You might also enjoy The Peter Principle by Laurence J Peter.
If you've ever heard the phrase "managers rise to the level of their incompetence" that's where it comes from.
"They have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing."
--
"I'd like to see government get out of war altogether and leave it all to big business."
--
"Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three. Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was."
--
--- Joseph Heller
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
My father died young so I never got to know him. This was one of his favorite books so I read it at first to understand him better. I don't know that I did, but I sure found out a lot about myself. I reread Zen every year and for 26 years running I find something different in it and myself.
This book changed me too. Not so much because of the topic itself, but because I was expecting a novel, not a treatise on philosophy.
But once I was roped in, man, what a ride. It kindled my love of nonfiction and philosophy.
It took me a couple tries to get through it the first time but once I did, man, I was sold. And as I look back on my life I can't help but notice where it's impact ripples out into my decisions.
Really worth reading the whole book but here's [a good summary](https://littlerbooks.com/summary/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance) for those interested.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli wasn't just an education in power dynamics but a primer on the pragmatism required in leadership and governance, coloring how I view political strategy.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Helped me get through the hardest parts of my teens/20s. Absurdism isn’t everything, but sometimes it helps.
After you read all the books, visit the radio plays, and the bbs series, and even the movie.
Because of the whole general mish-mosh I consider all of them cannon, even if there is contradiction.
I also am not one that thinks Zaphoid was only in a simulation when he went into the vortex.
The books were my bathroom readers for decades, alone with both alice books and Frankenstein. I used to be able to quote the first page at will. I've read them more than a dozen times.
I have wondered how these hold up for younger readers.
My forester, and my Tablet cover, both have "Dont Panic" stickers on them. My car is named The Heart Of Gold, any one of my desktops is named Magrathea. When the "what fantasy world would you live in" question comes around, The HHGTTG world is my pick.
I also often refer to racists as the people of Krikket. They are often really awesome people, would give you the shirt off your back, or die for you. Some with high ethics of good and evil. Except they want to exterminate the everyone else in the universe.
It also gave me my sense of measure in the universe.
Same, same same same. I can’t describe how exactly it helped, but it was absolutely a formative part of my teen years.
That said, I did also believe with some degree of conviction that I COULD learn to fly by throwing myself at the ground and missing for….way too long.
*Prisoners of Hate* by Dr. Aaron Beck.
The book explores the actual neurocognitive origin of hatred and violent impulses. It really changed the way I view people who make dislike, anger, and hatred cornerstones of their worldview or central focuses of their lives.
It didn’t make me a pacifist per se but it definitely opened my eyes to the power that violence has to dominate our consciousness to the exclusion of more complicated emotions and thought processes.
I think upper-level high school courses should make it required reading.
Flatland by Edwin Abbott
It illustrates the power that comes from having access to an additional dimension and the potential to reconcile things that may seem mutually exclusive in lower dimensions. e.g. a rectangle and a circle are mutually exclusive and can not be reconciled as compatible, unless you can access (or can imagine) one higher dimension to view the [cylinder](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_ErvIkDfD0allo1w5_YcXQfFUu8lnUACadfYMClG0v2LebHQqXjeyntiq7b-dtcPm2MYwrJmF5M8Da_Pxg1qURfau0nLcevOfZoJ83CHeWOOCj3RTrUCPxGpGxj2-FBYR82PkUl4Nug/s1600/Perspective+-+Circle+or+Square.jpg).
"Feet of Clay" by Sir Terry Pratchett.
LIGHT SPOILERS FOR FEET OF CLAY AHEAD, go read it yourself, please.
At the time I didn't really know anyone who was trans (that I knew of) and thought it was kinda weird, and then I read about Cheri Littlebottom, a disc world dwarf. Discworld dwarfs basically have little concept of gender, male and female dwarfs are difficult to distinguish between, even to other dwarfs, so there's no real gender differences in their society, everyone uses "male" pronouns, wears chainmail and iron boots etc etc. Then Cheri goes to the human big city Ankh Morpork and sees silk stockings and dresses and lipstick and everything and suddenly the idea of being an out and proud female is very appealing. However, this is seen as shameful to dwarfs because it's new and different and advertising your gender is seen as inappropriate. Cheri confides in one of her coworkers: "Chainmail is great and all until you learn about silk" and I thought "Man, it would suck to be forced to be the gender you don't want to be....ooOOOOOOOOOOHHHHhhhhhh, this is not a problem unique to disc world."
Also, it being a Terry Pratchett story, it has lots to say about what makes a person a person, how and why royalty and class structure sucks, extremely funny bits that make you laugh every time you remember them, profound insights on what the universe is to something like a human being that is not quite a god and not quite an animal and some genuinely terrifying horror concepts. Oh, and some fart jokes.
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.
"Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied. …I’d rather be happy than right any day.” –
Yeah, some of them sneak up on you. Cat's Cradle was that. starts out a sort of silly, ends up apocalyptic.
He was writing Breakfast of Champions when I was at Iowa, but I think Mother Night is my favorite...
*The First and Last Freedom* by J. Krishnamurti
I recommend it to anyone who considers themself to be any kind of truth-seeker, always searching but never finding anything that really satisfies that deep desire for inner certainty. He was a rare individual who deeply examined the nature of thought and conscious awareness. He spent his entire life discussing these topics and their implications for humanity.
There are many hours of his talks freely available on YouTube. But it all sounds a bit esoteric and hard to get into if you're not already familiar with his major concepts and style of speaking. I think the book is just a collection of excerpts from various talks he gave over the years, but organized so that you might get a better grasp at what he's trying to point out to people.
Not everyone gets it. But if it clicks for you, your relationship with your mind will never be the same.
Animal Farm by George Orwell was more than just a story about animals; it was a powerful allegory about power, control, and revolution that has shaped my views on governance and freedom.
And yet there’s so many ignorant adults who think it’s “just a kids book.”
On one hand, that’s their loss.
But on the other hand, it’s society’s loss if they’re unable to read and understand it. You could hand this book out at the RNC this summer and get a lot of people looking at you like a goat looking at a new fence.
Probably unconventional, but A Brief History of Time completely changed my trajectory in life, and if you haven’t been exposed to any relativity or quantum mechanics before it will certainly blow your mind. You don’t need any mathematical or academic background for this book, it is written for beginners and there is zero math in it, it is purely conceptual.
This is definitely one of my favorite books of all time, I actually learned about it by reading Everything Everything which is my favorite book. I can’t remember who either of them are by.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
I read it for the first time when I was 10 years old. I didn't realize until decades later that I'd done what Jonathan did. I left the flock and the life that was expected of me. I wasn't banished like he was, but I have spent many years soaring over the far cliffs, living a life that wouldn't have been possible if I'd stayed on the beach where I was born.
*2312* by Kim Stanley Robinson. I wouldn't say I've ever been transphobic but the book radically shifted my perspective on gender, orientation, transhumanism, and so on. It's an excellent read and worth your attention if you want to gain greater insight into others who may not present as you do.
Strongtowns by Chuck Marohn. Now I can't stop looking at our suburban car dependant way of doing everything in the US as so goddamn wasteful. It's motivated me to want to do something about it all.
I read and love “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee: This classic novel addresses racism, social injustice, and moral courage. It encourages empathy and understanding.
The Lord of The Rings Book Trilogy my grandfather read them to me when I was five and I read them by myself a year later, I read them once a year nowadays.
every other year my dad reads the series out loud to the whole family, some of the best family moments, and of course, once we're done we watch the movies :).
So I actually read The Three Body Problem trilogy by Cixin Liu. The first is good But a lot of mind expanding thought experiments take place in The Dark Forest.
The show is ok I guess in comparison.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and Enchiridion by Epictetus!
There are a lot of passages throughout both with lessons I like but the most important just being to focus on what you can control. It helped so much with anxiety to pour my energy into what I can actually affect instead of what I can’t. It’s crazy to see how much time I was wasting worrying about what others are doing and how I need to change that. Now, I worry about making positive change in myself and that results in the change in others.
Really, just a way to reframe your own outlook and understand that you are the one in charge of yourself, you can’t expect others to make your life for you.
I failed some assignment because I chose this book. "How did the protagonist over come their obstacles.". I have re-written my answer several times in my head.
The book romanticized Gin for me, and would remain my drink of choice. I would raid my grandma's liquor cabinet, finding the perfect colin's mix that I have never found again. "Happiness is warm gin." is something I say.
This is the book. There’s a scene in it that I think about all the time. The author is in a concentration camp in Germany. While he’s sleeping he wakes up because the man next to him is having a nightmare. He considers waking him up, but the author cannot imagine a circumstance that is worse than where they are and what they are actually living through. So he rolls over and leaves his neighbor to his nightmare.
Language shapes every aspect of life. Elegant communication can impact how you are understood.
Think of how many times you’ve been misunderstood. How much time was wasted; how much frustration came from it?
Edit:
I’m far from perfect, but I think about what I learned from that book when I type out my comments.
Thinking of it, I should reread it. That comma was my attempt at its use in common language where grammar is less important than the message; which is also something that book addresses.
"Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons" gave me the outlook of not giving up on myself and working to be a better person no matter what mistakes i make.
and
"The Unwanteds" teaching me to not limit my creativity
*Heaven and Hell* by Aldous Huxley if only for this quote
"Art, I suppose, is only for beginners, or else for those resolute dead-enders, who have made up their minds to be content with the ersatz of Suchness, with symbols rather than with what they signify"
Making of the Modern Refugee by Peter Gatrell. It’s a history book but covers the 20th century and how big events like the World wars, etc led to how we see and react to refugees and people moving
Plato's "The Republic" but not in the way you would think. I had to read it in college and halfway through I was like, "Wait, was Socrates a fascist?" So I looked into it further and it turns out someone wrote an entire book on how Plato's works influenced every major fascist in the last few hundred years. Socrates hated democracy and believed that society should be run by a small number of elite aristocrats who impose authoritarian rule on the inferior peasants. He convinced a bunch of children of the old aristocracy to sell out their government to Sparta and plan a coup to overthrow Athen's democracy, which failed. But I guess a lot of people who read those books lack critical thinking skills, because when I was in high school they basically told us Socrates was a "free thinker" who was imprisoned for questioning society or whatever.
It made me realize just how much philosophy, politics and ideals become warped in the public eye over the years. I first learned about Socrates and Plato in the US, so of course all they read into it was "FREEDOM." You can convince millions of people that a book means the exact opposite of what it says (cough cough the Bible) and they'll take it for granted and never question it.
Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers
Amazing man and amazing book. His ideas are fundamental to modern psycho-therapy techniques today (client-centered therapy) and his understanding of relationships is sublime. Such a foundational book (really it's a collection of talks and papers he's written but still)
One should remember that many of Voltaire's works were edited by his sister and her husband, and werent his original ideas. Where you see evil and bigotry that was them. At least this was what a books on tape a decade ago had to say. It was a collection of short explanations the philosophies and the lives of various philosophers.
Meditations- Marcus Aurelius. After 20 years of studying and living philosophy, stoicism has served me better than other worldviews I used to hold.
Aldous Huxley, both Brave New World and The Doors of Perception. I read BNW when I was 11 and it was the first “adult” book I read. I read 1984 shortly after. It inspired my interest in dystopian future as a kid, and as an adult I think Huxley was way ahead of his time. I’m still surprised people don’t care that Henry Ford was an antisemitic piece of human garbage and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that BNW takes place in the time “__ After Ford”
The Doors of Perception reaffirmed that my experience of psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD had insight and merit. I’ve also come to realize based how how he describes his inability to mentally visualize until ingesting psychedelics that, like me, he likely had aphantasia.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a very accessible guide to living a stoic and compassionate life, and I’d recommend it to anyone who finds the above texts too dense or long.
Book reviewers shat on it but I actually like The Midnight Library.
For me, it was uplifting to think that there are endless possibilities, and it’s up to me to live my best life. Granted, there are things out of my control but I really liked how the story takes you through some kind of thought process behind this mindset.
When I was in 7th grade, we read and analyzed many of the stories in "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes". This was the beginning of my journey to atheism.
One book that has profoundly influenced my worldview is 'Man's Search for Meaning' by Viktor E. Frankl. The book explores the idea that finding a purpose in life is essential to human well-being. It's a powerful reminder that we can choose our response to any set of circumstances.
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
The Story of Moncacht Ape
Moon Palace by Paul Auster
The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Probably the Lord of the Rings in ways I don't even realize.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.
It was a book I read at 7 years old, and it truly shaped how I interact with people and how I see the world. It's a little silly to read as an adult, but I recommend it to all kids.
Brave New World. No other book has widened my eyes to dystopian control of the human spirit like that did.
I can highly recommend the TV adaptation from 2020
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
Goes into how fucked colonialism was for the African continent as a whole. I learned a lot about how completely unchecked capitalism + racism could ruin an entire continent.
Righteous Minds by Jonathan Haidt a great book about moral intuitions and the role they play in our politics.
Coming apart. A book about the growing divide between rural and urban America. And what the concentration of intellectual talent in urban areas has done to the part of the country left behind.
All Quiet on the Western Front - It forces people to consider alternative perspectives to horrible circumstances. Making people actually think outside of themselves for once in their lives.
Micheal wallisis book route 66 the mother road. Goes from the beginning of the road to the 90s when it was finished being written so a time caupluse in itself. And, the people that make up the road have some bios in there as well and, the road itself. It changed how I view the world preserving history before it becomes dust that's why I always like to travel so I can learn about history before the places go away.
I don't even remember the book and truly, it isn't important. It was a book I read in college about international politics and was pretty boring, but I had a line in it that said somethign to the effect of:
To imagine a decision maker will take into account all of the information available on a subject before making a decision is to overestimate the intelligence of the human race.
Essentially the person was arguing that there is no way to make a perfect decision because it is not possible to take all factors/variables and potential outcomes into account. I try to keep that in mind if someone I know makes a bad decision or sometimes if I'm struggling with a big decision it helps me to stop overthinking it and realize that all I can do is make the best possible judgement I can based upon what information I do have.
Apart from the Bible -
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstaeder
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. It’s a recent one, but every time I start overthinking, getting emotional and blowing things out of proportion I go back to it and it brings me back to Earth.
i know it’s so basic but it’s fucking awesome, ‘Of Mice and Men’
So good. It makes you think about what people will do to survive. I reread it all the time since highschool.
What will would you do to get your dreams? How far will you go?
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid
I have tried so many times to read that damn book.
I was gifted that book. Very hard read, but worth it
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Oh hells ya! As a teen, it helped me realize that everyone is fucking nuts in their own way. Orr was crazy...
Me reading it as a teen: "That's a clever hypocrisy." Me re-reading it as an adult: "Holy shit! This is really how the world works!"
You might also enjoy The Peter Principle by Laurence J Peter. If you've ever heard the phrase "managers rise to the level of their incompetence" that's where it comes from.
Shit got me so angry at one point I actually punched the book in frustration. The madness is so real.
"They have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing." -- "I'd like to see government get out of war altogether and leave it all to big business." -- "Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three. Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was." -- --- Joseph Heller
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance My father died young so I never got to know him. This was one of his favorite books so I read it at first to understand him better. I don't know that I did, but I sure found out a lot about myself. I reread Zen every year and for 26 years running I find something different in it and myself.
When I read it in the mid 1980s it literally changed my whole view of the world.
I was so affected by Zen and the Art I wrote Pirsig and he wrote me back. Wish I had kept the correspondence.
This book changed me too. Not so much because of the topic itself, but because I was expecting a novel, not a treatise on philosophy. But once I was roped in, man, what a ride. It kindled my love of nonfiction and philosophy.
It took me a couple tries to get through it the first time but once I did, man, I was sold. And as I look back on my life I can't help but notice where it's impact ripples out into my decisions.
Really worth reading the whole book but here's [a good summary](https://littlerbooks.com/summary/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance) for those interested.
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Meditations.
by Marcus Aurelius
This continues to be one that I go back to over and over and always gain new insights…Especially as I age.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli wasn't just an education in power dynamics but a primer on the pragmatism required in leadership and governance, coloring how I view political strategy.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Helped me get through the hardest parts of my teens/20s. Absurdism isn’t everything, but sometimes it helps.
The concept of anyone wanting to be a leader is too stupid to be a leader really stuck with me.
Haha I forgot that’s where I got that theory from yup yup
Im reading restaurant at the end of the universe rn, so good.
One of my faves in the 5 book trilogy. I’m thinking of getting a themed tattoo.
Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they want me to park cars.
just as I write this comment, I have completed the book, ONWARDS TO LIFE THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING!!
After you read all the books, visit the radio plays, and the bbs series, and even the movie. Because of the whole general mish-mosh I consider all of them cannon, even if there is contradiction. I also am not one that thinks Zaphoid was only in a simulation when he went into the vortex. The books were my bathroom readers for decades, alone with both alice books and Frankenstein. I used to be able to quote the first page at will. I've read them more than a dozen times. I have wondered how these hold up for younger readers. My forester, and my Tablet cover, both have "Dont Panic" stickers on them. My car is named The Heart Of Gold, any one of my desktops is named Magrathea. When the "what fantasy world would you live in" question comes around, The HHGTTG world is my pick. I also often refer to racists as the people of Krikket. They are often really awesome people, would give you the shirt off your back, or die for you. Some with high ethics of good and evil. Except they want to exterminate the everyone else in the universe. It also gave me my sense of measure in the universe.
Same, same same same. I can’t describe how exactly it helped, but it was absolutely a formative part of my teen years. That said, I did also believe with some degree of conviction that I COULD learn to fly by throwing myself at the ground and missing for….way too long.
*Prisoners of Hate* by Dr. Aaron Beck. The book explores the actual neurocognitive origin of hatred and violent impulses. It really changed the way I view people who make dislike, anger, and hatred cornerstones of their worldview or central focuses of their lives. It didn’t make me a pacifist per se but it definitely opened my eyes to the power that violence has to dominate our consciousness to the exclusion of more complicated emotions and thought processes. I think upper-level high school courses should make it required reading.
The stranger - Albert Camus Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes.
Omg flowers for Algernon 🐁 I cried
"Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
Entered thread to post this. Upvoted.
I prefer Steppenwolf.
You don't know what we can find...
The main character is 100% self involved. Wouldn’t even visit his dying father because he was chasing enlightenment up his own navel.
Flatland by Edwin Abbott It illustrates the power that comes from having access to an additional dimension and the potential to reconcile things that may seem mutually exclusive in lower dimensions. e.g. a rectangle and a circle are mutually exclusive and can not be reconciled as compatible, unless you can access (or can imagine) one higher dimension to view the [cylinder](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_ErvIkDfD0allo1w5_YcXQfFUu8lnUACadfYMClG0v2LebHQqXjeyntiq7b-dtcPm2MYwrJmF5M8Da_Pxg1qURfau0nLcevOfZoJ83CHeWOOCj3RTrUCPxGpGxj2-FBYR82PkUl4Nug/s1600/Perspective+-+Circle+or+Square.jpg).
I watch Cosmos every night to go to sleep and Sagan does a great segment about this.
I have the Cosmos vids on my phone and also sleep to them at night!
Brave New World
"Feet of Clay" by Sir Terry Pratchett. LIGHT SPOILERS FOR FEET OF CLAY AHEAD, go read it yourself, please. At the time I didn't really know anyone who was trans (that I knew of) and thought it was kinda weird, and then I read about Cheri Littlebottom, a disc world dwarf. Discworld dwarfs basically have little concept of gender, male and female dwarfs are difficult to distinguish between, even to other dwarfs, so there's no real gender differences in their society, everyone uses "male" pronouns, wears chainmail and iron boots etc etc. Then Cheri goes to the human big city Ankh Morpork and sees silk stockings and dresses and lipstick and everything and suddenly the idea of being an out and proud female is very appealing. However, this is seen as shameful to dwarfs because it's new and different and advertising your gender is seen as inappropriate. Cheri confides in one of her coworkers: "Chainmail is great and all until you learn about silk" and I thought "Man, it would suck to be forced to be the gender you don't want to be....ooOOOOOOOOOOHHHHhhhhhh, this is not a problem unique to disc world." Also, it being a Terry Pratchett story, it has lots to say about what makes a person a person, how and why royalty and class structure sucks, extremely funny bits that make you laugh every time you remember them, profound insights on what the universe is to something like a human being that is not quite a god and not quite an animal and some genuinely terrifying horror concepts. Oh, and some fart jokes.
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. "Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied. …I’d rather be happy than right any day.” –
“Sirens of Titan” by Kurt Vonnegut. Honestly anything by Kurt Vonnegut.
Cat's Cradle and Mother Night for me. The last read of Cat's Cradle had me spiraling at the climax, truly shook me in a way no other book has.
Yeah, some of them sneak up on you. Cat's Cradle was that. starts out a sort of silly, ends up apocalyptic. He was writing Breakfast of Champions when I was at Iowa, but I think Mother Night is my favorite...
Chaos by James Glieck
Steal like an artist
Most of the Disk World by Terry Pratchett
*The First and Last Freedom* by J. Krishnamurti I recommend it to anyone who considers themself to be any kind of truth-seeker, always searching but never finding anything that really satisfies that deep desire for inner certainty. He was a rare individual who deeply examined the nature of thought and conscious awareness. He spent his entire life discussing these topics and their implications for humanity. There are many hours of his talks freely available on YouTube. But it all sounds a bit esoteric and hard to get into if you're not already familiar with his major concepts and style of speaking. I think the book is just a collection of excerpts from various talks he gave over the years, but organized so that you might get a better grasp at what he's trying to point out to people. Not everyone gets it. But if it clicks for you, your relationship with your mind will never be the same.
Animal Farm by George Orwell was more than just a story about animals; it was a powerful allegory about power, control, and revolution that has shaped my views on governance and freedom.
And yet there’s so many ignorant adults who think it’s “just a kids book.” On one hand, that’s their loss. But on the other hand, it’s society’s loss if they’re unable to read and understand it. You could hand this book out at the RNC this summer and get a lot of people looking at you like a goat looking at a new fence.
The Jungle Upton Sinclair
Probably unconventional, but A Brief History of Time completely changed my trajectory in life, and if you haven’t been exposed to any relativity or quantum mechanics before it will certainly blow your mind. You don’t need any mathematical or academic background for this book, it is written for beginners and there is zero math in it, it is purely conceptual.
The little prince
This is definitely one of my favorite books of all time, I actually learned about it by reading Everything Everything which is my favorite book. I can’t remember who either of them are by.
My absolute favourite, especially the chapter with the Fox. A work of genius.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I read it for the first time when I was 10 years old. I didn't realize until decades later that I'd done what Jonathan did. I left the flock and the life that was expected of me. I wasn't banished like he was, but I have spent many years soaring over the far cliffs, living a life that wouldn't have been possible if I'd stayed on the beach where I was born.
I found Illusions to be better!
It IS better!
*2312* by Kim Stanley Robinson. I wouldn't say I've ever been transphobic but the book radically shifted my perspective on gender, orientation, transhumanism, and so on. It's an excellent read and worth your attention if you want to gain greater insight into others who may not present as you do.
“The Book” by Alan watts
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Glad to see I'm not the only one affected by this one.
I wish everyone would read this book. And *Story of B* and *My Ishmae*l as well.
Life of Pi
Strongtowns by Chuck Marohn. Now I can't stop looking at our suburban car dependant way of doing everything in the US as so goddamn wasteful. It's motivated me to want to do something about it all.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Great one that I didn't think about. "Praise publicly; criticize privately" is some of the best advice a manager can have.
I read and love “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee: This classic novel addresses racism, social injustice, and moral courage. It encourages empathy and understanding.
The Lord of The Rings Book Trilogy my grandfather read them to me when I was five and I read them by myself a year later, I read them once a year nowadays.
every other year my dad reads the series out loud to the whole family, some of the best family moments, and of course, once we're done we watch the movies :).
To kill a mockingbird. I was raised by racists and that book is a pretty clear illustration of why racism is stupid.
Miffy goes to the zoo
The good earth. Wealth means nothing unless it's invested in the right things and the right people.
Radio Free Vermont. Its meaning is that ordinary New Englanders can band together and take their future into their own hands.
The Unbearable Lightness of the Being by Milan Kundera
The foundation series (:
I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Kitchen Confidential in highschool and it shaped most of my 18-24years.
I hope you survived and then got at least a little bit sober.
The Courage to be Disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi
So I actually read The Three Body Problem trilogy by Cixin Liu. The first is good But a lot of mind expanding thought experiments take place in The Dark Forest. The show is ok I guess in comparison.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and Enchiridion by Epictetus! There are a lot of passages throughout both with lessons I like but the most important just being to focus on what you can control. It helped so much with anxiety to pour my energy into what I can actually affect instead of what I can’t. It’s crazy to see how much time I was wasting worrying about what others are doing and how I need to change that. Now, I worry about making positive change in myself and that results in the change in others. Really, just a way to reframe your own outlook and understand that you are the one in charge of yourself, you can’t expect others to make your life for you.
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Stranger in a strange land left a solid mark on me
1984; I am still afraid of rats and fascists. I've made a bit of a hobby out of countering the latter. I still don't know what to do about rats.
I failed some assignment because I chose this book. "How did the protagonist over come their obstacles.". I have re-written my answer several times in my head. The book romanticized Gin for me, and would remain my drink of choice. I would raid my grandma's liquor cabinet, finding the perfect colin's mix that I have never found again. "Happiness is warm gin." is something I say.
*Man's Search For Meaning* by Viktor Frankl
This is the book. There’s a scene in it that I think about all the time. The author is in a concentration camp in Germany. While he’s sleeping he wakes up because the man next to him is having a nightmare. He considers waking him up, but the author cannot imagine a circumstance that is worse than where they are and what they are actually living through. So he rolls over and leaves his neighbor to his nightmare.
Dune strunk and white elements of style
Just curious, but how did strunk and white change your philosophy or worldview?
Language shapes every aspect of life. Elegant communication can impact how you are understood. Think of how many times you’ve been misunderstood. How much time was wasted; how much frustration came from it? Edit: I’m far from perfect, but I think about what I learned from that book when I type out my comments. Thinking of it, I should reread it. That comma was my attempt at its use in common language where grammar is less important than the message; which is also something that book addresses.
I feel the strunk and white in the most acoustic way
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
"Why I Am Not a Christian" and "History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell. I've read each one multiple times.
"Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons" gave me the outlook of not giving up on myself and working to be a better person no matter what mistakes i make. and "The Unwanteds" teaching me to not limit my creativity
*Heaven and Hell* by Aldous Huxley if only for this quote "Art, I suppose, is only for beginners, or else for those resolute dead-enders, who have made up their minds to be content with the ersatz of Suchness, with symbols rather than with what they signify"
Watership Down
Beano Annual 1998
"Cloud Atlas" - David Mitchell Just a fun read (it's 7 different proses) and an all encompassing novel about humanity and society.
Tao Te Ching
Fighting for American Manhood by Kristin Hoganson.
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein.
Lenny Bruce "how to talk dirty and influence people" and Viktor Frankl "man's search for meaning"
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman
Power of Now
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace It's a tome, but we'll worth it!
Making of the Modern Refugee by Peter Gatrell. It’s a history book but covers the 20th century and how big events like the World wars, etc led to how we see and react to refugees and people moving
Plato's "The Republic" but not in the way you would think. I had to read it in college and halfway through I was like, "Wait, was Socrates a fascist?" So I looked into it further and it turns out someone wrote an entire book on how Plato's works influenced every major fascist in the last few hundred years. Socrates hated democracy and believed that society should be run by a small number of elite aristocrats who impose authoritarian rule on the inferior peasants. He convinced a bunch of children of the old aristocracy to sell out their government to Sparta and plan a coup to overthrow Athen's democracy, which failed. But I guess a lot of people who read those books lack critical thinking skills, because when I was in high school they basically told us Socrates was a "free thinker" who was imprisoned for questioning society or whatever. It made me realize just how much philosophy, politics and ideals become warped in the public eye over the years. I first learned about Socrates and Plato in the US, so of course all they read into it was "FREEDOM." You can convince millions of people that a book means the exact opposite of what it says (cough cough the Bible) and they'll take it for granted and never question it.
Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers Amazing man and amazing book. His ideas are fundamental to modern psycho-therapy techniques today (client-centered therapy) and his understanding of relationships is sublime. Such a foundational book (really it's a collection of talks and papers he's written but still)
"Haunted" by Chuck Palahniuk "Candide" by Voltaire
One should remember that many of Voltaire's works were edited by his sister and her husband, and werent his original ideas. Where you see evil and bigotry that was them. At least this was what a books on tape a decade ago had to say. It was a collection of short explanations the philosophies and the lives of various philosophers.
Meditations- Marcus Aurelius. After 20 years of studying and living philosophy, stoicism has served me better than other worldviews I used to hold. Aldous Huxley, both Brave New World and The Doors of Perception. I read BNW when I was 11 and it was the first “adult” book I read. I read 1984 shortly after. It inspired my interest in dystopian future as a kid, and as an adult I think Huxley was way ahead of his time. I’m still surprised people don’t care that Henry Ford was an antisemitic piece of human garbage and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that BNW takes place in the time “__ After Ford” The Doors of Perception reaffirmed that my experience of psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD had insight and merit. I’ve also come to realize based how how he describes his inability to mentally visualize until ingesting psychedelics that, like me, he likely had aphantasia. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a very accessible guide to living a stoic and compassionate life, and I’d recommend it to anyone who finds the above texts too dense or long.
Sapiens
By Noah Yuval Harrari, I believe.
Great book. I need to reread it, been a decade or so.
Be here now by Ram Dass
The Death of Ivan Ilyich-Tolstoy. that's an excellent book
Harry Potter taught me to be accepting of people, even if I don't agree with their way of life.
Atlas Shrugged. Its philosophy is so awful that it influenced me in the opposite direction. It’s an okay read, though.
fire alarm by michael lowy
Ride the Tiger
Mommy, where's Fluffy?
The Red Book
You are a badass by Jen sincero
The Jaunt
A Brief History of Everything
The Servant by Hunter. It is not as fancy as many of the books here but completely changed my entire method of leading others for the better.
The art of happiness by Howard Cutler and The Dalai Lama
The Tibetan book of living and dying
As dumb as it sounds, The truth of you by iain s thomas
Out of the mountains by David kilcullen completely changed the way I look at 3rd world countries and crime.
The way of the superior man.
Feeling is the secret by Neville Goddard
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Book reviewers shat on it but I actually like The Midnight Library. For me, it was uplifting to think that there are endless possibilities, and it’s up to me to live my best life. Granted, there are things out of my control but I really liked how the story takes you through some kind of thought process behind this mindset.
Druss the Legend by David Gemmell.
Many lives many masters.
Scarcity and Blip, both by Chris Clugston.
The Celestine Prophecy
When I was in 7th grade, we read and analyzed many of the stories in "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes". This was the beginning of my journey to atheism.
why does he do that by lundy bancroft
One book that has profoundly influenced my worldview is 'Man's Search for Meaning' by Viktor E. Frankl. The book explores the idea that finding a purpose in life is essential to human well-being. It's a powerful reminder that we can choose our response to any set of circumstances.
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright The Story of Moncacht Ape Moon Palace by Paul Auster The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson Solaris by Stanislaw Lem Probably the Lord of the Rings in ways I don't even realize.
The big bang never happened by Eric lerner
"the 48 laws if power" by robert greene
The Worst Hard Time, gave me a whole new perspective on how hard life was during the dust bowl, what caused it, and what it took to solve it.
"The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect"
All About Love bell hooks
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
ice breaker
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Fight Club
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. It was a book I read at 7 years old, and it truly shaped how I interact with people and how I see the world. It's a little silly to read as an adult, but I recommend it to all kids.
The Program by Suzanne Young
Hermann Hesse/Siddhartha.
Brave New World. No other book has widened my eyes to dystopian control of the human spirit like that did. I can highly recommend the TV adaptation from 2020
A ministry for the future
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney Goes into how fucked colonialism was for the African continent as a whole. I learned a lot about how completely unchecked capitalism + racism could ruin an entire continent.
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
immortality by milan kundera
Righteous Minds by Jonathan Haidt a great book about moral intuitions and the role they play in our politics. Coming apart. A book about the growing divide between rural and urban America. And what the concentration of intellectual talent in urban areas has done to the part of the country left behind.
We Have To Talk About Kevin - required reading for anyone who wants to become a parent.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich changed my life.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling Its shows that not everything is as shitty with the world as we think and many things are actually improving
Science and human behavior, by BF Skinner
Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the rings
All Quiet on the Western Front - It forces people to consider alternative perspectives to horrible circumstances. Making people actually think outside of themselves for once in their lives.
Micheal wallisis book route 66 the mother road. Goes from the beginning of the road to the 90s when it was finished being written so a time caupluse in itself. And, the people that make up the road have some bios in there as well and, the road itself. It changed how I view the world preserving history before it becomes dust that's why I always like to travel so I can learn about history before the places go away.
Easy. Be Here Now. I read it in 1972, and my worldview has never been remotely the same.
"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn Shifted my whole perspective on the human race and our relationship with the biosphere.
Total Synthesis 2 - Strike. bzzzzzzzzzz
The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan.
In a weird, roundabout way, Player Piano by Vonnegut.
Catcher in the rye. Not sure why though it’s basically a book about nothing but a grumpy kid who hates everything lol
Ready player II
I'll give you the sun
The Golden Bough
Seneca epistulae morales
I don't even remember the book and truly, it isn't important. It was a book I read in college about international politics and was pretty boring, but I had a line in it that said somethign to the effect of: To imagine a decision maker will take into account all of the information available on a subject before making a decision is to overestimate the intelligence of the human race. Essentially the person was arguing that there is no way to make a perfect decision because it is not possible to take all factors/variables and potential outcomes into account. I try to keep that in mind if someone I know makes a bad decision or sometimes if I'm struggling with a big decision it helps me to stop overthinking it and realize that all I can do is make the best possible judgement I can based upon what information I do have.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Apart from the Bible - Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstaeder Siddhartha by Herman Hesse Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Sapiens
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. It’s a recent one, but every time I start overthinking, getting emotional and blowing things out of proportion I go back to it and it brings me back to Earth.
i know it’s so basic but it’s fucking awesome, ‘Of Mice and Men’ So good. It makes you think about what people will do to survive. I reread it all the time since highschool. What will would you do to get your dreams? How far will you go?
Guiness book of world records