As a kid? I'd probably name "Goedel, Escher, Bach" and "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language" as the two that had the biggest impact on me while I was in high school.
Like that time you beat Archimedes to the punch and moved the world with a cantilever?
To not just 'standup philosopher'-post: Gödel, Escher, Bach (already mentioned by another I see); Euclid's Elements; Polya's How To Solve It; The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich; Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - clearly non-fiction, if you know cats. :)
Oh! Pascal! was magnificent. The other influential Pascal text for me was “Elementary Pascal”, where Holmes writes Pascal for Babbage’s engine to solve mysteries. Books these days don’t seem to have the same whimsy.
and any of Byung-Chul Han's philosophical books over the last ten years, though The Burnout society is probably the place to start.
My favorite thing about these books is that if the title piques your interest, it's a quick read because of the aphoristic style keeping the aforementioned short.
If you're not a person who tends to get sucked into a book, and has every waking thought resonate with what you've read, then read some Chomsky.
You may not agree with his views (it's so far to the left, that it makes your head spin) but rather read it for how he writes. His terse words are a window into his psyche.
Everything is presented in a very "matter-of-fact" way. I've read most of his books and it's surprising how very little he thinks of his own opinions. For him, it's not a revelation that the world is corrupt and full of structures that incentivise the destruction of the middle class etc., it's just a matter of fact. "That's how the world is and this is where I think it's going, good luck with changing that.", that's what it feels like.
I was pretty young when I started reading them, around 16. It temporarily changed me for the worse, the books are so pessimistic, that it tends to put that person I described above (getting sucked into books) into a depressive state.
If you want to start somewhere, try "Manufacturing Consent" (by Chomsky and Herman).
If you've already read that, then try "On Palestine" by Chomsky as well, I don't recall reading it but it does seem timely now.
I like Chomsky, and I agree with most of what you say. He is matter-of-fact, maybe cynical, but I wouldn't say pessimistic. He's trying to present the truth (or specifically, the truth of how those in power gain and maintain power). That's his role in trying to build a better world. I recall him saying somewhere (but I can't seem to find it now) that he's a bad organizer, so I think he sees his role as shining a light for others to use.
I like listening to him speak more, tbh. He can come across as a rambling old man with disjointed thoughts. Then, after going off for 10 minutes, he brings it back. The world is complicated, and Chomsky has a very firm grasp on how complicated it all is, and in order to explain a point, he often has to untangle a large web of relationships and history. Sometimes exhausting, but also kind exhilarating. He refuses to short snappy news bits because he knows a statement that challenges the status quo needs strong evidence and explanation, and that necessarily requires a longer form (he discusses that point in Manufacturing Consent).
A good ... jumble.* And what among Seneca's writings would you highlight?
* Having elected not to use an obvious list format (as it appears on my screen), or even a single ASCII character beyond the fairly essential - parsimonious. You took the interrogative "How long shall you march under another man's orders?" very much to heart, it seems.
I read this as a young adult and I understood what Pirsig was saying in an intellectual sense, but I didn't really grok the book until I was closer to Pirsig's own age (when he wrote it) and learned 'the hard way'. I also didn't finish the book because I felt like Pirsig was repetitively making the same point.
As a result, I have some questions (not necessarily directly for you, @patrickthebold, but for whoever cares to answer):
(1) Were you able to internalize the lessons from this book?
(2) Is there anything valuable in the back ~half of the book?
(3) If you read this book about 20 years ago, would you re-read it; or if read it less than 20 years ago, would you recommend your future self re-read it?
Easily one of my favourite books. My advice for anyone reading it is not to see it as a philosophical book, although some of the philosophical digressions are extremely interesting. Rather, read it as an autobiography of a person suffering from an obsession, and his quest to connect with his son. The end was very satisfying from this point of view.
Edit: so to answer your points
1. No need to.
2. Worth reading the whole thing.
3. At the first reading when younger, one might focus too much on the philosophy and miss the story of the person behind the thoughts. It's not a book where you learn philosophy, but how this person thinks and how it impacts his life. With some life experience and perspective this aspect is much more interesting.
I have tried reading this twice but couldn't get past 30 pages or so. I was enjoying the read but not sure what made me drop it both times. I was much younger though, so perhaps a 3rd attempt is in order.
I don't know that I would call it "non-fiction," but its non-fictional aspects have had a huge impact on me: the "focus on the small to unblock yourself" (was it write about your left hand?).
And the concept of "gumption".
But most especially that "quality" is the interface between the observer and the observed -- that what you like is a unique aspect of you and the thing (that you like), and that's okay. That concept has shaped my world.
Although, be careful about that one, because a lot of the claims Diamond makes are to be taken with a grain of salt. I would suggest the works of Richard Bulliet such as "Cotton, Climate, and Camels" and "Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers" as counterpoints. Some historians really like the "A, B, and C" title format, don't they?
"Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert. Big insight - people generally have a way of rationalizing away things they did (new job, move, relationship) that turned out to be bad ideas - they focus on the positive parts, or say how they learned so much. But this doesn't work if you decided not to do something, and that inaction turned out to be a bad idea - you can't say you learned so much, because you didn't do anything. Implication is that we should be bolder in our decisions, to avoid regret.
The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman. It had a huge impact on the way I view UX issues, and the relationship between users & developers/companies, and I prioritize users' "dumb questions" way differently now as a result. It's also made me feel less bad about times that I have a problem with using some piece of software, whether it's a settings menu that I can't find what I need in it, or some complex setup process.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell largely the same story, with several important differences. If you only read one, my favorite is Luke. It has The Magnificat (aka Mary's Song of Praise), and it's awesome.
John, meanwhile, is very different vibe on the story of Jesus and is cool in its own way.
I'd also recommend Acts, personally. It is a history of the very early church and written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke. Very proto-communist/anarchist in places, imo.
Recently, I finished the making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes. It’s quite long, but a fascinating view on physics, weapon development, and then the politics of the bomb. It’s a good exercise to compare with the current state of AI and see what things are similar and what are different.
Recently, "The Situation is Hopeless... But Not Serious" - Paul Watzlawick
All of Nietzsche. Antioedipus. Marcuse's One Dimensional Man. Wittgenstein's Notebooks. The works of Vilem Fluser. Basically most major/famous philosophers are a solid bet.
I've read that, it's a great book if you're already into electronics. It filled a huge knowledge void that I wasn't aware I had... but the thing that got me started was "The Boy's Second Book of Electronics", which launched me into the world of electronics in the early 1970s, before PCs were a thing.
women hold up half the sky. i was ignorant to a lot of suffering in the world before I read this book. very emotional read.
spell of the sensuous. mind bending history of the alphabet, the effect of being literate on your ways of thinking and an introduction to phenomenology and our original sin of considering "nature" to be an "other"
100 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 175 ms ] thread- Factfulness or
- Sapiens or
- Richard Feynman’s various writings
…but the most measurable impact was probably from something like
- “Strunk and white The Elements of Style” or
- “How to win friends and influence people” or
- “Oh! Pascal!” Or
- “the dictionary” or
- some specific bus timetable that enabled a pivotal moment in my life
Story time? Don't leave us hanging :)
I see your literality, and raise:
enabled a pivotal moment in my life
Like that time you beat Archimedes to the punch and moved the world with a cantilever?
To not just 'standup philosopher'-post: Gödel, Escher, Bach (already mentioned by another I see); Euclid's Elements; Polya's How To Solve It; The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich; Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - clearly non-fiction, if you know cats. :)
Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff and Johnson
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
Tao Te Ching (various translators)
Course of Theoretical Physics
In order not to sound solipsistic, I will admit that they all share the subject :P
https://equalityfiles.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/thomas_sza...
and any of Byung-Chul Han's philosophical books over the last ten years, though The Burnout society is probably the place to start.
My favorite thing about these books is that if the title piques your interest, it's a quick read because of the aphoristic style keeping the aforementioned short.
You may not agree with his views (it's so far to the left, that it makes your head spin) but rather read it for how he writes. His terse words are a window into his psyche.
Everything is presented in a very "matter-of-fact" way. I've read most of his books and it's surprising how very little he thinks of his own opinions. For him, it's not a revelation that the world is corrupt and full of structures that incentivise the destruction of the middle class etc., it's just a matter of fact. "That's how the world is and this is where I think it's going, good luck with changing that.", that's what it feels like.
I was pretty young when I started reading them, around 16. It temporarily changed me for the worse, the books are so pessimistic, that it tends to put that person I described above (getting sucked into books) into a depressive state.
If you want to start somewhere, try "Manufacturing Consent" (by Chomsky and Herman).
If you've already read that, then try "On Palestine" by Chomsky as well, I don't recall reading it but it does seem timely now.
I like listening to him speak more, tbh. He can come across as a rambling old man with disjointed thoughts. Then, after going off for 10 minutes, he brings it back. The world is complicated, and Chomsky has a very firm grasp on how complicated it all is, and in order to explain a point, he often has to untangle a large web of relationships and history. Sometimes exhausting, but also kind exhilarating. He refuses to short snappy news bits because he knows a statement that challenges the status quo needs strong evidence and explanation, and that necessarily requires a longer form (he discusses that point in Manufacturing Consent).
I'd also recommend Manufacturing Consent.
It really opened my mind to the quest for knowledge being its own noble pursuit.
A book on the vanity of life
* Having elected not to use an obvious list format (as it appears on my screen), or even a single ASCII character beyond the fairly essential - parsimonious. You took the interrogative "How long shall you march under another man's orders?" very much to heart, it seems.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capi...
And Permanent Record by Snowden
As a result, I have some questions (not necessarily directly for you, @patrickthebold, but for whoever cares to answer):
(1) Were you able to internalize the lessons from this book?
(2) Is there anything valuable in the back ~half of the book?
(3) If you read this book about 20 years ago, would you re-read it; or if read it less than 20 years ago, would you recommend your future self re-read it?
2. The revelation about quality
3. I've read it three or four times, generally about ten years apart. I'm due...
Edit: so to answer your points
1. No need to.
2. Worth reading the whole thing.
3. At the first reading when younger, one might focus too much on the philosophy and miss the story of the person behind the thoughts. It's not a book where you learn philosophy, but how this person thinks and how it impacts his life. With some life experience and perspective this aspect is much more interesting.
And the concept of "gumption".
But most especially that "quality" is the interface between the observer and the observed -- that what you like is a unique aspect of you and the thing (that you like), and that's okay. That concept has shaped my world.
Hackers
John, meanwhile, is very different vibe on the story of Jesus and is cool in its own way.
I'd also recommend Acts, personally. It is a history of the very early church and written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke. Very proto-communist/anarchist in places, imo.
Recently, I finished the making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes. It’s quite long, but a fascinating view on physics, weapon development, and then the politics of the bomb. It’s a good exercise to compare with the current state of AI and see what things are similar and what are different.
All of Nietzsche. Antioedipus. Marcuse's One Dimensional Man. Wittgenstein's Notebooks. The works of Vilem Fluser. Basically most major/famous philosophers are a solid bet.
spell of the sensuous. mind bending history of the alphabet, the effect of being literate on your ways of thinking and an introduction to phenomenology and our original sin of considering "nature" to be an "other"