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Ask HN: Best books about non-technical skills you have ever read?

10 points by wallzz ↗ HN
Hey,

I'm a programmer, I'm read a wide range of book about technical knowledge, but I also realized that my lack of knowledge in other field are holding me from achieving my goals, skills like communication, social interactions, personal confident, emotional intelligence, ...are essential to succeed in our field.

My question is what books you recommend for a programmer to make a balance between his technical skill and other skills and how to use that to improve his position and his life in society and be more productive.

8 comments

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rayalez
The best thing that I can recommend is "Blueprint" by RSD. It is not a book but a video course, and you may at first think that it is a bit weird suggestion, because it is about pickup, but I strongly encourage you to check it out. It is the best explanation of how social dynamics works, and it is also the best "personal development" course I've ever encountered.

You can also go on youtube and watch RSDTyler channel. It is fantastic, I can't recommend this enough, even if you are not interested in learning pickup - it will be one of the most influential things you've ever watched.

About books - I've heard that Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman is great.

emcarey
LEAN IN- sheryl sandberg. It is not just a book for women- it's a great book for everyone to learn about creating a more advanced work force, building confidence, and learning when to question authority. It's so motivational, especially for programmers who might want to start their own company one day.
[dead] cliodbced
Yeah, nice try actually to sell some stupid shit. Do you even read ? Every fucking now and then I hear now --- women are paid less, sexism , women in tech and shit. Look at India you fucking morons in US. Millions of girls , women graduate in tech each year. Thousands come to US. Then why US only have such problem.

Real answer is there is no such problem of women in tech. All non-sense political shit and you morons are played as usual by rich and powerful.

Also, isn't that book from same woman who did not want to pay to her "Intern" . Also note ..."WOMAN" intern.

Book is non-sense and mere hype.

atmosx
Hm, crime and punishment. Understanding yourself, the deeper cause of every action or re-action IMHO helps you understand others and understanding others IMHO can improve our social and financial standing.

The depth which Dostoevsky reaches in his character analysis always scared me. I've read other books from renowned authors, but I've never seen such a deep character analysis. It's like making a psycho-graph of his characters and I'm not talking only about the most famous anti-hero Raskolnikov! I'm talking about nearly every character in the novel.

This book is master-piece on so many levels that I wouldn't know where to begin really. IMHO it's a worth a read, if you haven't done it already :-)

michaelbuckbee
How to Win Friends and Influence people is a classic for good reason. While the title makes it sound like the most horrible, shallow thing, the actual content is really positive and helpful.
retrogradeMT
The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg. It helped me understand the importance of routines and how they shape our daily lives, impact buying decisions, and become ingrained in workplace culture.
earlyresort
Roger Dawson's Secrets of Power Negotiating. Cheesy title, great book.
Immortalin
Harry Potter and the methods of rationality

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