5 ms·

The Book of Life

85 points by dalys 12y ago

thisjepisje 12y ago
Nice format.
batemanesque 12y ago
more like the book of trife
volent 12y ago
This is great. I love the way it's written as well as the design of the website. The chapters are not too long and very easy to understand even for a foreigner. Great job :)
- mcormier 12y ago
  The chapters are longer than you think, they have sub sections: Chapter 1 ... http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/capitalism/ http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/capitalism/ Chapter 2 ... http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/work/ http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/work/ The design is nice and clean but the navigation is unclear between these sub-chapters.
  - rdrey 12y ago
    Agreed, the navigation for sub-chapters shouldn't be so hidden by default. Alternatively a 'next' button to take the reader to the next sub-chapter would be great.
lnanek2 12y ago
Don't really agree with it at all. I like a reliable partner who has supported me for a long time, not just going after someone new like it recommends. I don't like censorship. Seems very European, I guess, so maybe better for that audience.
- hoggle 12y ago
  I haven't read through this myself and I might not agree with what's in there but then again it seems to be a thoughtfully laid out format. Do we always have to agree with what we read?
rdrey 12y ago
I've bookmarked this, since my CompSci education was very light on humanities and especially the 'Curriculum' chapter seems valuable to me. Would be even better if they had .mobi/.epub download links!
- justaman 12y ago
  One thing I would like to see represented in the Curriculum>Philosophy section is Spinoza's Ethics.
  - moonfern 12y ago
    The "founder" of this is Alain de Botton. He studied philosophy and started writing books. His greatest success is "How Proust can change your life". In it he explains how to become a happier person by reading Proust for a big public. In interviews at that time (end 90's) he talked about erecting a school of happiness and he did that. The list features philosophers who can make you happy not the ones looking for the "truth". Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Spinoza the whole school of rationalism is missing here.
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researcher88 12y ago
This looks interesting. I love Alain de Botton and what he's trying to do by inspiring a type of secular Renaissance in traditions, religious activities and culture. Doing things like having church-like sermons on ideas, the importance of rituals and other concepts covered in his book, Atheism 2.0. He also has thephilosophersmail.com, a news site that's like a positive spin on the Daily Mail.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
senorgusto 12y ago
Is it just me or does the site design remind you of Frank Chimero's http://shapeofdesignbook.com http://shapeofdesignbook.com?
jqm 12y ago
The site is nice but, having read through most of it I don't think I care for it. It seems to promote (among other things) aristocracy, dictatorship and censorship (to varying degrees). It glorifies mindless ritual. It seems to believe that those who know best should be in charge (De Botton himself?) structuring life for others around them. It concentrates far too much on supposed motives (jealousy, envy, ambition, desire for respect, the desire to remake the world etc.) which may apply to the author, but are not necessarily as universal or basic as he seems to believe. Maybe, just maybe, on occasion, a person might buy a nice car not because they want to be seen in a nice car and thus respected, but simply because they like nice cars. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. To me, the individual is paramount. The society where the individual can expand is a beautiful and increasingly vanishing thing. I'm always wary of want-to-be kings dressed up in talk of a better world. Traditionally, not much good has come from them.
thirdknife 12y ago
Nicely written! I like the way writer thought and wrote differently.

The Book of Life

85 points by dalys 12y ago

thisjepisje 12y ago

Nice format.

batemanesque 12y ago

more like the book of trife

volent 12y ago

This is great. I love the way it's written as well as the design of the website. The chapters are not too long and very easy to understand even for a foreigner. Great job :)

mcormier 12y ago
The chapters are longer than you think, they have sub sections: Chapter 1 ... http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/capitalism/ http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/capitalism/ Chapter 2 ... http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/work/ http://www.thebookoflife.org/category/work/ The design is nice and clean but the navigation is unclear between these sub-chapters.
- rdrey 12y ago
  Agreed, the navigation for sub-chapters shouldn't be so hidden by default. Alternatively a 'next' button to take the reader to the next sub-chapter would be great.

lnanek2 12y ago

Don't really agree with it at all. I like a reliable partner who has supported me for a long time, not just going after someone new like it recommends. I don't like censorship. Seems very European, I guess, so maybe better for that audience.

hoggle 12y ago
I haven't read through this myself and I might not agree with what's in there but then again it seems to be a thoughtfully laid out format. Do we always have to agree with what we read?

rdrey 12y ago

I've bookmarked this, since my CompSci education was very light on humanities and especially the 'Curriculum' chapter seems valuable to me. Would be even better if they had .mobi/.epub download links!

justaman 12y ago
One thing I would like to see represented in the Curriculum>Philosophy section is Spinoza's Ethics.
- moonfern 12y ago
  The "founder" of this is Alain de Botton. He studied philosophy and started writing books. His greatest success is "How Proust can change your life". In it he explains how to become a happier person by reading Proust for a big public. In interviews at that time (end 90's) he talked about erecting a school of happiness and he did that. The list features philosophers who can make you happy not the ones looking for the "truth". Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Spinoza the whole school of rationalism is missing here.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

researcher88 12y ago

This looks interesting. I love Alain de Botton and what he's trying to do by inspiring a type of secular Renaissance in traditions, religious activities and culture. Doing things like having church-like sermons on ideas, the importance of rituals and other concepts covered in his book, Atheism 2.0. He also has thephilosophersmail.com, a news site that's like a positive spin on the Daily Mail.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

senorgusto 12y ago

Is it just me or does the site design remind you of Frank Chimero's http://shapeofdesignbook.com http://shapeofdesignbook.com?

jqm 12y ago

The site is nice but, having read through most of it I don't think I care for it. It seems to promote (among other things) aristocracy, dictatorship and censorship (to varying degrees). It glorifies mindless ritual. It seems to believe that those who know best should be in charge (De Botton himself?) structuring life for others around them. It concentrates far too much on supposed motives (jealousy, envy, ambition, desire for respect, the desire to remake the world etc.) which may apply to the author, but are not necessarily as universal or basic as he seems to believe. Maybe, just maybe, on occasion, a person might buy a nice car not because they want to be seen in a nice car and thus respected, but simply because they like nice cars. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. To me, the individual is paramount. The society where the individual can expand is a beautiful and increasingly vanishing thing. I'm always wary of want-to-be kings dressed up in talk of a better world. Traditionally, not much good has come from them.

thirdknife 12y ago

Nicely written! I like the way writer thought and wrote differently.