If you're interested in games / startup stories, I have to recommend Masters of Doom, about the early days of id. It's thrilling and exciting to read: https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult... - It's also in the news that USA has ordered a pilot for a TV adaptation. Here's hoping it's good!
If you grew up playing Doom, and all the other shareware games like Hexen, Heretic, etc... reading about Id Software's start and history is more interesting than I ever thought it would be.
Another book that drew me in was "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels". It's a collection of short-ish game creation stories packaged into a book. Really candid interviews and writing.
It is a literature masterpiece that magically adjusts to my current inner state. It can be both easy reading when I'm tired and just want to unwind, and thought provoking when I'm ready to be thoughtful.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117833.The_Master_and_Ma...
I read the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Could be that it simply whooshed me, maybe I'll try again older and wiser and find myself enjoying it.
[1] - https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Probability-Dimitri-P-Be...
[2] - https://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-6-012-introduction-to-prob...
I have a very rough idea about it and i wanted to learn more. Is this book based out on Baseball statistics any good when i don't know anything about baseball?
Except he's now up to three books.
It's hard scifi of a neutron star passing through the solar system and Earth scrambling to research it. At the same time life is developing on the neutron star.
I haven't read the book but the Star Trek episode was awesome.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink_of_an_Eye_(Star_Trek:_Vo...
I just want more information about all the things like Ultras, Rust belt, Glitter band, Belle epoque and so forth.
In my opinion it's not as poetic as Dune but it's not action filled like The Expanse. The fascinating parts that make me keep reading are all the cultural and technical details he brings out between the story line.
I agree! Like the Vinge books mentioned by the GP, the interactions between aliens and humans are well written, and nicely bring out the quirks of the different species.
Also check out Alistair Reynolds. House of Suns is probably my favorite, which is a pity because it’s a standalone not a series. The whole Revelation Space series is good too.
Lately it’s been the new ‘Expanse’ book, and ‘The Culture’ series.
He worked on the Manhattan Project among other things, writes in a very engaging way and shares a huge number of funny anecdotes. Yet he is also thought-provoking, for example introducing the idea of nanotechnology, explains why he is against pompous titles and posing, and how he struggled with staying creative.
Besides funny stories and grand ideas, there's also a heartbreaking personal struggle. One of those books years after reading I find myself randomly thinking about sometimes.
EDIT: Also, The Phoenix Project is very very good if you are into IT management: funny, and although a novel then the content will make you want to fix your company and perhaps even think bigger about your carrer. But this one won't last you a summer since if you read it that slow you'll forget what was going on. :)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48484.Blindsight
Fair warning: it's kinda pessimistic on the future of humankind.
If you like it, proceed to Echopraxia. More hard sci-fi, more vampires, even worse news for humankind.
It is a great book and talks about two systems in which we can divide the working of our brain. Kahneman also talks exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11468377-thinking-fast-a...
Likely still worth reading, for at least forcing the reader to introspect on processes that will help them think better, and solve problems better.
Please note also that Kahneman himself left a comment there stating: "I accept the basic conclusions of this blog."
I only listened to a few chapters and lost interest.
Living in Ireland you have to use .uk and they don't have many books.
It's not a breezy quick read, but my favourite sci-fi is always likely to be Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson.
I totally second the recommendation, though.
Cory Doctorow has often said that good sci-fi doesn't predict the future so much as anticipate the present.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that Cryptonomicon came out in 1999. While there were early cryptocurrencies that all went nowhere, Stephenson was a good decade ahead of the BTC paper.
It could also be argued that his particular focus on the obliteration of sensitive emails being kept on private servers was unnervingly prescient, too.
I probably shouldn't enjoy being empirically correct so much, but this dispute gave me the opportunity to demonstrate that he was, quite simply, wrong.
Disregarding the movie, it's the attempt to identify sci-fi that is interesting. In the same way the judge couldn't define pornography "but knows it when I see it", there is not one standing definition. However, the greats who established the genre agreed on some important basics which hold water today. Cribbed from Wikipedia:
Heinlein: "...realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method."
Wells: "...a conscientious attempt to be faithful to already known facts (as of the date of writing) was the substrate on which the story was to be built, and if the story was also to contain a miracle, it ought at least not to contain a whole arsenal of them."
Shippey: "...the basic building block and distinguishing feature of a science fiction novel is the presence of the novum... a discrete piece of information recognizable as not-true, but also as not-unlike-true, not-flatly- (and in the current state of knowledge) impossible."
It's Wells' point that led to me leaving this comment. Don't get me wrong - I get genuinely excited every time REDACTED shows up in a Stephenson novel... but his immortality is, for me, uncomfortably close to a miracle.
Now, sometimes this is preferable; hands up if you would prefer to not know the word Miti-chlorian.
I'm reminded of "This Is Water" - the David Foster Wallace commencement speech where he started with an allegory about the frog making small talk with a fish. I paraphrase:
"The water is lovely today, isn't it?"
"What the hell is water?"
On that note, have you ever read Non-violent Communication? Seems like another book in the same vein.
I was about to summarize, but instead, I'm going to copy and paste from the web:
----
Difficult conversations are anything that someone does not want to talk about, such as asking for a raise or complaining to a neighbor about his barking dog. People are usually reluctant to open a difficult conversation out of fear of the consequences. Typically, when the conversation does occur the parties think and feel a lot more than they actually say.
Underlying every difficult conversation are actually three deeper conversations. The "What happened?" conversation usually involves disagreement over what happened, what should happen, and who is to blame. The feelings conversation is about the parties' emotions, and their validity. The identity conversation is an internal conversation that each party has with herself, over what the situation tells her about who she is. The authors identify common errors that people make in these sorts of conversations. The key to having effective, productive conversations is to recognize the presence of these deeper conversations, avoid the common errors, and turn difficult conversations into learning conversations.
----
My favourite example is a scenario in which you have been consistently working late and missing dinner - and your partner is pissed. You feel tired and angry that your hard work is unappreciated and that they are just adding to your frustrations. This is roughly where most couples would fight.
The book helps you understand that when your partner is angry that you've missed dinner... well, unless you've been wasting away of a nutritional disease, they aren't concerned that you're hungry. They feel lonely and disrespected. They are aware that in the early days of a relationship, all of the demons in hell couldn't have kept you away... so what's changed? They are worried for the future of your relationship. They are worried that they've been replaced, physically or emotionally.
And part of this is the questions you have to ask yourself; is your partner correct to be concerned? Has something intangible changed? Am I hiding and using work as a cover?
After reading the book, I had powerful new tools to understand and correct the problem. Which is a big deal because these sorts of problems happen all of the freaking time. And if I can make even some of the problems in my life resolve faster with a better outcome, then I'm truly winning.
Honestly, the book was so powerful for me that when I finished, my primary emotion was anger at myself. I suddenly had to confront the idea that most of the major problems and conflicts in my life had been far more my fault than I'd ever considered... and that if I'd done some simple things differently eg. thought about what someone was really saying, there are people gone from my life that might have otherwise still been there today.
Whatever someone says they are upset about is only rarely what they are actually upset about.
This seems simple and obvious in hindsight, but to truly internalize it has changed my life experience. They aren't sad that you forgot to call; they are concerned that you don't love them. It's almost like when someone is upset, you should try dropping down at least one level of Maslow's hierarchy to interrogate "what's really going on, here" because the upset person is frequently not consciously aware of what they are really upset about, either.
To that end, if you practice consoling people by addressing what they are feeling instead of what they are saying, it might as well be like gaining a superpower. And that is why I put this book at the top of any list. It is the real deal in this regards.
1. Epictetus (foundational with the enchiridion) [trans Robert Dobbin] 2. Seneca’s letters (eloquent exhortations from one person to another) [trans Robin Campbell] 3. Aurelius’s meditations (powerful self-reflections not meant for publication) [trans Martin Hammond]
I found that, going back, both Seneca or Epictetus were lesser reads than Aurelius, but I’m still glad I read them.
[These are my preferred translations, but I did see this comment and just ordered the translation mentioned https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8717216]
Why? I'll let the abstract speak:
"[...] The idea for the book, which is entirely new, is to invite the reader into intimate conversations with twelve of the most famous manuscripts in existence and to explore with the author what they tell us about nearly a thousand years of medieval history - and sometimes about the modern world too. Christopher de Hamel introduces us to kings, queens, saints, scribes, artists, librarians, thieves, dealers, collectors and the international community of manuscript scholars, showing us how he and his fellows piece together evidence to reach unexpected conclusions. He traces the elaborate journeys which these exceptionally precious artefacts have made through time and space, shows us how they have been copied, who has owned them or lusted after them (and how we can tell), how they have been embroiled in politics and scholarly disputes, how they have been regarded as objects of supreme beauty and luxury and as symbols of national identity. The book touches on religion, art, literature, music, science and the history of taste.
"Part travel book, part detective story, part conversation with the reader, Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts conveys the fascination and excitement of encountering some of the greatest works of art in our culture which, in the originals, are to most people completely inaccessible. At the end, we have a slightly different perspective on history and how we come by knowledge. It is a most unusual book."
- - -
[1] https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/213/213069/meetings-with-rem...
Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey (TV show The Expanse is loosely based on this, but IMO doesn't even come close)
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
Three Body Problem (all 3 books) - Liu Cixin
Consider Phlebas - Iain M. Banks (your gateway drug into the Culture universe)
Genuinely wish I could experience all the above for the first time again. And looking forward to checking out some of the others mentioned here.
Couple chapters into ‘Use of Weapons’ but haven’t been reading much lately due to life.
These are great and helped me re-discover my love of sci-fi from when I was a kid, they are often recommended in these HN book threads. I just ordered the other 3 books that you mentioned so thanks for the recommendations!
I’d start Alistair Reynold’s stuff off with ‘House of Suns’ though. It’s a standalone, but it’s one of his best works IMO. Then go ahead and devour the ‘Revelation Space’ series.
I do understand how some people might find the dialogue somewhat strange, especially if they haven't had much exposure to foreign media before. The translator always has a choice as to how much they "westernize" the dialogue. This translator did indeed try to keep as much of the Chinese "tone" in there as he could, and as such if you were expecting totally normal English, I can see how you'd be disappointed.
So yes, anyone thinking about picking this up should be aware - it doesn't read like a Tom Clancy novel. If that doesn't scare you off, though, I think you'll find it most rewarding.
I could forgive this (even Arthur C. Clarke wasn't much interested in characters) if it wasn't for some of the laughably absurd plot points the novel hinges on.
The ride to the top and then rock bottom for Theranos is a wild one, and the author does a great job of not letting you put this book down once you start.
How to Win Friends and Influence People. - Dale Carnegie
Influence - Robert Cialdini
Books on understanding how to push through adversity
The Obstacle Is The Way - Ryan Holiday
Man's Search For Meaning - Victor Frankly
Books on process improvement
The Phoenix Project
The Four Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss (ignore the outsourcing bit, listen to his podcast)
Books on breaking out of your thought bubble.
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
Ishmael - David Quinn
Books for understanding how sales works
Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes
Negotiate As If Your Life Depended on It - Chris Voss
Any of these books are great starts. If the leadership big bites you there's way more I can suggest. Most of these are a mix of classics and new stuff. I've read them all and they want have their own style and provide their own insight. The trick is to find out what parts work with how you do and incorporate them into your flow. The learning process never ends.
I’m not sure what “questionable person” means. The Wikipedia article describes criticisms and I’m glad they are documented, but seem to come down to criticism of his philosophy by some peers.
They succeeded because they [somehow, for one reason or another] got away with their bad traits (or what we perceive as bad trait nowadays), and they became famous because of their good traits.
Why: Where journalists continuosly provide the trees of human progress, this book provides the forest.
> When they launched, Prometheus was slightly worse than them at programming AI systems, but made up for this by being vastly faster, spending the equivalent of thousands of person-years chugging away at the problem while they chugged a Red Bull. By 10 a.m., it had completed the first redesign of itself, v2.0, which was slightly better but still subhuman. By the time Prometheus 5.0 launched at 2 p.m., however, the Omegas were awestruck: it had blown their performance benchmarks out of the water, and the rate of progress seemed to be accelerating. By nightfall, they decided to deploy Prometheus 10.0 to start phase 2 of their plan: making money.
I am glad this is mentioned here, as I was about to. One of the most useful book I have read. Lots of practical advice.
I found it very enjoyable, rarely read books in that kind of fictional setting, and have successfully recommended it to a number of friends and family. I can't recommend the author's other books though. It has nothing to do with CS.
I should add that this is not a book you will see commonly recommended, since it isn't on many people's top 10-20 lists. However, I originally read it on a summer holiday from work - and I hope others will share in enjoying it too.
[1] - https://tripinsurancestore.com/4/on-the-shortness-of-life.pd...
I would like to add a candidate for the recommendation on Stoic philosophy - "Meditations by Marcus Aurelius".
I think reading a randomly selected 1/6th of Meditations gives more or less the same experience as reading all of it.
Unlike the stoicism books that teach you to condition yourself to be unaffected by external events, this is a method for taking charge of what goes on inside the body and (in my case) in the mind and emotions.
As an aside, if you haven’t tried audiobooks, I would recommend trying. I find that after a while day of staring at the screen I really don’t want to stare at anything else, so my book consumption dropped considerably. With audiobooks I was able to restore it somewhat (and it’s great for filling in lost time during driving).
To put it into perspective: I live a life most people can only dream of - I have good looks, excellent physical condition and health, a loving family, a partner who adores me, a very comfortable income and circumstances, a job where I am made to feel valued, lots of experiences from travelling all around the world - everything that I can think of that would make one happy.
And yet, for years I have suffered from an underlying unhappiness that would periodically surface into week-long periods of depression. This has been following me for at least 20 years.
I have spent 15 years practising internal arts and they have helped me immensely - without doubt they are the foundation of a lot of the good things that I have listed above. But I still could not get at the root of my problem.
But about 7 months ago something happened. The circumstances around it are too long and frankly too weird to discuss in place like HN, but it led me to re-discover Sadhguru's teachings (I had come across him about 7 years ago but, although I appreciated the wisdom, at the time it did not connect with me).
After 6 months of practice I really feel that finally I got at that problem root and am having a good go at tugging it out and it is me who is doing it, not hoping for someone to come and magically fix it for me. I can't tell you how it feels. :)
Of course it was not just the book - it was a result of all the work I put in before over the years, but it's as good a place to start as any as recommendation for others since, in my experience, the technology there is universally applicable.
No thanks, it's plainly nonsense.
This is what people like Sadhguru do, but at massive scale. He is a classic cult leader, a more sophisticated Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh catering to a more sophisticated and English-speaking audience. Organisations like his Isha are non-profit for tax benefits as they don't end up paying income taxes and donations to them are tax-deductible almost worldwide. And of course they are massive vote banks which is why they are protected by politicians.
I don't have a problem with non-western beliefs. I've had a daily meditation practice for years, currently at least an hour everyday. But it's just psychological exercise. Nobody should have to pay $400 to Sadhguru's rebranding of these public domain practices, even if Sadhguru exclaims it is not for profit as he rides into the sunset on his BMW motorcycle or private jet.
As for money: https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/should-the-sp...
Anyway it seems like your mind is made up. Glad you found a practice that works for you!
It falls flat when you consider, to name just one example, Vipassana courses that are 100% free and taken very seriously by all participants. Nobody is walking in and out of those courses. The teachers are volunteers who are neither rich nor famous. It doesn’t lessen the seriousness of the participants.
Edit: if there is any doubt Isha is a cult, please read the comments on the very page you have linked. Upselling more expensive seats, claiming “my master” ought to charge one a lifetime’s income or “1 child” to listen to his words.
To me Sadhguru comes across as a person who made a good living for himself by telling others what they want to hear. As a person of science, I can't tolerate his 'scientific' theories which are downright wrong. This is person who said he can figure out if a food is spoiled by looking at the direction of rotation of a rudhraksha necklace held above it!
You can find more examples here: https://scroll.in/article/927625/opinion-the-disturbing-irra...
I chose to see him as a great human being who inspires many people to do a lot of good for his country and the world. [1] Really, the state the world is in, the fact that he is really big on planting trees means I don’t care if he’s into Xenu - just keep planting those trees man! ;)
Jokes aside though, my perspective allowed me to benefit from his teaching and yours precludes you from doing so. Interesting, isn’t it?
As for “science”: the only thing I care about is what I know through direct experience. So I follow the simple rule of practicing something for 3 months without questioning and evaluating the results. If it works, I keep at it - so I’m keeping at it. I also recently took the opportunity to meet Sadhguru in person. This to me is better “science” than theoretical discussions.
[1] https://isha.sadhguru.org/sites/default/files/uploadpdf/OUT1...
https://www.amazon.com/Zoology-Robert-Dorit/dp/0030305047/re...
I used to read books on physics, but I think I learned an order of magnitude more about the world we live in from the above book, and it didn't require more than a high school level understanding of chemistry and biology. I read three more books on various topics in biology afterwards.
Otherwise, if you are the sort of person who can stomach a theoretical book, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed is really the kind of book that takes a while to get through, but you start seeing things differently afterwards. It discusses how large organizations can mean well and do evil.
Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
What's better than to have a good laugh, even if already read it, is always a nice book. And if you finish it fast, you have the rest of the series ahead.
Please keep it coming, but try to stick to one book each. This isn't as much about keeping the list short, more to make you decide on one title which is more interesting than the others you've read.
Especially since the first two books are a collection of short stories that are super accessible and self-contained.
As for my recommendation:
- technical - "Mythical Man-Month", if you haven't read it yet, - "Dune" by Frank Herbert - I just love re-reading it in the summer!
Packed full of quality advice and techniques that you can use out of the box. The real-life stories he had from his FBI negotiating days make it an easy read.
As a tool to understand the people of the time, the stories that grew and the 'person' behind the dominant religion of the Western World - there is no book that comes close.
Don't expect to have fun chats with religious (Christian) friends after reading this though, as much of what you learn will differ from the bible that they were taught, or the uniqueness of Jesus as a prophet/zealot.
Still - a book that I found a hugely interesting historical/religious read last summer, and one I recommend to my friends.
Jean Danielou wrote a book about the Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran, and the Essenes way back in the 80's that explains how it's all related and what it means for Christianity.
I personally had a "not fun" chat with an atheist friend about Zealot because I pointed out how much silly conjecture and assumptions are underlying the book.
What specifically did you find silly, if you don't mind me asking?
I'll look out for the Dead Sea Scrolls book, I listened to a hugely interesting series of lectures about them on Audible and was left wanting more, but hadn't found a good book yet.
I was dissapointed with that book, maybe because everyone was saying it is great book, so I had high expectations.
It is very verbose in explaining how stupid statistics and statisticians were before the causal revolution orchestrated mainly by the author were. And how magnificiently efficient and simple these new concepts with causation diagrams are for uncovering causal relationships.
But for some reason I have completely missed how you come up with these diagrams in the first place, and how you actually, practically use the data to validate if the diagram you have come up with is correct. In other words, the book has completely failed to help me build any kind of mental model how I should apply this magnificent new idea in practice.
Is that just me being dumb or would there be some other sources worth reading for yhe same concepts? (Yes, I am intrigued with the question how to evaluate causal statements)
https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~murphyk/Bayes/Charniak_91.pdf
The author of this paper/article attempts to make Judea Pearl’s concepts digestible while keeping a good balance between using math (not much) but still referring to the relevant mathematical concepts.
I’m currently (re-)exploring these concepts (specifically Bayesian networks) and would be happy to chat (check profile) if you end up reading this paper or finding different sources which help you grok the field!
Once into the modern world, he provides an overview of current interpretations and their experimental support.
Becker's book is, I think, the best lay person's explanation of the problems QM was invented to solve, the Copenhagen Interpretation itself, and several of the more modern interpretations.
Great, mind bending read.
A true story written with naked emotion by someone who experienced the life altering disaster on Everest.
It’s all too relevant right now with another recent calamity on Everest.
An excerpt from the opening words:
“The Everest climb had rocked my life to its core, and it became desperately important for me to record the events in complete detail, unconstrained by a limited number of column inches. This book is the fruit of that compulsion...
Several authors and editors I respect counseled me not to write the book as quickly as I did; they urged me to wait two or three years and put some distance between me and the expedition in order to gain some crucial perspective. Their advice was sound, but in the end I ignored it—mostly because what happened on the mountain was gnawing my guts out. I thought that writing the book might purge Everest from my life. It hasn’t, of course. Moreover, I agree that readers are often poorly served when an author writes as an act of catharsis, as I have done here. But I hoped something would be gained by spilling my soul in the calamity’s immediate aftermath, in the roil and torment of the moment. I wanted my account to have a raw, ruthless sort of honesty that seemed in danger of leaching away with the passage of time and the dissipation of anguish.“
I have read both recently, and there is a lot of overlap, but the Circardian Code goes beyond sleep into nutrition and execise, as well.
Satchin said that there were no (genetic) sleep types among humans (who prefer to get up and go to bed early, or late) referencing a paper in which a group of students went on a hiking and camping trip where they all synchronized to the same rhythm after a few days of exposure to all natural light.
Matthew, on the other hand, says that there are definitely variations in sleep time preference in humans, with a genetic base and recommends to find out so that the ideal time windows for work and sleeps are chosen. Does not give a reference, sadly.
Not sure what to make of it, really.
Detailed yet extremely readable for a very wide audience.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. It's a memoir by the founder of Nike. The book goes deep into his emotional rollercoaster, starting from nothing to eventually going IPO.
I’m in the middle of reading it, it’s very good. It’s long though. Something like 1400 pages or 66 hours of audio. So you'll need the summer to finish it!
Neverending story by Michael Ende
It is interesting to read these two together - they are basically the same book, just expressed differently.
1) The tiger's wife - To me it has a brilliant full universe. Its comprised of a overarching narrative broken up with lots of short stories.
2) night watch/ making money / going postal - terry pratchett Fun stories with full characters.
3) THe pigeon tunnels - john le carre, Again composed of short stories, not overly spy-y just fascinating character studies, with a bit of history.
4) differently morphous - Yahtzee croshaw this one is a scifi comedy, 100% worth getting in audiobook form
5) rivers of london - ben aaronovich, policeman who was all set for a life of being a desk clerk accidentally becomes a wizard policemen.
6) harry potter, obviously :)
But also, watching Don Quixote and Sancho's friendship develop is heartwarming. It was a book written for entertainment first, and just happened to be saturated in intense philosophical and literary quality.
The Undoing Project, Micheal Lewis. The story behind "Thinking Fast and Slow" but much easier to read.
VOLTAIRE’S BASTARDS: THE DICTATORSHIP OF REASON IN THE WEST http://www.johnralstonsaul.com/non-fiction-books/voltaires_b...
The Penguin History of the World https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316944/the-penguin-...
If you fancy about metaphysical and mystical stuff, If you think there's more to a living being than blood and tissues, and if you want to keen on not just entertaining but possibly learn to experience the truth (if any)s behind the claims of superhuman faculties, then read this book.
>>> Kundalini is your polar opposite within you. When it awakens, you realize how immensely powerful you already are. You experience how there is a whole universe within you. It is your feminine energy if you are a man and your masculine energy if you are a woman. It is your passage, your path to eternal fulfillment within you.
>>> Awakening of the kundalini is realization of your pure abstract intelligence, the type that is not conditioned by your fears, emotions and worries. It is your pristine nature. When you are able to tap into this latent source of energy, you truly become the master of your universe. You can manifest whatever you wish in your life because your scale of consciousness is no longer limited to your body alone; it envelops the whole universe.
However, maybe I'm not very smart and feel like I might have a very hard time with it. I'm not that great at math I don't think, nor do I consider myself genius like. Did people who go through this book do every single problem and figure it out themselves? There are a lot more problems then I expected. They are also, so far, some to be quite challenging and math heavy. It does really feel like it helps get my brain thinking differently about a lot of problems and I love it! But it also feels like I might start grinding a lot and burn out on it. Any tips or help or suggestions how to get through it successfully, get a good amount of education out of, and continue to be excited to keep moving forward?
[0] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262510871
I know it's free online, but I wanted a physical edition.
https://youtu.be/NSoc8_BRM74 (Podcast)
www.isaacsmiller.com (you can go to his website and preorder a copy of his book from his website or from the publisher’s website. I hope this information was helpful.
"The problems of philosophy" by Bertrand Russell.
And for a completely different turn:
"Revolt against the modern world" by Julius Evola.
The first book in my mind is a great read no matter what place you are coming from. The second one is a bit esoteric and might be controversial from some people. But for me it offered a biggest shift in perspective out of all the books I've read so far.
In a nutshell: it goes through the myriad of ways that exercise is good for your brain, and the author does it in a way that is easy to grok and even easier to implement in your own life.
To me it really drove home that I need to continue exercising for years to come and thanks to this book I'll be driving the concept home for people I care about as well.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Souls [1] http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1081
I also love the way the book is written, like an adventure, very immersive.
About the sources of depression and anxiety of the current society. Interesting book backed with a lot of studies.
Takes you through the entire CS curriculum again but applies everything to personal real life situations.
A really good friend and business partner suggested me Dan Roam and his books. I'm loving it. Check out his books https://www.danroam.com
I also tend to sketch/scribble a lot during meetings. They usually end up being the meeting notes. People take pictures of them to relate back later.
I also enjoyed reading Ignition! by John D Clark. It is a dated (written in the 70s) but fascinating look at all the different chemicals tried to make rockets during the space race. Very interesting even if, like me, you only have a simple understanding of chemistry. There are some hair-raising (or hair razing) anecdotes.
I keep a list of books I've liked to answer questions like this: https://sheep.horse/tagcloud.html#book
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Revolt-Public-Crisis-Authority-Millen...
Dennett is a practical philosopher of science; the book is a detailed analysis and extension of the idea of "designer-free design", evolution by incremental random change. Among other things, he thoroughly presents the implications of Darwinian evolution, discusses the concept of "design space" and how some evolutions preclude whole swaths of that space, then speculates carefully on how the idea could pertain to other fields, e.g., the evolution of physical law (assuming that each "big bang" resulted in a universe with slightly different physics.
If I remember correctly, Kevin Kelly's "Out of Control" introduced me to this idea, of a kind of but not quite meta-evolution: https://kk.org/mt-files/outofcontrol/ch14-a.html
And with a sense of humour too. Not too heavy, and I found it a genuine page-turner (rather unexpected that!)
And as I mention humour I just reminded myself of 'The Innocent Anthropologist'[1] which is kind-of similar in a way but totally hilarious [1]. It's really funny, also very educational, and would make a very good complement to the first.
I suppose to continue the theme of other cultures (which fascinate me because they teach me so much about my own culture and assumptions when I read how very different other societies can be), 'Aztec'[2]. It tracks the life of a (fictional) aztec and the destruction of his culture and people as the conquistadors arrive. The author does take some historical liberties; allow for that a little. I'll call it the best book I ever read, however it is dense so it either works for you or it doesn't. But if it works, it is amazing!
[0] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chimpanzee-Material-Culture-Implica...
[1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Innocent-Anthropologist-Notes-Mud-H...
[2] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aztec-Gary-Jennings/dp/0765317508
In addition, although not a book, I would strongly recommend the podcast Hardcore History. In particular, the series on WWI (Blueprint for Armageddon) is the best audio content I've ever heard, and it is long enough to be considered an audio book (~23 hours of content broken into 6 chapters).
1. A brief history of humankind: This opens your mind to the possibility that maybe our society is not as good as you think. What if the foundation that our society is built on is wrong?
2. A guide to the good life: Perhaps your pursuit of success, comforts, and convenience is grounded on the wrong foundation. And as a result, a false sense of happiness.
Then you might realize that core of your happiness starts with the people you love most (parents, kids, childhood friends, etc). From there, you can treasure friends (or coworkers or whatever) who support and appreciate your priorities and keep these people close to heart.
Brothers Karamazov by F.Dostoyevsky
Middlemarch by G.Eliot
East of Eden by J.Steinbeck
Ulysses by J.Joyce
you will never be able to read that. i have a friend that did read it and it took him 10 years just to finish (not even understand!)
It allows you to click on things to understand their allusions/references.
http://www.ulyssesguide.com/
The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses https://tinyurl.com/newbloomsdayI read it so that I knew what it was about before watching the Hulu show. Still haven't watched the Hulu show, but absolutely loved the book. It's funny, very dark and even though most people think they know all about it without reading it because they understand the term "catch 22", they are missing out on a very good story that will leave you in want of discussing it with someone else.
The Running Man -Richard Bachman (A Stephen King pen name)
Never Split The Difference -Chris Voss
"The Godfather" is a classic that features my 2nd favorite evil genius Don Corleone (Hannibal Lecter being the 1st). Great character development and a fine tale to boot.
"The Running Man" isn't Kings best, but there's something about it, well that book and "The Long Walk"--also by Bachman, that makes it an entertaining read.
"Never Split the Difference" is the best negotiating book I've ever read and, I have negotiated deals for a living at various times in my career.
I suppose if I have to recommend one it would be Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts by Stanislas Dehaene. This isn't a complete scientific explanation of consciousness. This is looking at questions like how do stimuli we're consciously aware of differ from subliminal stimuli? How does awareness relate to memory? How do the readings our instruments give relate to people's descriptions of their experiences?
Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
by Will Durant
It's in the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61276/page/n15
The Story of Civilization is an 11-volume set of books[1], by the way.
I'm still busy with other stuff. I haven't been able to prioritize such career-unrelated leisure reading in years. Maybe in one or two years I'll give it another go.
I started in December and got into like 20% of book or less and then I decided that I don't get that much out of book by casually reading it.
If you prefer fiction, I highly recommend "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr. One of my alltime favourite books.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0857338285/?coliid=I3TBY9JPJSRS0...
It reads like a movie script, and it's full of drama (e.g Palmer Luckey and FB) and full of little gems and information. Even if you're not intersted in VR, it's a great read.
For me it's not about the sea battles -which I don't find particularly interesting- but rather about the writing style, the character development, and the fun of ambling through life with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.
https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/01...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVFY6BM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...
Entertaining classic; Gibson: Virtual Light, Idoru
Thinking ahead; Marshall Brain: The Second Intelligent Species
Smart reply became reality but luckily it did not turn into SkyNet; W. Hertling: Avogadro Corp.
Startup advice; Fitzpatrick: The Mom Test
About "value"; Priceonomics: Everything is Bullshit
Entertaining; Ramez Naam: Nexus
It's actually a triology (Xenos, Malleus, Hereticus). It comes in omnibus format now but will not take a long time to get through.
Not a difficut or life changing read - just a good time, with good characters, doing things you haven't read about before.
Passage follows the efforts of Joanna Lander, a research psychologist, to understand the phenomenon of near-death experiences by interviewing hospital patients after they are revived following clinical death.
There's no other science fiction like this, he had a unique style. It's a collection with most of the SF he wrote, excepting the novel "Norstrilia".
I'm about 2/3's of the way through and its a great read about the guy who revolutionized fighter pilot tactics and made a number of other big contributions.
- Infinite by Jeremy Robinson
- The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (this series is a rabbit hole)
- Scythe by Neal Shusterman
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
It will be a classic work of fiction.
I found it as a recommendation on HN sometime ago and I would recommend it to software people especially as we can be an argumentative bunch.
It helped me with relationships at home and at work
It’s like the missing manual for your mind.
how emotions are made
it is the new new thing, really thought-provoking, a lot of ideas are speculation, but if it true(I believe most are)
we are seeing a new system to explain our current problems and create a new path to future
believing is seeing
also the audio book is fun, the voice lady seems capable of triggering a lot people.
Robert C. Ruark - Something of Value
Frisco Hitt - A Coffin Full of Dreams
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn - The First Circle
Enjoy your vacation!
And do yourself a favour, never watch the movie version from 2017. The end has been butchered which ruins the whole message of the story.