Ted Chiang’s Exhalation! Those stories really made me contemplate life.
Heavy_Direction1547 on
When I read Walden as a teen it was very reassuring to learn that rejecting the status quo and trying to find your own way to live was an option.
tkinsey3 on
**How the Word Is Passed** – Clint Smith
kaywel on
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.
kottabaz on
*Bullshit Jobs: A Theory* by David Graeber
boniaditya007 on
AYN rand- Atlas Shrugged
Ok-Cheetah-9125 on
Freakonomics
The Gift of Fear
NomDePlume007 on
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.
Adventurous_Bell384 on
To give context, I was twelve: “Go ask alice” by Beatrice sparks. Changed how I viewed addiction and other people as well.
Beautiful-Account862 on
(Non-fic) Neil deGrasse’s book “Starry Messenger: Cosmic perspectives on civilization” is a great book I’d reccomend. It helps to give an overview of our world’s problems in a different perspective. It’s a book where I just kind of stared off into space (pun intended) after reading a chapter and just reflected on life.
niandun on
A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin. What if everything really is an illusion? What if our lust, our desires, our fears, our ambitions are all futile, laughable folly? It’s changed the way I see the world and my place in it.
D_Pablo67 on
World on Fire by Amy Chua
diabeasti on
1984, nickle and dimed, brave new world, freakonomics, the phantom tollbooth, the jungle,
mulefluffer on
The New Pearl Harbor
hoaxxhorrorstories on
There are many such books, but for now I’d say The Name of the Rose – Made me contemplate how every group of people throughout history thought they (exclusively) possess the definite truth, we do the same and make the mistake of thinking that everyone before us were somehow totally wrong and we somehow finally possess the truth. For example say Egyptians would be very sure in their conclusion that Ra and other Egyptian gods were real and the success and dominance of their civilization was proof of their theology, same with Christians/Romans/Muslims who built those great empires. Yet in the modern period we think all those were misguided and our Naturalistic worldview is the right one and proof of that is the great successes we have achieved in the form of Rockets, Satellites, Nuclear weapons etc. Yet looking at the past people, their successes and their confidences makes me very skeptical of science and naturalism.
The narratives of various ‘heresies’ and of Fra Dolcino in the name of the rose and William’s skepticism of an objective order in the Universe especially made me somewhat of a skeptic too.
lechelle_t on
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Not just for US history but understanding that just because you personally haven’t experienced something does not mean you can invalidate another’s lived experiences.
Yourecringe2 on
*How high we go in the Dark* Reminder that life in all its forms is precious. It is a real emotional challenge though.
ManicPixieDreamHag on
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Taste_the__Rainbow on
*Gods* – Peter Levenda
lemming303 on
“The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt
Substantial-Carob961 on
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Sapiens by Noah Yuval Harari
Potential-Lab-7864 on
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
whatmeworry101 on
The Dictator’s Handbook. Still the most insightful book on politics I’ve ever read
hmmwhatsoverhere on
*The dawn of everything* by Davids Graeber and Wengrow
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins
bleepingsheep on
“The Dispossessed” by Ursula K. Le Guin!
TightComparison2789 on
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
someonewholistens on
Reality Transurfing – if your mind can handle it – buckle up!
No-Mathematician2622 on
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
YsengrimusRein on
Philip K Dick’s A Scanner Darkly really screwed me up. It’s clear throughout that he’s speaking very strongly from experience, but the list he provides in his Author’s Note of people he knew who succumbed to addiction sold the entire thing for me.
SanadaSyndrome on
Die Sorge Des Hausvaters (The Cares of the Family Man), short story by Franz Kafka.
30 Comments
Ted Chiang’s Exhalation! Those stories really made me contemplate life.
When I read Walden as a teen it was very reassuring to learn that rejecting the status quo and trying to find your own way to live was an option.
**How the Word Is Passed** – Clint Smith
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.
*Bullshit Jobs: A Theory* by David Graeber
AYN rand- Atlas Shrugged
Freakonomics
The Gift of Fear
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.
To give context, I was twelve: “Go ask alice” by Beatrice sparks. Changed how I viewed addiction and other people as well.
(Non-fic) Neil deGrasse’s book “Starry Messenger: Cosmic perspectives on civilization” is a great book I’d reccomend. It helps to give an overview of our world’s problems in a different perspective. It’s a book where I just kind of stared off into space (pun intended) after reading a chapter and just reflected on life.
A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin. What if everything really is an illusion? What if our lust, our desires, our fears, our ambitions are all futile, laughable folly? It’s changed the way I see the world and my place in it.
World on Fire by Amy Chua
1984, nickle and dimed, brave new world, freakonomics, the phantom tollbooth, the jungle,
The New Pearl Harbor
There are many such books, but for now I’d say The Name of the Rose – Made me contemplate how every group of people throughout history thought they (exclusively) possess the definite truth, we do the same and make the mistake of thinking that everyone before us were somehow totally wrong and we somehow finally possess the truth. For example say Egyptians would be very sure in their conclusion that Ra and other Egyptian gods were real and the success and dominance of their civilization was proof of their theology, same with Christians/Romans/Muslims who built those great empires. Yet in the modern period we think all those were misguided and our Naturalistic worldview is the right one and proof of that is the great successes we have achieved in the form of Rockets, Satellites, Nuclear weapons etc. Yet looking at the past people, their successes and their confidences makes me very skeptical of science and naturalism.
The narratives of various ‘heresies’ and of Fra Dolcino in the name of the rose and William’s skepticism of an objective order in the Universe especially made me somewhat of a skeptic too.
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Not just for US history but understanding that just because you personally haven’t experienced something does not mean you can invalidate another’s lived experiences.
*How high we go in the Dark* Reminder that life in all its forms is precious. It is a real emotional challenge though.
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
*Gods* – Peter Levenda
“The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Sapiens by Noah Yuval Harari
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
The Dictator’s Handbook. Still the most insightful book on politics I’ve ever read
*The dawn of everything* by Davids Graeber and Wengrow
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins
“The Dispossessed” by Ursula K. Le Guin!
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Reality Transurfing – if your mind can handle it – buckle up!
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Philip K Dick’s A Scanner Darkly really screwed me up. It’s clear throughout that he’s speaking very strongly from experience, but the list he provides in his Author’s Note of people he knew who succumbed to addiction sold the entire thing for me.
Die Sorge Des Hausvaters (The Cares of the Family Man), short story by Franz Kafka.