22 ms·

Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?

• thorin 8y ago
  A friend gave me a copy of this book following a crisis. He had had a similar experience and it had helped him. I read it 3 times in a row over the period of a few weeks and it really helped comfort me. Fear - Thich Nhat Hanh https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fear-Essential-Wisdom-Getting-Through/dp/1846043182 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fear-Essential-Wisdom-Getting-Throu...
• aytekin 8y ago
  “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” by William Irvine has taught me appreciate what I have and take it easy on myself when things don’t go as planned. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040JHNQG/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040JHNQG/
  • deathWasp271 8y ago
    Yes, this was another one of the books I read last year. I liked how it separated the world into internal and external. I realized how much smoother life became once I focused on living with an internal set of principles, rather than external expectations.
    • mikearagua 8y ago
      If you like Stoicism you should try Pierre Hadot's What is Ancient Philosophy and at least the main essay from Philosophy as a Way of Life. He's an excellent writer and you can get other useful perspectives from the other ancient schools. The Epicurean take on pleasure (absence from pain) is helpful as well as the ancient skeptical practice of equipollent dispute.
  • Pamar 8y ago
    Yes, I would suggest Stoicism too (I have a page devoted to it: http://pa-mar.net/Lifestyle/Stoicism.html http://pa-mar.net/Lifestyle/Stoicism.html). Also, I am working on a page on A Philosophy of Loneliness (https://www.popmatters.com/a-philosophy-of-loneliness-by-lars-svendsen-2495397345.html https://www.popmatters.com/a-philosophy-of-loneliness-by-lar...) and finally I would suggest "Trust the Process" (https://www.shambhala.com/trust-the-process-1598.html https://www.shambhala.com/trust-the-process-1598.html) All these somehow helped me in dealing with personal issues and/or provide some adjustment to my views. Finally, maybe this one might help, too https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89200.Pragmatics_of_Human_Communication https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89200.Pragmatics_of_Huma... (I read it in Italian and many years ago, the current edition is probably updated).
• scandox 8y ago
  Well if you've read Frankl then I think you should read Primo Levi. The Drowned and The Saved and also If This Is A Man. One could say he came to less easily swallowed conclusions, but I think it is essential reading. For me personally however I think Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment more or less informed my world-view from a very young age and continues to do so.
  • deathWasp271 8y ago
    Bookmarked. I picked up Crime and Punishment a few years ago, but had to put it down, due to both foreseeable and unforeseeable circumstances. How would you introduce it if you were to recommend it to someone?
    • scandox 8y ago
      I think introductions can take away from the direct experience of a great book. I think what's important is that since it is a work of literature it has the privilege of not even trying to deal with absolutes. It is an examination of what it might mean to be a moral human being. A kind of huge, entertaining thought experiment.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• xaucian 8y ago
  Are You Ready To Succeed by Srikumar Rao
• nikivi 8y ago
  Alan Watt's Wisdom of Insecurity book was enlightening for me. You can read it for free here: https://antilogicalism.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/wisdom-of-insecurity.pdf https://antilogicalism.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/wisdom-of...
  • bkovacev 8y ago
    I second Alan Watt's. Watch some of his youtube videos as well - they gave me strength to endure through some tough times.
  • zuzuleinen 8y ago
    If you like Alan Watts you might enjoy Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice from Shunryu Suzuki. https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Informal-Meditation/dp/1590308492 https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Informal-Meditatio...
    • Finnucane 8y ago
      If you like that, I'd further recommend the biography of Suzuki, Crooked Cucumber. It's an interesting read.
      • zuzuleinen 8y ago
        Thank you very much :) I'll definitely check it out.
      • zackb 8y ago
        And if you like that, I'd recommend "Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen" which feels like a continuation of "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind"
  • tcmb 8y ago
    Also from Alan Watts, 'The Book'. At the same time an introduction, summary, and companion to his various lectures. The book he would give to his children as an introduction to the world and life (according to the preface). https://terebess.hu/english/AlanWatts-On%20The%20Taboo%20Against%20Knowing%20Who%20You%20Are.pdf https://terebess.hu/english/AlanWatts-On%20The%20Taboo%20Aga...
• bottled_poe 8y ago
  Goedel, Escher, Bach - an eternal golden braid. This book is so rich with philosophical content it will change you.
  • chrisvalleybay 8y ago
    I really struggled to read this. It's so dense, in an almost impenetrable way. Am I the only one? I did some skimming, but never seemed to catch on.
    • mhax 8y ago
      Yeah, it's a struggle. I've attempted to read it twice, and never made it all the way through. Still immensely rewarding though.
    • modernerd 8y ago
      It's not just you. I often see it cited in must-read lists, but also found it rambling and impenetrable. In the 20th anniversary edition I have, the author spends the full preface admitting as much by explaining that people who've reviewed the book don't seem to understand its message: “Needless to say, this widespread confusion has been quite frustrating to me over the years, since I felt sure I had spelled out my aims over and over in the text itself. Clearly, however, I didn't do it sufficiently often, or sufficiently clearly.” He then attempts to outline the principle thesis: “…GEB is a very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come out of inanimate matter.” “Very personal” is right — the book reads like a fever dream of tangential scribbled notes compiled into an ~800 page tome, only loosely coupled to the notion of how animate things come to be. It is still interesting and brilliant and challenging and worth skimming if not reading in its entirety, but do not expect it to be instantly enlightening or full of take-aways.
    • raaxe 8y ago
      That'll be why you found it so hard. It's not really a book you can 'skim through' at all, but if you pay attention, maybe take some notes and reread the sections you may be having trouble with, you'll start to get the idea. The great thing about GEB is that Hofstadter basically assumes no prior knowledge from the beginning of the book - he just asks that you pay close attention and exercise your analytical mind. You'll then soon start to notice the patterns, jokes and puzzles in the writing, and how they all relate very closely to the ideas presented in the book. Note: the book isn't necessarily out to prove anything, and if you're looking for a massive 'aha!' moment towards the end of the book, you'll probably be disappointed. It's just an incredible journey down the recursive rabbit-hole that ties together mathematics, formal logic, linguistics, biology, computer science and loads more all through the extremely deliberate use of language throughout. It still blows my mind, but requires a good amount of concentration, re-reading and note-taking - which seems fair enough as I can't even imagine how long it took Hofstadter to write!
• parallel_item 8y ago
  They aren't all self help. Some just shook my world view so much that I couldn't help but introspect, reviewing everything I believe from a new angle. I find the experience I had with each fairly intimate. I hope others may have the same experience with any book, but think that these may do it. 1. This Is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami Murakami talking about his decision to become an author and also his lifelong hobby of running. 2. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls - David Sedaris Made me laugh for the first time in awhile. 3. The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus Absurdity.
• petra 8y ago
  Byron Katie. She's goes extreme in my opinion, but her instrospection method("the work") is very powerful.
• zuzuleinen 8y ago
  I highly recommend 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. This book gave me the courage to take responsibility in my life and start working towards things which are important for myself. As the author once said, you don't get not to pay a price, you only get what price to pay. It actually gave me the courage to leave Berlin and go back to my country(Romania) which even though is more poor and low in quality of public services, my friends and family are there and they are a priority for me right now. It also thought me to make small changes in my every day life even though is something as small as cleaning my room. And these small changes give me enough confidence to pursue bigger ones like quitting smoking for good.
  • philangist 8y ago
    I loved the message of self-reliance and "bearing your burden" in the book personally, it really reminded me of Mark Manson's The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. Could've done without all the religious metaphor but I understand the point of it being there.
    • zuzuleinen 8y ago
      Yes, I could have done without the religious metaphor as well, I hope some potential readers will not be put off by this because it really is a great book. Something stayed with me after reading this book and I'm so glad I didn't give up when reading about too many religious analogies. Peterson also gave a presentation about his book for those who are interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5RCmu-HuTg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5RCmu-HuTg
    • hudon 8y ago
      If you want to understand why he uses religion so much as I did (I've always considered myself an atheist), his lecture series here goes into it in much greater depth: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQD_IZs7y60I3lUrrFTzkpat https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQD_IZs7y60I... He's dedicated his life in trying to explain why the atrocities of the 20th century happened and how they can be prevented. I believe he sees our rejection of religion as part of the problem but he understands that the way religion has been presented in modern times (last few centuries) is completely alienating given the rise of science. So he uses science to attempt to give a new meaning to the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of western society. I'd say the biggest precursors to his work are Darwin and Carl Jung.
• db1 8y ago
  1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Mostly the bits about how our society is mostly built on collective fictions. 2. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite remember why. Looks like it's time to re-read it.
  • zuzuleinen 8y ago
    Siddhartha is such a great book. I actually read it slower just to enjoy it for a longer time :)
    • ShorsHammer 8y ago
      Read it long ago, one of those books that just sticks with you. Easily one of my favourite works of fiction. Hesse has such a bizarre writing style but it is a very deep book.
  • ramblerman 8y ago
    > Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind I couldn't follow him in all his conclusions, namely the hunter gatherer worship, that things were in a sense better for them. But it's probably in the top 3 books I've ever read, best in the last 5 years.
  • libertine 8y ago
    > I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite remember why. I think it's the unfolding of someone who sought knowledge and enlightenment throughout his life and the feeling of impotence he felt when sharing knowledge that can only be transmitted/obtained through life experiences. You have to live life in order to be enlighted. He always "knew it" in reality, but he didn't have the life experience to really know it. Elders knowledge won't do it - you can't live/experience life through others experiences/knowledge. After some age, I think we tend to relate to this because we recall people trying to pass knowledge to us and it never clicked until we lived such events. After that, everything gets a new dimension.
    • stnmtn 8y ago
• Majestic121 8y ago
  The Enchiridion of Epictetus is one of the main books of stoicism. It has really changed the way I see life and face adversity. It is very short and easy to read, despite being quite old, and contains actual down to earth wisdom about life It somehow goes quite well with the teachings of Frankl, if you replace "God" by meaning.
  • Y_Y 8y ago
    https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45109/45109-h/45109-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45109/45109-h/45109-h.htm > With regard to whatever objects either delight the mind or contribute to use or are tenderly beloved, remind yourself of what nature they are, beginning with the merest trifles: if you have a favorite cup, that it is but a cup of which you are fond of—for thus, if it is broken, you can bear it; if you embrace your child or your wife, that you embrace a mortal—and thus, if either of them dies, you can bear it. Some of the advice is sublime, like this. (And some isn't, but it's a book worth reading.)
  • JasonFruit 8y ago
    I modernized a public-domain translation of Epictetus and had a nice printing done for my nephew's graduation. It's an amazing book on how to live. Marcus Aurelius's Meditations reads like the daily thoughts of someone attempting to live according to Epictetus's handbook. (Obviously, they're both Stoic works, but they make a better pairing than that alone would make you expect.)
• exelius 8y ago
  The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus.
• leksak 8y ago
  Flowers for Algernon, without a shadow of a doubt, had a huge impact on how I regard intelligence in others and myself, and it also put the pursuit of success into a new context for me. Lastly, it made me evaluate the prospects one has going into life, with respect to what is (and isn't) under once's control.
  • klibertp 8y ago
    Honestly, "Flowers for Algernon" is the most frightening story I ever read. It made me realize that whatever intelligence I have right now I got basically by accident and that I may lose it at any time. There's nothing I can do to prevent this and - in case it happens - (EDIT: in the end) I won't even recognize what I lost. The only thing I can do is to leave some kind of a mark on the world, right now, before it happens. It turned out to be a great motivation for doing creative stuff - in my case, I chose to write things, blog posts, articles, pet project write-ups, things like this. Definitely one of the most impactful stories I've ever read.
    • skookumchuck 8y ago
      > I won't even recognize what I lost Alzheimer's victims know what they lost, until rather late in the disease. It's part of what makes it a hell.
      • drhodes 8y ago
        A demonstration: This American Life, https://www.thisamericanlife.org/583/itll-make-sense-when-youre-older https://www.thisamericanlife.org/583/itll-make-sense-when-yo... Act Four, A physicist with dementia details the process of understanding an analog clock.
      • taneq 8y ago
        My maternal grandparents both went that way. Apparently long after they were both essentially 'gone' the nursing home staff would occassionally find them in the main living area, late at night after everyone was meant to be asleep, dancing together. Clearly something of their former selves remained.
• galfarragem 8y ago
  If a "life-shattering crisis that completely wrecked my world view" means a breakup definitely read "No More Mr. Nice Guy" from Robert Glover.
  • taneq 8y ago
    I hung out on the forums for that book for a while. Helped me on my path, there were a lot of hard but important truths there.
• trumbitta2 8y ago
  Jonathan Livingston Seagull
• cdiamand 8y ago
  Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
• john37386 8y ago
  Maybe you can start from scratch with the root foundation of your personnality. Sometimes we don't understand why we react to some situations. So, I did this Myer Brigg online test at 16personalities.com I red the description of my personality and it was like reading in my head. I bought the longer version and it really helped me better understand myself. Hope it can help you too. ENTP
  • chrisvalleybay 8y ago
    I just want to add something. I, too, took a lot of personality tests 4-5 years ago. Briefly got a bit obsessed with them, particularly MBTI (Meyers-Briggs). The problem with these tests is that they play on the archetypes that we would like to be. Also, the minutia of being a living person can not be captured by a system with so few inputs. Anyhow, I still think it was very helpful, because it got me started on a track. Exploring intuition vs. sensing, thinking vs. feeling got me thinking about who I was, and how I respond to things. I wouldn't have been as rigorous was it not for the fact that I constantly thought about what my 4-letter combination was. I've probably thought I was 8 of them during my studies. Always an intuitive, though. What I think is particularly bad with these tests are the way they highlight the personality's shortcomings or dificulties. They are portrayed as the opposites to the good parts of the personality, that you already resonate with. Since you resonate so much with the good parts, you can sort of logically repulse the shortcomings as "that's just the way I am", and then sort of brush it off. At least I found it to be the case. Anyhow, I recommend the MBTI still, since it is what got me started on this track, and I've never been the same after spending the past 5 years introspecting.
    • john37386 8y ago
      Like you said it's a good starting point. I wouldn't take all that is written for granted, but hey! We are at least 2 that agree that there is something to start your introspection in there. It's very easy to read also.
  • exelius 8y ago
    It’s better to think of MB as a menu than as a deterministic thing. Many people shift between different types depending on context. For example, I’m a solid, hardcore ENTJ at work but a sensitive-flower INFP at home — it’s hard to get much more diametrically opposed than that. IMO the “intuitive/sensing” dimension is the only one that is close to “innate” since it just describes how you make inferences and decisions. The rest change based on context. It’s almost better to look at the “16 personalities” as the different mindsets people can come from. MB tests are useful, but take them with a grain of salt. It’s not some innate thing that you can’t change.
• FundThrowaway 8y ago
  Seneca's Dialogues, I can't recommend them enough
• xkgt 8y ago
  Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Just a simple premise of looking at ourselves from the eyes of another species opens up a lot of introspection about every action by mankind that we take for granted.
• mountbranch 8y ago
  - Gödel, Escher, Bach, Douglas Hofstadter - Principles, Ray Dalio - L'Etranger, Albert Camus - Les Fleurs du Mal, Charles Baudelaire - The Dao of Capital, Mark Spitznagel - Howl, Allen Ginsberg - On the Road, Jack Kerouac I could go on and on...
  • DLA 8y ago
    Totally agree with mountbranch here. Principles is fantastic. At the same time you may read and think "sure, common sense" but then did you think that before you read the item -- probably not. I feel this is a book to keep for a lifetime. Can't wait for Ray's economics book. Cool animated summary here: https://www.principles.com/principles-for-success/ https://www.principles.com/principles-for-success/ The Dao of Capital is deeper. The chapter on Conifers (yeah, pine trees) and how they exist with and balance times of trouble versus opportunity is well worth the price of the book. Also, and not least, Nassim Taleb's books: Fooled By Randomness, Black Swan, and Anti-fragile. Poetic, deep, useful, and entertaining. Fantastic. A pleasure to read and listen to in audio while driving/traveling.
    • shansense 8y ago
      Second this. Taleb's Black Swan and Spitznagel's Dao of Capital especially were extremely thought provoking and have changed the course of my life. I read them every year at least.
• madads 8y ago
  The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Promoting “breathing” without thinking and not taking your thoughts too seriously has got me through a lot of emotional turmoil and “life situations”. Incredible even 5 years later.
  • emodendroket 8y ago
    I completely hated this book.
    • bambataa 8y ago
      Why so? It appears to be in vogue at the moment but it doesn’t seem to be saying anything novel.
      • emodendroket 8y ago
        As you allude to, the basic idea is the same stuff you've heard if you've read anything about "mindfulness." Basically a lite Buddhism -- a lot of your unhappiness comes from a constant spigot of unbidden thought you can't shut off and you can improve your life by learning how to shut it off and be absolutely focused in the present moment, through exercises like meditation. I think this is a bit oversold but not bad. But that's not really enough to have a media empire and series of books, so the book is larded with all kinds of ridiculous claims, including risible Biblical exegesis, an attribution of various historical atrocities live Kristallnacht to a failure to like In the Now, an extended discourse about how living In the Now can make menstruation a rapturous experience rather than a painful one, and obviously bogus claims about how living In the Now will actually cause the molecules of your body to spread out and make your body less dense.
        • fsloth 8y ago
          I found Mr. Tolle's visualization of the pain body an extremely helpful tool to get me through extreme stress time and again. I think these things, when moving beyond basic limbic system hacking like deep breathing, are highly personal, so YMMV. I agree it has the tepid undertones you imply, but did not devalue the book since the one tool it provided me with has served me so well.
• monster_group 8y ago
  "If you're so smart why aren't you happy?" by Raj Raghunathan. Very practical book on being happy rather than pursuing happiness.
• krueger71 8y ago
  The Three Pillars of Zen by Roshi Philip Kapleau
• Simpliplant 8y ago
  Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn - great book about mindfulness written in a style that's very easy to digest.
• smarri 8y ago
  Christopher Hitchens - God is Not Great
• jimhefferon 8y ago
  I have learned things from some of the ones mentioned. But I also have one that is a bit different than the others here so far. In 2001 I came down with a heart condition. I was 42, had two young kids, a good job, and basically did not know what to do. Spent a lot of nights up at 2 am. I read through the Aubrey-Maturin series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series. On their face, they form an adventure series of historical novels (they fit into a category that Great Britian has, naval fiction). But it seemed to me then and still seems to me now that they are literature, an extended meditation on what it means to be a man. In any event, they fitted my circumstances. I learned a great deal. They helped me. (I advise starting with the second one, Post Captain.)
  • elcapitan 8y ago
    Interesting - those are the books that the "Master and Commander" movie is based on. I liked that movie, is it close to the books?
    • jimhefferon 8y ago
      I enjoyed the movie a great deal I thought it was as true to the series as was realistic for a hollywood enterprise. But I don't think a person would get much sense of the books from the movie, just as a person would not get all that much sense of an Austen from a hollywood version. (BTW, that's why I suggest the second book in the series for a first try. It is much more like the rest of the series than the first book, in my opinion.)
      • elcapitan 8y ago
        Thanks!
• taylodl 8y ago
  1. Gödel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid 2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 3. Siddhartha 4. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind 5. The Blind Watchmaker
• taneq 8y ago
  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
• talkingtab 8y ago
  "On Becoming a Person" by Carl Rogers, not so much the content, but because the concept is foundational. And "Hidden Order" by John Holland provides a lens for our social existence. They changed how I see myself and how I see my place in the world.
• holri 8y ago
  http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/essays-6733/1 http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/essays-6733/1 http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/des-kaisers-marcus-aurelius-antonius-selbstbetrachtungen-1479/1 http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/des-kaisers-marcus-aurelius... http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/handbuchlein-der-moral-7739/1 http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/handbuchlein-der-moral-7739...
• godelmachine 8y ago
  1) All of Robin Sharma's books - especially The Monk who sold his Ferrari 2) The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell 3) Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson 4) The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius 5) Barking up the wrong tree by Eric Barker 6) This might be strange - but Harry Potter series also teach us a lot, especially about Courage and Conviction.
• jm__87 8y ago
  A lot of people here are offering up books with life advice (though I saw a recommendation for Sapiens which I can also highly recommend) which may or may not help depending on what your problem is. Why not just practice introspection daily through meditation instead? For some motivation and evidence on what it can do for you, I'd recommend "Why Buddhism is True". In spite of its title, the book aims to give some logic behind mindfulness meditation. If specifically you have been dealing with chronic low mood as a result of your life shattering crisis, I'd also recommend "The Mindful Way Through Depression". If that isn't an issue for you, I personally enjoy Jon Kabat Zinn's writing in general so I'd research and pick up one of his books. Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield are some others in this field who have a lot of experience teaching mindfulness meditation in a Western context and have a lot of very useful advice when it comes to practicing mindfulness meditation. There is another popular "how to meditate" book out there called The Mind Illuminated which I see recommended on HN every now and then, though I personally feel it is a bit overkill (it is more of a textbook). With regard to Alan Watts, I've only read "The Wisdom of Insecurity" and personally found it to be a waste of time and money, though I guess you can read it online for free so that saves you the money at least :).
• cocktailpeanuts 8y ago
  "Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics" by Henry Stuart Hazlitt. The title doesn't do it justice because it sounds so cliche, but once you read it, you'll actually agree that this DOES cover everything you need to know about economics (although heavily biased towards austrian economics than keynesian) Also an important side effect: You'll realize how economics is not just some boring, esoteric, and impractical stuff that you'll never need to deal with in your life, but actually essential in designing complex systems.
  • Kevin_S 8y ago
    I could've written this exact comment after I read this book, but I actually wouldn't recommend this. I read it right before I did my economics degree, and it really warped my view of the "right way" to think about econ. It does give you a starting point, but the Austrian view isn't in the mainstream for a reason. It introduces just a bit too much bias into novice readers for my taste.
    • cocktailpeanuts 8y ago
      I think this cuts both ways. In my case I came from the opposite direction. The first time I learned economics was through conventional lens of what's considered as the "norm" in modern economics, where Austrian economics is largely dismissed for the reason you point out. All economics books do cover Austrian economics but they are still biased against them so if you're a newbie, you come away thinking "OK these classical and Austrian economics theories are interesting in theory but I guess practically they don't work and it's outdated and nowadays it's all about Keynesian". So coming from this point of view, reading this book did open my eyes, even though I knew exactly what the book talks about even before reading the book. I guess the general tone of the book was very effective in giving me a balanced point of view, since I at the time had a biased view towards Keynesian. My current point of view is that there is no right or wrong answer, but there is only difference in context. In certain contexts Austrian way of thinking makes more sense, in certain contexts Keynesian makes more sense. But it's looking more and more likely that it's time for Austrian economics to shine in the next decade, because of trends like globalization, increasing chaos in the world, and cryptocurrency.
• vbsteven 8y ago
  * Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig * The miracle of mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hanh * Letters from a stoic - Seneca * Amusing ourselves to death (Neil Postman) (combined with 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Huxley) * Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki * Walden - Henry David Thoreau
• nexensis 8y ago
  Seneca - On the Shortness of Life Although it can be read in an hour or two, it completely rewrote the way I approach life – particularly by reframing procrastination and idleness. "You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire"
• BreakfastB0b 8y ago
  “The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus, if you find yourself worrying about existential nihilism then this is the book for you. I found it extremely useful after an intense psychedelic experience. The School of Life has a good overview of his brand of existentialism here https://youtu.be/jQOfbObFOCw https://youtu.be/jQOfbObFOCw
• TheAceOfHearts 8y ago
  The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt. This book had a big impact on me; it definitely made me re-evaluate how I was approaching things like politics and religion.
• adjkant 8y ago
  Vonnegut when read carefully. Slaughterhouse-Five, Galapagos, and Sirens of Titan are three of the better ones I have read. They all connect tangentially to the same universe, so reading more Vonnegut also has cool pay-offs and tie-ins.
• mhasbini 8y ago
  "The Art of Thinking Clearly" by Rolf Dobelli: It explains some concepts that I've been thinking about but can't directly name.
• I_complete_me 8y ago
  I wanted to answer "How to make yourself introspect" but I'll mention "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" which actually did.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• jpamata 8y ago
  1. A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine -my first introduction to stoicism. 2. Mastery by Robert Greene -stories about the lives of luminaries such as Henry Ford, Michael Faraday, and Da Vinci on what it takes to be successful. 3. Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger -for providing me a new mental framework on building discipline and confidence. 4. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain -for giving me a paradigm shift on how to think about myself and others. 5. Seeking Wisdom From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin -a compendium of cognitive biases and mental models.
• deleted 8y ago
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• AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  You know, thinking back, I think the books that most inspired me philosophically were actually fiction. Specifically, I think Terry Pratchett wrote some remarkably insightful things underneath all the entertaining characters and narrative.
• albertkoz 8y ago
  Antifragile by Nassim Taleb - This book made me rethink a lot of the things in my life.
  • miketek11 8y ago
    Only book I've gone back to re-read as soon as I've finished. Halfway through Skin in the Game, and I expect I'll do the same with this one.
    • monster_group 8y ago
      I thought of buying this book but it seems very similar to 'Antifragile' - so I am not sure if it is worth reading. In fact I think all his books are very similar. Now he is just milking his success by churning out books with the same message.
      • juskrey 8y ago
        No
• jonbaer 8y ago
  Entanglement by Amir Aczel
• martin-adams 8y ago
  The books which I have read which have had a profound impact on how I think and improve what I do are: 1. Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us - Daniel H. Pink 2. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth 3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck - Mark Manson 4. Be Obsessed or Be Average - Grant Cardone 5. High Performance Habits - Brendon Burchard 6. The Obesity Code - Jason Fung The summary of what I've taken out of this is really fall in love with the intrinsic reward of doing things, take on the challenge but work at it pragmatically and patiently. It's okay to be a little crazed at what you want, do it for you, and always reflect, learn, adapt and try again.
• davidgould 8y ago
  Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English. This book is wonderfully calming, don't worry about what it means, just soak in it. I'll also add another vote for The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus and for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. On a darker note, if you had any illusions left, Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
• nsomaru 8y ago
  Read in this order: 1. The Fall of the Human Intellect 2. The Holocaust of Attachment 3. The Vedanta Treatise The author for them all is 'A. Parthasarathy.' The books are meant as a course of study, coupled with reflection in the morning between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. This systematic approach eradicates ignorance in its three stages, viz: - "I do not know" - "I do not understand" - "I do not experience" By their three antidotes; Reading/Hearing, Reflection, Meditation. It is interesting to note that these are effective practices for gaining almost any sort of knowledge, in steps which gradually bridge between you, the seeker, and the object which is sought (the known). Good luck!
• drosan 8y ago
  Jack London, "Martin Eden".
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
• novalis78 8y ago
  “How to get what you want”, by Raymond Hull. (Most effective self help book) “A moral animal”, by Robert Wright. (Evolutionary Psychology overview - will change your view on life)
• emodendroket 8y ago
  If I'm being honest, I read a lot of books, but the only one I can think of really substantially changing my worldview was the Bible. Since you probably do not want to read the entire thing I am particularly a fan of Ecclesiastes, and maybe you could try some of the gospels if you still have steam after that.
  • jkingsbery 8y ago
    A couple related suggestions: - https://www.amazon.com/Seeking-God-Way-St-Benedict/dp/0814613888/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://www.amazon.com/Seeking-God-Way-St-Benedict/dp/081461... - If you're religious, this book is great. If you're not, I think you can still take away from it the values of balance in life, being open to life's changes, and doing daily routines with love. - https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Storey-Mountain-Thomas-Merton/dp/0156010860 https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Storey-Mountain-Thomas-Merton/d... - It's meant by the author as a sort of confessions for the 20th century. Also, Merton lived a pretty interesting life, so it's an entertaining story from that stand point. Generally, what I've found is that most helpful introspection books say a lot about getting out of one's own head and focusing on one's relationship with others (and, for the religious, one's relationship with God).
    • emodendroket 8y ago
      Interesting suggestions. I actually read Saint Augustine's Confessions, which was an interesting book in that parts were very poignant and parts were really kind of ponderous considerations of, like, the nature of time.
  • WhompingWindows 8y ago
    How did it change your worldview? I tried to start it and couldn't get into it, despite knowing it's important to 40% of the world and is referenced in other sources very commonly.
    • emodendroket 8y ago
      Well, I went from being curious to read it for the reasons you mentioned to being a practicing Christian. I just ended up finding it a compelling sort of moral system to think about the universe, I suppose. It took getting to the New Testament before I thought of it as anything more than a curiosity, though. There are definitely parts that are a slog, especially in the Old Testament, and just picking it up and reading it be tough, especially since it's so long. You might enjoy just starting with a more focused set of books -- as I mentioned, Ecclesiastes is great. Job is another well-loved bit of wisdom literature. Mark is the shortest gospel and a primary source for two of the others (also, because it was written for a gentile audience, it doesn't assume a lot of familiarity with the OT the way something like Matthew does). Esther and Judges are two that I think are good just from a narrative/excitement perspective.
• spodek 8y ago
  I'll answer your question first, then suggest something I consider more important, having survived several life-shattering crises. - The Tao Te Ching, especially Ron Hogan's translation (freely downloadable here: http://beatrice.com/wordpress/tao-te-ching http://beatrice.com/wordpress/tao-te-ching) - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby - Getting Things Done, David Allen - Gimp, Marc Zupan - Thinking in Systems, Donella Meadows - Leadership Step by Step, Joshua Spodek (full disclosure: me, https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/dp/0814437931 https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/...) The suggestion I consider more valuable is to focus more on active behavior than relatively passive reading. Of course, still read. But it's easy to read more and more, telling yourself you're getting more perspective. You are, but nothing changes your perspective like actually moving. Even if you don't know what will work best -- meditation, fitness, art, music, travel, cooking, gardening, starting a business, etc -- starting with something, even if you soon abandon it, will lead you to things you love and that develop you faster than reading alone. Plus activity will make what you read more meaningful. I include my book because it's specifically a book of exercises that lead to developing social and emotional skills designed to build on each other.
  • Jun8 8y ago
    > more valuable is to focus more on active behavior than relatively passive reading This, I believe, is the true answer to the OPs question. I suffer from an illusion, very common I think, that in order to get better at something, be it C++, life, or interactions with your SO, one has to first collect information and experiences from other people. Not that this is the wrong thing to do, but it has to be interleaved with acting on the information. Think of reading books (or, in general, information collection) as earning money. What are you going to do with all that money in the bank? It's a means, right? To what end? A quote I repeat many times a year from to myself _why: "When you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability."
• covermydonkey 8y ago
  Don't waste your life - John Piper
• paulmatthijs 8y ago
  Give and Take by Adam Grant - even after a few years, it still causes me to constantly reflect on my own actions’ motive and if they’re “otherish” or not. Getting Things Done - not the method but the insight that you can’t manage time, only your actions. And that it’s OK not do to anything without having to make excuses to yourself. The 2nd and 3rd Ender novels - Ramen and Varelse are concepts that apply to vega/veganism from a completely different angle. It’s not an intended metaphor I think, but it applies to my life on a personal leve; (I’m not vegan, my wife is).
  • hosh 8y ago
    Yeah, I ended up liking the 2nd and 3rd Ender novels more, particularly as I grew older.
• s_kilk 8y ago
  I'm currently picking my way through Deleuze & Guattari's "Anti-Oedipus". It's slow going, but I think this one's given me the most material to reflect on out of any book I've read so far.
• miketek11 8y ago
  The big ones for me: 1) Antifragile by Taleb (Skin in the Game is so far excellent as well) 2) The Border Trilogy by McCarthy 3) The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky 4) East of Eden by Steinbeck 5) Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut
  • volkl48 8y ago
    Taleb's books are something I almost hate to recommend. I don't like a lot of his attitude (arrogance) and I'm not sure I'd call them all that well written either. He likes to ramble and seems to cram as many "SAT words" as possible into his writing, even when simpler/more commonly used words would done the job just as well. With that said, they're some of the books that have made me reconsider the world around me the most and he has a very interesting take on the world.
• jrs235 8y ago
  Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• pella 8y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel) + Theory of Constraints
• Brometheus 8y ago
  Smalltalk-80: The language and its implementation.
• teddyh 8y ago
  I keep coming across this blog post, and each time I read it, I find myself liking it: 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/ http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-yo...
  • sampl 8y ago
    Some good points that article, but the “ABC” speech in Glengarry Glenn Ross is not a good compass to guide your life.
    • teddyh 8y ago
      Firstly, the article is about much more than just the ABC speech. Read the whole thing, and don’t get hung up on that example this time. Secondly, the ABC speech (referred to in the article) isn’t meant to be a “compass”, it’s meant to be a motivating speech. (Using threats and abuse, granted.) Note that the speech contains no actual guides, tips, or instructions on how to sell real estate. It’s essentially (paraphrasing) “Do it or you’re fired.” and “I could do it easily, so if you cant do it, you must suck.” It may not be the best way to convey this particular message in most cases, but I could imagine situations in which it was suitable. Your off-target criticism of the article by criticizing the ABC speech for something it isn’t reminds me of when the article much later says “So even now, some of you reading this are feeling your brain bombard you with knee-jerk reasons to reject it.”.
  • PsylentKnight 8y ago
    I first read this article at a young and impressionable age, and I think it has some great points. But I also think I took it too far to heart. I've spent a lot of time acquiring skills and knowledge and a career. But people generally don't care about what you can do, as long as you're above a certain baseline of not being a total loser. They care about how you can make them feel about themselves.
    • teddyh 8y ago
      “Making people feel good about themselves“ is also a skill. It’s useful in almost all aspects of life. Your fault was maybe interpreting the article’s concept of “what you can do for others” a bit too narrowly.
• indescions_2018 8y ago
  Wonderful thread! There is most certainly a canon of "introspection" literature. Required for any one who pays heed to the wisdom of "knowing thyself". Gandhi's Experiments With Truth and St. Augustine's Confessions are perfect examples. Absolute honesty. With the single goal of providing future readers many years hence with some guide points in navigating the seas of life. List of 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/book372.htm https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/book372.htm And just a heads up. This June brings the arrival of another biography I am very much looking forward to. Matt Polly's definitive Bruce Lee: A Life. Perfect summer beach reading to provide the inspiration for a commitment to discipline! https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Life-Matthew-Polly/dp/1501187627 https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Life-Matthew-Polly/dp/15011...
• aizatto 8y ago
  I can say I've got through something similar. A book that made me very introspective was David Brook's The Road To Character . It made me ask my self a lot of questions which I have documented here https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/55/david-brooks-humility-code-from-the-road-to-character/ https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/55/david-brooks-humi... Another book was Paul Kalanathi's When Breath Becomes Air I also copied some quotes, questions, and answers here https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/135/paul-kalanithis-when-breath-becomes-air/ https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/135/paul-kalanithis-... I'd recommend reading biographies because they can help you give perspective about how a person leads their life. The ones I found thoroughly fun was Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, Phil Knight's Shoe Dog.
• hprotagonist 8y ago
  Ecclesiastes. (and the other Wisdom books) Kierkegaard’s Either/Or Thoreau’s Walden William Stringfellow’s Impostors of God: Inquiries into Favorite Idols ... and any good poetry.
• andersthue 8y ago
  The most important book I have read currently is “The Anatomy of Peace” by the arbinger institute. This book teaches me how to stay out of interpersonal conflicts and become a person pthers want to be together with. “Crucial Conversations” is another really important book that teaches how to safely deal with very hard conversations. For my own personal development/relationship with women I must say that “No more mister nice guy” and “the way of the superior man” has both helped me. Lastly the letting go e-book by Leo Babauta from zenhabits also is really good.
• JohnDoe_ 8y ago
  I highly recommend you read the Bible, it teaches a lot about love and faith in a higher being who is looking out for you. I suggest you start reading from the new testament because we can relate more with it. It changed my life.
• chandu1504 8y ago
  The Supreme Yoga: A New Translation of the Yoga Vasistha by Swami Venkatesananda. The content is very dense. Even the author recommends reading one page per day. It helped me in bringing a very different perspective to life and reality. I highly recommend it amongst my circle. p.s: The content has nothing to do with religion or yoga or mythology. Just go with the flow.
• hebrew 8y ago
  The Path of the Just
• gtycomb 8y ago
  Such introspection for me began at the end of my college days – Books and essays by Herman Hess, Camus, and Kafka. Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann was a high point. Its interesting that its these books that prepared me for the Bible, to start understanding it an entirely new way. But dont miss reading Steinbeck :-)
• lnkmails 8y ago
  A conflict of visions, Sapiens, Crime and Punishment and http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenitsynharvard.htm http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenits.... I've always been introspective but also was significantly less open minded than I imagined myself to be. These books opened me up to experience introspection in better ways. I think Solzhenitsyn's address is the one that really made a huge difference. My Russian boss pointed me to it :).
• sevensor 8y ago
  Since nobody's recommended The Prophet yet, I'll give it a mention. In my circles, and maybe yours, it's become a bit of a bad joke, the kind of thing that gets mined for quotes to read at a wedding. But while it's quite brief, it covers all the big themes in life, and whether you agree with it or not it can give you a structure for thinking about them.
  • hosh 8y ago
    An Austrailian friend of mine gave the book to me as a gift. The words might be mined for quotes, but when it is fresh, and when approached with an open mind, it's got a lot of wisdom. In my local circle, I don't know anyone who has ever read it :-) Someone else that seems to be similar -- J Krishtamurti. I haven't had a chance to really dive deep, but the few talks of his I have heard in pieces were all pretty awesome.
• koonsolo 8y ago
  Welcome to the club! The same happened to me 3 years ago. At that time I also started reading "Man's search for meaning". The following book had the biggest impact on my world view: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation, by Thich Nhat Hanh I personally don't believe in any religious things, and I still don't. But now I look at the world differently. Buddhism is know for reincarnation, which looks a bit silly to me. But as this book points out, it is not reincarnation, but rebirth in (Zen) Buddhism. Both are completely different. There is nothing silly about rebirth, and it's actually more accurate that how we, as individualistic westerners, view the world. As someone who loves science, after reading this book, I have a more realistic view on the world than I had before, and than most of my rational friends right now. The (Zen) Buddhism in this book is not so much a religion with believes, but more a philosophy on how to look at life and the world.
• bmpafa 8y ago
  All of these are novels. In my 20s I felt guilty and frivolous for reading fiction, but eventually I realized I could learn a lot more walking in a protagonist's shoes than I could reading self help etc. 'My Struggle' by knausgard. Lengthy but worth it, even if you only read book 1. On face it's just the angst of some middle class writer, but following him into the recesses of his own introspection is really something. The borderlands trilogy, Cormac McCarthy. This guy tackles major existential questions in his fairly simple (but dark) stories. it'd help to have basic grasp of Spanish for these books And maybe my favorite book, Lullabies for little criminals by Heather O'Neill. It's about a little girl who's being raised by a junky and is coerced into prostitution. Obviously a very dark premise, but the way the protagonist experiences it made me think a lot about resilience, relative hardship,etc.
  • gajjanag 8y ago
    Fiction is in general severely underrated among STEM people today, with many arguing for how it is a waste of time, etc. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an environment where I had good access to it, and a healthy level of support for my interest. THe thing I find funny about this is that many of the "STEM legends" such as von Neumann, Ulam, Einstein and others had read a lot of classical literature. Einstein himself is quoted saying: "Dostoevsky gives me more than any scientist, more than Gauss." I just make sure I give this quote only when there are no number theorists in the room. Sure, if one just confines oneself to the "popular" works on a standard YA list, it may be reasonable to conclude that some fiction is not worth reading for a STEM person. However, the classics are classics for a reason after all. Moreover, it is also not implausible that a discerning eye can find plenty of great worth in modern authors as well, something the parent has done.
    • internetman55 8y ago
      If someone in real life told me that fiction is not worth the time, I'd instantly write him off as at best a moron who has mastered some technical skills. Edit: he may manage to become not a moron in the future, I just mean that I would proceed under the assumption that he is at this time a moron.
    • 8y ago
• elidourado 8y ago
  Every chance I get, I sing the praises of Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. It sounds like you could use it. Good luck!
• sunstone 8y ago
  "Consilience" by E.O. Wilson (Nobel Prize winner). A small book, with simple sentences and a lot of ideas you won't have thought of.
• tryonqc 8y ago
  Book: Vagabonding: an uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel. Why ? Opened a world of possibilities to me. Changed my mindset on a lot of topics. His books don't offer many answers, but helped me put my goals / life into perspective. excerpt: “There is still an overwhelming social compulsion — an insanity of consensus, if you will — to get rich from life rather than live richly, to “do well” in the world instead of living well. And, in spite of the fact that America is famous for its unhappy rich people, most of us remain convinced that just a little more money will set life right. In this way, the messianic metaphor of modern life becomes the lottery — that outside chance that the right odds will come together to liberate us from financial worries once and for all. Fortunately, we were all born with winning tickets — and cashing them in is a simple matter of altering our cadence as we walk through the world.” there's a full free chapter on Tim's website: https://tim.blog/2010/05/12/living-well-vs-doing-well/ https://tim.blog/2010/05/12/living-well-vs-doing-well/
  • always_good 8y ago
    Vagabonding and Tim's book planted the seed that is responsible for my immigration to Mexico. I'm not yet successful on the front of making money off my own projects, but I was successful in pulling the trigger and finding my own adventure in life instead of feeling like I was slaving away.
• senatorobama 8y ago
  Bhagavadgita Act now to establish Dharma.
  • kr4 8y ago
    I'd recommend this translation/commentary: Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Rama https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PK14SA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PK14SA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• kyoob 8y ago
  "Finite and Infinite Games" by James Carse. Makes me think a lot about the rat race versus a life lived for a higher purpose. My copy is pretty worn out from my carrying it around a rereading it. If you like graphic novels, the ending of "Asterios Polyp" made me gasp and put the book down and walk outside to mull it all over.
  • z5h 8y ago
    I've bought, read, given "Finite and Infinite Games" several times. I actually remember the day I bought it (first copy), nearly 20 years ago!
• koolhead17 8y ago
  1. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 2. Total Freedom by J Krisnamurti
• dmux 8y ago
  Ever Wonder Why? by Thomas Sowell Non Violent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
• needz 8y ago
  Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Letters from a Stoic by Seneca. I guess you could say any book on Stoicism, really, as the others I would mention also fit that bill.
  • jonathansorum 8y ago
    Meditations easily has my highest rate of highlighted words in relation to total book length. Seems like every page (almost) has some eternal and profound in it.
  • Isamu 8y ago
    I became interested in Marcus Aurelius when Hannibal admonished Agent Starling to read him.
  • JoshMnem 8y ago
    A Marcus Aurelius quote changed my life when I was a teenager. It was something like, "it is not dying that a man should fear, but a man should fear never having lived at all." From that point, I pushed myself to live -- got seriously into primitive technology and wilderness survival, traveled to many parts of the world, and did many other things that I previously wasn't able to do. I just found my old copy of Meditations in a box yesterday and plan on reading it again.
• Zaheer 8y ago
  The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Especially interesting read in today's political climate - pivotal nonetheless
  • swagtricker 8y ago
    I tried. Twice. As a privileged white man in America trying to understand the black experience. However, I could only get about 2/3 of the way through before giving up. I empathized with his early agony and injustice, but the fact that he turned it into a hate for white people and a religious fixation was way too much for me. In the end I saw the only difference between his view and the views of the Klan was his brought out by personal and systematic suffering. The hate, the bias, the intolerance would have just been a simple copy/paste of terms. I got volumes more out of James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time".
    • Isamu 8y ago
      It's worth getting all the way through. He becomes transformed at a certain point, and realizes his earlier beliefs were wrong. Malcolm wanted to delete or revise the earlier part of the book at that point but Alex Haley prevailed to keep it as it was.
    • BeetleB 8y ago
      I guess you didn't get to the point where he says: >There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white. >You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth. >During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug)--while praying to the same God--with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the actions in the deeds of the 'white' Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana. >But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth--the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to...A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a 'white' man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors--honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King--not a Negro. (Above are snippets from a letter he wrote. The different portions I quoted are non-contiguous). On his return from that trip he said in a press conference that he is willing to put aside his differences with others and is willing to work with anyone who is dedicated to improving the lives of African Americans. What I found impressive about him was how much he had changed, and continued to change, throughout his life. He was a deeply introspective person, and continued to refine his thoughts. He was a high school dropout who lived a fairly pathetic lifestyle. And then during his time in prison he decided to make something out of himself. It's impressive how much he changed for the better. I am a very well educated person, but I struggle to achieve what he did in terms of how articulate he became. And most people I personally know simply do not have the courage to continually evaluate their beliefs and change them. Much of it may have been fueled by hate, but it's also clear his greater goal was always to improve the lives of his kind - hatred was merely a strategy towards that goal. And at some point he realized it didn't need to be part of that goal. Over a decade ago I had to go on a multi-day road trip and needed something to listen to. So I downloaded all the speeches I could find of his, sorted them chronologically, and listened to them. In some ways they were more impressive than what you see in the book. And the transformation over the years is quite apparent. One other thing that stood out was how well informed he seemed to be about foreign affairs - something neither the book nor the movie points out. He was quite critical of US foreign policy. And he was very skilled at pointing out hypocrisies of the government very openly - something very few people do these days, and frankly, the likely reason many people idolize him. Of course, he had his flaws - you can find them in Manning Marable's book. His trajectory in a continual positive direction, though, was impressive. He died before he reached his 40th birthday. I have little doubt that he lived another decade or two and had continued on his path of self improvement, he would be a much more revered figure than he is.
• conwy 8y ago
  Only a quarter through Satya Nadella's 'Hit Refresh' and it's already giving me food for thought.
• gadders 8y ago
  Charisma - How to get that special magic by Marcia Grad. I'd probably think it was corny as anything now but it helped a lacking in confidence teenager become somewhat less so. How to Win Friends and Influence People - made me realise that 99.99% of anything you want to to do, you have to do by working through other people, and the best way to do that 99.99% of the time is to befriend and get on with people as far as possible. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay - Just a great story about a young, bullied kid in South Africa who learns to box. Lives of the Greeks and Romans by Plutarch - shows you that human nature hasn't changed much in 2,000 years.
• catchmeifyoucan 8y ago
  Night. Elie Weasel. Its a memoir of his experience during the holocaust. Makes us value life more the way we have it. Raises the bar for what is our purpose and speaking out against injustice.
• bsrhng 8y ago
  Oliver Sacks' 'The man who mistook his wife for a hat' made me think how much of what I assume is inseparable to my internal experience is really something I take for granted. I haven't finished it but Foucault's 'Archaeology of knowledge' is enlightening in many ways not least because of its precise language on transformations of fields of knowledge.
• catchmeifyoucan 8y ago
  Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is also a great one. It's about a search for understanding "what does it mean to be truly free". Siddhartha is brahmin(upper caste Hindu) and he gives up his life in search for meaning. The most relatable parts are the questions he asks.
• kaycebasques 8y ago
  The Selfish Gene. Picturing myself purely as a machine for propagating my genes was quite the perspective shift. +1 for Man’s Search For Meaning. Lord of the Flies. Amazing that this is assigned reading in middle school (or high school). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Really drove home the importance of paying attention to language and framing. Moby Dick. I’m amazed at myself for reading this on my own in high school. There’s something about that era of sea travel that speaks to my soul. 6 Pillars Of Self-Esteem. This was a HN recommendation. I’ve been doing the sentence completion exercises for about 6 months, and it’s been astounding to palpably feel my self-awareness increase. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Discusses the underlying group dynamics that influence the progress of science. A Fire Upon The Deep. Just an amazing work of sci-fi exploring the internal logic of radically different forms of intelligence. The Sane Society. It’s liberating to reflect on some of the crazy things that capitalism pressures us to do. The Power Of Now. I think I might have some more issues if I re-read it, but it undoubtedly had a huge impact on me and made me introspect deeply and finally “get” meditation.
• lazerpants 8y ago
  John Updike's Rabbit series. In particular, Rabbit Redux.
• narwally 8y ago
  Free Will (Hacket Readings In Philosophy): https://www.amazon.com/Free-Will-Hackett-Readings-Philosophy/dp/1603841296/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526050035&sr=1-6&keywords=free+will https://www.amazon.com/Free-Will-Hackett-Readings-Philosophy... It's a fantastic collection of contemporary views on the problem of free will.
• gringoDan 8y ago
  +1 to whoever mentioned Seneca's On the Shortness of Life, or any of the Stoic writings. The Old Man and the Sea. People either love or hate this book, but it had a profound impact on me. The Moral Animal, by Robert Wright. Made me consider how much of human behavior can be explained through evolutionary biology. The Truth, by Neil Strauss. Incredibly vulnerable memoir that will make you reflect on your own relationships and what you want out of them. In general, I think that you can learn much more from classic fiction than any new business book. Books that have been read & discussed for the past 50+ years have much more staying power and timelessness than a TED talk that led to a publishing deal.
  • edanm 8y ago
    > The Old Man and the Sea. Could you share how this impacted you? I'm one of the people on whom this book fell flat.
• fredley 8y ago
  Most recently How Not to be a Boy, by Robert Webb (of Mitchell and Webb, Peep Show fame). An autobiography of his childhood and early career, but also observed through the lens of how masculinity's cultural demands damage men, and those around them. All written by someone who's very funny. He summarises the first few chapters in a brief video, so you have an idea what you're in for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ujt4We82Jk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ujt4We82Jk
  • Insanity 8y ago
    I will check that out. David's autobiography was a bit disappointing to me unfortunately
• anon1253 8y ago
  "The fall" and "The stranger" from Albert Camus, arguably the most accessible cornerstones of Existential philosophy, and they really make you think about your position in this world and as a person. The play "no exit" by Sartre is also very interesting, and works well as the audio version by Partially Examined Life (a philosophy podcast).
• IloveHN84 8y ago
  "i Malavoglia" from Giovanni Verga
• frlnBorg 8y ago
  Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Metamorphosis by Kafka. Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov.
• momentmaker 8y ago
  The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer
• mlboss 8y ago
  Anything by Jiddu Krishnamurti. His work is difficult to understand if you are not into non duality. But once you get the hang of it everything makes sense. His style is highly introspective and forces you to analyze everything. There are also lot of youtube videos with him giving a talk. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jiddu+krishnamurti https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jiddu+krishnamu...
  • antisocial 8y ago
    I was going to say the same thing.. anything by JK. I started reading his books twenty years ago, stopped after a couple of years. He is a constant presence in my daily life.
• lostmsu 8y ago
  Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality of course. It quickly led me to the list of cognitive biases on Wikipedia, which are, basically, the answer to introspection question by definition. The book is here for free: http://www.hpmor.com/ http://www.hpmor.com/
• SippinLean 8y ago
  Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon. A review on Goodreads sums up the introspective qualities quite well: >it is a loping colloquy between Faith and its mate Reason, Free Will and its mate Fate; I read in it that I should make my way West to go with the day, with Time, maturation, aging, having children, the coming of the next generation, the slow fading and dispersal at sunset- and East if I wish to go against the day, into the past, toward morning, the smokeless altars of memory, to youth… where we can’t ever stay for long, because the terrain has started to go missing, there is less firm land under foot to hold and lift us, and our Lines must again resume their inexorable Westerly course...
• king_panic 8y ago
  The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker I was not prepared to read this book when I did, and its ideas have haunted me since. They have kept me awake many a night.
  • steveax 8y ago
    Yes, this book changed how I think about death, and life so much.
• lsaac 8y ago
  Yuval Noah Harari's books, 'Sapiens' and 'Homo Deus' really changed the way I look at things.
  • ASalazarMX 8y ago
    They have a bit of speculation, but if you seek to introspect and challenge your convictions, they're excellent books. 'Sapiens' specially.
• 0xdeadbeefbabe 8y ago
  The New Testament along with some history of the early Christian church in Rome.
• nathas 8y ago
  Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew Crawford. I've often questioned if spending 8+ hours a day writing software was the right thing for me to do, when I get so much more gratification from physically manipulating something. It was a welcomed read.
  • sshine 8y ago
    So did it make you work less than 8+ hours a day?
  • Zanta 8y ago
    I recently read and enjoyed the essay version. Would you recommend the book? Specifically, did you feel that the amount of depth in the book necessitated that format as opposed to an essay? I'm frequently disappointed by really good ideas that could be presented in a dozen pages being stretched to occupy 200 (e.g. Deep Work)
    • gregcoombe 8y ago
      Unfortunately, I found the book version to stretch the concept much too far. He was able to include far more description of how to find pleasure working on physical things, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But it definitely drags when he gets into the philosophical justifications.
• dlwdlw 8y ago
  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as well as Godel, Escher, Bach. Helped me see the limitations of rationality, rigor, and measurement.
  • daveslash 8y ago
    I second this - on both books.
  • levthedev 8y ago
    Two great books.
  • sesteel 8y ago
    Godel, Escher, Bach changed my entire world view.
    • Balgair 8y ago
      How so? I read it, and though very good with the logic/math, I wasn't as moved. I'd love to know more about your journey. Edit: For me 'Information' by Glieck was very good, as it summed up the logical 'journey of man' as a struggle to refine signal to noise. When interpreting math/logic as such, I was floored and a lot of things made more sense to me.
      • sesteel 8y ago
        I read it while in college. It put me into a mental space where I was considering recursion on a universal scale for the first time. I'd never considered, previously, how recursive processes construct everything I see and experience, including my own consciousness. It was the most beautiful idea I'd ever come across and satisfied my need to answer how we came to be.
  • urda 8y ago
    This has been my number one book for pretty much my entire adult life. It's worth the read, 100%.
• carapace 8y ago
  "Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson" G. I. Gurdjieff This is not an easy book. It's not really a book in the traditional sense. It was written: "To destroy, mercilessly, without any compromises whatsoever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything existing in the world." If you try it and it doesn't speak to you, put it aside. (Look for older editions, the new ones have begun to be edited.)
• robtani 8y ago
  The one that comes to mind above all else for me is the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" written by the great Persian mathematician, philosopher, polymath Khayyam in the 11'th century. His perspectives on life and death ever so eloquently painted in words are amazing!! Just wish I could read the original Persian version as I'm sure much is lost in translation.
• fallingfrog 8y ago
  Debt: the first 5000 years by David graeber.
• cnees 8y ago
  The Bible. The book of Mark is a good place to start, or Romans, since you’re more interested in introspection. I’ve been meaning to reread a book by a Holocaust survivor called The Hiding Place.
• coleifer 8y ago
  War and Peace, Tolstoy. There are some tedious passages where Tolstoy develops a theory of history, but the realness of the characters, and their struggles to find themselves, is described better than any other book I've read. It's a beautiful story. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Don't need to be an alcoholic to see that our efforts to run and order our lives often can end up making us more miserable. Read the first 164 pages.
  • lacker 8y ago
    If you liked War and Peace you would probably also like Anna Karenina. Although I might not need to tell you that ;-)
• gorbachev 8y ago
  Principles by Ray Dalio. I worked, somewhat briefly and largely unsuccessfully, at Bridgewater Associates several years ago and while I strongly disagree with the utopian description of BW as a bastion of egoless radical transparency and all the great things that are supposed to come out of that sort of an environment, the book and the principles behind it are really enlightening. I do honestly think if all workplaces operated in the way the book describes there would be more successful companies in the world and happier people working in them.
  • cheez 8y ago
    Working at Bridgewater is kind of like dating a real asshole: it's better if you break it off while the going is good so you can remember the experience fondly.
  • edanm 8y ago
    I'd love to hear more about your time at Bridgewater Associates, if you can share. (Principles is one of my favorite books.)
• react_burger38 8y ago
  I recommend the Book of Mormon as it is one of the most introspective books you can find. It comes across much clearer than many other religious books like the Bible (even though the Bible I recommend as well) because it has a common narrator who fills in the gaps for you and helps you understand the links between stories. It also is fairly scientific in its premise-- if you do an experiment by reading some of it and asking God if it is true, you can receive an answer from God if you ask Him sincerely and are willing to act upon the answer you receive. See Moroni 10:3-5 [1] The Book of Mormon also answers questions like why am I here? [2] and where am I going after I die? [3] A key idea of the Book of Mormon that is reflected many times is the cycle of "pride", where a group of people first humbles themselves, then prospers, then becomes prideful and makes poor choices, forgets love for others, and then falls, then causing the people to humble themselves again and repeat the cycle. Overall I heartily recommend this book. Reading it will make you feel great. [1] https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng [2] https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng [3] https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/40?lang=eng https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/40?lang=eng
  • dmschaab 8y ago
    I'm going to take a page from Bezos and "disagree and upvote". I think the Book of Mormon (which I will hereafter abbreviate as BoM) is worth reading once, even if you are just curious about its contents. But I would not elevate it beyond elaborate fiction as its adherents do. I have been meeting with Mormons from our local ward for several months now, and these are my conclusions after long hours of research into both sides. (Disclaimer: I am a Christian and a staunch advocate of sola scriptura[0]. My opinions are biased.) First, it is important to approach the BoM knowing that it has many problems. If it is divine truth and "the most correct book ever produced", as its author/"translator" Joseph Smith claimed, then its claims about history should be correct. After all, if the Bible says something about an ancient city like Jericho or Jerusalem, we expect to find archaeological evidence to support or refute this claim. When we apply this test to the BoM, we find that its recording of history has no support in archaeology. The MormonThink website (which claims to be objective but tends toward anti-Mormon positions) does a good job of summarizing these issues.[1] And archaeology is just one of the many irreconcilable problems. There are also the problems of geography (no one knows where the events described in the BoM actually took place), language (no evidence of "reformed Egyptian" has ever been found anywhere), and genetics (mitochondrial DNA shows no evidence for migrations of Semitic peoples to the Americas). Mormons defend these points with elaborate, seemingly plausible explanations, but as time goes on the lack of evidence becomes a louder and louder witness against the BoM. Second, the BoM has issues with manuscript reliability. With the New Testament, we have approximately 5,800 manuscripts (varying in length) in the original Greek, and when you add in early translations into Coptic, Aramaic, Syriac, and other languages, we have around 25,000 such fragments. A small number of these fragments can be dated to within 50-150 years of the time of the original writing, which is incredible when compared to contemporary documents and does much to establish credibility. The large number of fragments is important for error correction: when textual variants occur (as they always do), you can usually examine multiple sources to determine what was in the original. For the BoM, on the other hand, we have no original manuscript, no "golden plates" inscribed with "reformed Egyptian". Only a few witnesses were supposedly allowed to see these plates, but whether they saw them with their physical eyes or saw them in a "vision" is up to your interpretation of their testimony. There is a very real possibility that these plates never existed or were merely a forged prop. Furthermore, if these plates did exist and there was only one copy, it would be extremely vulnerable to corruption. Without the source manuscript, we can never be certain that the official English translation (which has received at least 3,913 changes[2] since its original publication in 1830) is accurate. Joseph Smith's ability to translate anything by divine power is already in question because of his incorrect translations of Egyptian papyrus scrolls for the Book of Abraham.[3] Third, and perhaps most importantly, most of what makes Mormons Mormon is, surprisingly, not found in the BoM. Despite being called "the fulness[sic] of the gospel", the BoM fails to talk (in detail or at all) about central Mormon doctrines such as temple ordinances, the celestial kingdom(s), baptism for the dead, and premortal existence. Most of these things are actually found in the later additions, particularly the Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Certain of these newer doctrines actually conflict with the BoM. The BoM, for example, quite clearly supports trinitarian monotheism[4], a doctrine that has existed in Christianity since its inception and was formalized in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. Current Mormon doctrine denies this idea of the Trinity, and gives yet more elaborate explanations in an attempt to reconcile this doctrine with the BoM. This ends up creating more holes than it plugs, and reminds one of the attempts to reconcile the geocentric model of the solar system with observational data by simply adding more epicycles. By itself, the BoM makes few doctrinal claims that a typical Baptist or Methodist would take issue with. But after the doctrinal revisions of the 1830s and 1840s, many important members of the early Mormon church, including some of the witnesses to the golden plates, left to join other churches or start their own denominations. If you do choose to read the BoM, do so with an open mind and with knowledge of the problems listed above and described in detail elsewhere. One certainly cannot deny that the Mormon church today is responsible for much social good, and that Mormons in general are kind, caring, and serving people with high moral standards. Like the Bible, the BoM has had a positive impact on the lives of many. Using this to claim proof of the BoM's divine origin is a logical stretch, but we fortunately live in an age where (in most places) such opinions can be held without fear of persecution. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura [1] http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-mormon-problems.htm#archaeology http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-mormon-problems.htm#archa... [2] http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm [3] http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-abraham-issues.htm http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-abraham-issues.htm [4] https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31.21?lang=eng#p20 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31.21?lang=eng#p20
• sogen 8y ago
  tbh i'd read man's search for meaning again, haven't found anything similar. skip herman hesse's books.
• cypherg 8y ago
  Waking Up by Sam Harris. The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker.
• sjackso 8y ago
  'The Man Who Was Thursday' by GK Chesterton. A short novel about which any description would tend to spoil the effect of reading it cold.
• vishvananda 8y ago
  My favorite introspective book is Awareness, By Anthony DeMello[1] It is a small book but it really makes you think about your views on life. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Awareness-Opportunities-Reality-Anthony-Mello/dp/0385249373 https://www.amazon.com/Awareness-Opportunities-Reality-Antho...
• jeffmcmahan 8y ago
  The Gospel According to St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (also by St. Luke).
• nvdarekar 8y ago
  Freedom from the known by J Krishnamurti (Audio book link: https://youtu.be/XY4dCXPJAaU?list=PLEbxOVEQgBpO2xdKzlMlMXgMvLS0hAqk3 https://youtu.be/XY4dCXPJAaU?list=PLEbxOVEQgBpO2xdKzlMlMXgMv...)
• gdubs 8y ago
  The Power of Habit The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up The Inner Game of Tennis
• hosh 8y ago
  People's journeys are different, so what is insight for me or triggers a realization for me may not for you. Transformative experiences doesn't always happen in a book. I will add some non-book medias, but not all of transformative experiences of my life. In my teens, I was all over the place. I was exploring some existential stuff. I probably could have benefited from talking to a transpersonal psychologist. These were three books that stuck out in my mind from that time: Ken Wilbur's Brief History of Everything (this is Wilber's Integral Philosophy, and helped me know there are some framework to put seemingly competing paradigms and views into a coherent whole, as well as a few philosophical techniques to get my head out of my rear... somewhat) James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy (kicked off a lot of things) Robert M Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (I didn't know this at the time, but it spoke to me about what can be beyond subject-object duality) In my early 30s, I stopped using books and media as a proxy for change and transformation, and journyed. Went through a lot, experienced many things that I had only read about. Lots of peak states. But coming back to ordinary life had proven to be difficult. That started the next era -- of embodying what I had found with those peak experiences in ordinary life. Chris Wallis's Tantra Illuminated -- lots of view correction for me, helped untangled some things for me, particularly around working. I read this one within my first year of marriage. Second year of marriage, I might have been able to work, but my marriage at this point was on the rocks. I had this book on my shelf for years and never really read it. When I read it, it was pointing out to me some of the deep stuff on why my marriage was failing: Glen Mazis's The Trickster, Magician, and the Grieving Man. This is a critical, honest look at toxic masculinity, and descriptions of alternate masculine archetypes; but not complete by itself, just made me wallow in anger and depression, and self-loathing. I could tell, it did not integrate well with the hard-won personal perspective from all those journeying earlier. The next book that followed was one from last summer: Crucial Conversations. (Four authors) This book was very good to read following Mazis's book. It was very practical advice grounded in psychological research, yet very much in alignment with all the things leading up to it. It wasn't a pancea, but reading this and trying to apply it was probably the inflection point in my relationship with my wife. In the past six months, I somehow got sucked into the orbit of one particular non-dual teacher by the name of Adyashanti. I usually prefer reading rather than listening, and with Adya, it was the reverse. I mostly listen to his stuff while washing dishes (and that seems somehow appropriate). There are some free podcast interviews with him (on different podcast series), and some of his retreat talks are also available for free. He has some guided meditation. His talks and his teaching lineage is very direct. By that, I am talking about very directly pointing to the nature of being, of letting the world be _exactly_ the way it is. I don't know what kind of transformative experience you have, but whatever it is, if you're ready for this stuff, his words will speak to you. If you are not, that's fine too.
• called_it 8y ago
  that one by Marcus Aurelius, many of the ones by Erich Fromm
• Buldak 8y ago
  A Mathematician's Apology, by G.H. Hardy https://www.math.ualberta.ca/mss/misc/A%20Mathematician%27s%20Apology.pdf https://www.math.ualberta.ca/mss/misc/A%20Mathematician%27s%...
• leephillips 8y ago
  Leaving aside fiction (but if I weren't I would put Hamlet at the top) to focus: The stoic classics mentioned throughout these replies; Reinventing the Sacred; The Art of War; Descarte's Error; Free Will by Sam Harris Introduction to Probability Theory
• shaunxcode 8y ago
  escape from freedom by erich fromm.
• twosuns19 8y ago
  I recommend following Muslim Kurdish scholar. In his large collection of work, he tried to answer questions: who am I? Where I came from? And where am I going? Start with chapter 10 of "The Words" book. If you like that chapter, read chapter 17 (17th word). If that make you introspect more then read chapter 24th. Chapter 24 will take you to the beginning (Chapter 1)--The First Word. http://www.nur.gen.tr/en.html#maincontent=Risale&islem=read&BolumId=8486&KitapId=456&KitapAd=The+Words http://www.nur.gen.tr/en.html#maincontent=Risale&islem=read&...
• Glench 8y ago
  The book Non-Violent Communication lead me to examine my communication style and deeper motivations/feelings. Practicing it changed the communication in all my relationships for the better, even if the other person wasn't practicing NVC.
• pro_zac 8y ago
  "This is Water", a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace. Whenever I'm overwhelmed with life, stressed about work or relationships or whatever, I read this. I keep it in the kindle app on my phone specifically for that purpose. https://www.docdroid.net/n9UgjO3/this-is-water.pdf https://www.docdroid.net/n9UgjO3/this-is-water.pdf
  • lsaac 8y ago
    This speech made a very strong impact on me as well. I find listening to the speech even more chilling: https://youtu.be/8CrOL-ydFMI https://youtu.be/8CrOL-ydFMI
• nafizh 8y ago
  The Quran. A really good modern translation by Oxford scholar Abdel Haleem is here- https://archive.org/details/TheQuranOxfrdWrldClas https://archive.org/details/TheQuranOxfrdWrldClas
• dubya 8y ago
  I really enjoyed Marilynne Robinson's "Death of Adam: essays on modern thought". It's a pretty wide-ranging indictment of the "glib and dismissive" nature of a lot of modern thought. It won't help you rebuild a world view, but it will help point out the flaws in existing ones.
• kdbg 8y ago
  As a religious person reading Orson Scott Card's Xenocide (Part of the Enders game universe, but not at all like Enders Game) really impacted me. In it you have a father who is a religious leader and transitions out of the religion to a more atheistic view and his daughter who becomes holds true to their faith in spite of the evidence and her father. I saw a lot of myself in that girl and it really brought to light the folly of religion when you step outside of the religious framework. I'm still religious but the book made me think.
• noufalibrahim 8y ago
  The Book of Assistance by Imam Al-Haddad (translated by Mostafa Badawi) - I'm a religious person and read a lot of literature related to that. Most of them provide a temporary high and then no particular benefit after. This was a notable exception. It was extremely practical and much of what I read affected me and made me changed the way I lived. It's highly specific to Islam though and much of the advice might not be relevant to others. https://fonsvitae.com/product/the-book-of-assistance-imam-abdallah-ibn-alawi-al-haddad-risalatul-muawanah/ https://fonsvitae.com/product/the-book-of-assistance-imam-ab...
• wgj 8y ago
  Because I haven't seen it mentioned yet: A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living, by Joseph Campbell and beautifully edited by Diane Osbon. I can trace much of my life direction back to principles I established for myself while reading this book. My copy is very marked up. :)
• pruthvishetty 8y ago
  Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
• justinhj 8y ago
  Some books have been very influential on how I see the world. Ishmael is one about an intelligent ape that explains the natural world to a guy in socratic dialogue style. Guns Germs and Steal. The Forest People, a book from the 60s by an anthropologist who lives with a pygmy tribe. These books about where we came from I find really interesting. For self improvement books you can’t go wrong with 7 Habits of a highly effective people. It’s short and to the point and very practical. I’m half way through Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and it’s either way over my head or overrated. I don’t particularly like the narrator which does not help
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• tgfoobar 8y ago
  - Chance and necessity by joques monod. It was the first book that brought me out of my faith-based view of the world into one defined by science. Seriously rocked my worldview over 15 years ago. - Nothing special by Charlette Joko Beck, Steve Smith. I have been playing with meditation for years now, but this book has really changed my perspective.
• mikelothar 8y ago
  Not sure it’s for everyone, but I’m sure it improved my way of thinking. It’s a book called Drug of Choice by Mark van Stratum, https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06X9C6MJ6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526063074&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=drug+of+choice https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06X9C6MJ6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=... In many ways him and I came from similar backgrounds, only his situation was in many ways more harsh. Losing his one arm as a kid, growing up in a bad neighborhood in Holland, becoming a drug dealer, everything in his life was heading the wrong way. But he managed to pull himself together, leaving the country, training himself to achieve the most amazing life. I read it without knowing anything about it, which I can recommend (so sorry for these first spoilers, but there’s so much more I won’t spoil). I’ve also read Mans Search For Meaning, recommended in 12 Rules For Life. Also good, I agree.
• gkya 8y ago
  Read philosophy. Not because it shows you a particular truth, but it teaches you to think objectively and with structure. I have been a very depressive adolescent, stepped out of it reading philosophy, learning how to think, and eventually creating my system of thought.
• e_tm_ 8y ago
  Alan Watts - The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are - The Wisdom of Insecurity - Psychotherapy East & West Herman Hesse - Siddhartha - The Journey to the East Marcus Aurelius - Meditations Seneca - Letters to Lucilius Daniel Quinn - Ishmael
• samirillian 8y ago
  Modern man in Search of a Soul by Carl Jung. Any essays by Wendell Berry. The Little Prince.
• hypertexthero 8y ago
  The First and Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti. Frankenstein (1818 Edition) by Mary Shelley.
• wiredfool 8y ago
  Jo Walton - The Just City. It's SFF, but there's a lot of meditation of living your best life and equal significance.
• tootie 8y ago
  Kurt Vonnegut probably affected me the most. Particularly Mother Night. You are what you pretend to be.
• billybatson 8y ago
  I recommend Infinite Jest. It's a deeply introspective and, at least for me, borders on being a philosophical text. I would even go so far as describing it as a philosophical text disguised as fiction. It will take effort to get through, but it's one of those things where you can immediately feel that the energy put into the book is worth it.
• pc2g4d 8y ago
  As a person who's gone through something comparable in recent years, I will first recommend that you seek out a community of people undergoing a similar shift in worldview. There may be podcasts, forums, blogs, etc. where people who previously held your same worldview are processing their transition after finding "that a lot of the things that [they] used to believe were false". For me this has been immensely helpful. Now some introspective books: * The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. If you're open to fantasy, this series delves deep into how to respond when one's worldview is shattered. Highly recommended. Elantris also covers some similar territory. * The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. How do you reconcile the whims of capricious Fortune with your desire for peace in this world? * Bonds That Make Us Free by Terry Warner. This book makes you take a brutal look at how you contribute to your own misery in life. It will be agonizing to read, but persevere and I believe you will find it insightful. Try not to be too turned off by the conservative religious viewpoint that occasionally peeks through.
• enkindu5 8y ago
  pyramid principle - barbara minto
• munificent 8y ago
  Here are a handful that really stuck with me and changed how I think about things: Gig: Americans Talk about Their Jobs The Tao of Pooh Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values Tao Te Ching A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity How the Mind Works The Design of Everyday Things Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less Some of these are typical for the audience here, but a few are more off the beaten path. I really liked "Gig" and "A Pattern Language". Fiction is harder to pin down. I think, overall, reading fiction has had a greater impact on my understanding of human nature than non-fiction has. But it's diffused over a larger number of books so it's hard to point to specific ones. I think simply reading a large volume of fiction helps me understand all the ways people can live and think.
• mauliknshah 8y ago
  Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albon is a light-weight book with a genre of life-advice(I would not use the word self-help here). I think it would suit you.
• XJahdai 8y ago
  A book that was life changing to me was "Siddharta" from Herman Hesse . It taught me in a subtle way about what's really important instead of just material stuff
• bichiliad 8y ago
  I recently read "Outline" by Rachel Cusk, and it made me think a lot about the importance of listening, and how much you can learn about another person (and, through them, yourself). "Listening" isn't really something that'll change your worldview, but it's definitely a tool to enable you to do so. That aside, the book is just very well written and really quite enjoyable to read, which is never something that hurts.
• joshbaptiste 8y ago
  Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Taught me that Religion, nation states, national pride etc.. are all imagined realities we all share to allow our particular country to thrive as a whole collective.
• shreyanshd 8y ago
  East of Eden. Timshel — ‘Thou mayest’
• kr4 8y ago
  Try this: http://omswami.com/book/a-fistful-of-wisdom http://omswami.com/book/a-fistful-of-wisdom
• Zanni 8y ago
  Okay, here's an unusual one that hasn't been mentioned yet (and I'm completely serious with this suggestion): Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance. [1] Musk is a polarizing figure, no doubt, but what really struck me, at least as presented here, is his vision for the future. That he's not working for money or glory so much as to save the planet and the species. That's a pretty big goal, and a tremendous service to humanity. More than any book I've read recently, this made me stop and reflect on my own life and what I'm doing with it. I work, primarily, in entertainment, which has its own value, and I try to make a positive, if small, difference in the lives of people around me, but ... nothing like on the scale of what Musk is doing. This is a pretty indirect suggestion, and nothing in the book advocates this sort of introspection, but it was my profound take-away. Who knows? It might have a similar effect on you. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25541028-elon-musk https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25541028-elon-musk
• joostdevries 8y ago
  Johan Goudsblom - Nihilism and Culture
• marttt 8y ago
  "A Confession" and "The Kingdom of God is Within You" by Leo Tolstoy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_Y...
• CuckDepriver 8y ago
  Honestly I don't think a book is going to help you; you have already found what you already need and that need is in the fact That structure or whatever that event was that shattered your life isn't meant for you. It means you obeyed too many rules that were pre-determined and preset and it gesticulated your whole perception. The event that happened to you Can be seen from two perspectives as the book that you stated either down or up..! But that's not the point the point is the answer you're seeking in a book isn't going to tell you what it is. the answer you're seeking in a book is going to give you tools and utilizations of how to interpret them but it isn't the answer itself. the answer is within yourself now if there is some factors which are Hampering you psychologically socially or physically or from a clinical perspective then help should be seeked in that regard, but if it's more of a representation of what to do now well, to deter future Encroachments of the world so your point of you doesn't get shattered upon then that requires some alternative structure..! This structure is what in how a lot of people commenting on Peterson is on regalia People who have a sort of structure a.k.a. a religion have the necessary papers to make a claim or a right it is not about being absolute or not. Right or wrong it doesn't matter to them but the structure that it gives to them allows them to muddle and fuddle through life a little less. So the question you need to ask yourself is what structure will you have for yourself it could be praising a rock for all it matters or it could be having hope into a greater universe ultimately it is structure and foundation of coming to grasp of knowing that you are part of something bigger when that is acknowledged a lot of your burdens will dissipate your burdens will not shift nor relinquish but slow down. Now if you're under the age of 30 then Jordan Peterson is something that would give you the initial understanding of what a structure is. in order to build up upon it in order for you to unwind the brainwash that you've done to yourself that would be a great start. arguing whether he believes in God or not is irrelevant I personally have been listening to him for nine years the transformation and morphisn of watching a person become so Entangled Trying to express what emotion that he really would want to put forth has been extremely beneficial. It shows you don't have to be an expert to have flaws or you don't need to be perfect to not have them. Ultimately this boils down to Which direction is best for you to seek. Stoicism is great but we live in a world where even stoics faulter..! What most people don't realize about stoicism is it could be best implemented in from a position of power not a position of weakness and that is the key of being a true stoic or not. But the world I has a nuanced harmonic balancer that it creates a pendulum of whatever grief that has been brought on to whatever entity for it to come back fiftyfold. That is Dharma. There is the old saying among these QiQong practitioners in china apparently: "That I can cure you of any maladies aches disease or pain even your karma but the one thing I cannot address is how to fix your dharma"
• speedplane 8y ago
  No question,hands down: Proust. He wrote his novels over a hundred years ago, in a vastly different world that we line in now, but over-and-over again, he totally nails and dissects human experience. The first 30 or so pages of Swan's Way is about a child waking up in his room. He shows that something so benign and ordinary is anything but, it includes countless memories, senses, instincts, and emotions. Technologists should take note.
• askafriend 8y ago
  Seneca's On the Shortness of Life was a profound read for me. I wish I read it earlier. That and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.
• staticgarden 8y ago
  Not related to tech, but "A Guide to the Good Live" (https://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/A-Guide-to-the-Good-Life-Audiobook/B00G6ZLMDC https://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/A-Guide-to-the-Good-Li...) , "Unconditional Parenting" (https://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Unconditional-Parenting-Audiobook/B01IE0HI1G https://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Unconditional-Pa...). These have really been mind altering. Both the books have challenged my beliefs and they make a lot of sense once you read them completely.
• togusa2017 8y ago
  1. Crime and Punishment . 2 Unbearable lightness of being. Opened my mind to not judge and always think about the other side of things