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The Vital Necessity of Very Old Books (2023)
- Animats 2y agoThe author links to a good summary of the 11 points that make up most of self-help books.[1] That's the most useful content in the article. It's worth noting the total absence of collective action from those self-help books. No suggestions to organize a union, or run someone for local office. [1] https://mashable.com/article/best-self-help-book-advice https://mashable.com/article/best-self-help-book-advice
- 082349872349872 2y agoThose books aren't in the "self help" section, they're over in "mutual aid"? Lagniappe: https://images.cartoonstock.com/lowres/literature-epidemiologist-epidemiology-libraries-library_books-readers-WC901407_low.jpg https://images.cartoonstock.com/lowres/literature-epidemiolo...
- walterbell 2y agoA fun annotation exercise for HN threads!
- Bluestein 2y ago> That's the most useful content in the article. That's perhaps a bit harsh. I have got to - however - indeed thank you for that link: The summary of self help books in there is great, and the 11 points are spot on ...
- Paisley88 2y agoTime is an excellent noise filter. I only read a few books a year. I'm rarely disappointed by classics, and often cant get through the first few pages of modern books.
- walterbell 2y ago> Time is an excellent noise filter Of code too.
- akira2501 2y agoIt's the middle distance of the 1800s that I'm very much into reading now. It's contemporary enough that you can understand it, relates a history that we still teach today, and provides a view into our country that's hard to achieve anywhere else. Highly recommended recent reads: Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography Looters of the Public Domain, S.A.D. Puter. The Boston Tea Party and Memoir of George R.T. Hewes.
- sevensor 2y agoAlso the novels of the era feel fresh in a way that can’t be reproduced on top of 150 years more novels. Not that there’s nothing new under the sun, but that the new things are harder to reach, both for the reader and for the writer.
- dash2 2y agoI wrote a slightly different take on this here: https://wyclif.substack.com/p/parochialism-in-time-and-space https://wyclif.substack.com/p/parochialism-in-time-and-space
- mykowebhn 2y agoI find this comment ironic, especially in light of the original article's discussion of the "Me" decade.
- Kaibeezy 2y agoFor me, referring to Marcus Aurelius as “Aurelius” diminished the author’s credibility, like referring to Queen Elizabeth as “Windsor”. Am I being excessively pedantic?
- Cordiali 2y agoIt's just an abbreviation, doesn't bother me, never read his book. Maybe 'Marcus' would be better, especially if that's the convention used in history books, but it's pretty bog standard to abbreviate a name or title after it's been introduced.
- Cordiali 2y agoI find books from the early development of a given subject or topic to be really valuable. They might not hold up in terms of overall knowledge, but they also make few assumptions about prior knowledge either. The author's coming from the point of view that there may not be access to a product, equipment, technique, or expert to help you. So you can learn a set of knowledge, that has too often been erased in the non-specialist body of knowledge, through abstraction or efficiency.