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Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?
Mine would be The Utopians trilogy[1], I recommend it to anyone looking for a good sci-fi read.
[1]: https://stallman.org/Bob-Chassell https://stallman.org/Bob-Chassell
- PaulHoule 3y agoThe Aftermath by Phillip Bump https://www.pbump.com/ https://www.pbump.com/ It's a nice mix of being data driven but accessible.
- jryb 3y agoJust finished my third reading of The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. It really ruined most other history books for me by setting the bar so high.
- randcraw 3y agoI'm reading Rhodes' "Energy". Now I know why Great Britain got so deforested: from heating all those drafty old castles.
- AareyBaba 3y agoYou might like the 'The Prize' by Daniel Yergin on the history of petroleum and which also won the Pulitzer Prize.
- marai2 3y agoThis is the book that got me into realizing history can be so interesting. This was my first history book that I bought on my own!
- wellthisisgreat 3y agoHmm is it on par with Years Of Lyndon Johnson? Bc for me that’s the benchmark I can’t see any other history book approaching
- jryb 3y agoI haven't read it so I can't compare them. What I love about TMOTAB is that it provides so much context for what historical events were informing the scientists, politicians and military leaders at the time, and it really gets into the details of nuclear chemistry (starting from before the turn of the century!), the course of the war, and all the policy decisions that were made and why. The many influences of the first world war. The efforts of individuals as well as of nations. You see the entire project at multiple scales, and it also gets into the German and Japanese nuclear weapons programs (which I didn't even know existed until I read the book). It doesn't just describe the debate about dropping the bomb - it details the bombings of Dresden and Tokyo and other cities from the perspective of the survivors, the crews of the bombers as well as the leaders who ordered the bombings. It describes the resistance of the Japanese at Iwo Jima and other battles which cemented the belief that invading the Japanese homeland would be a bloodbath. And the chapter about the immediate aftermath of the atomic bombs as told by contemporary accounts is gutting. Even this description is completely omitting a huge part of the book. It's a 53 hour audiobook with zero fluff.
- mskalski 3y agoI am reading it now too and i enjoy it a lot. Drawing the dots between all of those science discovery, which led to conduct chain reaction, compressing it to almost suspenseful, detective story and decorate it with events in which the whole world and individual people lived was great achievement of the author.
- kiernanmcgowan 3y agoI finished his fourth book Twilight of the Bombs earlier this year - a great look at nuclear proliferation at the fall of the Cold War and how it shaped many US foreign policy decisions.
- jebarker 3y agoThree readings of such a massive book is quite an endorsement!
- atlgator 3y agoEPA 608 Study Guide, I'm going to get my EPA 608 certification so I can purchase and handle refrigerant in my HVAC system, because I'm done with the HVAC industry.
- mdwalters 3y agoClickable links: [1]: https://stallman.org/Bob-Chassell https://stallman.org/Bob-Chassell
- paulcole 3y ago• Lush Life, a biography of Billy Strayhorn, a jazz composer for Duke Ellington. • Fashion Climbing: A Memoir, an autobiography of Bill Cunningham who you might know from the street style photography he did for the NYT. • Kings of their Own Ocean, a non-fiction history of Bluefin Tuna fishing.
- steve_adams_86 3y agoKind of off-path from my regular reading, but I recently got absorbed into the planted aquarium world. This book was such a great way to get acquainted with the ecology and methods required, though once you do it... It's extremely obvious that it works, and why it works: Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise https://www.amazon.ca/Ecology-Planted-Aquarium-Practical-Scientific/dp/B0C51PCVMH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ecology+of+the+planted+aquarium&qid=1692244154&sprefix=ecology,aps,149&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.ca/Ecology-Planted-Aquarium-Practical-Sci... Having a slice of nature in my home that's genuinely self-sufficient by all practical means has been wildly educational, rewarding, and fascinating. So many species emerged from such small samples of local ponds, lakes, and streams where I found my materials. I thought I understood ecological diversity and the staggering number of living things out there, but seeing this thriving ecosystem in only 10 gallons of volume really drove it home... The earth is absolutely covered in life. And it all came out of mud! I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to nerd out on ecology, aquariums, water, etc.
- namanyayg 3y agoAny guides on what kind of equipment and set up is needed to get started? I've been having thoughts of having a "slice of nature" like you said. But I don't know what's the way to get as close to a self-sufficient and passive system as possible.
- candiddevmike 3y agoGet a 20 gallon tank with grow light hood, add dirt (organic potting soil), cover with aquarium rocks, add aquarium plants, 6-12 shrimp, and 4+ snails, add a sponge filter, enjoy your little ecosystem.
- steve_adams_86 3y agoThis is pretty much it! The book promotes sand over aquarium rocks (ideally living sand from a lake, pond, or river bank, laws permitting), but I’ve seen people have success with fine gravel/coarse sand as well. If it goes in ‘dead’, it’ll be live within a month for sure.
- WalterBright 3y ago"Empire of the Summer Moon" https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060 https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful... This would make an epic miniseries!
- voisin 3y agoIt is an Apple movie coming out shortly with Leonardo DiCaprio, or am I mistaken?
- WalterBright 3y agoI have no idea. But it should be a miniseries, there's just too much story there!
- TigeriusKirk 3y agoThe DiCaprio movie is Killers Of The Flower Moon. It does center around Native Americans, but in the 1920s in Oklahoma.
- Cloudly 3y agoThe new movie you're thinking of is based on Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
- doodlebugging 3y agoI agree that it would make a fantastic miniseries. If you read books about Native American history, Texas tribes and their interactions with Anglo settlers, northern plains tribes I can recommend a few titles. Frontier Blood - Jo Ella Powell Exley : Tells the history of the Parker family clan. Their small fort in central Texas was raided by Comanches in 1836 and one of the children kidnapped was Cynthia Ann Parker who gave birth to Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche war chief. The book covers Parkers who helped shape the doctrine of the Baptist church too. It's a good read. Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879 - Herman Lehmann : This book was written by a man who was kidnapped by Apaches in 1870 and raised as Apache. He later left that tribe for the Comanches after he killed an Apache medicine man. In 1879 he was repatriated with his family in central Texas on the advice of Quanah Parker. He, like many others who spent time living with Native American tribes, preferred their way of life to that of his blood family. He talks about the challenge of reintegrating. He had to relearn to speak English and German and to adapt to all the technology and lifestyle changes encountered. It's a great book. The Heart of Everything That Is - Bob Drury/Tom Clavin : This is Red Cloud's story told using his autobiography. Red Cloud was probably the greatest Native American war chief. It's an epic story. I just finished reading a book that according to a NY Times book review is "The single best book I have ever read on Native American history". You may have heard of it. Indigenous Continent - The Epic Contest for North America -- Pekka Hamalainen/Evin Rias I almost want to say don't bother. This is a classic case of an attempt to condense a complex subject into a book that can be digested in a few days of casual reading. The book must leave out so much in order to cover so many things that it ends up almost unreadable. There are formatting problems that should've been corrected by the publisher. Several maps that should fit on one page have parts of the map cut off and printed at the top of the next page. That is ridiculous. Another thing that contributes to unreadability and leads to confusion in telling this epic tale is that the narrative jumps from one time period to another with no subheadings to warn that you are stepping back in time for context. Consecutive paragraphs describe events in different regions with no effort to tie them together or to make them fit. There is so much information that it feels that things the authors thought important are just worked in whether they fit or not so that interesting tidbits are told. Unfortunately this ends up creating a stew of a story where the author stirs the pot a little and instead of the beefy broth in the spoon you end up with potato chunks and a random bay leaf. The bay leaf flavoring their story is the history that they couldn't fit somewhere else so they just tossed it in there. There is a lot of slavery in the book. This was a real thing historically so it is a very interesting treatment of that subject and for those who are under the impression that Anglo colonists started the institution of slavery in North America it will be enlightening for them to read about Native American treatment of captives. All in all, there is so much history to cover that many events and characters have their own stories feel like Reader's Digest footnotes. The best way to treat this book is to use it as a springboard for deeper study because it feels shallow. The physical book also could be improved by cleaning up the typesetting, adding headings, moving paragraphs around into more coherent narratives, and fixing the maps. Anyway, this got long and I know you probably read some of these. Have fun.
- ram_rattle 3y agomaterial world by ed conway, fantastic book on basic minerals like sand, salt, oil and their supply chain and miracle process of converting ore to materials that we use everyday.
- dazzawazza 3y agoLearning about the supply chain for vital components like integrated circuits from mine to purification to processing to manufacture was so interesting. I now understand how the "west" is even able to keep China out of the loop (for now) on the highest level of tech. Fascinating read.
- wannabebarista 3y agoJust finished Walter Bagehot's Lombard Street (1873). Bagehot was the editor of The Economist in the 1860s and 1870s. This book sketches out London's banking and finance system and, particularly, how liquidity crises are handled. https://archive.org/details/lombardstreetad00bagegoog/page/n6/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/lombardstreetad00bagegoog/page/n...
- ipnon 3y agoPerry Mehrling wrote “The New Lombard Street” covering all the new mechanics of international financial markets. It’s just as fascinating. He taught a course on the material called “Economics of Money and Banking.” I never felt I grokked the interplay between the Fed, USG, and Wall Street until I studied that course. https://youtu.be/7iu5xWByF5g https://youtu.be/7iu5xWByF5g
- hsdropout 3y agoThe Water Knife. ISBN 978-0-385-35287-1 Dystopian-future novel with a backdrop of water scarcity in the western United States. A "water knife" is a name for a security contractor who enforces water rights...
- molsongolden 3y agoThe Windup Girl (also by Bacigalupi) is interesting too.
- javajosh 3y agoIf by "interesting" you mean "fantastic" then I agree. Some of the best world-building ever.
- m463 3y agoI read this a while back and always think back to it when I read about water troubles, such as this article: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/arizona-restricts-phoenix-home-construction-amid-water-shortage-2023-06-02/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/arizona-restricts-phoenix-h...
- kaycebasques 3y agoDreaming: A Very Short Introduction by J. Allan Hobson. Hard science neurophysiological overview of dreaming.
- BLKNSLVR 3y agoCurrently reading Accelerando[0] as a result of recommendations from prior HN book reading threads. Still in the first, Manfred Macx, section, but I look forward to settling down on the couch with it when I have the opportunity. [0]: https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/acceler...
- ajmurmann 3y agoI loved the beginning and then liked it less and less as it moves not into three future and becomes more fantastical. I eventually stopped reading. The same thing happened to me with Rudy Rucker's Postsingular.
- rcarmo 3y agoWell, at least now you know why lobsters are a recurring theme in some tech circles…
- prepend 3y agoI see it’s part 3 in a series. But people also recommend it alone. Do you recommend starting with this? Or something else?
- BLKNSLVR 3y agoI can't find anything indicating it's part of a series. The entire novel itself, however, is 3 stories broken into 3 parts each: From the Wikipedia entry[0]: "The book is a collection of nine short stories telling the tale of three generations of a family before, during, and after a technological singularity. It was originally written as a series of novelettes and novellas, all published in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine in the period 2001 to 2004." [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerando https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerando
- throwanem 3y agoStross has done better work since. I don't love his doctrinaire interpretation of Lovecraftian tropes, but the Laundry series still reads well, and he does manage later on to go some less well trod places with it. Skip "Equoid".
- SubGenius 3y agoI read through most of PG Wodehouse this year. 'Ukridge' is perhaps the funniest collection of stories ever written, it's magic. I love all the books set in Blandings. While the Jeeves books were not my favorite when I was younger, I really really enjoy them now.
- wenc 3y agoI've always been a fan the Jeeves series -- Blandings not so much. I also like the Psmith books. I need to try Ukridge.
- SubGenius 3y agoI've only read the first Psmith book set in Blandings - Leave it to Psmith. It's absolutely hilarious. If you like Ukridge, then you could also read 'Love Amount the Chickens', which features the Ukridge character.
- harry8 3y agoThe other Psmith books are a growing up progression to that one. Psmith was his adopted daughter's fav so he stopped while young and beautiful like she did. Mike and Psmith is a proper YA school story which was where Wodehouse started. Psmith in the city something of a sequel. Psmith Journalists the nearest Wodehouse ever got to literature with a social point to make, definitely worth the read. Leave it to Psmith is, imho his masterpiece and the best written novel I've read. Sadly the last we hear of Psmith. All should be out of copyright by now.
- esperent 3y agoWodehouse is amazing. Tied with Pratchett for the best humorist writer in my opinion. I've searched a lot to find more humorist writers but it's a very limited genre. Most comedy writing is too cynical for me. By contrast Wodehouse and Pratchett manage to be funny while also being uplifting. Does anyone have any recommendations for not-too-cynical humorist authors beside these two?
- jeffreyrogers 3y agoI recently read two books about industries that previously seemed dreadfully boring: property/casualty insurance, and community banking. I'm not sure what possessed me to read these books but I was curious about both industries since they are significant parts of the economy but I knew next to nothing about them. The banking book is called "The Most Fun I Never Want To Have Again: A Mid-Life Crisis in Community Banking"[0] and it tells the story of an attempted bank startup in Georgia just before the financial crisis. It has a very clear explanation of the bank business model and how small banks make money. One of the surprising things I took away from it is that bank founders think of starting a bank in ways that are very similar to how tech founders think of starting of company. The main difference is that the bank business model is already well understood to those in the industry and success depends much more on your positioning in the market than it does on innovation. The insurance book is called "Risk & Reward: An Inside View of the Property/Casualty Insurance Business"[1] and is by Stephen Catlin, who founded an insurance company that he grew to several thousand employees with offices around the world and later sold for $4 billion. Very UK centered since that's mostly where his career took place but I don't think the fundamentals of the industry change that much around the world. Pretty detailed on the mechanics of how insurance underwriting works and what insurance underwriters think about when pricing risk. Made me realize insurance is much more like trading than I'd previously thought. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ELPOA3S/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ELPOA3S/ [1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073NRDNSC/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073NRDNSC/
- mrcode007 3y agoThanks for the review and the links !
- benzin 3y agoThese are the kind of books I aspire to write eventually. Incredibly niche but indisputably authoritative to those that care about the niche.
- shanusmagnus 3y agoThis was like the perfect HN recommendation -- something I never would have thought of, with enough context to show why I should care. Will read both these, thank you.
- kirubakaran 3y ago"Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned" is the last book I read and it is very good https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25670869 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25670869 It changed the way I think about progress.
- powersnail 3y agoI've recently finished <The Left Hand of Darkness>, and absolutely love it. The style is one of clarity, tenderness, and honesty, and just plain beautiful in the section where---avoiding spoilers---they journeyed through the ice sheet, which is such a breath-taking portrayal of that environmental harshness, the human vulnerability, and the tenacity of will. It's often classified as Sci-fi, but there's nothing particularly sciency or techy about the story. As far as "how it works", there are lots of curiosity, and very few answers. The book reflects more heavily on society, politics, gender, and most centrally, the personal qualities of honor/face/loyalty. Having recently start keeping snails, I naturally draw parallel between my dear invertebrates with the hermaphroditism in the book, which is an extra curiosity for me.
- namanyayg 3y agoI read this book myself a few weeks ago. Ursula's work is great, it's strange that I never heard about her before. I also finished another of her works, "The Word for World is Forest", just last week. This one is more about human nature. It is again brilliant, I could not put it down, and I highly recommend it especially to those already familiar with her writing. I'll probably be picking up more of her books after I finish "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vinge.
- jemmyw 3y agoI read all of her Earthsea books last year. I thought they were really excellent. I started left hand but couldn't get into it.
- javajosh 3y agoI always liked LeGuin. If you like her, maybe you'd like Louis McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, which is an interesting combination of an unusually vulnerable protagonist and a traditional space opera setting. She's got some straight fantasy that's good, too.
- hyperific 3y ago"Terraform: Watch/Worlds/Burn" - Excellent hard science fiction anthology
- gherlein 3y agoA Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II https://www.amazon.com/Game-Birds-Wolves-Ingenious-Secret/dp/0316492094 https://www.amazon.com/Game-Birds-Wolves-Ingenious-Secret/dp...
- mayneack 3y agoDetroit: I Do Mind Dying A pretty interesting history of Detroit in the 60s and 70s that relies heavily on first hand accounts and primary sources. https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/458-detroit-i-do-mind-dying https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/458-detroit-i-do-mind-d...
- yla92 3y agoFinished reading The Three-Body Problem (Book 1) and it's such a fascinating read! https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-Remembrance-Earths-Past-ebook/dp/B00IQO403K https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-Remembrance-Earths...
- 2f0ja 3y agobook 2 (the dark forest) is probably my favorite piece of scifi of all time! stick with the series if you like it. there is also a canon 4th book written by a different author that puts a really nice bow on the series.
- gerry_shaw 3y agoWas not aware of the 4th book. Looking forward to that. Thank you. The first three books were great and opened my eyes to the sheer breadth of what other intelligent life could be like.
- yla92 3y agoYep! I am reading the book 2 and so far so good!
- FlyingSnake 3y agoBook two was such surprisingly good, because book one was bit tedious. The whole plot around Luo Ji and the small tidbit about siege of Constantinople was just too good.
- jdshaffer 3y agoI enjoyed most of book 1, then it suddenly went "slapstick" with the alien engineers at the end. That really turned me off to the rest of the series. However, for those who have read books 2 and beyond, does the writing return to serious and deep or does a slapstick element remain?
- mrexroad 3y agoBook 2 was my fav. Book 3 was fine but was kinda like RTJ to ESB.
- miqkt 3y agoThe last impactful one on me was Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber. Definitely disrupted my perspective on work and the monotonous, sometimes futile, insanity that some of us subject ourselves to in order to make a living.
- atomicnature 3y agoDavid Bohm's - Thought as a System - On Dialogue These are great books for removing mental fog, confusion, about the nature of our existence. They have great healing value, allowing us to integrate the world around and within us. They can also help in dealing with practical challenges in how we run organisations, develop teams, and in general help people cooperate together. It is a kind of "red pill" to enter the matrix :)
- CrimpCity 3y agoWhat practical lessons did you take from these books?
- atomicnature 3y agoI hope to write about this in detail sometime. Just giving myself some time for experience to percolate and synthesize into something worth publishing. Meanwhile, I'll give one instance of how it helps practically. Say, I manage engineers, and I have a new intern, who is supposed to behave in a particular way, with particular standards. Their words strongly suggest sincerity, but again and again their actions go in the opposite direction. Why does this happen, what's the "problem"? From Bohms framework, this sort of behavior is way too common, and it is due to the paradoxical nature of our psychological machinery. It's not a problem, it's a paradox. In the mind of the intern, there tends to be competing and opposing needs. One hand, they want higher quality output (verbally asserted). On the other hand, the unspoken parts of the mind demand comfort and energy saving. On top of this "incoherent" intentions/results, the intern will seem like they're lying, since words and actions/results don't match. They say they want quality, but behavior goes another way. So, I see this entire situation clearly, so I become more patient. I understand it's not a simple situation, there's a lot going on underneath the hood. I can help this intern see their inner contradiction, generate higher awareness, make them work with less inner friction (and eventually less external friction). My process for helping someone out becomes accurate, crisp and helpful due to these additional insights from Bohm. This is just one instance of Bohms framework helping me out in a practical organizational context.
- 3y ago
- ajmurmann 3y agoInvisible China by Scott Rozelle. The book focuses on rural China and it's challenges. The gist of the book is that countries generally move from low to middle income by doing cheap labor. The move from middle to high income requires a educated workforce. If you don't have enough educated workers across the board you fall into the middle income trap where you have large structural unemployment and get high crime. This happened to Mexico and Brazil for example. China's rural population struggles with a low education level. The author investigated why. The answers come down to a mix of health issues, lack of education on how to raise babies, dysfunction in the education system and the houku system. Short interesting read for anyone interested in China or development economics. The book does a great job composting to other countries and showing that way how development works and doesn't.
- kimchidude 3y agoThank you for the suggestion. I am interested in modern China, so I might check it out. Just curious about the ‘lack of education on how to raise babies’ - sounds a bit subjective. I mean, plenty of those babies seem to excel when transferred to environments that provide them with better opportunities.
- paragraft 3y agoSomewhat (by a few decades) behind the times here, but I finally found a set of Robert Caro's Years of Lyndon Johnson books at a 2nd-hand shop earlier this year. What a ride. I know it's a famous series, but I'm outside the US and so only recently became aware of its existence, and also therefore went in mostly blind as to the subject (I knew very little of LBJ prior). Am partway through the 2nd book now, with the conclusion of the 1948 Texan Senate Democratic primary, and my mouth just sort of hung open for pages at a time during that. Caro's a talented writer, but what really shows through is just the sheer years of hard work he clearly put into the books. I don't know how one can focus for so many years on just one writing project.
- harshreality 3y agoIn that genre, his book _Power Broker_ is masterful as well, and sometimes considered the superior work, although about a much lesser-known person.
- paragraft 3y agoI've been on the look-out for that too. Have lined up Mike Royko's "Boss" on Daley in the interim, though the bookshop owner wasn't as fond of Royko's writing style...
- mastercheif 3y agoJust started Master of the Senate. Caro's books have reignited my love of reading. Cannot recommend his books enough for anyone interested in how power in organizations or government is culled and cultivated. His books read like thrillers, but are exhaustively researched and sourced. Sony Pictures recently released a movie covering Caro and his recently passed editor, Robert Gottlieb, relationship and process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3CRojrbeE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3CRojrbeE
- paragraft 3y agoThanks, was unaware of the movie!
- myroon5 3y agoPeter Singer's books are pretty worldview-changing: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/12397.Peter_Singer https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/12397.Peter_Singer
- koliber 3y agoThe Goal. It's a book from the 1980's about operational management. In particular, it focuses on physical manufacturing. It's in the form of a fictitious personal tale. A plant manager struggles to save his plant from closure, and his marriage from falling apart. The lesson is about lean management. My main takeaway is the realization that when we try to optimize something, we focus on how to do something more efficiently. What more often is a problem is that people and processes are blocked from doing work. They spend a lot of time waiting and doing nothing. Focusing on reducing waits will produce better results than focusing on doing the work faster. Of course reducing the waits might mean doing some targeted piece of work faster. It could also mean doing better scheduling or focusing on other resource contention. Recently I used this mindset to optimize a legacy DB struggling under the weight of a hodgepodge of unmaintained code. It worked wonderfully. Instead of fixing the slowest queries, focused on fixing the ones that block the most often. The result was that the DB was able to handle the workload after all.
- gjadi 3y agoFor those interested on this topic but would like a lighter approach, there is now a graphic novel: The Goal A Business Graphic Novel.
- michaelhoney 3y agoSimilar theme, not great literature but still a good, quick read for people who work in tech: The Phoenix Project: https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/ https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/
- tga 3y agoThe Phoenix Project is basically the same thing, but about software. I also found it more enjoyable to read. https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/ https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/
- abbadadda 3y agoThe Phoenix Project was in fact inspired by The Goal: > “The Phoenix Project”, a popular business fable about DevOps, is an adaptation of “The Goal” by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt. They are virtually the same book. The twist it takes on “The Goal” is that instead of focusing on manufacturing, the “The Phoenix Project” focuses on IT. https://sobination.com/2017/08/08/the-goal-and-the-phoenix-project/ https://sobination.com/2017/08/08/the-goal-and-the-phoenix-p...
- oblaff 3y agoCapitalism and Desire by Todd Mcgowan An interesting perspective on the psychic appeal of capitalism + an approachable introduction to lacanian psychoanalysis -- if you're into that sort of stuff.
- andrewjl 3y agoAnother book in this vein is Libidinal Economy by Jean-François Lyotard
- theusus 3y agoReading The Inner Citadel, even though it's repetitive but it gave me new insights into Stoicism.
- GMHGeorge 3y agoTwo Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana. An account of the cattle hide trade along the California coast in the 1830s by a Harvard student on a leave of absence from his studies. Dana narrates about his life as a sailor traveling around Cape Horn and his work among the Californian coastal communities collecting hides to be sent back east. One of the books that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick and was used as a travel guide by the 49ers during the gold rush. Dana returned in 1859 to see how California progressed and added an epilogue to later editions about that journey.
- Sakos 3y agoThe Mind Illuminated - Comprehensive meditation guide that comes at it for an non-theistic/religious/spiritual perspective. Everything you ever wanted to know about meditation without having to go through books about Buddhism or meditation which are generally very spiritual and can be difficult to read. The Attention Revolution - In-depth guide to how to meditate without too much fluff. It basically directly goes into all the details of meditation practice as a thing you do and how to do it. Also very comprehensive and jumps straight into how to meditate. The Practicing Stoic - Great overview of Stoicism with a lot of quotes from all the well-known Stoics compiled into one Book. I think it's a great introduction for anybody who isn't quite sure about Stoicism or what it's about, but it's also a great book to go back to as somebody more well-versed in it to refresh the concepts.
- asciimov 3y ago“Goodbye to a River” by John Graves. The narrative follows the author as he takes a canoe trip down the Brazos river in North Central Texas during the late 1950’s. Along the way you are told stories about the people who lived and settled that area, during the old days. For me, the book reminded me of the stories I heard from my grandfathers about the way things used to be. I’d recommend the book just as a way to experience North Texas at that time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye_to_a_River https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye_to_a_River
- epicureanideal 3y ago1. The Captured Economy by Lindsey and Teles 2. Tyranny, Inc. by Ahmari 3. American Revolutions by Alan Taylor 4. Everything Flows by Vasili Grossman
- febed 3y agoAfter the Titan submersible fiasco, I looked into books about diving and started with Shadow Divers. It’s about a group of intrepid shipwreck divers who make a find of a lifetime. Had no idea it was such a risky affair.
- baron816 3y agoIt’s been probably a year since I read The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich, but the ideas in there have really stuck in my head. The WEIRD acronym stands for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. The thesis is that the Christian Church inadvertently created modern society by prohibiting polygamy and cousin marriage. The topic of polygamy is what’s really stuck in my head. Polygamy is a more natural state for civilized human societies than we think it is. It may be to women’s advantage to choose an “elite” spouse she has to share because it could mean a better quality of life for her and her children than the alternatives. Chris Hemsworth could have two dozen wives if it were legal and social acceptable (and he wanted to), and his wives might be happy with that. But the downside (or one of them) is that it creates huge imbalances in society—men find it really hard to find a mate. They then do risky stuff to make it into the elite to try to attract a mate—steal to accumulate wealth or kill potential romantic rivals. This isn’t in the book, but it made me think—are we back in that same position now? Polygamy isn’t *technically* legal or common, but you still have plenty of people who have many romantic partners—just not at the same time. We know the what the activity of dating apps looks like—a very small subset of “elite” men get an outsized proportion of likes and matches from women. It’s slim pickings for the rest of the men. Are men, unable to find a mate, going to resort to risky behavior to try to make it into that subset that are able to attract women?
- rewmie 3y ago> Polygamy isn’t technically legal or common, but you still have plenty of people who have many romantic partners—just not at the same time. I don't think those two are the same. Polygamy is a way to structure society and determine access to resources, whereas fooling around on Tinder is just a way to have fun with no questions asked. It might surprise you but the plebes of old were also promiscuous. Here's an interesting discussion on the topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/history/comments/5rre85/sexuality_during_medieval_europe/ https://www.reddit.com/r/history/comments/5rre85/sexuality_d...
- weregiraffe 3y ago> natural state for civilized human societies "Natural" state. For "civilized" societies. Do you realize just how stupid it sounds?
- vogelke 3y ago"Fatherland" by Robert Harris, 1992. Alternative history detective novel set in a universe in which Nazi Germany won World War II. "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig. I re-read this every 4-5 years just to enjoy the discussions about quality and why it matters.
- firedev 3y agoI’ve started Pirsig a couple of times it just doesn’t click. Could you elaborate a bit?
- eimrine 3y agoI see recommendation of that motorcycle book too often for some book about something I am not interesting about, what is interesting in it for non-motorcycle person?
- defrost 3y agoPerhaps that it is almost entirely not about motorcycles .. and that the activity of motorcycle maintenance transcends motorcycles and is applicable elsewhere. You could always dive in, read the wikipedia article or lookup a literary review. It may or may not be to your taste but I for one enjoyed it.
- mdp2021 3y ago> for some book about something I am not interesting about It is not about motorcycles. You could read the title instead as about maintenance. If a mountain leads an author to think about height, the book may not be about alpinism.
- jasonkester 3y agoIt can be about any sort of maintenance task that people tend to outsource. Fixing the sink instead of calling a plumber, changing your own oil, weeding the edges of the lawn, running Linux on your home computer. There's a personality type that can really get behind such things as an end to their own, and this book really appeals to them. Most of us don't want a new hobby of "spend a few hours ever week or so to keep my computer capable of running software", but if you hang around places like this, you'll find that plenty of people do. They can't understand why you wouldn't care enough about your computer to do some basic research into its workings and occasionally recompile the kernel or make a few trivial tweaks to a driver to get it working to your satisfaction. No amount of "already having a hobby" or "prioritizing for things you care about most" will convince people like the author/protagonist that there's not something fundamentally wrong (but, happily, fixable) with the way you approach life. So yeah, it's not for you and me. It's for them. And they absolutely love it.
- weitzj 3y agoBreath by James Nestor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breath:_The_New_Science_of_a_Lost_Art https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breath:_The_New_Science_of_a...
- skimojoe 3y agoI literally learned to breath properly after reading this book. Took me months to train out of the bad habits I had acquired over the years.
- meristohm 3y agoSame here. I now breathe through my nose all night, have trained myself out of a mouthguard and am not bruxating (confirmed by dentist: no more wear from grinding), and I wake up refreshed (even moreso now after quitting caffeine, but that only months compared to years since reading Breath).
- sien 3y agoGenerations by Gene Twenge sticks in mind. It has loads of interesting stats on how generations have changed. It still amazes me to find out that in the 1950s in the US half of brides were teenagers. The average age of having a child was similarly super low compared to now. My review is at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61273798-generations https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61273798-generations
- toyg 3y agoWhen reasoning about the '50s, I think pop-culture fascination with the era makes them appear closer to modernity than they actually were. I mean: the '50s were 70 years ago. Imagine living in the '50s and talking about the 1880s: the French Third Republic, the British Empire, no airplanes, no radio or cinema...
- jemmyw 3y agoBlindsight and Echopraxia by Peter Watts [1] I enjoyed the ideas in these books. The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again [2] by M. John Harrison. Beautiful writing. His descriptions give me vivid dreams if I read before bed. The Thursday Murder Club [3] by Richard Osman. Light reading, amusing, beginning of a series. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echopraxia_(novel) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echopraxia_(novel) [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49201192-the-sunken-land-begins-to-rise-again https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49201192-the-sunken-land... [3] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54846475-the-thursday-murder-club https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54846475-the-thursday-mu...
- adaml_623 3y agoStandard Peter Watt disclaimer: his books contain explicit themes of horror and torture.
- hikingsimulator 3y agoI really like Blindsight for how some of the questions it sets may apply to how we might face artificial general intelligence.
- The_Colonel 3y agoIndeed, the discussion on the nature of consciousness was mind-expanding. This topic is the most frustrating in the AI debate - the consciousness is basically undefined, yet used all the time to argue far-reaching consequences.
- BarbaryCoast 3y ago"The Chip", second edition. Starts with the invention of the vacuum tube, ends with the US-China chip war. In between, you learn that the first semiconductors were hand-make, using a clay mud on bulk substrate to protect areas to be etched. Fair warning, he leaves out as much interesting material as he left in.
- cgeier 3y agoThis one by T.R. Reid? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/543704.The_Chip https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/543704.The_Chip
- phronesis 3y agoIn a similar vein, "Chip War" by Chris Miller is a more recent look at this. Not at all as dry as I expected it to be, surprisingly gripping for someone who didn't previously know much about this. It also provides a lot of historical context for the recent news of TSMC setting up factories in the US and Germany.
- nhatcher 3y agoI thoroughly enjoyed "the chip war". From the history perspective, the technology perspective, the politics and even the human side of it. How people growing up in the misery of ww2 went on build something that ended up shaping the world we live in.
- asauter 3y agothe primacy of doubt by Tim palmer (2023) Do you have a favorite book about complex adaptive systems?
- mrexroad 3y agoDiaspora [0] by Greg Egan. A fun dive into post-human civilization published in late ‘90s. Great read if you like hard sci-fi. Tao of Wu [1] by RZA. Because, perspective. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_(novel) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_(novel) [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Wu https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Wu
- candiddevmike 3y agoRE: Diaspora, you'll know pretty quickly if you like it or not. It's very hard sci-fi, the opening is quite rough from a technical standpoint, may make your brain hurt.
- loxias 3y agoWoo! Diaspora! The opening of that book is such a well put and apt description of... that, I've forced it on plenty of my friends. Schild's Ladder also fantastic (yet similar.. like 30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt? Still fun, but kinda "i've seen this before"). I think Permutation City was overrated. I haven't read any of his other novels, have you? Iain M Banks (Excession), Greg Egan (Diaspora, Dark Integers), and Charles Stross (Accelerando) are like a drug I'm still chasing that first high... Recommendations welcome.
- prepend 3y ago> The opening of that book is such a well put and apt description of... that, I've forced it on plenty of my friends. I think the opening of that book stuck in my head as that is how digital beings and digital identity WILL BE DONE. It makes so much sense to me. Although oddly, I remembered it being cryptographically sound and describing a way for the individual to have secure private keys to prove they are them (even to themselves) but I can’t find it when I reread the intro. I thought it was some distributed secure escrow with the Polis but I have have dreamt it. Neal Stephenson’s “Fall; or, Dodge on Hell” goes into this a bit with the PURDAH but I think it’s more hand waving and tied to “the body has some unknowable thing that can be captured in a digital mind version.”
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- anshumankmr 3y agoI am currently going through the book about Oppenheimer, the one they based the movie on (https://www.amazon.in/American-Prometheus-Triumph-Tragedy-Oppenheimer/dp/B01N6T1M1C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RR969YD7D8JT&keywords=american+prometheus&qid=1690382654&sprefix=american+prometheus+%2Caps%2C251&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.in/American-Prometheus-Triumph-Tragedy-Op...). I am listening to via Audible and it really gives some fascinating insight into the troubled man's life, much more than the movie did.
- bmitc 3y agoAre there any interesting examples you can give?
- anshumankmr 3y agoYes his troubled relationship with Jean Tatlock was the most intriguing part. They were both quite madly in love but she wasn't ready for marriage but the movie made it seem he married Kitty and completely abandoned her when it was a lot more complex than that.
- simonbarker87 3y agoDouble Cross is the story of how the British turned, relied on and managed German double agents through World War Two. Not spoiling anything when I say that reading about one person running a fictitious group of spies across the UK from a flat in London, feeding thousands of pages of fake intelligence to the Germans amazes me. The creativity and mental capacity to stay on top of all those lies is astounding. Oh and Expeditionary Force for some fun, slightly thought provoking space opera sci fi, first book is on Audible Plus so you can get into it without using a credit.
- lloydatkinson 3y agoI think I’ll add that to my list! I am currently reading (well, I ended up trying out Audible so listening now) to The Splendid and the Vile which is another WW2 book that’s quite fascinating. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0008274983/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0008274983/ref=tmm_pap_swat...
- simonbarker87 3y agoThanks for the suggestion, I went on a bit of a WW2 binge recently and went through: The Second World Way by Anthony Beevor (it's a tough but very interesting listen) SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre (very enjoyable, assume slightly exaggerated) as well as Double Cross All great books.
- graboid 3y agoThe Plains - Gerald Murnane [1] -- liked it a lot, poetic, sad and thought-provoking Tokyo Express - Seicho Matsumoto [2] -- very japanese crime story, liked it And my absolute delight: 50 Years of Text Games - Aaron A. Reed [3] -- I am just a sucker for everything text game/hypertext/interactive fiction. This book is amazing. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1593668 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1593668 [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38588764-tokyo-express https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38588764-tokyo-express [3] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aaronareed/50-years-of-text-games https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aaronareed/50-years-of-...
- eigenhombre 3y ago+1 for 50 Years. Did not expect to be pulled into the writing so much, it was like reading a novel. Had been waiting for the print version for nearly a year when the PDF version came, blazed my way through half the PDF before the book came and then just kept going. Reed did an amazing job and I have a lot of follow-up reading to do (there are extensive links / bibliography after each chapter).
- hknmtt 3y agoNever Split The Difference by Chris Voss, on negotiation tactics. Much better than "Getting to Yes". The Genius of The Few by Christian and Barbara Joy O'Brien, an alternative take for garden of eden and Anunnaki compared to Sitchin Built To Sell by John Warrillow, on how to build a business you can exit with a profit. I read 30+ books in the last and this year so there are others but three is enough for this list.
- loxias 3y agoI also liked "Never Split the Difference", I rarely read and enjoy books in that category. Related, I got a lot out of "Blue Ocean Strategy", though that was more than a decade ago.
- cpursley 3y agoI didn’t find a single practical take away in the Voss book. The entire thing was him boasting about his “accomplishments”. I’d go as far as saying it was totally useless.
- croo 3y agoThe author's boasting is something I can imagine bothering some people! He definetly has a big mouth and the book beeing an american style writing doesn't help either. (especially at the end the book transforms to the longest advertisement in history for his own company). But if you can look past that there were a lot of practical take away in the book, at least for me. The largest was how should I think about negotiation and how it is a part of life. My favourite technique I still use from day to day is 'labeling' and 'false labeling'. It just helps naturally start conversations when you meet someone at the office coffee machine. Anyone who has mental blocks asking for a raise should definetly read it.
- cpursley 3y ago> learning disability I mean, maybe. I read a lot of books and just found this one not very actionable.
- yamrzou 3y agoToo Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control (1992) by Allan Mallinger The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It (1985) by Michael E. Gerber
- yamrzou 3y agoAlso: Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (2023) by Peter Attia Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals (2021) by Oliver Burkeman
- javajosh 3y agoThe Road by Cormac McCarthy. He passed away in June 2023 and I read this shortly after for the first time. A powerful work that, despite the world building, focuses on the love between a father and son. It's a shocking novel in many ways, but ultimately I found it profoundly hopeful. Even in the direst of circumstances love gives strength to endure.
- Loughla 3y agoCormac is one of those authors who I absolutely love, just love so deeply on an almost personal level. But who I can only make contact with once every couple of years, and only with preparation. He's just so, so bleak. The Road put me in a bad place mentally for two or three years. Outer Dark still fucks with me when I think about it. Blood Meridian. Just that. Just the title. He's the kind of author that I want to recommend to everyone, but also have to add an asterisk of what to be careful of.
- pallas_athena 3y agoSince his death, I've been reading (or re-reading) all his books. Rarely I have enjoyed so many books from a single author. I also think Blood Meridian is one the greatest books of all time. According to [1] "his list of great novels stops at four: Ulysses, The Brothers Karamazov, The Sound and the Fury and his favorite, Moby-Dick". They all are a good addition to this thread. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20140629023902/http://74.220.215.94/~davidkus/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:cormac-mccarthys-apocalypse-&catid=35:articles&Itemid=54 https://web.archive.org/web/20140629023902/http://74.220.215...
- glth 3y agoThe Good Virus by Tom Ireland (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/15/books/review/the-good-virus-tom-ireland-the-master-builder-alfonso-martinez-arias.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/15/books/review/the-good-vir...). This book introduces phages and their pivotal role in advancing human health through phage therapy. In my opinion, it illustrates the inevitability of phage therapy's integration into mainstream medical practices, underscoring its potential to effectively combat antibacterial resistance.
- m463 3y agoI've been wondering whether phages would ever be a thing for 20 years, since this wired article: https://www.wired.com/2003/10/phages/ https://www.wired.com/2003/10/phages/
- CrzyLngPwd 3y agoStop Reading the News. Hook that in with The Subtle Art of Not giving a fuck, and finish with Turning the Mind into an Ally, and I find reflecting on all three has helped me to focus on what's important. I no longer waste so much time on trivial unimportant nonsense. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stop-Reading-News-information-overload/dp/1529342686 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stop-Reading-News-information-overl... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/B01M9JOAFI/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuit... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turning-Mind-into-Sakyong-Mipham/dp/157322345X/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turning-Mind-into-Sakyong-Mipham/dp...
- mo_42 3y agoI very much enjoyed the first one and bought the second one already. Thanks for recommending another one.
- nicbou 3y agoThe second one could have been a blog post, but the premise is really good: you can apply the Konmari method to your obligations. The author also goes through the caveats of her own method, which is quite refreshing.
- dbcooper 3y agoWhy Calories Don't Count: How We Got the Science of Weight Loss Wrong by Giles Yeo It's a good, and gentle, introduction to the biochemistry and thermodynamics of digestion, and the history of calorie estimates. https://www.amazon.com/Why-Calories-Dont-Count-Science/dp/1643138278 https://www.amazon.com/Why-Calories-Dont-Count-Science/dp/16... Adam Ragusea interviewed him on his YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/C-H4KwoKaOc https://youtu.be/C-H4KwoKaOc
- virusuy 3y agoThere is another interview done by Steven Bartlett about the same topic with Giles where it goes and discuss various topics related to calories, diets, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy_vcL1cpP8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy_vcL1cpP8
- invpix 3y agoI've had this suspicion for so long, thanks!
- derangedHorse 3y agoDid this change the way you behave around food or is it just something interesting to marginally inform eating decisions? I'm sure it's still an interesting book either way, but I'm looking for an actionable book regarding food at the moment and wanted to see if this could be it.
- dbcooper 3y agoI'm a professor of chemical engineering, and I read it because I wanted to see if it was a good introduction for my less biochemistry trained colleagues (I do some work on digestion physiology). It has some good advice on diet and macronutrients, especially on the less efficient metabolism of protein, that could make a significant difference in one's approach to weight loss dieting, but it is not a guide to dieting practice.
- Loughla 3y agoAll The Rain Promises and More: A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms It's not a novel, but a reference guide to mushrooms. It's phenomenal, is small, it's funny, and is a really good starter reference for mushroom foraging. 10/10 just for the cover, 20/10 for the content. (https://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/0898153883/ https://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/089815...)
- mo_42 3y agoThe Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies
- leksak 3y agoAdult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents I'm a person that struggles with boundary-setting and have spent numerous years in relationships that have left me as less-than I was before. Imagine people-pleasing to an absolute fault, and being more of a chameleon that adapts to avoid conflicts. This has led to problems of identity, and deriving my sense of worth through others which isn't healthy. Fortunately, I do not have the same problems professionally and part of my people-pleasing skills have been put to good use there. However, history continued and continues to repeat itself to this day. I'm more than half-way into this book and am not only seeing patterns from my childhood, my relationships with my parents, and my early relationships (platonic & romantic) It's been eye-opening, and I consider it my first step in breaking this trend.
- fossheart 3y agoIn my case, the book has helped me to maintain my inner peace, which is really important when you want to get into the flow-state mind during programming. Emotional maturity is important for a work environment too, ability to handle the mental health of yourself and your teammates during long work hours gives a boost in productivity.
- spacemadness 3y agoCertainly the problem couldn’t be the long work hours? No, it’s your emotional immaturity that’s causing you to not focus for long hours. This culture in tech is exactly why mental health issues in the industry are so prevalent. Put the blame on the individual for their reasonable emotional responses to ongoing stress.
- Cthulhu_ 3y agoWhat are the odds? I'm currently dealing with some relationship issues, part of that is codependency, and this is one of the books that's doing the rounds in those spaces. I've been reading Codependent No More myself, which is an older book, kinda preachy, kinda Alcoholics Anonymous, lots of religious undertones etc etc, BUT it also lists a lot of symptoms and behaviours that I've recognized in my personal life / relationship; self-sacrifice, "rescuing" behaviour, obsessing over the other, controlling behaviour, emotional self-deprivation (err, ignoring one's own feelings), anxiety, low self-worth / confidence, guilt, shame, etc. I can't recommend the book per se, it's a bit dated, but it lays a lot of groundwork and identifies a lot of traits so it has its place.
- bradleykingz 3y agoThe Golden Ass of Apuleius: The Liberation of Feminine in Man. A Jungian dissection of the tale of a man that transforms into a donkey, and his journey of self discovery and redemption. It gave me a whole new way of reading books (a "superpower" of sorts, lol). Going back and reading stories I used to write as a child/teenager, I can now read between the lines and study my subconscious in ways I wasn't able to before. Really helped with my own journey of self-discovery. Most impactful book I've read, by far.
- heyzeusalmighty 3y agoNot a recommendation per se, but I recently finished Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr that has a rough tie in with Apuleius.
- Pooge 3y agoI became interested in nutrition recently, so I've read Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes[1] and How Not To Die by Michael Greger[2]. I'm currently reading The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita[3]. In my mind, the nutrition books could be shorter so it might not be the best use of your time. But the 2nd one contains chapter for each common disorder so you could check the ones that (might) apply to you. The Dictator's Handbook is very interesting and it got me interested in politics more. I'll read Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson and The Invention of Power, another book by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. [1]: https://www.worldcat.org/title/607975714 https://www.worldcat.org/title/607975714 [2]: https://www.worldcat.org/title/992788433 https://www.worldcat.org/title/992788433 [3]: https://www.worldcat.org/title/1262964702 https://www.worldcat.org/title/1262964702
- bambax 3y agoThe Dawn of Everything, by Graeber and Wengrow. Refutes most of the claims made by Harari in Sapiens, and shows everything you though you knew about prehistory is plain wrong. It's a great book, very well written and well informed. Made me think that humanity's history isn't an arrow pointing in the direction of progress; we make experiments. Our current way of life is not the "best so far", it's but one arrangement among many other possible configurations. The alternative between this and going back to living in caves is a false choice.
- v-erne 3y ago>> Refutes most of the claims made by Harari in Sapiens Can You elaborate on this? - I quite liked Harraris book, especially his ideas about stories driving human cooperation and expansion. Does this false claims invalidates the main message of Sapiens?
- bambax 3y ago"Most" is an exaggeration; "many" would have been fine; it's been a while since I read Sapiens, sorry about that. I was mainly referring to how he talks about the invention of agriculture. There has never been an agricultural "revolution". Cultivation was practiced for at least 3,000 years (probably much longer) before some human groups decided to make it their main mode of subsistence, while many others, already familiar with the concept, decided not to.
- richk449 3y agoAside from semantics, that doesn’t seem to contradict Sapiens: In areas such as the Great Plains of North America, where not a single wheat stalk grew 10,000 years ago, you can today walk for hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers without encountering any other plant. Worldwide, wheat covers about 2.25 million square kilometers of the globe’s surface, almost ten times the size of Britain. How did this grass turn from insignificant to ubiquitous? Wheat did it by manipulating Homo sapiens to its advantage. This ape had been living a fairly comfortable life hunting and gathering until about 10,000 years ago, but then began to invest more and more effort in cultivating wheat. Within a couple of millennia, humans in many parts of the world were doing little from dawn to dusk other than taking care of wheat plants. It wasn’t easy.*
- aaron695 3y ago[dead]
- v-erne 3y agoThanks to some extended vacations I finally got around to read "Masters of Doom" - which I got as Christmas gift. And I loved it - despite the topic (few young guys eating pizza and staring at screens) it reads like Clive Cusslers book. It's a great study of team dynamics and have some insides into what it takes to be the greatest at something (getting from Commandor Keen to Doom 3 costed Carmack almost 10 years of his life working day and night)
- ljlolel 3y agoImpro by Keith Johnston I found on here and has many unique and radical views about how our society functions and it’s pretty amazing.
- sailorganymede 3y agoDune! Really enjoying it
- prepend 3y agoThere’s a great movie version of it from the 80s by David Lynch. Not so good if you haven’t read the book but I found it oddly, perhaps uniquely, sublime representation of the book after having read Dune. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced art like that where it changed so much after experiencing the source material or some other piece. It was like a private key/ public key where you need both pieces to match in order to work. (Although I think the book is excellent by itself)
- thorin 3y agoI was enjoying Dune and I got through the sequel which was ok, but I'm not really getting on with the 3rd book (children on dune) I've only managed to get through a few pages. I think all of these books are reasonably slow going from my perspective but I can't quite put my finger on it.
- spoiler 3y agoThe Cradle series by Will Wight. It's a Wuxia adapted for Western audiences. He has other great series; I liked the parallel Sea/Shadow trilogies a lot. Traveler's Gate series I enjoyed, but not as much as the rest. He recently also started a new series called Last Horizon; it's about space wizards and it's a bit whimsical, but fun. The Expanse series is great, but I reckon people already mentioned it elsewhere in the thread. James Islington's Licanius trilogy is one of my favourite fantasy book series probably. He recently started a new series called Hierarchy, which I also recommend. They're very "grounded" fantasy, and the magic systems is very woven into society and its structure. The human relationships in his books are pretty nuanced, which is why I like his works so much.
- cturtle 3y agoIt’s not often I come across someone familiar with Islington. I also highly recommend his books, The Will of the Many is my favorite read this year. I keep hearing good things about Cradle, I’ll have to give that a read.
- apexalpha 3y agoI recently read the Hunt for Red October. Not obscure or niche by any means but it surprised how good it was (again). Do recommend!
- geocrasher 3y agoAgreed, a fantastic book!
- gamedna 3y ago+1 Its a great read.
- Semaphor 3y agoHaving caught up with Glynn Stewart releases after finishing Wildbow’s Ward, I decided to go for some famous books I never read. First was Gene Wolfe’s The Shadow of the Torturer. After about 1/4th of the book, I didn’t care about anything. Neither the world nor the main character. Decided to stop there, it seems it’s not for me. Next up, Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea Again, I stopped after 25%. This time the story was interesting enough, but I couldn’t stand her writing style, everything was written as if it was a prologue and the actual story is starting anytime now. That just got real annoying when it’s the main story. Finally, I jumped many years forward (both regarding the release, and the setting), and started Pierce Brown’s Red Rising which I’m enjoying very much so far.
- lotsoweiners 3y agoI felt the same way as you about both of those books. I probably got close to half way through both of them before giving up on them.
- rcarmo 3y agoLosing the Signal, the story of how RIM/BlackBerry imploded. Was particularly interesting to me since I was a product manager for BlackBerry products at a major telco and saw it happen from afar.
- KaiserPro 3y agoI'll divide these into interesting, fun and engaging: Interesting: The Ark before Noah, Dr Irvine Finkel: A very engaging and slightly humorous history of arks from before the time of the Bible. Its not a religious book, its a book about myths/history. A very english Scandal: a long tale about how the establishment closed ranks around a slimy piece of shit. Fun: Will save the galaxy for cash, by Yahtzee Croshaw: Actually funny scifi, best listened to when narrated by the author. His other series is also great too. Death and Croissants, Ian Moore: gentle humorous crime thriller. Follows a divorced slightly unsuccessful middle aged man who has emigrated from britian to france and runs a B&B. he bumps into a glamorous but mysterious woman who he struggles to keep up with. best listened to by the author. Engaging: Casino royale: ian flemming. Its not at all like the movies. A page turner, but has 1930s attitudes to things. Its not as obvious as Live and let die, which is full of words you cant say in public.
- kiernanmcgowan 3y agoSnowcrash - a really fun high concept sci-fi that’s plays around with some heady concepts. It breaks down if you think about it too hard, but hey, enjoy it while you can.
- javajosh 3y agoWith a character named Jiro Protagonist, this is a clue that perhaps it is less cyberpunk and more of a satire of cyberpunk. It's very good, of course. Also recommended from Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age. His world building is always top-notch, never more than in that one, IMHO.
- mkl 3y agoHiro Protagonist.
- rwoerz 3y agoI stumbled upon Leonard Susskinds physics lectures on YouTube and bought the accompanying books [1]. The target audience are people like me, who had some intermediate physics and math lectures at university "before life happened". The books and lectures fill the gap between "real" theoretical books / lecture notes and popular science books that try to circumvent math at every cost. [1] https://theoreticalminimum.com/ https://theoreticalminimum.com/
- flawn 3y agoExactly what I needed, thanks! Seems like the perfect company for self-studying physics next to any other STEM-related study (that keeps your math somehow up to date)!
- BrenBarn 3y ago"How We Think" by John Dewey.
- mikhailfranco 3y agoJust finished The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin, a tremendously accomplished music producer. It's a beautifully written guide to artistic work, but also a manual for a mindful life. Savor every page packed with insight, subtlety and poetic aphorisms. Also recommend The Dawn of Everything by Graeber & Wengrow, previously cited on this page. Next will be The Matter with Things by Iain McGilchrist. The two hefty volumes are staring at me from my desk...
- marktani 3y agoI loved The Creative Act: A Way of Being. The book is organized into short chapters, each about a certain part of the creative process or perspective of the author. While I don't agree with everything shared, the crisp and clear way it's written allows for great reflection and inspiration. I've described it to friends as a work book for artists and creatives. Every chapter simmering for days and helping to refine the creative process.
- keyle 3y agoI got turned off by this book the moment the author talked about the rebuttal of a diagnosis by their doctor, which could be lethal if ignored. At this point the book was good for the dollar bin. I really don't understand how someone can trust their gut more than a clear diagnoses and use that as an example in a book.
- ethanbond 3y agoProbably because doctors get shit wrong all the time and it seems everyone on the planet except flabbergasted doctors have direct or near-direct experience with this.
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- gbjw 3y agoCurious what you think of McGilchrist's new doorstoppers! I discovered Master and his Emissary a while ago and got through much of it but with a steadily declining enthusiasm. At first its breadth was exciting, but eventually became exhausting. Ever since, I've watched countless interviews with Iain and it seems he's been repeating the same few insights over and over again. Relationships are primary, left / right ways of 'attending' to the world, the left brain perspective destroying societies, etc. I do wonder if The Matter with Things presents something fundamentally new...
- Hoasi 3y agoWhy Greatness Cannot Be Planned (The Myth of the Objective) by Kenneth O. Stanley and Joel Lehman was excellent.
- hsuduebc2 3y agoPrisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall. Fascinating story about how borders and geography shape nations. For example why would russians attack Ukraine and why are African nations less developed. Book is from 2017. I actually heard it as audio book. Very interesting.
- zuzun 3y agoUp in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell. I finished it yesterday. It's a collection of articles the author wrote for The New Yorker around the middle of the last century. The stories are portraits of weird, eccentric people and peculiar places in and around New York. Mitchell describes his subjects with dignity, without putting them on a pedestal. The author is a very good writer and his stories are enjoyable, but only after I had read the book to the last page, I understood what makes this book so great. The stories tell you as much about the author as they tell you about the protagonists. I started the book to get a glimpse of the old New York and finished the book with a great curiosity about the author himself.
- thom 3y agoI've been reading The Roman Empire in Crisis by Paul N Pearson. It summarises a lot of fairly recent discoveries (a palimpsest of Dexippus, archaeological evidence of battles etc) to give a more detailed account of the Crisis of the Third Century in Rome. Pretty dry stuff, but reminds you that event ancient history is still a living thing.
- omgmajk 3y agoI recently started reading House of Leaves, I'm not done with it but I'm captivated by it so far. It's a very weird horror/love story that is unlike anything I have ever read before.
- barbs 3y agoYou may also like Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
- dynamite-ready 3y agoCurrently reading that. It's interesting. Love the detail.
- omgmajk 3y agoWill check it out, thanks!
- lotsoweiners 3y agoI tried reading Infinite Jest a few years ago (liked the characters and style but just couldn’t commit the time to go all of the way through it). I don’t know why but that book made me feel like I was reading a Wes Anderson movie.
- tpt2 3y agoA Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy It’s a collection of quotes from various influential people along with Tolstoy’s own thoughts. The book is arranged in a daily reading sort of format but I found reading it normally fascinating.
- lame-robot-hoax 3y agoI personally prefer Leo’s work “War - What Is It Good For?”
- extasia 3y agoThe sea of fertility tetraology by Mishima. The Sailor who went to sea is one of his shorter works if you're looking to give him a read with less commitment.
- loxias 3y ago"This is how you lose the time war". It's by two authors. Light read. I bought it because it was inexpensive and I the title was a "me-shaped" hook. :) I chuckled after a few pages, after about 1/3rd I couldn't put it down, or read it fast enough. Challenging, as it started to rain during my walk to work (as evidenced by the dozen wrinkly pages towards the end). The next day as I read, I was pacing around my apartment, alone, gesticulating, with a VERY SPECIFIC flavor of happy that, gosh, I hadn't felt since well before she left me so... 4 years? Longer? A flavor of happy I had almost forgotten existed. The only bad part is the book was finished the next day. :( If your brain has a certain shape and polarization it's likely to bring great joy. (tho I have no idea how rare we are) I also finished reading Annihilation by VanderMeer, what a friend insisted in exchange for him reading TIHYLTTW. It was .... good, I guess? I donno. Solid B-. I mean, I enjoyed it I think. Very simple, straightforward read. Some of the characters didn't feel ... relatable? But wow, TIHYLTTW... felt like the authors had root on my brain or something. At numerous times I joked to myself that I must have been compromised. Hidden cameras. If you're going to read it, don't google or read any commentary or anything :) I did not, and, looking at the commentary and comments, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I did otherwise. The other two people I convinced to read the book did not have nearly as strong a response as I. I think it requires a certain brain polarization. Or brokenness. :)
- dsr_ 3y agoIt went up for a number of awards, and won three majors including a Hugo and a Nebula, so obviously lots of people like it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_How_You_Lose_the_Time_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_How_You_Lose_the_Time_...
- harshreality 3y agoI read that after reading Gladstone's scifi book[1]. I liked the poetic and emotional nature of it, but I thought it tried too hard to be both that and a science fiction story. When I tried to grasp at the scifi aspect, it felt like I was grasping at air. [1] _Empress of Forever_, while not poetic, I thought had interesting ideas that were more fleshed out. A lack of focus kept it out of top-tier scifi like Simmons' Hyperion for me, but it's worth a read if you like high-concept scifi like that.
- kaesve 3y agoProving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer (by Kathy Kleiman) I enjoy reading up on computer history, and this is a pretty good retelling of an important story. However, the parts that really struck me are the personal accounts of the author in trying to recover this history. The ENIAC 6 played an important role in the history of the first computer and of programming as a vocation, but their story was almost forgotten. To the point that these women were not even invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ENIAC. That's shameful, and I'm happy that they finally have started to get the recognition they deserve. If you're interested in this history, Jean Jennings Bartik also wrote an autobiography, that tells the story from her perspective.
- wedowhatwedo 3y agoI read both of these books recently and I feel they are both worth a read. The Bartik autobiography has very little technical information but it's interesting to get an understanding of how things were for her.
- SandraBucky 3y agoSix Faces of Globalization by Anthea Roberts and Nicolas "The origins of this book go back to the twin shocks of 2016: the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States. Like many others, we were struck by how deeply fundamental critiques of economic global- ization appeared to resonate among voters in these two countries. We were also concerned about the dismissive reactions of many establishment figures toward the competing narratives. Some seemed to view the logic of economic globaliza- tion as beyond question and focused their energies on discrediting the critiques put forward by populist politicians as economically illiterate and xenophobic."
- vlad_ungureanu 3y agoHow the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy - Julian Baggini [1] The author does an amazing job presenting the different views about the world and some important differences between cultures. If you are like me and haven't interacted that much with other schools of thoughts outside of the Western world, but are interested in learning more about them, you'll enjoy the introductions to Indian thinking as well as Chinese, Islam and some African philosophies. Also, he does a good job of highlighting some of the limitations of each, including Western thought. [1] - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42068288 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42068288
- keyle 3y agoArt & Fear - Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking - David Bayles & Ted Orland. A tremendous read, about our human nature and creativity. An analysis on our limits, what talent is, and the common fears. A very freeing experience.
- InvOfSmallC 3y agoWork related: "The Machine The Changed the World" it's about Toyota Lean Manufacturing. For pleasure: Altered Carbon Trilogy
- lewisflude 3y agoUltralearning by Scott H. Young https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/ultralearning/ https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/ultralearning/ > Combining stories of dramatic ultralearning feats with the detailed science on how to learn anything effectively, ULTRALEARNING will transform how you work, live and learn. It made me realise that for most of my life, the things I was doing to try and learn new skills, techniques or technologies was actually more akin to entertainment than actually learning the thing. It also helped me understand why I have been able to learn really specific things really effectively, and use those patterns to intentionally learn other things that I'd usually find really hard to crack.
- fallat 3y ago> was actually more akin to entertainment Could you elaborate?
- lewisflude 3y agoI found that they were a lot of subjects I’d learned a lot about without directly engaging in the thing itself. Learning about a programming language, vs actually building stuff in it. Learning the grammatical patterns of a language without speaking it etc. There’s lots of videos, books and apps which first and foremost want you to be engaged moreso than actually teach you how to do the thing. This sort of context can be really useful, but ultimately one claim the book makes is that the best way to learn is to get as close to doing the thing you want to learn how to do as possible.
- hacknewslogin 3y agoWould this be useful to someone that's not neurotypical?
- conor- 3y agoYMMV, but I did not find the book to be super insightful or particularly helpful for how my brain works. It spells out a framework that (roughly) boils down to: 0) Pick one topic at a time 1) Learning by doing 2) The doing has to be exercises of deliberate practice that push you 3) Create some type of deadline or pressure to make sure you actually stick to the task. My experience with being self-taught is that I tend to just bounce around arbitrarily to different subjects or interests and drop them when I get bored and then all that knowledge bouncing around eventually becomes cohesive once I repeat that cycle enough times. So the concepts of picking a single topic, creating a strategy for only focusing on that topic, and then executing were difficult to apply.
- hnben 3y agoSilk Roads by Peter Frankopan It kinda feels like an alternate history fantasy novel, but it's actually real. It tells the history of the world, but from a central asian perspective.
- zuzuleinen 3y agoThe Case for God by Karen Armstrong. It's an interesting read about history of religion and how much is misunderstood nowadays.I would recommend it to both atheists and believers.
- start123 3y agoNudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler
- jimmyreilly 3y agoDOOM Guy: Life in First Person by John Romero was a great read. Very inspiring and gives a fresh perspective on the story of id, clarifying a few rumors.
- donatj 3y agoI am about halfway through and really enjoying it. The audio book is great, it’s narrated by Romero himself and hearing it in his own words adds to the experience.
- lumb63 3y agoThe Power of Habit has been fascinating to me. It has helped me to understand how I operate and also how others operate. It is amazing how much of our behavior is dictated by processes far beneath our conscious mind.
- prepend 3y agoI just finished it and don’t regret it, but I feel like it could have been a pamphlet as most of the book seemed like padding to me. I mean I admire Rosa Parks but it seems like a lot of time spent saying that Rosa Parks habits made the difference in that civil rights milestone. Same for the examples of people convicted or acquitted of their crimes based on habits. Aside from reinforcing what I already knew that habits are really powerful, the concept of micro habits stuck out to me and I’m going to try the snowball and stacking approaches to starting positive habits (putting out shoes the night before as a tiny habit to kick start the big habit of running, etc). I feel like I really just needed to find the right podcast and would get the same info.
- lumb63 3y agoThis was my experience as well. I found the first few chapters, which discuss the neurology and fundamentals, to be very interesting. The part that extended beyond individual-level habits started to lose me.
- Quinzel 3y agoA couple I read during my MBA last year that I found interesting and maybe quite relevant to a few people who frequent this website: The Design Thinking Playbook - by Lerwick et al. Global Strategy - by Peng I think they're both highly relevant to some of the fast pace changes happening in the world, especially in tech. Even though they're not about tech stuff specifically, they're full of good ideas and also have great frameworks for either design AND strategy and some interesting case studies are in Global Business too. Apart from that, lately, I've been swamped with psych textbooks and journals, so not really had time for a book per se, however I have been reading about offender profiling (of sex offenders) and doing so in conjunction with a case study on Ted Bundy, and I find that really interesting.
- istotex 3y agoStolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention by Johann Hari I'm halfway into this book. It talks about how technology is increasingly fragmenting our attention.
- yabbs 3y agoI couldn't finish it
- xeonax 3y agoThe Wandering Inn [1], Stories of an alternate world somehow connected to a certain innkeeper of the said inn. Features extensive world building, character building, Lots of fleshed out characters, contains humour as well as serious stuff, has dragons, fae, aliens, time travel, hiveminds, automatons, cute pets, cosmic horrors, history lessons, magic, alchemy and steampunk engineering. It's a bit longish and not finished yet, 2/3 done as of this year. [1]: https://wanderinginn.com/ https://wanderinginn.com/
- akho 3y ago> It's a bit longish You don't say.
- Name_Chawps 3y agoThe longest fantasy series ever written. Take all Stephen King books, throw in the entire Harry Potter series, and it's still shorter than the Wandering Inn. I just gave up on the series after book 4. I felt the original main character wasn't getting enough screen time, and didn't really like the newer characters as much.
- xeonax 3y agoOk it's a bit longer, only a little bit. See for yourself https://www.reddit.com/r/WanderingInn/comments/wil9pi/word_count_as_of_vol_9_interlude_mundanity_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button https://www.reddit.com/r/WanderingInn/comments/wil9pi/word_c...
- mattw2121 3y agoThis sounds like a great series and one I'd definitely be interested in. Rothfuss (even more than Martin) has me shying away from starting another, currently unfinished, series.
- RheingoldRiver 3y agoIt's a lot more likely that you will get tired of The Wandering Inn before you catch up to present than that you will run out of source material, I think
- mrblampo 3y agoBeautiful Country, by Qian Julie Wang. Beautifully written memoir about immigrating to NYC as a child in the 90s. Poignant, sweet, honest, easy to read, fun, not too too emotionally heavy, but also full of lessons about trauma.
- tomatocracy 3y agoChristopher Isherwood's Berlin stories (Mr Norris Changes Trains and Goodbye to Berlin). Not sure why it took me so long to find them as I've long been fascinated by the slightly end of days-type hedonistic atmosphere that late Weimar-era Berlin apparently had. From that perspective they really didn't disappoint. In a similar vein, although it's been a while since I read it, I'd strongly recommend J G Ballard's semi-autobiographical Empire of the Sun - especially the earlier sections set in pre and post invasion Shanghai are also very evocative.
- fdgjgbdfhgb 3y agoI'm just about to finish up the Aubrey and Maturin series [1] - It's very well written and has a nice balance of character development and action. Some of the stuff that happens seems unbelievable until you realise that O'Brian took an event from real life and just changed the names. Really makes me want to buy a boat or something :^D [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series
- ruslan 3y agoThe Code Book by Simon Singh[1]. The book is very old, first published in 1999, but I did not know about it till my colleague brought it to work recently. The following stories are very interesting and read as detective novel: 1) how Enigma worked and how it's code was cracked; 2) how Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered, which appeared to be very common to Coptic language[2]; 3) how Linear B writing decoded[3], which appeared to be ancient Greek. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Code_Book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Code_Book [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_language [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B
- pallas_athena 3y ago+1, the very book that sparked my interest in cryptography, highly recommended
- coffeepancakes 3y ago> The book is very old, first published in 1999 I beg your pardon! 1999 is not very old! Especially in terms of books. It does look really interesting, thanks for sharing.
- croo 3y ago+100. I read it 3 or 4 times. For the most part it reads like a great detective story and/or colorful history book. Meanwhile you will understand in depth how all the basic shit in cryptography works, how did they crack it and its history: ROT13,ENIGMA,OTP,PGP,DES,AES, what are public and private keys and digital signatures, what the hell is quantum cryptography... everything gets told in a perfect ELI5 manner without any knowledge prerequisite and its so damn interesting its hard to put down. All in historical order, with names, stories, previous building blocks, interesting trivias... perfect book, 10/10.
- tgv 3y agoSingh's Fermat's Last Theorem is a better book, IMO.
- 3y ago
- paraschopra 3y agoI'm reading God, Human, Animal Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn. It's a strange, beautiful book tracing parallels between Christian theology and transhumanism. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567075/god-human-animal-machine-by-meghan-ogieblyn/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567075/god-human-an...
- smcleod 3y agoI really enjoyed Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway. (Future Crime Noir with a pinch of sci-fi/cyberpunk) https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710281/titanium-noir-by-nick-harkaway/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710281/titanium-noi...
- prepend 3y agoMe too. And I think I learned of it from a previous HN thread and is an example of successful book finding serendipity. It was a short audiobook and I found it fun and entertaining look at the near future in a way that I hadn’t read before. What if immortality/bio hacking made you 20% bigger every time it reset you to 25 years old. I wonder if there will be more physical signs of wealth and immortality and we’re sort of starting to see that in 60-year-old Bezos seems healthier than 40-year-old Bezos. I’ll also add that I’m not a Noir or detective fan and almost didn’t read it because of that aspect. But I’m glad I did.
- prepend 3y agoI’ve had the pdf of “Almost Perfect” by Pete Peterson [0] on my cloud for a while and like reading it in bits and pieces and rereading it when I’m stuck somewhere without data. It’s the story of WordPerfect and while desktop software is very different than today’s software the organizational dynamics is fascinating to me. And I like how what to me is a very technical thing- writing excellent software- is designed and run by a “non-technical” person. And feeds my anxiety and imposter syndrome that maybe I’m not a tech person but a business person who knows enough technology to make a living. I also keep referring to “An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments” by Ali Almossawi [1] as it’s fun and seems to me to be technically correct. I recently had to look it up to remember if it’s “natural fallacy” or “naturalistic fallacy” or something else. It’s not covered in the book but I did get to read about others with sepia animal drawings. I’ve also found it useful for introducing critical thinking and avoiding logical fallacies to young people. [0] https://wepeterson.com/almostperfect/ https://wepeterson.com/almostperfect/ [1] https://bookofbadarguments.com/ https://bookofbadarguments.com/
- uoaei 3y agoIshmael by Daniel Quinn The titular Ishmael is a gorilla who learns to communicate with humans (telepathically) and seeks to teach humanity how to see the underlying cultural narratives that we are captive to, and that define our entire worldview. It's set up as a Socratic dialogue so the character of the pupil can be a bit annoying in his boneheadedness (a device used by the author to advance his points) but otherwise an excellent read. Its main lesson is that culture tells us there is only one way for civilization to act in the world and that we cannot examine this imposition -- because of the "fish asks 'what's water?'" situation we're in -- until we really unpack what narratives are driving people to act and think in the ways they do. These narratives were never independently developed by the people acting through them but rather largely inherited from what is said (how topics are conceptualized) and what's not said (how topics are avoided) that keeps these narratives self-propagating through society.
- thorin 3y agoHave you read the sequel? Twist!
- JoeDaDude 3y agoEmbracing Defeat by John Dower. The history of Japan's defeat in World War II is well known, but less known is how Japan transformed from a quasi-theocratic military dictatorship to the liberal democracy it is today. This book looks at the events, both cultural and political, that were occurring during the American occupation and how the Japanese adjusted to their defeat and created a new vision of the Japanese nation.
- randcraw 3y agoI own this and keep forgetting to read it -- a fascinating look into the reinvention of a nation's priorities from a warlord- and caste- driven monarchy to... whatever modern Japan is now.
- t0mislav 3y agoSovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland Nice book if you find this part of world interesting. Now started to read "The Border: A Journey Around Russia" by same author.
- layer8 3y ago“The Man Who Folded Himself” by David Gerrold. The writing is pretty terrible, but it’s the most fascinating exploration of time travel I’ve seen so far.
- mkjonesuk 3y agoI love this. Super old school sci-fi-tech madness. Reminded me of an Outer Limits TV show episode. It's also very similar to what happens in the movie Predestination.
- uoaei 3y agoNaked Lunch by William S. Burroughs I'm sure you've heard of it. It's smutty and insane. Oddly reminds me of 1000 Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari with its "rhizomatic" style. After reading it I find myself in a state of mind that only a couple other works have achieved in me, one of free poetic openness to human experience, particularly when in society. It's a strange experience bordering on solipsism or paranoid schizoprenia but feels very liberating from the demands of stuffy "rational" existence.
- mkjonesuk 3y agoFinished "When McKinsey Comes to Town" recently. A nice easy read, haunting and funny. It really goes to town on how the McKinsey consultants working in government and private sector will work both angles to get a favourable outcome to ensure they become indispensable. Also the way McKinsey try to balances a "fair and honest" culture with the real dirty work they do. The section on the UK Public Health Service (NHS) was shocking.
- prepend 3y agoI just read Outlive by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford [0] and liked it for how it made me think about fitness as part of life into old age and not just a specific thing to do in order to accomplish something (run a race, climb a mountain, etc). So I’ve incorporated some shifts in training to prepare for the “Centenarian Olympics.” Kind of long and seems like a book just as a focal point but give Attia a break because he has hundreds (thousands?) of hours of podcasts and blog posts as well. Although it must be nice to do the expensive tests his clients do, the book did give me some affordable tests that I ran to identify additional cholesterol labs beyond what my doc normally runs (Lpa and ApoB) and that was an immediate help. Also while I won’t pay for a proper VO2Max test, I do pay more attention to my watches estimation. [0] https://peterattiamd.com/outlive/ https://peterattiamd.com/outlive/
- epiccoleman 3y agoHe was just on Sam Harris's podcast talking about the book - I learned a lot from him. Good stuff. Now I just need to lose 50 pounds and get back on the wagon with exercise again ...
- xu3u32 3y agoI second this recommendation. I listened to it on my long runs and now I am highlighting through the print copy because it has so many important insights for health and wellbeing through dietary, sleep, emotional and movement interventions.
- tultra 3y agoComputer Networking: a Top Down approach by James Kurose and Keith Ross. Computer Networking - a Top Down approach is a technical book, but oh boy what an awesome read it is. I've just recently obtained a BSc degree in Computer Science, and the course curriculum didn't paid much attention to computer networks. We mostly studied cryptography algos, but not really looked into networks protocols and such. This book is hence filling the gaps I have in computer networks (I'm mostly interested in web dev/cloud architectures). The only other technical book that comes close to it is "Operation Systems: three easy pieces" by Remzi and Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau. Another great read. Now, in terms of fictions books, I just finished re-reading "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It's a masterpiece, but I'm not sure if the author is widely known in english speaking countries.
- ParallelThread 3y agoWhen you read technical books for fun, do you do the exercises and projects at the end of chapters? I have found that when I read and don't actually use the concepts learned, I tend to forget after some time.
- AB1908 3y agoYou may want to try converting those questions into byte (heh) sized flashcards and review them from time to time to make sure it sticks. Speaking of which, there's a book called Make It Stick. You might find that interesting as well.
- abysmallytall 3y agoProbably not widely, but I've read Labyrinth of the Spirits by Zafón and it was utterly fantastic. (I know it's book 4 and do intend to read the others. I was at my local library and picked this up randomly. So glad I did!)
- raygunzapzap 3y ago'God Human Animal Machine' by Meghan O'Gieblyn was a very interesting read. Her background in an evangelical seminary->physics obsessed naturalist->ponderer of AI consciousness made for a very interesting voice and perspective. Blind Sight by Peter Watts is some amazing fiction, a gripping First Contact story The Body Keeps the Score and My Grandmother's Hands are two excellent books to assist at recognizing and processing the generational habits and traumas that impact us deeper than we realize
- NikolaNovak 3y agoThree more thumbs up for Blind Sight. Gripping story but also puts forward some interesting questions on nature of consciousness and reality (but not in a woozy spiritual way; basically - what happens to your senses and thoughts when subjected to a massive and changing magnetic field?). Not quite Phillip K Dick as far as unreliable narrator goes, but it's cool once you start questioning the perspectives and observations :)
- slothtrop 3y agoThis has been on my list for some time, since I came across this great essay by O'Gieblyn on spontaneity/habit. One that I bounced off of recently is A Fire Upon The Deep. I don't get it.
- johnchals 3y ago[flagged]
- fodmap 3y agoKiller in the Kremlin by John Sweeney. 'Drawing on eyewitness accounts and compelling testimony from those who have suffered at Putin's hand, we see the heroism of the Russian opposition, the bravery of the Ukrainian resistance, and the brutality with which the Kremlin responds to such acts of defiance, assassinating or locking away its critics, and stopping at nothing to achieve its imperialist aims.'
- NikolaNovak 3y ago* Blindisght by Peter Watts. Great story with a less "antropomorphic" first contact experience, but also a very modern take on awareness/consciousness/reality from a hard-sci-fi perspective. https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm * Anything by QNTM. You can start with short story Lena which I think would appeal to HN crowd: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo https://qntm.org/mmacevedo Both of these writers make phenomenal amount of their work available for free online; I've also purchased a lot of their hard-copies for friends :) * Open Borders by SMBC guy. I'm a fairly liberal guy AND I'm an immigrant to North America, and still this very short read transformed my position on immigration: https://www.smbc-comics.com/openborders/ https://www.smbc-comics.com/openborders/ * SnowCrash and Neuromancer; have to put it out there as I re-read them every year or two - I know the story by heart but they are like places and towns and countries I like visiting for the atmosphere and company :) * In that cyberpunk vein, I only recently read Hardwired and it was surprisingly good; first few pages felt like a bit of a variation on the theme, but then it built its own identity. * The God Engines by Scalzi. ~50 page novella (novelette?). It's a... sci fi fantasy religious tale of space travel and manifested gods? It's different and inventive and sobering and one of those books that you put down after finishing and just stare at the ceiling for a bit. Cathartic. * And for anybody who hasn't yet, Culture Series by Iain m. Banks. I don't personally love the very first entry, Consider Phlebas, but everything from Player of Games onward is just gold.
- lukego 3y agoFungi of Temperate Europe. Gorgeous book and immensely satisfying for self-studying mushroom foraging because of its comprehensiveness (thousands of species) and novel accessible organization.
- EdwardCoffin 3y agoA nearly book-length paper: Hints and Principles for Computer System Design by Butler Lampson (May 14, 2021 version) [1]. I'd skimmed it and listened to his talk before, but I recently completed a close and careful reading. It's got a lot of really good stuff in it. [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2011.02455.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2011.02455.pdf
- misiti3780 3y agoTruman by David McCullough: https://www.goodreads.com/zh/book/show/2279 https://www.goodreads.com/zh/book/show/2279 Really amazing biography about a man who became president by accident and guided country during the initial years of the atomic age. He was perfect, but the book depicts him to be a great person and a good president . The End of the World Is just Beginning: https://www.amazon.com/End-World-Just-Beginning-Globalization/dp/006323047X https://www.amazon.com/End-World-Just-Beginning-Globalizatio... Uses lots of data to back up his hypothesis two events 1. the US no longer policing the world 2) demographic shifts in most countries not reproducing have create a situation where the the world as we know it is changing, and things are only going to get worse, the peace we know and the supplies we rely on will no longer exist soon. Countries like China and most of West Europe are completely fucked because their populations are going to decrease by > 50% in the next few decades and they do not have the workforce or immigration policies in place to solve these problems. Ironically, he claims the US is in the best position because we have all the natural resources we need, we are not dying demographically, and Mexico and Canada are not threats. We should expect to see less peace, more nationalism and overall a lot more instability in the future.
- mkovach 3y agoUne Histoire Populaire du Baseball https://blacklephant.com/ouvrage/une-histoire-populaire-du-baseball/ https://blacklephant.com/ouvrage/une-histoire-populaire-du-b... Yes, a book about baseball written by a Frenchman. Interesting that did focus on the "big names" (Ruth, Gehrig, Mayes, etc.) but instead focused on Edith Houghton, Victor Starffin, Moses Walker, Bonnie Baker, Bill Veeck, Effa Manley, Amanda Clement, AG Spalding, Bill Lee, and Juile Croteua. Yes, he talks about other famous players, but it certainly is a different perspective. As an amateur baseball historian, it was well written and different from what I'm use to reading. If you can overcome the small problem of it being written in French, and you like baseball, I highly recommend it.
- agentultra 3y agoTravels in the Americas, Albert Camus. I’ve admired The Myth of Sisyphus and The Stranger. This book is a collection of his journals from a couple of trips he took to North and South America in the 40’s to give talks and visit with friends and colleagues. I particularly enjoy the style of writing he uses in these journals.
- lastofthemojito 3y agoJust finished The Farfarers by Farley Mowat. Mowat tells a compelling speculative history of seafarers reaching North America (and Iceland and Greenland) before the Vikings. I don't necessary believe it all, but he certainly asks compelling questions that don't seem to be answered satisfactorily by "real" historians and archeologists. It's an interesting reminder that despite all we do know (or think we know), there's an awful lot we don't.
- nigma1337 3y agoRecently finished The DevOps Handbook[1]. Had a lot of nice insight into good ways of doing DevOps, and I found the examples from real companies incredibly helpful in understand how the concepts help in the real world.
- fsloth 3y agoProject Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship by George Dyson. A mindblowing vision and project of a vehicle that would offer the capability to truck TONS of stuff as far as, say Saturn, or offer speedy travel to Mars. Born in the nuclear optimism of 1950's, killed by politics and bad optics of nuclear bomb enabled spaceflight. The more I read of the book the more exciting the topic became. I did not realize how superior and feasible the nuke powered spaceship would be if built. I hope Orion will fly one day, it's that awesome.
- arnejenssen 3y ago"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo It made me change the relationship to my belongings. Also practical tips on how to organize the stuff that actually works.
- Aeolun 3y agoI think I had it recommended to me here before, so I’ll do the same now. I’m reading the Commonweal series, which starts with “The March North”. It’s a really, really hard book to get into due to the way it’s written, but its really a quite unique fantasy world populated (and historically ravaged by) wizards and sorcerers. It also has a fire breathing sheep called Eustace. The rest of the series basically constantly expands on the world and the lore through the interactions people have, generally with different viewpoint characters. I’m down to the last book, and a bit sad that the trip will be over.
- haswell 3y agoWhy we sleep. This book motivated me to change my sleep habits after decades of being a night owl. I’m starting to love early mornings, and I feel so much better. This was a hard change. How to do nothing. About resisting the attention economy and reorienting one’s relationship with technology and the environment. A very thought provoking and timely read, especially while I’m on sabbatical. Flow. Explores the psychology of optimal experience, and again has been rather applicable while I’m on sabbatical trying to recover from burnout. It explores the flow state: how people achieve it, why it’s so enjoyable, and shifting towards a mindset that seeks to find flow in everyday moments. Learned Optimism. Explores the original research that revealed the concept of Learned Helplessness, provides tools to assess one’s own level of optimism/pessimism (this was…revealing), and makes a strong case for replacing certain pessimistic defaults through simple retraining exercises. Really helpful if you grew up in an environment that hammered pessimism into your core. Has been life changing.
- carlescere 3y agoCannot agree more about Why we sleep. I thought feeling tired and low energy was really the natural state of my body until I was recommended this read. As stated, this is not a trivial change but I believe the author does a great job in infusing a (correct imo) sense of urgency on the lack of attention to sleep in the modern times.
- shanusmagnus 3y agoObligatory critique about Why We Sleep, in case you haven't seen it. https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/ https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/
- JacobDotVI 3y agoGuzey updated changed his mind on this topic: https://guzey.com/2022-lessons/#get-minimum-possible-sustainable-amount-of-sleep---get-enough-sleep-to-have-maximum-energy-during-the-day https://guzey.com/2022-lessons/#get-minimum-possible-sustain... It's unfortunate that he hasn't added a disclaimer to the original post since it is shared so widely. EDIT: fixing autocorrect
- gwbas1c 3y ago"Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family" By Miep Gies. (The Disney+ series "A Small Light" is loosely based on the events in this book.) Miep was Otto Frank's employee, close friend of the Franks, and helped hide the family during the time that Anne wrote her diary. (She was the person finding the Frank's food.) After the Franks were arrested, Miep rescued the diary and then gave it to Otto Frank when he learned that Anne didn't survive the concentration camps. The book gives significantly more context than Anne's diary regarding who the Franks were, and the struggles they encountered. Not only is it a vital companion to Anne Frank's diary, Miep's account of Amsterdam during WWII describes in detail what life was like under the Nazi regime. She gives a lot more of the "who, what, where, why, and how," that Anne's diary omits. (Remember, Anne was a teenager who, initially, was writing for herself and not for a global audience.) The first section of the book describes some of Miep's background, how she met the Franks, their relationship, and the history of the Franks. The second section describes the period where she helped hide the Franks, and often gives an alternate perspective to events that Anne wrote about. The third section describes the Frank's arrest and the famine that happened in Amsterdam before the Germans surrendered. I read the book because some events in "A Small Light" were a little difficult to believe. And, yes, the events in "A Small Light" that I didn't believe weren't part of the book. Edit: https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Frank-Remembered-Helped-Family-ebook/dp/B004QWZ5WQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=meip+gies+book&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Frank-Remembered-Helped-Family-e... Edit 2: I also recently re-read Anne Frank's diary. As an adult with children, it provides a strong reminder of how teenagers' minds work. It also shows that even our heros were immature as youngsters. In Miep's afterword, she points out that she was really hurt at the way that Anne described some of the people in hiding.
- registeredcorn 3y ago1) The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin It's the second book in The Three Body Problem series. To be honest, I found it a bit dull in similar ways to the first book in the series. There are good chunks of technical details (Hard Scifi), and specific ideas or concepts that are interesting, but it's then brought up during romantic relationships and other matters I'm not not invested in. If you can get passed the parts that drone on about flowers and clouds and whatnot, there's some good meat. I don't want to give too much away, but I'll try to give you the general premise of situations that come up in each book: * How does a civilization examine and come to understand the world around it, if that world is incredibly unstable and deadly at some points, and eerily stable at others? * How would worldly matters like strife, unrest, famine, and suffering impact the mindset of people who attempt contact with other civilizations? * If all you have is a rock and a loin cloth, how could you possibly fight someone with strategic bombers and nuclear warheads? ... * ... Assuming you came up with any ideas at all, how would those plans or inventions impact the society you live in? How long would you need to prepare to even offer the semblance of a fight against that kind of enemy? ... * ... If the threat you face is by an enemy that can hear every word you say, and read every word you write, how could you even begin to plan or mount any kind of a defense against it? 2) The Celtic World by Dr. Jennifer Paxton, PhD A detailed look at the Celtic identity throughout history. Where did they come from? Who are they? Where do they live? What were their beliefs? What is their legacy in the modern day? There's nothing specific that I can point to and say "And this is why you should listen to it!" It's simply very well done. It wraps up the history in a way that is engaging, without being excessive or dull, while still feeling incredibly detailed. It's entertaining, engaging, but also factual. In areas where things are murky or grey, the author makes it clear what is opinion, what is known, and what is uncertain. It doesn't feel like "infotainment" ala Discovery Channel, TLC, etc. It feels like those classic documentaries or miniseries you could sometimes find, where something hit that perfect mix of being: well produced, insightful, and complete. You can feel the genuine passion that the author has for the topic, and it shines through to such a degree that, if you have even a passing interest in the topic, or history in general, you're sure to find something in there that piques your interest. I also really appreciated that the author made a point of not looking her nose down at any misconceptions that people may have about various aspects of the Celtic world. There are a lot of half-truths and outright falsehoods that I had been told about the historical Celt that are wrong. It would have been incredibly easy for the author to sneer at such errors as "uneducated nonsense" or some other dismissive comment, but the author didn't do that at all! She made a point of saying that common misconceptions are...well, common, and that it's understandable that people think this way or that as a result. It was completely free of the kind of pretention that I had been concerned about, which made it far more accessible as a complete dullard on the topic.
- vanderZwan 3y agoI've been slowly going through Divine Proportions: Rational Trigonometry to Universal Geometry, by Norman J. Wildberger. Wildberger is a mathematician, and a finitist. This means that he doesn't believe in infinity in the modern mathematical sense (I'm sure he won't dispute that the integers are unbound, for example). Which means he does not believe that Real numbers are properly defined either, or that limits are really a thing. So he put his money where is mouth is and invented a branch of trigonometry that only uses rational numbers, by replacing length and angle with square distance (which he calls "quadrance") and the square of the sine (which he calls "spread"). All of the above is just what motivated him, what's interesting is that the resulting maths itself is all correct and quite nice to go through. It basically boils down to saying "hey, it's called trigonometry for a reason, so maybe it makes more sense to make actual triangles the fundamental unit, not circles," and working your way from there. Personally I'm kind of curious if his approach might be more practical for computer implementations too, since all number representations on computers are either rational numbers or approximations of other numbers via rational numbers.
- d0m 3y agoI was thinking about this just the other day. If infinity isn't actually a thing in our universe, then maybe we're taking some risks by using math with all these infinite limits and integers. Maybe if we look at theorems without using infinity, we'd stumble upon new or different equations.
- throwoutway 3y agoYou'd probably enjoy looking into negative infinities, which has been vigorously debated throughout history.
- ryneandal 3y agoHighly recommend his History of Mathematics lectures on YouTube, if you are interested in that sort of thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW8Cy6WrO94&list=PL55C7C83781CF4316&index=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW8Cy6WrO94&list=PL55C7C8378...
- kasperset 3y agoRecently read this book: "The 5 elements of the Effective Thinking" by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird. It was published in year 2012 so not very "modern". https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691156668/the-5-elements-of-effective-thinking https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691156668/th... Overall very short book and kind of repeats but is very clearly written. Leans towards academic thinking but I think it is pretty good. 5 elements refers to earth, fire, air, water, and the 5th element is the one which will hopefully "change" your thinking.
- momentmaker 3y agoPower vs Force by David Hawkins
- fnands 3y ago"When We Cease to Understand the World" by Benjamín Labatut A work of historical fiction focusing on (real) scientists who grapple with the consequences of their discoveries. Actually had a very similar vibe to Oppenheimer for me.
- mberger 3y ago[dead]
- 2big2fail_47 3y agoCapital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse? — Mckenzie Wark »McKenzie Wark argues that the all-pervasive presence of data in our networked society has given rise to a new mode of production, one not ruled over by capitalists and their factories but by those who own and control the flow of information. Yet, if this is not capitalism anymore, could it be something worse?«
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- gtsnexp 3y agoThe Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name 978-1250207142 Stories of Your Life and Others: Ted Chiang 978-1529039436 Leonardo da Vinci 978-1501139154
- VikingCoder 3y agoProject Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the guy who wrote The Martian, is really great.
- jebarker 3y agoCats paws and catapults - I saw this first recommended on a different HN thread. Great comparison of natural and man-made mechanical systems that changed my intuitions about why things in the world are built the way they are. From Strength to Strength, Brooks - it's a self-help book for midlife crises. Has all the normal issues of self-help books but I found the exploration of the acceptance of inevitable age related decline in some abilities interesting and useful.
- fallat 3y agoFall of the Roman Empire and the end of civilization
- Casperin 3y agoLeo Africanus by Amin Maalouf -- I was approached in an airport by a lovely old gentleman who essentially told me to read this book and insisted I take a photo of it so I wouldn't forget. Half a year later, I'm out of things to read and looking for a change (I never read historical fiction before) and gave it a shot. It has opened a world of a completely new genre for me.
- mikhailfranco 3y agoThank you, I had never heard of Leo Africanus. But I would rather read his original work Cosmographia, rather than a fictionalized biography (same for Ibn Battuta).
- laughingman2 3y agoWays of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence by James Bridle. James pulls an brilliant move of using various examples in technology as a tool to help us rethink our place in nature & reconnect with the (beyond human) world. He weaves a fascinating tale with myriads of threads such as Cybernetics, Neural Nets, Internet, Random Numbers, Analog computers, Slime molds, Sortition vs Voting, Mycelium, Mysticism in animals, Turing machines, Personhood of non-humans etc. A nice summary to whet your appetite, https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/07/more-than-human/#umwelt https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/07/more-than-human/#umwelt
- dzwa 3y agoIn Defense of Civilization by Michael Bonner
- thelastinuit 3y ago- A Path through The Jungle, Steve Peters - Sacred Economics, Charles Eisenstein
- randysalami 3y agoArtificial Intelligence A Modern Approach 4th Edition About halfway through. Pretty enjoyable read. Didn’t know much about AI before starting but the book approaches it on a fundamental level with relevant history so I feel like I’m getting a comprehensive education.
- motohagiography 3y agoI needed to unpack some experiences after doing data privacy work in public health units and a health ministry, so in trying to understand what I saw, I read: Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, by Hannah Arendt, with a critical forward by Amos Elon. I found her observations about the moral conditions behind people committing atrocities were made on behalf of humanity in general, but somewhat at the expense of a necessary respect for the (then) new nation Israel at the time. I understand the criticisms of her, but I think most of her conceits are worth forgiving to understand how important her observations were. She did derive a formula by which these things occur, since as a philosopher, she was able to see the role of ideologies as objects and moral mechanisms, with the trial evidence and dozens of hours of his testimony and psychological interviews as the example. Much of what she describes resembles normal government bureaucracy abstractions and what we recognize as crowd behaviors today - but driven by the zeal of a nihilistic inevitability, a sense of privileged enlightenment ("a bearer of secrets"), and a base materialist ontology. His defense was that he was dutiful, everything was "legal," it was an "act of state," his victims actively cooperated, the killing was "a medical matter," and that this was a sufficient moral basis for orchestrating a genocide. I've found that the evil is far upstream of action, it begins in the blunting and dulling of the human spirit with cliches and ideology, and the horrors are a downstream effect of what was set in motion much earlier. I've read her "origins" book as well, but I'd recommend this one as more directly illuminating.
- Goofy_Coyote 3y agoList of books mentioned till now: "The Man Who Folded Himself" by David Gerrold A fascinating exploration of time travel, despite its poor writing quality, according to the commenter. "Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction" by J. Allan Hobson A hard science neurophysiological overview of dreaming. "Material World" by Ed Conway A detailed look into basic minerals like sand, salt, oil, their supply chains, and the process of converting ores to materials. "Blindsight" and "Echopraxia" by Peter Watts Sci-fi novels that deal with themes of consciousness and first contact with alien intelligence. "The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again" by M. John Harrison Noted for beautiful writing and vivid descriptions. "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman A light and amusing mystery novel; the beginning of a series. "The Roman Empire in Crisis" by Paul N. Pearson A detailed account of the Crisis of the Third Century in Rome, incorporating recent archaeological discoveries. "The Good Virus" by Tom Ireland Introduces phages and their pivotal role in advancing human health through phage therapy. "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness" by Richard H. Thaler A book about behavioral economics that suggests ways policies can be designed to "nudge" people into making better decisions. "Blindsight" by Peter Watts A sci-fi novel that offers a less "anthropomorphic" first contact experience. "Open Borders" by SMBC guy A book that presents an argument in favor of more open immigration policies. "Snow Crash" and "Neuromancer" Classic cyberpunk novels, recommended for annual re-reading by the commenter. "The God Engines" by John Scalzi A novella that is described as a sci-fi fantasy religious tale of space travel and manifested gods. Culture Series by Iain M. Banks A series of space opera novels set in a post-scarcity society. "Art & Fear - Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking" by David Bayles & Ted Orland A book about human nature and creativity. "The Case for God" by Karen Armstrong A book about the history of religion and how much is misunderstood in modern times. "Years of Lyndon Johnson" by Robert Caro A detailed and well-researched biography of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. "The Captured Economy" by Lindsey and Teles "American Revolutions" by Alan Taylor "Everything Flows" by Vasili Grossman "Silk Roads" by Peter Frankopan A history of the world from a Central Asian perspective. "Too Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control" by Allan Mallinger "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael E. Gerber A book about why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it. "Prisoners of Geography" by Tim Marshall An exploration of how borders and geography shape nations. "Impro" by Keith Johnston A book with unique and radical views about how society functions. "Peter Singer's books" Noted as being worldview-changing, but specific titles aren't listed. "Two Years Before The Mast" by Richard Henry Dana An account of the cattle hide trade along the California coast in the 1830s. "Empire of the Summer Moon" A book about the Comanche tribe and their conflict with settlers in the American West. "Dune" by Frank Herbert A classic science fiction novel about politics, religion, and ecology on a desert planet. "God, Human, Animal Machine" by Meghan O’Gieblyn Traces parallels between Christian theology and transhumanism. "The Water Knife" A dystopian future novel set against a backdrop of water scarcity in the western United States.
- _gabe_ 3y agoI’ve also been getting back into fantasy and sci-fi. I’m reading through the Wheel of Time series right now and it’s the best series I’ve ever read. I’m on book 7 and really glad there’s still 7 books left. If you liked Eragon, then you’ll probably love this series. Contrast that to Dune, which I heard so much praise for and was very very disappointed by. The first Dune book was ok, but it just went downhill from there. The God Emperor of Dune was the most boring garbage I’ve ever read, and I’m convinced people think it’s great because they read it in high school or middle school and thought it was “deep” when it’s just a bunch of fluff with no substance. The plot is terrible too. Once again, the first Dune book was alright, but the rest are absolute trash in my honest opinion.
- wombat-man 3y agoYeah, I tried a couple times to get into Dune, never finished it. I'll just enjoy the movies.
- slothtrop 3y agoOpposite, I liked the first two Dune books, bounced off of WoT hard.
- leandot 3y agoWoT is great, albeit a bit slow in the middle. But the last three books are just amazing, Brandon Sanderson was hired to finish the series and he did it expertly. A great series I can recommend is Red Rising from Pierce Brown (book 6 just came out, one more to go).
- _gabe_ 3y agoThis Red Rising sounds like something I would like, and I’ve been wanting to get back into sci-fi. Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll check it out once I finish up WoT :)
- Insanity 3y ago“Doomguy: life in first person” which is the autobiography of John Romero. I definitely enjoyed “Masters of Doom” which is a great book in itself, and this added perspective from Romero was enjoyable. But I grew up on their games, both playing and modding, so I do have a soft spot for their history.
- nicbou 3y ago"Russia: Revolution and Civil War". Antony Beevor is an historian with a knack for good anecdotes. It can be a little hard to follow, but it's worth a read. His books about the battle of Stalingrad and Berlin are much better though. I'm currently reading "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff". If you need a book to unwind from a brick about the civil war, this is it. It's hilarious. "Salt Fat Acid Heat" is recommended by everyone for a reason. Unfortunately, I read before bedtime and it makes me want to get out of bed and cook things. "A very brief introduction to Marx" is exactly what's on the tin. These very brief introductions are a great way to read about something, although the writing quality varies from book to book.
- JackMorgan 3y agoSome recent books that really enriched my life: - "Ace: What asexuality reveals about desire, society, and the meaning of sex" by Angela Chen. Really helped me understand my ace friends better. - "Complex PTSD: From surviving to thriving" by Pete Walker. Helped me recover from a lot of trauma that was causing me duress - "The Wizard and the Prophet" by Charles C. Mann. Helped me recover from anxiety disorder caused by climate change. - "The Inner Game of Tennis" by W. Timothy Gallwey. As a former competitive gamer, this really helped me step back from competition and just enjoy the game. - "Neurotribes" by Steve Silberman. Great book about the history of autism. Extremely sad but hopeful book. - "Different Loving" by Brame, Jacobs, and Brame. A fascinating look back in time to the kink world of the 90s. For fun I recently read and enjoyed: Foundation, Project Hail Mary (who's cutting onions in here), Going Postal, God Emperor of Dune, and Heart of Darkness.
- elteto 3y agoThe Martian was a fun, hard science fiction book, but I never really liked its characters. They were too silly and one-dimensional. But Project Hail Mary is a lovely story. And the twist half way through! Such a wonderful, happy reading.
- mptest 3y agoIn a similar vein to the CPTSD rec, I will always tell people Walking your blues away by thom hartman (basically about applying emdr while walking) saved my life. It is a truly wonderful short and easy to read book.Everyone I've recommended it to from different walks of life have all found it fantastic. If you've anything weighing on you, walking your blues away may help. Thank you for your recommendations.
- adamc 3y agoThe best two books I read in the last year-ish are "The Golden Notebook" (novel by Doris Lessing) and "The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder. Best tech book has been "Designing Data-Intensive Applications".
- throwaway2037 3y ago"The Golden Notebook" (novel by Doris Lessing) Wow, finally some fiction that isn't science fiction and something written by a woman. Excellent choice! I highly recommend her other works. What blew me away the most about Golden Notebook: It was published in 1962 -- 60 years ago! The ideas about feminism that the two lead women characters discuss are way ahead of their time. Also by Ms. Lessing, I recommend "The Grass Is Singing". She really knows how transport you inside the minds of her characters. The lead character's struggle to adapt to difficult farm life in a colony is real.
- chris_wot 3y agoIt’s not a book, but I accidentally stumbled on the subreddit r/hfy - enormously satisfying and funny. Honestly, no one is more surprised than me about how much I am enjoying it…
- kinow 3y agoOh boy, if you start going through old posts you will find a lot of interesting stories. And once you subscribe to some of the stories with that reddit bot, you have a weekly/monthly series of stories to read.
- mbb70 3y agoThe City & the City by China Meiville. Meiville normally write weird fiction with a heavy handed communist slant e.g. mutant railroad workers revolt against their capitalist masters and escape by laying and digging up tracks as fast as the train moves, they form a collective and live happily ever after. The City & the City is his style, but constrained to the structure of a noir mystery novel. Classic gritty cop, loose cannon partner, dead woman, many suspects, second victim, big gunfight, climatic unmasking etc. The set pieces Meiville is forced to work with results in an incredibly creative and enjoyable ride. Note: this is not fantasy, it is a noir written by a fantasy writer. Many disappointed readers resulted from this misconception.
- slothtrop 3y agoI've enjoyed his speculative fiction / sci-fi far more than his fantasy so far.
- p2detar 3y agoMaybe hijacking your post, sorry about that, but has anyone already read „House of Leaves“? What are you impressions? Seems like a heavy read and I was wondering what to expect.
- nsm 3y agoRecoding America by Jennifer Pahlka. A technologist who helped the US federal government for several years looks backs and describes all the problems with government adopting digital interfaces in a way that actually helps users. Also a commentary on how the waterfall model of governance, where grandiose legislation is passed, without taking feedback from those implementing it, leads to accretion of convoluted regulations and horrible user experiences for the most disadvantaged of us.
- lysecret 3y agoBrothers Karamazov: An absolutely fantastic demonstration of family dynamics (from a purely male perspective). The Idiot: What happens to a close to perfect person in an imperfect world. What I loved about this book, it doesn't go the obvious route (e.g. oh he is too nice and gets exploited, it's subtle) Why you should read: Both books give an interesting inside of "russian" mentality (which I think is very important with the war going on). You will feel like you have gotten to know 4 close new friends. Why you shouldn't read it: 1. It is a very male point of view, women in those books get displayed quite badly. 2. They are absolutely soul crushing.
- nineplay 3y agoI'm a woman and I didn't either book particularly masculine nor did I feel like the women came off badly. The main female character in The Idiot was fantastic. I consider Dostoevsky one of the best writers in terms of understanding women. I'll resist the urge to quote. It could be that the POVs are more universal than you think. Have you read Crime and Punishment? There's a scene in there that I can hardly believe a man wrote.
- lysecret 3y agoYes crime and punishment was the first one I read a few years ago. Would love to know which scene you are referring to.
- dustingetz 3y agoQuantum Electrodynamics by Richard Feynman, shockingly a page turner, quite accessible and short!
- cjohnson318 3y agoThe Forever War - Joe Haldeman. (sci-fi, space opera) This book was interesting because its use of novel pronouns based on thee/thou (I think Mx. was around in the early seventies), and its use of wearables (rings instead of watches). I appreciated that the technology mostly worked according to spec, regardless of whether the spec was realistic, in that regard, parts of it felt very realistic, even though a lot of the book is satirical and/or clunky.
- benwerd 3y agoHere are some I've read recently that I can highly recommend: Fiction: - How High We Go in the Dark, a deeply moving science fiction story about loss - https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-high-we-go-in-the-dark-sequoia-nagamatsu/18727185 https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-high-we-go-in-the-dark-sequ... - Severance (no relation to the TV show), which works as a pretty good double bill to the above - https://bookshop.org/p/books/severance-ling-ma/9880874 https://bookshop.org/p/books/severance-ling-ma/9880874 - Ripe, about the artifice of Silicon Valley and its human cost - https://bookshop.org/p/books/ripe-sarah-rose-etter/18992345 https://bookshop.org/p/books/ripe-sarah-rose-etter/18992345 Non-fiction: - The Jakarta Method, on US foreign policy (really should be required reading for every US citizen) - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-jakarta-method-washington-s-anticommunist-crusade-and-the-mass-murder-program-that-shaped-our-world-vincent-bevins/12991776 https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-jakarta-method-washington-s... - Poverty, by America, which is in some ways a cathartic read about the systemic ways poverty is incentivized (by the author of the deservedly award-winning Evicted) - https://bookshop.org/p/books/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond/18603208 https://bookshop.org/p/books/poverty-by-america-matthew-desm... - README.txt: Chelsea Manning's memoir, which is riveting - not just about her story, but also in the little details about the information work she did while she was deployed - https://bookshop.org/p/books/readme-txt-a-memoir-chelsea-manning/14943471 https://bookshop.org/p/books/readme-txt-a-memoir-chelsea-man...
- doitLP 3y agoWhat’s Our Problem by Tim Urban of https://waitbutwhy.com https://waitbutwhy.com fame. Excellent breakdown of the problem of politics and the increasing polarization of our times. Plus loads of great illustrations and humor besides. Can’t recommend it enough.
- ryneandal 3y agoCannot recommend Piranesi by Susanna Clarke enough. A lovely read and could be devoured in an entire day if you're willing and able.
- mikhailfranco 3y agoGreat biographical article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/14/susanna-clarkes-fantasy-world-of-interiors https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/14/susanna-clarke...
- ryneandal 3y agoApologies, I missed this when initially posted and regret it. An illuminating and touching read which puts the book into context. Reading about her affliction brought me to tears at this point: > At times, she said, bright sunshine has felt “like an oppression, a weight leaning on me”; she often retreats to a darkened room. In the late two-thousands, when her illness was at its worst, she was unable to get out of bed, experiencing depression, social anxiety, and agoraphobia. Thanks for sharing the article, it resonates with me immensely. I went through similar hypersensitivity issues due to a car accident and brain injury, and still deal with some of that fallout. Knowing this background about Clarke makes the protagonist's perspective at the end even more meaningful to me.
- AlecSchueler 3y agoThe History of Art without Men by Katy Hessel is a fascinating look back at the development of western art but with a focus on the women whose works either made an impact and were forgotten by art history, or whose work never got the recognition it deserved. She does a great job at highlighting the social pressures that prevented these women either from achieving long lasting recognition or from reaching the same access to education, tools or simply dissemination as their male counterparts.
- manicennui 3y agoI'm reading "Ways of Being" by James Bridle. It is about intelligence and specifically animal and plant intelligence. I'm learning a lot of science that I either never knew or was taught incorrectly in high school. Very thought provoking.
- jedberg 3y agoMaster's of Doom. Yes, I know I'm a few decades behind. I read it in part because it gets mentioned here so much. So here's another mention! If you haven't read it, it's a great story and informative too if you're a founder (on how not to run a company).
- marai2 3y agoI'll upvote this as well, but from a different angle. I never listen to audio books, I don't think I've ever listened to an audio book - except this one time. Last year I was doing a 14-hour drive from Seattle to the Bay Area and somehow ended up downloading this book to my phone. Well this book sent me through a time-warp, the hours rolled by while I was completely absorbed in the book and didn't feel the drudgy long drive at all. But kudos also to Wil Wheaton, he does an excellent job of narrating this book.
- elteto 3y agoAnd Romero just published his own autobiography: Doom Guy: Life in First Person. Haven't read it yet but looks promising!
- macrolocal 3y agoI’m enjoying “Uproar!” by Alice Loxton. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/james-gillray-tim-clayton-uproar-alice-loxton-book-review-norma-clarke/ https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/james-gillray-tim-clayton...
- nineplay 3y agoHarry Potter and the Methods of Rationality which I approached doubtfully and have been enjoying the heck out of it. It's not some cutesy juvenile fanfic, it's about a alt-universe Harry Potter who grows up in a healthy family surrounded by books of science. He goes into the wizarding world with a heavy dose of skepticism and a mind well trained in the scientific method. The author is a AI researcher. https://hpmor.com/ https://hpmor.com/
- ilaksh 3y agoIf that's the Yudkowsky book it reminds me that Hotz and Yudkowsky just did an interesting debate about AI on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/live/6yQEA18C-XI https://www.youtube.com/live/6yQEA18C-XI
- nineplay 3y agoI'll have to check it out once I've finished. I've been avoiding any information about him in case of inadvertent spoilers
- HaZeust 3y agoThinking in Systems. I think teaching individuals to think in cause/effect, correlations, and chronological order is very important - but I think there's a missing fourth branch of deductive reasoning that we haven't taught en masse: Mereological. Mereology is a disciplinary and philosophical perspective that implies that everything in the world is a set of parts and wholes; with every entity being both a part OF something, and a whole OF something else. I think if more people thought of things and systems in part-whole relations, they'd get a more intimate understanding of what things are, how they work, their flaws, and how they can fix them - sometimes with other parts and wholes :)
- jestinjoy1 3y agoThe Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
- dysoco 3y agoI really enjoyed this; I suggest "The Song of the Cell" by Siddhartha Mukherjee if you want more in a similar vein, the author has more books as well.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y agoAttempt to steer the discussion a bit: has anyone read any good fiction novels lately? I like to always be reading one fiction and one non-fiction book. (My brain can't do two fiction books at once). I already have a bottomless list of recommendations of nonfiction books from threads like this.
- kristianp 3y agoHave you read Titanium Noir by Harkaway? Mixture of S.F. and noir. Very engaging, I read most of it in one evening.
- tjalfi 3y agoBarbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe is an excellent thriller.
- alexilliamson 3y agoIf you're looking for a complex fantasy series that will occupy you for a long time, I cannot recommend Malazan Book of the Fallen enough!
- LordIllidan 3y agoReading The Book of the New Sun atm. It's quite a dense read, and you may find this useful: Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle. I find myself having to refer to the lexicon every other page, but it's worth it.
- acconrad 3y agoDon't Think of an Elephant will completely change how you view politics and what anyone in politics says and how to interpret it. Aristotle's Ethics helped me reconcile my desire to constantly strive to do more and what to make of it when it seems never-ending. Plato's Republic goes deep into virtue in a way that somehow doesn't (and might need to) get explored more often today. Excellent Sheep is the book that got me to read the above books in the first place.
- NextHendrix 3y agoAirborne Electronic Hardware Design Assurance: A Practitioner's Guide to RTCA/DO-254 by Randall Fulton and Roy Vandermolen Might sound a bit niche, and it is, but even if you ignore the stuff about actually certifying stuff to fly, it has some extremely useful and interesting tidbits about how to go about running very large and highly complex hardware/firmware projects in safety critical industries. The chapter on requirements is especially useful, and the whole thing is written in a (relatively, for the topic) light-hearted way.
- ianyanusko 3y agoA trilogy of books from Reza Aslan: God: A Human History, Zealot, and No god but God. These follow 1) the evolution of human conceptions of God, 2) the historical Jesus, and 3) the historical Muhammad, respectively. They're extremely accessible and have deeply influenced my thoughts on religion.
- redzedi 3y agoThe rise and fall of ancient egypt by Toby wilkinson.
- in9 3y agoI'm reading a couple of books that I think are worth mentioning: - The Long Game: been thinking a lot about how to long term plan, stick to it and revise when needed. I think this book has been helpfull in those reflections. - The Complete Investor: just to keep thinking and working on wealth creation, I've been reading this one. - The Language of Emotions: this one came from Kent Beck's blog. The first half is not something I might ever use (contracts, etc...) but the second part, when it develops each emotion, is nice. - Taking the Work Out of Networking: I need to make more connections :D And I think this readining will help me out a bit and freshen perspectives on how to build those. The Long Game also has some synergy with this one. Also, inspired by Jared Henderson lastest video on Stoicism, I've been meaning to read Lessons in Stoicism and a bit of Seneca + Epictetus (no Marcus Aurelius for now, Jared's view conviced me to keep this one for later).
- tjalfi 3y agoContemporary: ° Yellowface by R.F. Kuang ° Big Swiss by Jen Beagin Thriller: ° Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe
- PawgerZ 3y agoIshmael by Daniel Quinn Man's Search for meaning by Viktor Frankl
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- aizyuval 3y agoDown and out in Paris and London. A thrilling memoir of a wanderer in the 20s of old’ cities.
- johnvak01 3y ago[dead]
- bichiliad 3y agoI'm reading "The Creative Act" by Rick Rubin. It's been such a wonderful perspective shift on what it means to be creative, and it includes a ton of lovely insights on the process of being creative itself. I can't recommend it enough. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717356/the-creative-act-by-rick-rubin/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717356/the-creative...
- dylanzhangdev 3y agoAmericana：A 400-Year History of American Capitalism
- comonoid 3y ago1. Program = Proof by Samuel Mimram Math foundation of programming. Church–Rosser theorem, Curry–Howard correspondence, intuitionistic logic, theorem proving with dependent types, etc. 2. Rust Atomics and Locks: Low-Level Concurrency in Practice by Mara Bos Great introduction even for non-Rust programmers. 3. Statistical Consequences of Fat Tails by N. Taleb et al. I've just started to read it, but looks promising (lot of mathematical statistics).
- EdTechAndrew 3y agoI recently finished Chelsea Manning's Readme.txt and I thought it was great. The themes are about two different types of "trans." Transparency in government and trans rights. I think both topics typically attract different audiences but the book was a fascinating look at both. And if you have interest in both definitely worth checking out. While it wasn't the primary purpose, I also really enjoyed it from a personal perspective to Manning's upbringing. I have not seen the unique dynamic of growing up in a digitally connected America captured as well as it was in this book. The feeling of immense loneliness in real life but a deep connectedness online resonated very strongly with me.
- jpamata 3y agoThis month I'm reading The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson Used to think fiction was a waste of time a month ago. Not anymore.
- Aerbil313 3y agoBreath by James Nestor. It’s a must-read if you’re breathing.
- im_lince 3y agoThe Golden Rules: Finding World-Class Excellence in Your Life and Work I recommend this book by Bob Bowman and Charles Butler is a self-help book that provides guidance on how to achieve world-class excellence in any area of your life. The book is divided into ten chapters, each of which focuses on a different golden rule. Its written in a conversational style and is full of personal anecdotes from Bowman's own life and career.