HN Explorer

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

204 points by arikr ↗ HN
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?

109 comments

[ 6.9 ms ] story [ 159 ms ] thread
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.
kyo3
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
kiernanmcgowan
I quit my “traditional engineering“ job after reading this book.
nextos
Why?
kiernanmcgowan
One of the central themes of the book is human-technology interaction and that technology for its own sake is ultimately worthless. In my "traditional engineering" job so much effort was spent debating the minutiae of our stack and never once talked about how the customer was made better by our efforts.

So I left.

oceanghost
Shit, me too. I started a book club at my employer and gave out like a dozen copies.
j45
Good to Great - Jim Collins

The Man who Mistook his job for a life

An Open Heart - Dalai Lama

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".
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.
wu-ikkyu
Zen is more like a philosophy of psychological judo rather than a religion, at least for me
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.

Dowwie
"Thinking, Fast and Slow", in particular the explanation of prospect theory.
anddyyyy
Chaos. Godel, Escher, Bach. Flatworld.
gerdesj
or GED as we know it. Auth: Hofstadter - "Godel, Escher, Bach"

Belting read.

[deleted]
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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!
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

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.
abuiles
Interesting! Those things are exactly what the book tells you not to do.
Zanni
Like a lot of concepts that are meant to improve communication and understanding, NVC can be "weaponized" to have the exact opposite effect, especially when put into practice by beginners in highly-charged emotional contexts. It can also come across as passive-aggressive to those who are unfamiliar with the practice. Maddeningly, it can be very difficult to distinguish between these two situations. It really needs understanding and buy-in from both parties to be effective, in my experience. (It's also damn hard to learn from a book. Much better if you have an experienced and empathetic friend who's willing to teach you.)
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.

Scarbutt
Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan
cryoshon
"the fall" by camus

the specific topic is a man's life-- but not the man you think.

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.
busterarm
oddly enough...The Phoenix Project and Don't Make Me Think
laktek
Currently reading Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse and it already helped me form a simple model to approach many different problems in life.
gerdesj
Was this topic submitted by an AI experiment? I've taken a quick shufti at arikr's profile and English is not a problem there.

I will submit: anything written by Sir Terry Pratchett (may he rest in piece)

SonOfLilit
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is one book that changed my life a lot more than I expected when picking it up. In many ways, it left me a different person.
cm2012
Have to agree here. It has a unique and valuable worldview.
a_bonobo
it's interesting with Yudkowsky - I've never met a person who's lukewarm about his writing, you either love it or hate it.

Personally I hate it - it's condescending, weirdly tone-deaf, scientistic (is that the adjective of scientism?), without a trace of human warmth, and way too verbose and over-long to keep me interested. Then again, opinions clearly vary.

cm2012
I am lukewarm about it. Lots of things to hate. But you have to admit he comes at things differently than most people.
nextos
Antifragile. Poor Charlie's Almanack.
thsowers
The Flight of the Garuda: The Dzogchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism translated by Keith Dowman.

I've read many books about meditation, but this is one of my favorites. I wish I could read the original text to get the rhyme scheme!

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.
delbel
Center of the Cyclone by Dr. John C Lilly
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.
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.