Incandescence (and Diaspora) by Greg Egan. After you read those all other SF seems ordinary and conservative in terms of ideas. Just for cultural reference it's

Incandescence (and Diaspora) by Greg Egan. After you read those all other SF seems ordinary and conservative in terms of ideas. Just for cultural reference it's also good to read Vernor Vinge's “A Fire Upon the Deep”. It's more for adventure than ideas. And then there is the great story about mind amplification: Ted Chiang's “Understand”.