interdimensional being
The Road Less Travelled - a psychoanalyst's memoirs
Letters to a Young Artist - encouragement for going your own way, a series of letters
The Alchemist - help you read the signs from the heart of the World for your own path
An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, et al (T. Suzuki) - really interesting, non-duality, higher third unification of opposites
Hear the Wind Sing (Murakami) - really bizarre and pure, his first one written late nights at kitchen table after working in a bar, before he became famous
Rich Dad Poor Dad - solid advice
Discrete Maths (Rosen) - interesting and very learnable, a great reference
An Imaginary Life (Malouf) - great clarity of writing
The Solid Mandala (Patrick White) - amazing observation of people
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] ghrifter|11 years ago|reply
This is a required textbook for my Discrete Mathematics course. I also recommend it! Although I wish there was more visuals in the book, it is a great textbook.
[+] [-] kabdib|11 years ago|reply
"Holy the Firm" by Annie Dillard. Not really about religion, more about our relationship to the world. A beautifully written little book.
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. This one works on me at several levels: The physics (which are explained well), the sheer titanic scope of the Manhattan project, and the meta-knowledge that someone was able to write a book this good.
"The C Programming Language", by Kernighan and Ritchie. Probably the single most influential book on programming that I've read.
[+] [-] Red_Tarsius|11 years ago|reply
- Impro, by Keith Johnstone. It's about theatre, human flaws and taking back your self-expression. I'd gift it to anyone I know, if I could.
[+] [-] thomk|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] twobits|11 years ago|reply
There is a lot of survivor bias in that.
[+] [-] IanCal|11 years ago|reply
A stunningly good book about cognitive biases, with fairly understated claims and backed up with studies. Excellent advice for life and it's changed how I view decisions and interactions. [edit - if you want it and can't afford it, get in touch and I might be able to buy you a copy]
The Evolution of Cooperation - Robert Axelrod
Rather hammers the prisoners dilemma a lot, but it does feel justified. It's been maybe 9 years since I read this and it was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this question. How does co-operation work? What properties are required for co-operation? If I recall correctly it examines these questions from the scale of bacteria to nation states.
[+] [-] gbersac|11 years ago|reply
Definitely one of the most mind blowing book I ever read. Loved it.This could be summarised in : "I know that I know nothing". It's incredible how our mind is biased in so many way to the point of being untrustworthy.
[+] [-] jonawesomegreen|11 years ago|reply
A classic, but it has really helped change the way I deal with people.
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] ThomPete|11 years ago|reply
http://www.amazon.com/Origin-Consciousness-Breakdown-Bicamer...
Either the theory is crazy or it's one of the most groundbreaking discoveries in newer history.
[+] [-] gmu3|11 years ago|reply
Walden: "Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post-office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications."
Part of the reason I'm off fb.
[+] [-] carsongross|11 years ago|reply
"The Abolition of Man" - CS Lewis
"The Master and Margarita" - Mikhail Bulgakov
"The Brothers Karamazov" - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
[+] [-] dcsommer|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AnimalMuppet|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smizell|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fatjoel|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kristiandupont|11 years ago|reply
However, if people could write (and some of you have) little excerpts and details about what is significant about a book, I'd love it. More than "shows you what is truly important" please, I believe that it might but I will also assume that it concludes that love is more important than money, or some variation of that idea. And I really don't want to read another book that tells me that unless it will make me realize it on some new level through a specific perspective.
[+] [-] probably_wrong|11 years ago|reply
By taking the point of view that "negotiation" is not "convincing morons to do what I want" but "let's try and solve this together", the author introduces a couple points about how to deal with all sorts of conflicts and difficult situations. I read it several years ago, and yet there's not a month in which I don't put at least one of its lessons in use.
I found it a lot more useful and honest than the famed "How to influence friends and win people" but, somewhat ironically, I never used it in any negotiation involving money.
[+] [-] steveeq1|11 years ago|reply
Also, check out "Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger". Both that and Poor Charlie's Almanack are two books that describe the Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger way of thinking. In fact, I found out about "Getting to Yes" through those two books. Read them, these three books changed my outlook on life in a big way.
A summary of these books is here: http://sivers.org/book/SeekingWisdom
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dghf|11 years ago|reply
Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World.
Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained.
T.H. White, The Once and Future King.
George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia.
[+] [-] serve_yay|11 years ago|reply
"The Black Swan", Taleb
"How To Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto", Tom Hodgkinson
"The Tao Is Not Silent", Raymond Smullyan
In that order.
[+] [-] ashark|11 years ago|reply
Mostly by introducing me to the Stoics (Aurelius especially) and a variety of Eastern, especially Zen Buddhist, works.
Revolutionary Road -- Yates
Yay, mentioned that one in two threads today and it's not even noon yet!
A History of Western Philosophy -- Russell
Vonnegut in general. Bluebeard serves as a good overview of his major themes and ideas, to pick just one book. The part about how people with small talents who were once valued by their communities have been rendered eccentrics of no special value to anyone by easy, cheap, global distribution of media is always near the front of my mind.
How to Read a Book -- Adler
[+] [-] Denzel|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] plongeur|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brudgers|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] decasteve|11 years ago|reply
It also gave everyone who read it a valid excuse not to read anything by Dan Brown.
[+] [-] MichaelGG|11 years ago|reply
A Brief History of Time because it pretty much slapped any thoughts I had of a supernatural universe/god right out of my mind. I know it's not highly regarded, but for a rather ignorant guy, it woke me up.
The Selfish Gene (inc The Extended Phenotype). This is one I think is the most powerful, even for people that had OK education. Showing how life could possibly evolve, just with random mutations and non-random survival made it real to me that we live in a natural world. And not just that, but that since it's so obviously a natural world, it's up to us to decide what is right, what our purpose is. The earth and nature aren't going to help us there - it's our call, full stop. That is huge, and many otherwise seemingly well educated people don't seem to get it.
Heuristics and Biases. (Though Thinking Fast and Slow might be more approachable.) This book opened me up to the fact that I'm running on busted hardware. That I've got serious, unfixable, biases built into my brain. That a lot of what I do is a fast but inaccurate parallel system at work. (Interestingly, this is the essence of Taoism, wu wei).
Lately, LessWrong. (Available as a book called Rationality: From AI to Zombies). These sequences have helped me, well, get less wrong, slowly, at making decisions and general thinking. I try to be aware of when I'm being biased and incorrect. I make better predictions and actively try to update my priors, instead of just confirming my previous beliefs. As I get older (34) I find I'm unwittingly acting close minded on occasion, and need to actively work against it.
[+] [-] booruguru|11 years ago|reply
Really? I've only heard good things about it. Would you mind elaborating?
[+] [-] JSeymourATL|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shobu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrisBob|11 years ago|reply
I found out that the people who claim it changed their lives mostly think that they are the smartest, most important people in the country. Beware of the elite who think that the country is there to serve them and that it is criminal how the government demands taxes to help those who were not born into wealth and privilege.