Ask Lemmy

Two Vonnegut novels—God Bless you Mr. Rosewater and Player Piano—fundamentally shifted the way I view the world.

The novels primarily discuss the economy, automation, and human wellfare. When I was young I defaulted to a laissez-faire economic mindset, and basically assumed automation and technology would always make our quality of lives improve. I was very much in the Ayn Rand club on economic and moral issues. These books were ultimately what made me reflect and consider the other "spiritual" (in the sense Vonnegut uses the term) aspects of human wellfare. Vonnegut was my introduction to humanist thought, and I owe the vast majority of my personal moral development to the influence of these two books.

Discworld - Hogfather. In particular the speech of death about the little and big lies and how justice and mercy are simple human constructs and that in return we are basically responsible for our own happiness/misery. Since they made a movie, here exactly what I meant: Deaths speech

Designing freedom, by Stafford Beer

I'd been a software engineer for 15 years. In that time, in all the jobs I've had, I'd never once worked on anything that actually made people's lives better, nor did I ever hear anyone else in tech ever really dive into any sort of meaningful philosophical interrogation of what digital technology is for and how we should use it. I made a few cool websites or whatever, but surely there's more we can do with code. Digital technology is so obviously useful, yet we use it mostly to surveil everyone to better serve them ads.

Then i found cybernetics, though the work of Beer and others. It's that ontological grounding that tech is missing. It's the path we didn't take, choosing instead to follow the California ideology of startups and venture capital and so on that's now hegemonic and indistinguishable from the digital technology itself.

Even beers harshest critic is surely forced to admit that he had a hell of a vision, whereas most modern tech is completely rudderless

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World was the first dystopia that I ever read. I'd gotten so enamored with all of the various utopias in sci-fi, especially Star Trek, that the idea that the opposite might exist hadn't previously occurred to me. While it didn't change me in a day-to-day kind of way, it helped me make sense of the world around me. I have always loved Star Trek, but it never seemed like humanity was truly headed in that direction.

BNW, 1984, and others helped me understand the world around me, which I think made me a better person in the end. Am I going to be a party to the creation of these kinds of worlds, or am I going to try to help move humanity in the other direction?

Not a complete list, but maybe an amusing one —

• A Wrinkle in Time
• Emergence
• Revolt in 2100
• Aristoi
• Stranger in a Strange Land
• Illuminatus!
• The Left Hand of Darkness
• The Book of the Law
• The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik
• Gödel, Escher, Bach
• That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen
• Le Ton beau de Marot
• Slavery's Constitution
• Negative Math
• Programming in Haskell
• Good and Real

'Thich Nhat Hanh - Heart of the Buddah's Teachings'. I didn't become a Buddhist, but it gave me some really useful mental tools to be happier.

I had a bit of a fucked up childhood, left home at 15, was really angry & bitter for a while. I was already many years into a general attempt to let go and be happier, I believe the knowledge from that book has made me happier and more resilient.

The Stranger by Albert Camus had a big impact on me as an adolescent, expressing feelings of absurdism that I previously had no words for. Snow Country by Kawabata Yasunari changed the course of my life by drawing me to Japan.

"Animal Liberation" by Peter Singer, which argues against speciesism and the ethical treatment of animals, as well as "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Foer, which delves into the moral complexities of eating animals and factory farming. Both these books have convinced me to go vegan. I've been vegan for a decade now and don't regret it one bit.

As a side effect, I've also become more health conscious, because a strict vegan diet doesn't provide everything, so I did a lot of research into what I'm eating, what my body needs (and doesn't need) etc. As a result I feel like my health has improved a lot - my hairloss has mostly stopped, my complexion has improved, also I used to have a skin condition which is now under control, no depression episodes, and I rarely fall sick.

It's been an ongoing process of learning though. Most recently I've found out about Choline, which has a critical role in neurotransmitter function and affects your mood, and thankfully I found that my diet already has enough Choline in it, so it wasn't a worry or anything. But it's always interesting knowing what's in what your eating, things your body needs etc.

This Is Vegan Propaganda: (And Other Lies the Meat Industry Tells You) by Ed Winters. I think it's tough to read this book and not be vegan before it's finished, it's an extremely well considered and compelling book for for anyone who likes having their views challenged.

It changed my life profoundly in both outlook and actions, as it did everybody in my life who I suggested read it.

Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive - By. Kevin Horsley

This single book has affected my life and improved my day to day life. Although not all useful, it has some very useful tactics.

I don't forget stuff as easily, I can recall better for work, notes are minimal and if I do take notes its one or two word per item. Truly life changing especially while I was a student.

The seven habits of highly effective people. Sounds like a get rich quick book but it’s actually a very profound book about what it means to be authentic to yourself and in your interactions with others. This book completely changed my life.

Thinking fast and slow. This book will give you insights into your own mind that are science based and actually explain so much of what we observe in the behaviour of ourselves and others.

The Enders Game series had a pretty profound effect on my worldview, and also provided a big lesson on separating art from the artist because holy shit do some of the lessons I took away from that series seem to run totally opposite to Orson Scott Card's personal views and politics.

It's hard to say exactly what clicked where and what it changed for me because I read them in about middle school which is kind of when people are really starting to form real opinions of the world anyway.

Major takeaways for me include

A general dislike of war, even when it's justified you're going to end up doing absolutely terrible things and in retrospect there often really aren't good guys.

Politics are in their own way just as terrifying as war.

Respect for life, cultures, and viewpoints different from my own, and willingness to examine the world through those different perspectives. That doesn't mean I agree with them, or find them acceptable, or worthy of being tolerated, but I do think it's important to at least try to see why they think the way they do.

A whole lot of awe at the potential of genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, etc. tempered by distrust of my fellow man to use them responsibly.

Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig

I love this book, warts and all. The rereads get harder as I see more flaws in both the text and Persig himself.

Regardless, I can't deny the huge impact it had on my worldview. It helped me refine and improve the analytical mindset I take to the world around me and made me think routinely and deeply about what I value in my life and why.

I could see myself easily being obsessed with money and status at the point in my life where I am, and I'm grateful, in no short part to this book, that I'm not.

What is good? and what is bad? And who can tell us these things?

Persig does his best with these questions and gives you enough to put you on the same journey even if truly answering these questions is ultimately unachievable

• Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow - Made me believe people are fundamentally good.
• The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware by Andrew "Bunnie" Huang - Really changed the way I look at the human-made world around me.
• Dune by Frank Herbert - Because since I read Dune, I've now read 13 other Dune books and plan to read more.

Whoops, based on that prompt I was expecting the topic to be self help books. I will say The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Teens (based on the adult version) changed my life when I was 13. "Begin with the end in mind" is such a simple little phrase, but it applies to EVERYTHING in life.

• Should I buy this shirt at the mall? Well, what esthetic do I want my wardrobe to be?
• should I eat this ice cream? Will the satisfaction outweigh the extra exercise I'll have to do later?
• where should I move to? Does the neighborhood have the activities I imagine myself doing?

Basically, picture yourself at the end of the process and figure out the steps you need to take to get there. Work backwards until you get to the beginning, and that's where you start. I feel like I have more direction in life because I'm working to be the person I see myself as 5 years in the future.

The Earthsea “trilogy”

There's a book I read as a teenager that changed my life in that it feels like a weird fever dream, and I've never been able to find it again. I had to wait for a manager at a furniture store for half an hour, picked up a display book from a shelf and as started reading. It's about a girl who has become orphaned, goes to live with her friend (who everyone calls her sister because they have the same birthday), and then the two of them run off together, end up getting adopted by possibly the literal devil, and are rescued by the friends maid, Olympia. French book translated to English, pretty sure. Loved that book, had a pretty big impact on me, and I've searched ever since. :(

"Lying" by Sam Harris made me commit to not ever lying again

I have told one lie ever since and even that was a slip-up; a person came to me on the street asking for money and instead of saying no I said I didn't have any cash which was untrue. I still keep secrets and I will lie if refusing to answer reveals the truth. I will still not tell the whole truth and sometimes I simply omit things I don't want to reveal but what I don't do is say things that are untrue and this applies to while lies aswell.

Only after I started paying attention to this mysef I realized how often we lie unecessarily and how damaging it can be to our relationships even when your intentions may be good. You're basically treating people as if they're so vunerable that they can't handle the truth so you lie.

When I read Infinite Jest the first time I was in college I was dealing with a lot of "life's crossroads" type issues, some of which I didn't even know about until I looked back on them. The book helped me understand that I needed to stop relying on my "innate" talents and privileges and actually start putting in work for the things I wanted if I was ever going to have a hope of a good life. It also put into perspective a lot of substance use/abuse stuff in a really subtle way that ended up being very beneficial to me.

Now, on my second reading, there is none of the profound and personal wisdom present in the text. It is an enjoyable read, but for completely different reasons. I guess that first read was kind of just a "right place, right time" scenario for me.

2 years ago I read Divergent Mind by Jennara Nerenberg and it completely changed my perspective on the mental care industry and revealed, with studies and statistics, how women are systematically underserved when it comes to medical issues (both physical and mental). After reading that book it was like a big empathy door was kicked open in my brain that had been shut my whole life, and I suddenly started understanding some of the deep context behind the experiences of women in my life that I was previously never aware of.

The Godfather. Not that I'm in organized crime or anything, but the idea of not telegraphing what you're going to do before you do it I think resonated with me after I read that book however many decades ago. "Threatening" to do something just gives other people time to prepare for it. If you're going to do it, just do it.

Ok, so I have since passionately disavowed her ideas, but I did read the ENTIRE works of Ayn Rand at one point when I was right wing for a couple of years.

I list it as most influential because, one, it allowed me to understand what right wing philosophy was heavily influenced by during the late 20th century (and why), and two, when those philosophies proved to be egregiously wrong, it forced me to reevaluate my entire identity and belief structure which turned me into the particularly left leaning/socialist I am today.

In terms of books I'm still a big fan of, I love Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, BUT only when read alongside his "sequel" Island, which was his last book. It briefly articulates what Huxley believed a utopian society would look like (before said society is tragically ended by Nuclear Armageddon at the end of a hypothetical World War 3).

The Autobiography of Malcolm X during middle school: it grew in popularity during the 90s when Public Enemy, BDP, X-Clan and other conscious rap was en vogue, but Malcolm's story inspired a lot of us during that era in learning more about Islam, Afrocentricity/Pan Africanist, and critically thinking about American politics and other socio historical issues through a different lens.

We Are the Weather: both made me reevaluate how diet & ethical eating impacts the environment both now and for future generations

Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. The whole series really. The overall theme is change/growth. The books are chonky, and that gives him the room to do what he does best: character work. There's a range of characters with a broad spectrum of personality types and issues, so it's easy to find something that you relate to. Main characters with depression, PTSD, complicated pasts. And while they do grow and improve, it's definitely more realistic than a lot of books I've read. It's not easy or a straight path to getting better, and sometimes they stumble. But the books do a great job of showing that those things are completely normal and part of personal growth. The people around them give them the support we all wish we had, giving a good model for how we can support those in our lives.

Just a couple quotes that have stuck with me for years:

From Words of Radiance: "Keep cutting away at those thorns, strong one, and make a path for the light."

From Oathbringer: "It’s terrible,” Wit said, stepping up beside her, “to have been hurt. It’s unfair, and awful, and horrid. But Shallan . . . it’s okay to live on." ... "Wit?” she asked. “I . . . I can’t do it. He smiled. “There are certain things I know, Shallan. This is one of them. You can. Find the balance. Accept the pain, but don’t accept that you deserved it.”

Two texts by Seneca: "On the shortness of life" and "On Providence". The first one made me rethink the idea of "productivity" and the second one made me better at handling bad situations. But at the time I still felt crushed below the weight of a meaningless world, and then I read "The myth of Sisyphus" by Camus and my mind was blown. It was such an inovative way to deal with a world that doesn't answer back.

Also "Discourses" of Epictetus. If there ever was a book that was simple, elegant, and usable right away for a better life, this is it. I'd recommend this to everyone.

It's hard to single out specific works of Plato to stand on their own, I find the most value to be gained by having an overview of his whole philosophy, but "Protagoras" is my favourite dialogue, as it introduces some essential questions as to why are we so careless when taking care of our minds, and how nobody does bad things willingly (which is often repeated by Epictetus). Also the "Apology" is essential because it shows the basic thoughts that guided the greatest philosopher in the west.

The pig that wants to be eaten - Julian Baggini. It's a book full of fun philosophical thought experiments. Enriched my worldview, and sparked my interest for philosophy.

It was a Dictionary from a Library it fell on my Head and i got Brain Trauma afterwards some Therapy Sessions still impaired.

Two books that helped me understand the world better particularly when it comes to human behaviour. Both are terrific reads although can be difficult at times for different reasons, but strongly recommend both of them;

1. The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker is a great oversight of the science behind the biology of human (and animal) behaviour, explaining that it is a mix of nature and nurture (but leaning towards nature).

2. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert D Hare is a disturbing but easy read, and explains some of the worst of human behaviour, not just in the criminal justice system but also in politics and business

Hyperspace by Michio Kaku

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein. I was at university studying Philosophy and this short book clarified so much of my thinking.

Honestly, The Bible. No, I'm not Christian. I'm Agnostic. But so many fuckers who have read it love to wreck my life because of it.

Ishmael changed the way I view society.

The Courage to be Disliked.

It’s a look at Adlerian psychology through the format of a conversation. I’ve looked deeper into Adler and don’t agree with some but the book changed the way I think about a lot of things.