Mind And Nature - A Necessary Unity, by Gregory Bateson, and I Am A Strange Loop, by Douglas Hofstadter. They're a great combination, as they're both attempts to define the concept of "mind" through patterns. Bateson is one of the early thinkers in the field of Cybernetics, which I've been meaning to learn more about.
A previous post on the HN front page on human behaviour lead me to recommend this book, and I think you'd be interested in it as well. (I swear I'm not a shill.)
Hacker is a philosopher of language and of mind, and he is a very clear writer. He works in a similar method to Wittgenstein and is a scathing critic of the tendency for many (particularly in cognitive neuroscience) to remain in a Cartesian dualist mindset that is, really, 17th-century metaphysics and nonsense. His point on 'the mind' is that it is not an entity. That doesn't mean it is nothing, but that means it is not something. It is a faculty, a conceptual shorthand for our rational powers, or, as Aristotle describes the "psuchē", "the actuality of a body that has life". We alone as persons can do the things that can be attributed to a rational mind.
Reading him is like spring cleaning your mind of nonsense.
(He also has some hilarious criticisms of Chomsky and his treatment of language in the book, and its sequel.)
Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads - world history from an Asiacentric perspective.
Harold Coyle, Team Yankee - WW3 in Europe in the 1980s from the perspective of a tank company commander. Poorly written, in my opinion, but the accurate (or so I hope) descriptions of the military tactics and equipment almost make up for it.
James Gleick, The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood - excellent book about the history of information.
Currently I'm listening to "Personal MBA" audiobook and loving it so far. I'm not the biggest fan of business books but decided to give this one a try to learn a bit more about marketing and sales.
Read most of the third one this week, a useful comparison of the various approaches. My objective is to understand how to better produce formal (or more formal) specifications. Either for whole systems or just for significant or critical portions of them.
It is a wonderfully written memoir that perfectly details the grad school experience and also includes some helpful notes from the author. I'll be graduating next year (bachelor's in CS), and my dad asked me if I wanted to enter grad school. The book sure did add some fuel to the fire.
Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar & Co.
Just started this book last night. The story begins as the Founder of Clif Bar walks away from selling his company and a $40M personal pay-out. Big idea so far, your business is an ultimate form of self-expression. > https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29691.Raising_the_Bar
It is really boosting my understanding of the French language, and giving me more confidence to speak it.
It's a simple story that's easy to follow, especially having read the book in English and seen the film a couple times. And really, how lost can you get? If you can't follow a paragraph or to, chances are he'll still be stuck on Mars for a while and you won't have missed much.
It's written in an informal, conversational style, using language that real people might use. I find myself reading a phrase that translates back to a saying I've used in English. Ah, looks like they use that in French too. I'll add it to the repertoire.
I can pick it up after a while off and quickly get back in to it without explanation. Hmm... this looks like the part where the guy is stuck on mars...
And as a bonus, it's kinda hard work to read in a foreign language, so if I pick it up in bed it's guaranteed to put me to sleep inside of half an hour.
Congrats on the effort. I started learning English when I became interested in Neuro-Linguistic Programming a decade ago: there were no resources in French and the discipline was started by two Americans. I read a ton of books out loud just to hit the muscles used in English (not quite the same as French. My mouth hurt).
I am reading "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success", from the Stanford's Professor Carol Dweck. I really wish I had read that 10 years ago... By that time the book wasn't published but some part of the science behind it was already available. I am almost finishing it and it is probably the best of the 12 books I have read so far this year.
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
by Walter Isaacson
It's a history of where all this - startup culture, silicon valley, computers, internet, hackers - came from. Should be essential reading for anyone working in IT.
36 comments
[ 404 ms ] story [ 180 ms ] threadHere's my (unfinished) reviews of the books I've read so far this year: https://github.com/bcbrown/bookreviews/tree/master/2017. At the end of the year I'll flesh them out a little more.
It's called "Human Nature: The Categorical Framework" by P.M.S. Hacker. The chapter of direct interest to you is called "The Mind". https://www.amazon.com/Human-Nature-Categorial-Framework-Hac...
Hacker is a philosopher of language and of mind, and he is a very clear writer. He works in a similar method to Wittgenstein and is a scathing critic of the tendency for many (particularly in cognitive neuroscience) to remain in a Cartesian dualist mindset that is, really, 17th-century metaphysics and nonsense. His point on 'the mind' is that it is not an entity. That doesn't mean it is nothing, but that means it is not something. It is a faculty, a conceptual shorthand for our rational powers, or, as Aristotle describes the "psuchē", "the actuality of a body that has life". We alone as persons can do the things that can be attributed to a rational mind.
Reading him is like spring cleaning your mind of nonsense.
(He also has some hilarious criticisms of Chomsky and his treatment of language in the book, and its sequel.)
Seveneves, Neal Stephenson
Astrophysics for people in a hurry, Neil De Grasse Tyson
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
Wanted to read the first one before the movie came out, now I am hooked...
Harold Coyle, Team Yankee - WW3 in Europe in the 1980s from the perspective of a tank company commander. Poorly written, in my opinion, but the accurate (or so I hope) descriptions of the military tactics and equipment almost make up for it.
James Gleick, The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood - excellent book about the history of information.
Here are the books I've read and want to read: https://booknshelf.com/@tigran/shelves
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Money_Than_God
Engineering a Safer World, https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/engineering-safer-world
Software Specification Methods, https://www.amazon.com/Software-Specification-Methods-Henri-... (also available through Safari Books Online, at least at my office)
Read most of the third one this week, a useful comparison of the various approaches. My objective is to understand how to better produce formal (or more formal) specifications. Either for whole systems or just for significant or critical portions of them.
It is a wonderfully written memoir that perfectly details the grad school experience and also includes some helpful notes from the author. I'll be graduating next year (bachelor's in CS), and my dad asked me if I wanted to enter grad school. The book sure did add some fuel to the fire.
It goes into detail about the Mount Everest disaster in the 90s.
Just started this book last night. The story begins as the Founder of Clif Bar walks away from selling his company and a $40M personal pay-out. Big idea so far, your business is an ultimate form of self-expression. > https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29691.Raising_the_Bar
It is really boosting my understanding of the French language, and giving me more confidence to speak it.
It's a simple story that's easy to follow, especially having read the book in English and seen the film a couple times. And really, how lost can you get? If you can't follow a paragraph or to, chances are he'll still be stuck on Mars for a while and you won't have missed much.
It's written in an informal, conversational style, using language that real people might use. I find myself reading a phrase that translates back to a saying I've used in English. Ah, looks like they use that in French too. I'll add it to the repertoire.
I can pick it up after a while off and quickly get back in to it without explanation. Hmm... this looks like the part where the guy is stuck on mars...
And as a bonus, it's kinda hard work to read in a foreign language, so if I pick it up in bed it's guaranteed to put me to sleep inside of half an hour.
Highly recommended.
Here's a great resource from the University of Québec: http://classiques.uqac.ca/
It has a lot of books categorized (see thumbnails) in many areas (classics, natural sciences, etc). From Freud, Adler, Smith, to Descartes. Enjoy!
Highly recommended for anyone interested in an "outside the box" perspective on mental health and society at large.
It's a history of where all this - startup culture, silicon valley, computers, internet, hackers - came from. Should be essential reading for anyone working in IT.
Throws out a new perspective on what motivates people.
Difficult topic but great writing so far. Especially if you like books by Atul Gawande
Reading The Evermen Saga by James Maxwell.
No self help or technical books for me, just pure fantasy.