
Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect? - deathWasp271
Hi all,
Nearly an year ago, I faced a life-shattering crisis that completely wrecked my world view. Since then I have rebuilt up from scratch, and I have found that a lot of the things that I used to believe were false. Books such as Man&#x27;s Search for Meaning have been very pivotal in that regard. What books could you recommend for the same?
======
zuzuleinen
I highly recommend 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.

This book gave me the courage to take responsibility in my life and start
working towards things which are important for myself. As the author once
said, you don't get not to pay a price, you only get what price to pay.

It actually gave me the courage to leave Berlin and go back to my
country(Romania) which even though is more poor and low in quality of public
services, my friends and family are there and they are a priority for me right
now.

It also thought me to make small changes in my every day life even though is
something as small as cleaning my room. And these small changes give me enough
confidence to pursue bigger ones like quitting smoking for good.

~~~
sarabande
This book was not worth the hype for me; I read the whole thing, but regret
purchasing it.

\- It sorely needed an editor. Echoing other's sentiments, it could have been
< 1/3 of its length. The writing style was rambling, overly emphatic, and
arguments were often not coherent.

\- It used a gratuitous amount of Bible quotes, which

    
    
      1. weren't necessary to make his point,
    
      2. were often referenced as if they were data, and how people actually behave, rather than anecdotes/fiction
    

I got suckered into to buying the book because the author is a compelling
public speaker. I enjoy his lectures.

In retrospect, though, part of what makes him a compelling public speaker are
his highly emotional arguments, which don't seem to be founded on great
reasoning, and therefore make for a bad book, since we have more time to be
critical about arguments when reading.

~~~
JoshMnem
This[1] is worth reading.

"Jordan Peterson's popularity is the sign of a deeply impoverished political
and intellectual landscape"

[1] [https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/03/the-intellectual-
we-d...](https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/03/the-intellectual-we-deserve)

~~~
zuzuleinen
I'm sorry but the first paragraph is very unfair and not true in my opinion.

You can figure out for yourself, watch this debate and tell me if Peterson is
the type of person described in the article.

[https://youtu.be/FmH7JUeVQb8](https://youtu.be/FmH7JUeVQb8)

I promise I'll read your full article beyond the first paragraph :)

~~~
ramblerman
The article mentions that interview and concedes Peterson comes out stronger
there.

~~~
zuzuleinen
I think both had strong arguments at times.

Quite fascinating discussion, like watching a match of intellectual boxing :)

------
bmpafa
All of these are novels. In my 20s I felt guilty and frivolous for reading
fiction, but eventually I realized I could learn a lot more walking in a
protagonist's shoes than I could reading self help etc.

'My Struggle' by knausgard. Lengthy but worth it, even if you only read book
1. On face it's just the angst of some middle class writer, but following him
into the recesses of his own introspection is really something.

The borderlands trilogy, Cormac McCarthy. This guy tackles major existential
questions in his fairly simple (but dark) stories. it'd help to have basic
grasp of Spanish for these books

And maybe my favorite book, Lullabies for little criminals by Heather O'Neill.
It's about a little girl who's being raised by a junky and is coerced into
prostitution. Obviously a very dark premise, but the way the protagonist
experiences it made me think a lot about resilience, relative hardship,etc.

~~~
gajjanag
Fiction is in general severely underrated among STEM people today, with many
arguing for how it is a waste of time, etc. I was fortunate enough to grow up
in an environment where I had good access to it, and a healthy level of
support for my interest.

THe thing I find funny about this is that many of the "STEM legends" such as
von Neumann, Ulam, Einstein and others had read a lot of classical literature.
Einstein himself is quoted saying: "Dostoevsky gives me more than any
scientist, more than Gauss." I just make sure I give this quote only when
there are no number theorists in the room.

Sure, if one just confines oneself to the "popular" works on a standard YA
list, it may be reasonable to conclude that some fiction is not worth reading
for a STEM person. However, the classics are classics for a reason after all.

Moreover, it is also not implausible that a discerning eye can find plenty of
great worth in modern authors as well, something the parent has done.

~~~
trentmb
I wish I had the discipline to read more. Even when I finally get myself to
sit down with a book I always find myself zoning out.

~~~
bmpafa
I had the same problem. I've been doing 100% audiobooks for several years now
and I'll never go back. I can work through a regular length book in a week w/
retention on par with regular book reading.

------
spodek
I'll answer your question first, then suggest something I consider more
important, having survived several life-shattering crises.

\- The Tao Te Ching, especially Ron Hogan's translation (freely downloadable
here: [http://beatrice.com/wordpress/tao-te-
ching](http://beatrice.com/wordpress/tao-te-ching))

\- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby

\- Getting Things Done, David Allen

\- Gimp, Marc Zupan

\- Thinking in Systems, Donella Meadows

\- Leadership Step by Step, Joshua Spodek (full disclosure: me,
[https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-
Others/...](https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-
Others/dp/0814437931))

The suggestion I consider more valuable is to focus more on active behavior
than relatively passive reading. Of course, still read. But it's easy to read
more and more, telling yourself you're getting more perspective. You are, but
nothing changes your perspective like actually moving.

Even if you don't know what will work best -- meditation, fitness, art, music,
travel, cooking, gardening, starting a business, etc -- starting with
_something_ , even if you soon abandon it, will lead you to things you love
and that develop you faster than reading alone. Plus activity will make what
you read more meaningful.

I include my book because it's specifically a book of exercises that lead to
developing social and emotional skills designed to build on each other.

~~~
Jun8
> more valuable is to focus more on active behavior than relatively passive
> reading

 _This_ , I believe, is the true answer to the OPs question. I suffer from an
illusion, very common I think, that in order to get better at something, be it
C++, life, or interactions with your SO, one has to first collect information
and experiences from other people. Not that this is the wrong thing to do, but
it has to be interleaved with _acting_ on the information.

Think of reading books (or, in general, information collection) as earning
money. What are you going to do with all that money in the bank? It's a means,
right? To what end?

A quote I repeat many times a year from to myself _why: "When you don't create
things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability."

------
emodendroket
If I'm being honest, I read a lot of books, but the only one I can think of
really substantially changing my worldview was the Bible. Since you probably
do not want to read the entire thing I am particularly a fan of Ecclesiastes,
and maybe you could try some of the gospels if you still have steam after
that.

~~~
WhompingWindows
How did it change your worldview? I tried to start it and couldn't get into
it, despite knowing it's important to 40% of the world and is referenced in
other sources very commonly.

~~~
emodendroket
Well, I went from being curious to read it for the reasons you mentioned to
being a practicing Christian. I just ended up finding it a compelling sort of
moral system to think about the universe, I suppose. It took getting to the
New Testament before I thought of it as anything more than a curiosity,
though.

There are definitely parts that are a slog, especially in the Old Testament,
and just picking it up and reading it be tough, especially since it's so long.

You might enjoy just starting with a more focused set of books -- as I
mentioned, Ecclesiastes is great. Job is another well-loved bit of wisdom
literature. Mark is the shortest gospel and a primary source for two of the
others (also, because it was written for a gentile audience, it doesn't assume
a lot of familiarity with the OT the way something like Matthew does). Esther
and Judges are two that I think are good just from a narrative/excitement
perspective.

~~~
WhompingWindows
You're a practicing Christian, I don't know many, can you indulge my
curiosity? Do you believe in the literal truth of the bible, creationism, the
big bang? I am a scientist and I doubt I'd ever be convinced to follow a
religion whose followers believe in some stories and myths that are
essentially anti-scientific. I don't mean to be harsh or barbed, I'm just
saying I'd view the book as a mythological artifact from 2000 years ago, and
not set of morals for viewing the world, especially when that set of morals
includes stoning adulterers or not wearing a diverse set of fabrics in my
clothes. Maybe it's possible to pick and choose things like be kind to others,
golden rule, don't focus on possessions and wealth, focus on making good. But
how is that exclusive to the Christian faith? To me, I find those moral goods
very easy to employ with absolutely no faith in the less credible activities
going on in the bible.

I hope this a not mean response, I just view the Bible as an inherently
different document than most Christians, I think, and I want to establish
dialogue outside of my little bubble.

~~~
emodendroket
Fundamentalists and literalists are a very small minority of Christians and
their movement is more or less a reaction to science/the Enlightenment that
didn't really exist in any significant strength before the 19th Century (and
honestly it's hard to square with a careful reading of the Bible, which
contradicts itself in ways that present problems for literal readings). Even
as far back as Augustine you have Christians writing "obviously don't deny
objective reality because it could be read as in conflict with a Bible verse."
So no, I'm not into Young Earth Creationism or any of that.

I won't claim it's impossible to comport yourself morally without being an
adherent of any religion, but the Christian faith offers a more comprehensive
framework to think about our relationship to the world and other people that I
think is valuable.

~~~
WhompingWindows
Oh ok, thank you for your response. What are some examples of what the
Christian faith offers you, the comprehensive framework?

~~~
lostcolony
Again, not op, but, it gives me a reason to pick the altruistic option rather
than the selfish one, when I can 'morally' justify both.

For instance, beggar on the street. I can feel morally okay by saying "They
might not really be in need, just doing this to get extra money; I'll donate
to organizations dedicated to helping homeless instead". But from my Christian
perspective it changes, "Why am I judging this person's need? Who knows how
much those organizations will help this individual person, who is here now,
asking for help. Maybe they don't need it, but maybe they do. Would I rather
risk a mouth going hungry, or risk 'wasting' giving a dollar to someone who
has enough?", and I give the dollar. Or better yet, say "Wait, why is my time
so valuable? Am I really in so much of a hurry? Why don't I see if I can buy
this person a meal and talk to them for a bit".

Now, I can certainly see people aligning their basic axioms to arrive at this
same decision without an appeal to religion...I just know that for me, I
wouldn't. Without a belief in a God who I know values them as much as me, and
wants me to help them, I have no reason to push back against my own selfish
rationalizations. I might still donate, but then it's just to absolve myself
of any guilt I might have (which is also the goal of the rationalizations,
really). For me, the belief in God compels me to move past just absolving my
guilt, and instead leads me to ask how I can show love.

You might make the case that this is just another form of guilt, and maybe it
is (certainly, doing nothing leaves me feeling just as guilty), but it feels
qualitatively different. A begrudging giving of a dollar compared with
actually engaging with the person leads to two very different feelings, and I
know I never choose the latter without an appeal to religion. Again, for me;
YMMV.

~~~
WhompingWindows
Thanks for your response, I am cherishing the open dialogue that is definitely
outside of my bubble. I see your personal viewpoint, but what about the
aggregate? Taking Christianity as a whole, I believe it's fair to characterize
it as being used for many extremely violent acts, such as the nominal
justification for crusades, for religious wars in Europe (catholic vs
protestant, for instance), or for the suppression of free speech and
scientific advancement (galileo, evolutionary theory, the big bang, and so
forth). To me, in the aggregate, it seems that these negatives have balanced
off or perhaps outweighed the potential good works of practitioners who
otherwise would not have performed good works.

------
leksak
Flowers for Algernon, without a shadow of a doubt, had a huge impact on how I
regard intelligence in others and myself, and it also put the pursuit of
success into a new context for me. Lastly, it made me evaluate the prospects
one has going into life, with respect to what is (and isn't) under once's
control.

~~~
klibertp
Honestly, "Flowers for Algernon" is the most frightening story I ever read. It
made me realize that whatever intelligence I have right now I got basically by
accident and that I may lose it at any time. There's nothing I can do to
prevent this and - in case it happens - (EDIT: in the end) I won't even
recognize what I lost. The only thing I can do is to leave some kind of a mark
on the world, right now, before it happens. It turned out to be a great
motivation for doing creative stuff - in my case, I chose to write things,
blog posts, articles, pet project write-ups, things like this. Definitely one
of the most impactful stories I've ever read.

~~~
skookumchuck
> I won't even recognize what I lost

Alzheimer's victims know what they lost, until rather late in the disease.
It's part of what makes it a hell.

~~~
taneq
My maternal grandparents both went that way. Apparently long after they were
both essentially 'gone' the nursing home staff would occassionally find them
in the main living area, late at night after everyone was meant to be asleep,
dancing together. Clearly something of their former selves remained.

------
aytekin
“A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” by William Irvine has
taught me appreciate what I have and take it easy on myself when things don’t
go as planned.

[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040JHNQG/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040JHNQG/)

~~~
deathWasp271
Yes, this was another one of the books I read last year. I liked how it
separated the world into internal and external. I realized how much smoother
life became once I focused on living with an internal set of principles,
rather than external expectations.

~~~
mikearagua
If you like Stoicism you should try Pierre Hadot's _What is Ancient
Philosophy_ and at least the main essay from _Philosophy as a Way of Life_.
He's an excellent writer and you can get other useful perspectives from the
other ancient schools. The Epicurean take on pleasure (absence from pain) is
helpful as well as the ancient skeptical practice of equipollent dispute.

------
jm__87
A lot of people here are offering up books with life advice (though I saw a
recommendation for Sapiens which I can also highly recommend) which may or may
not help depending on what your problem is. Why not just practice
introspection daily through meditation instead? For some motivation and
evidence on what it can do for you, I'd recommend "Why Buddhism is True". In
spite of its title, the book aims to give some logic behind mindfulness
meditation. If specifically you have been dealing with chronic low mood as a
result of your life shattering crisis, I'd also recommend "The Mindful Way
Through Depression". If that isn't an issue for you, I personally enjoy Jon
Kabat Zinn's writing in general so I'd research and pick up one of his books.
Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield are some others in this
field who have a lot of experience teaching mindfulness meditation in a
Western context and have a lot of very useful advice when it comes to
practicing mindfulness meditation. There is another popular "how to meditate"
book out there called The Mind Illuminated which I see recommended on HN every
now and then, though I personally feel it is a bit overkill (it is more of a
textbook). With regard to Alan Watts, I've only read "The Wisdom of
Insecurity" and personally found it to be a waste of time and money, though I
guess you can read it online for free so that saves you the money at least :).

------
db1
1\. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Mostly the bits about how our society is mostly built on collective fictions.

2\. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse

I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite remember why.

Looks like it's time to re-read it.

~~~
libertine
> I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite remember why.

I think it's the unfolding of someone who sought knowledge and enlightenment
throughout his life and the feeling of impotence he felt when sharing
knowledge that can only be transmitted/obtained through life experiences.

You have to live life in order to be enlighted. He always "knew it" in
reality, but he didn't have the life experience to really know it.

Elders knowledge won't do it - you can't live/experience life through others
experiences/knowledge.

After some age, I think we tend to relate to this because we recall people
trying to pass knowledge to us and it never clicked until we lived such
events. After that, everything gets a new dimension.

~~~
stnmtn
The final, moving message of the book comes down to "live in the present."
Something we hear 50 times a day from friends, commercials, videos, etc. But I
think Siddhartha communicates and brings the reader on a journey that results
in this realization the most effectively out of every piece of media I've ever
consumed

------
kyoob
"Finite and Infinite Games" by James Carse. Makes me think a lot about the rat
race versus a life lived for a higher purpose. My copy is pretty worn out from
my carrying it around a rereading it.

If you like graphic novels, the ending of "Asterios Polyp" made me gasp and
put the book down and walk outside to mull it all over.

~~~
z5h
I've bought, read, given "Finite and Infinite Games" several times. I actually
remember the day I bought it (first copy), nearly 20 years ago!

------
bottled_poe
Goedel, Escher, Bach - an eternal golden braid. This book is so rich with
philosophical content it will change you.

~~~
chrisvalleybay
I really struggled to read this. It's so dense, in an almost impenetrable way.
Am I the only one? I did some skimming, but never seemed to catch on.

~~~
raaxe
That'll be why you found it so hard. It's not really a book you can 'skim
through' at all, but if you pay attention, maybe take some notes and reread
the sections you may be having trouble with, you'll start to get the idea.

The great thing about GEB is that Hofstadter basically assumes no prior
knowledge from the beginning of the book - he just asks that you pay close
attention and exercise your analytical mind. You'll then soon start to notice
the patterns, jokes and puzzles in the writing, and how they all relate very
closely to the ideas presented in the book.

Note: the book isn't necessarily out to prove anything, and if you're looking
for a massive 'aha!' moment towards the end of the book, you'll probably be
disappointed. It's just an incredible journey down the recursive rabbit-hole
that ties together mathematics, formal logic, linguistics, biology, computer
science and loads more all through the extremely deliberate use of language
throughout.

It still blows my mind, but requires a good amount of concentration, re-
reading and note-taking - which seems fair enough as I can't even imagine how
long it took Hofstadter to write!

~~~
modernerd
“You're reading it wrong” seems like a questionable defense of any book to me,
in the same way that “you're tasting that broccoli wrong” and “you're
listening to Paganini incorrectly” might be.

I only mention this because it hurts to see people waste weeks of their lives
trying to appreciate something under duress (be it literature, music, art) or
under the belief that the fault is with them rather than simply accepting
their lack of any natural affinity for the thing they are studying.

Sometimes it is worth working to appreciate things that are alien to you to
stretch the mind, but other times it's perfectly fine to accept that a
cultural artefact just might not be for you; that there is nothing wrong with
the way you have been consuming it. It frees you to move on and find something
new.

~~~
projectileboy
I totally agree. I don't think anyone should read, watch, or listen to
something because some other group of people defined it as great. I will say,
though, that if a sizable group of people define something as "great", you
might at least be curious and give it a chance. I took a music appreciation
class during a January term in college, and it really opened up the world of
classical music for me, and I think my life has been better for it.

------
dlwdlw
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as well as Godel, Escher, Bach.

Helped me see the limitations of rationality, rigor, and measurement.

~~~
sesteel
Godel, Escher, Bach changed my entire world view.

~~~
Balgair
How so? I read it, and though very good with the logic/math, I wasn't as
moved. I'd love to know more about your journey.

Edit: For me 'Information' by Glieck was very good, as it summed up the
logical 'journey of man' as a struggle to refine signal to noise. When
interpreting math/logic as such, I was floored and a lot of things made more
sense to me.

~~~
sesteel
I read it while in college. It put me into a mental space where I was
considering recursion on a universal scale for the first time. I'd never
considered, previously, how recursive processes construct everything I see and
experience, including my own consciousness. It was the most beautiful idea I'd
ever come across and satisfied my need to answer how we came to be.

------
lostmsu
Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality of course. It quickly led me to the
list of cognitive biases on Wikipedia, which are, basically, the answer to
introspection question by definition.

The book is here for free: [http://www.hpmor.com/](http://www.hpmor.com/)

------
kdbg
As a religious person reading Orson Scott Card's Xenocide (Part of the Enders
game universe, but not at all like Enders Game) really impacted me.

In it you have a father who is a religious leader and transitions out of the
religion to a more atheistic view and his daughter who becomes holds true to
their faith in spite of the evidence and her father.

I saw a lot of myself in that girl and it really brought to light the folly of
religion when you step outside of the religious framework. I'm still religious
but the book made me think.

------
gringoDan
+1 to whoever mentioned Seneca's On the Shortness of Life, or any of the Stoic
writings.

The Old Man and the Sea. People either love or hate this book, but it had a
profound impact on me.

The Moral Animal, by Robert Wright. Made me consider how much of human
behavior can be explained through evolutionary biology.

The Truth, by Neil Strauss. Incredibly vulnerable memoir that will make you
reflect on your own relationships and what you want out of them.

In general, I think that you can learn much more from classic fiction than any
new business book. Books that have been read & discussed for the past 50+
years have much more staying power and timelessness than a TED talk that led
to a publishing deal.

~~~
edanm
> The Old Man and the Sea.

Could you share how this impacted you? I'm one of the people on whom this book
fell flat.

------
nathas
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew
Crawford.

I've often questioned if spending 8+ hours a day writing software was the
right thing for me to do, when I get so much more gratification from
physically manipulating something. It was a welcomed read.

~~~
Zanta
I recently read and enjoyed the essay version. Would you recommend the book?
Specifically, did you feel that the amount of depth in the book necessitated
that format as opposed to an essay?

I'm frequently disappointed by really good ideas that could be presented in a
dozen pages being stretched to occupy 200 (e.g. Deep Work)

~~~
gregcoombe
Unfortunately, I found the book version to stretch the concept much too far.
He was able to include far more description of how to find pleasure working on
physical things, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But it definitely drags when he
gets into the philosophical justifications.

------
Majestic121
The Enchiridion of Epictetus is one of the main books of stoicism.

It has really changed the way I see life and face adversity.

It is very short and easy to read, despite being quite old, and contains
actual down to earth wisdom about life

It somehow goes quite well with the teachings of Frankl, if you replace "God"
by meaning.

~~~
JasonFruit
I modernized a public-domain translation of Epictetus and had a nice printing
done for my nephew's graduation. It's an amazing book on how to live.

Marcus Aurelius's _Meditations_ reads like the daily thoughts of someone
attempting to live according to Epictetus's handbook. (Obviously, they're both
Stoic works, but they make a better pairing than that alone would make you
expect.)

------
indescions_2018
Wonderful thread! There is most certainly a canon of "introspection"
literature. Required for any one who pays heed to the wisdom of "knowing
thyself". Gandhi's _Experiments With Truth_ and St. Augustine's _Confessions_
are perfect examples. Absolute honesty. With the single goal of providing
future readers many years hence with some guide points in navigating the seas
of life.

List of 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century

[https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/book372.htm](https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/book372.htm)

And just a heads up. This June brings the arrival of another biography I am
very much looking forward to. Matt Polly's definitive _Bruce Lee: A Life_.
Perfect summer beach reading to provide the inspiration for a commitment to
discipline!

[https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Life-Matthew-
Polly/dp/15011...](https://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Life-Matthew-
Polly/dp/1501187627)

------
koonsolo
Welcome to the club! The same happened to me 3 years ago. At that time I also
started reading "Man's search for meaning".

The following book had the biggest impact on my world view:

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy,
and Liberation, by Thich Nhat Hanh

I personally don't believe in any religious things, and I still don't. But now
I look at the world differently.

Buddhism is know for reincarnation, which looks a bit silly to me. But as this
book points out, it is not reincarnation, but rebirth in (Zen) Buddhism. Both
are completely different. There is nothing silly about rebirth, and it's
actually more accurate that how we, as individualistic westerners, view the
world.

As someone who loves science, after reading this book, I have a more realistic
view on the world than I had before, and than most of my rational friends
right now.

The (Zen) Buddhism in this book is not so much a religion with believes, but
more a philosophy on how to look at life and the world.

------
cocktailpeanuts
"Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic
Economics" by Henry Stuart Hazlitt.

The title doesn't do it justice because it sounds so cliche, but once you read
it, you'll actually agree that this DOES cover everything you need to know
about economics (although heavily biased towards austrian economics than
keynesian)

Also an important side effect: You'll realize how economics is not just some
boring, esoteric, and impractical stuff that you'll never need to deal with in
your life, but actually essential in designing complex systems.

~~~
Kevin_S
I could've written this exact comment after I read this book, but I actually
wouldn't recommend this. I read it right before I did my economics degree, and
it really warped my view of the "right way" to think about econ.

It does give you a starting point, but the Austrian view isn't in the
mainstream for a reason. It introduces just a bit too much bias into novice
readers for my taste.

~~~
Rzor
What would you recommend instead?

~~~
Kevin_S
Unfortunately I can't recommend any particular book to learn economics alone.
I don't learn best this way and I feel I got basically all of my knowledge
through my coursework. I'd honestly recommend a course. Even an online one may
be workable.

------
davidgould
_Tao Te Ching_ by Lao Tzu, translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English. This
book is wonderfully calming, don't worry about what it means, just soak in it.

I'll also add another vote for _The Myth of Sisyphus_ by Albert Camus and for
_Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ by Robert Pirsig.

On a darker note, if you had any illusions left, _Gravity 's Rainbow_ by
Thomas Pynchon.

------
teddyh
I keep coming across this blog post, and each time I read it, I find myself
liking it:

 _6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person_

[http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-
yo...](http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-
person/)

~~~
sampl
Some good points that article, but the “ABC” speech in Glengarry Glenn Ross is
not a good compass to guide your life.

~~~
teddyh
Firstly, the article is about much more than just the ABC speech. Read the
whole thing, and don’t get hung up on that example this time.

Secondly, the ABC speech (referred to in the article) isn’t meant to be a
“compass”, it’s meant to be a _motivating_ speech. (Using threats and abuse,
granted.) Note that the speech contains no actual guides, tips, or
instructions on _how_ to sell real estate. It’s essentially (paraphrasing) “
_Do it or you’re fired._ ” and “ _I could do it easily, so if you cant do it,
you must suck._ ”

It may not be the best way to convey this particular message in most cases,
but I could imagine situations in which it was suitable.

Your off-target criticism of the article by criticizing the ABC speech for
something it isn’t reminds me of when the article much later says “ _So even
now, some of you reading this are feeling your brain bombard you with knee-
jerk reasons to reject it._ ”.

------
gtycomb
Such introspection for me began at the end of my college days – Books and
essays by Herman Hess, Camus, and Kafka. Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann was a
high point. Its interesting that its these books that prepared me for the
Bible, to start understanding it an entirely new way. But dont miss reading
Steinbeck :-)

------
Zaheer
The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Especially interesting read in today's
political climate - pivotal nonetheless

~~~
swagtricker
I tried. Twice. As a privileged white man in America trying to understand the
black experience. However, I could only get about 2/3 of the way through
before giving up. I empathized with his early agony and injustice, but the
fact that he turned it into a hate for white people and a religious fixation
was way too much for me. In the end I saw the only difference between his view
and the views of the Klan was his brought out by personal and systematic
suffering. The hate, the bias, the intolerance would have just been a simple
copy/paste of terms. I got volumes more out of James Baldwin's "The Fire Next
Time".

~~~
BeetleB
I guess you didn't get to the point where he says:

>There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were
of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were
all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and
brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could
exist between the white and non-white.

>You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage,
what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my
thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous
conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I
have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of
life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an
open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand
with every form of intelligent search for truth.

>During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the
same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the
same rug)--while praying to the same God--with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were
the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was
the whitest of white. And in the words and in the actions in the deeds of the
'white' Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African
Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana.

>But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the
experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger
generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the
walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth--the only way
left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead
to...A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a 'white' man, a
United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his
hotel suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would
ever be a recipient of such honors--honors that in America would be bestowed
upon a King--not a Negro.

(Above are snippets from a letter he wrote. The different portions I quoted
are non-contiguous). On his return from that trip he said in a press
conference that he is willing to put aside his differences with others and is
willing to work with anyone who is dedicated to improving the lives of African
Americans.

What I found impressive about him was how much he had changed, and continued
to change, throughout his life. He was a deeply introspective person, and
continued to refine his thoughts. He was a high school dropout who lived a
fairly pathetic lifestyle. And then during his time in prison he decided to
make something out of himself. It's impressive how much he changed for the
better. I am a very well educated person, but I struggle to achieve what he
did in terms of how articulate he became. And most people I personally know
simply do not have the courage to continually evaluate their beliefs and
change them.

Much of it may have been fueled by hate, but it's also clear his greater goal
was always to improve the lives of his kind - hatred was merely a strategy
towards that goal. And at some point he realized it didn't need to be part of
that goal.

Over a decade ago I had to go on a multi-day road trip and needed something to
listen to. So I downloaded all the speeches I could find of his, sorted them
chronologically, and listened to them. In some ways they were more impressive
than what you see in the book. And the transformation over the years is quite
apparent. One other thing that stood out was how well informed he seemed to be
about foreign affairs - something neither the book nor the movie points out.
He was quite critical of US foreign policy. And he was very skilled at
pointing out hypocrisies of the government very openly - something very few
people do these days, and frankly, the likely reason many people idolize him.

Of course, he had his flaws - you can find them in Manning Marable's book. His
trajectory in a continual positive direction, though, was impressive. He died
before he reached his 40th birthday. I have little doubt that he lived another
decade or two and had continued on his path of self improvement, he would be a
much more revered figure than he is.

~~~
swagtricker
Thank you for sharing this. I still have the copy on my bookshelf in my
office. I know that I'm a different person now from when tried to read it 10
years ago. I'll pick it up again.

~~~
BeetleB
To be fair, the second half of the book (soon after he comes out of prison) is
relatively poorly written compared to the first half. A lot of rambling,
preaching and jumping around chronologically. I wonder if Alex just got lazy
or had some kind of deadline to meet.

The movie's not bad, to be honest. Obviously can't capture everything, but
overall does a good job.

------
munificent
Here are a handful that really stuck with me and changed how I think about
things:

    
    
        Gig: Americans Talk about Their Jobs
        The Tao of Pooh
        Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
        Tao Te Ching
        A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
        Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny
        Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity
        How the Mind Works
        The Design of Everyday Things
        Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
        The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
    

Some of these are typical for the audience here, but a few are more off the
beaten path. I really liked "Gig" and "A Pattern Language".

Fiction is harder to pin down. I think, overall, reading fiction has had a
greater impact on my understanding of human nature than non-fiction has. But
it's diffused over a larger number of books so it's hard to point to specific
ones. I think simply reading a large volume of fiction helps me understand all
the ways people can live and think.

------
galfarragem
If a "life-shattering crisis that completely wrecked my world view" means a
breakup definitely read "No More Mr. Nice Guy" from Robert Glover.

~~~
taneq
I hung out on the forums for that book for a while. Helped me on my path,
there were a lot of hard but important truths there.

------
aizatto
I can say I've got through something similar.

A book that made me very introspective was David Brook's The Road To Character
. It made me ask my self a lot of questions which I have documented here
[https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/55/david-brooks-
humi...](https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/55/david-brooks-humility-
code-from-the-road-to-character/)

Another book was Paul Kalanathi's When Breath Becomes Air I also copied some
quotes, questions, and answers here
[https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/135/paul-
kalanithis-...](https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/135/paul-kalanithis-
when-breath-becomes-air/)

I'd recommend reading biographies because they can help you give perspective
about how a person leads their life. The ones I found thoroughly fun was
Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, Phil Knight's Shoe Dog.

------
jimhefferon
I have learned things from some of the ones mentioned. But I also have one
that is a bit different than the others here so far.

In 2001 I came down with a heart condition. I was 42, had two young kids, a
good job, and basically did not know what to do. Spent a lot of nights up at 2
am. I read through the Aubrey-Maturin series
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series).
On their face, they form an adventure series of historical novels (they fit
into a category that Great Britian has, naval fiction). But it seemed to me
then and still seems to me now that they are literature, an extended
meditation on what it means to be a man.

In any event, they fitted my circumstances. I learned a great deal. They
helped me. (I advise starting with the second one, _Post Captain_.)

~~~
elcapitan
Interesting - those are the books that the "Master and Commander" movie is
based on. I liked that movie, is it close to the books?

~~~
jimhefferon
I enjoyed the movie a great deal I thought it was as true to the series as was
realistic for a hollywood enterprise.

But I don't think a person would get much sense of the books from the movie,
just as a person would not get all that much sense of an Austen from a
hollywood version. (BTW, that's why I suggest the second book in the series
for a first try. It is much more like the rest of the series than the first
book, in my opinion.)

~~~
elcapitan
Thanks!

------
nikivi
Alan Watt's Wisdom of Insecurity book was enlightening for me. You can read it
for free here:

[https://antilogicalism.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/wisdom-
of...](https://antilogicalism.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/wisdom-of-
insecurity.pdf)

~~~
zuzuleinen
If you like Alan Watts you might enjoy Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal
Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice from Shunryu Suzuki.

[https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Informal-
Meditatio...](https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Informal-
Meditation/dp/1590308492)

~~~
Finnucane
If you like that, I'd further recommend the biography of Suzuki, Crooked
Cucumber. It's an interesting read.

~~~
zackb
And if you like that, I'd recommend "Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit
of Zen" which feels like a continuation of "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind"

------
coleifer
War and Peace, Tolstoy. There are some tedious passages where Tolstoy develops
a theory of history, but the realness of the characters, and their struggles
to find themselves, is described better than any other book I've read. It's a
beautiful story.

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Don't need to be an alcoholic to see
that our efforts to run and order our lives often can end up making us more
miserable. Read the first 164 pages.

~~~
lacker
If you liked War and Peace you would probably also like Anna Karenina.
Although I might not need to tell you that ;-)

------
needz
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Letters from a Stoic by Seneca.

I guess you could say any book on Stoicism, really, as the others I would
mention also fit that bill.

~~~
JoshMnem
A Marcus Aurelius quote changed my life when I was a teenager. It was
something like, "it is not dying that a man should fear, but a man should fear
never having lived at all."

From that point, I pushed myself to live -- got seriously into primitive
technology and wilderness survival, traveled to many parts of the world, and
did many other things that I previously wasn't able to do. I just found my old
copy of _Meditations_ in a box yesterday and plan on reading it again.

------
robtani
The one that comes to mind above all else for me is the "Rubaiyat of Omar
Khayyam" written by the great Persian mathematician, philosopher, polymath
Khayyam in the 11'th century. His perspectives on life and death ever so
eloquently painted in words are amazing!! Just wish I could read the original
Persian version as I'm sure much is lost in translation.

------
bsrhng
Oliver Sacks' 'The man who mistook his wife for a hat' made me think how much
of what I assume is inseparable to my internal experience is really something
I take for granted.

I haven't finished it but Foucault's 'Archaeology of knowledge' is
enlightening in many ways not least because of its precise language on
transformations of fields of knowledge.

------
gorbachev
Principles by Ray Dalio.

I worked, somewhat briefly and largely unsuccessfully, at Bridgewater
Associates several years ago and while I strongly disagree with the utopian
description of BW as a bastion of egoless radical transparency and all the
great things that are supposed to come out of that sort of an environment, the
book and the principles behind it are really enlightening. I do honestly think
if all workplaces operated in the way the book describes there would be more
successful companies in the world and happier people working in them.

~~~
cheez
Working at Bridgewater is kind of like dating a real asshole: it's better if
you break it off while the going is good so you can remember the experience
fondly.

------
parallel_item
They aren't all self help. Some just shook my world view so much that I
couldn't help but introspect, reviewing everything I believe from a new angle.
I find the experience I had with each fairly intimate. I hope others may have
the same experience with any book, but think that these may do it.

1\. This Is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami

Murakami talking about his decision to become an author and also his lifelong
hobby of running.

2\. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls - David Sedaris

Made me laugh for the first time in awhile.

3\. The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus

Absurdity.

------
pro_zac
"This is Water", a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace. Whenever I'm
overwhelmed with life, stressed about work or relationships or whatever, I
read this. I keep it in the kindle app on my phone specifically for that
purpose. [https://www.docdroid.net/n9UgjO3/this-is-
water.pdf](https://www.docdroid.net/n9UgjO3/this-is-water.pdf)

~~~
lsaac
This speech made a very strong impact on me as well.

I find listening to the speech even more chilling: [https://youtu.be/8CrOL-
ydFMI](https://youtu.be/8CrOL-ydFMI)

------
Zanni
Okay, here's an unusual one that hasn't been mentioned yet (and I'm completely
serious with this suggestion): Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a
Fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance. [1]

Musk is a polarizing figure, no doubt, but what really struck me, at least as
presented here, is his vision for the future. That he's not working for money
or glory so much as to save the planet and the species. That's a pretty big
goal, and a tremendous service to humanity.

More than any book I've read recently, this made me stop and reflect on my own
life and what I'm doing with it. I work, primarily, in entertainment, which
has its own value, and I try to make a positive, if small, difference in the
lives of people around me, but ... nothing like on the scale of what Musk is
doing.

This is a pretty indirect suggestion, and nothing in the book advocates this
sort of introspection, but it was my profound take-away. Who knows? It might
have a similar effect on you.

[1] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25541028-elon-
musk](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25541028-elon-musk)

------
thorin
A friend gave me a copy of this book following a crisis. He had had a similar
experience and it had helped him. I read it 3 times in a row over the period
of a few weeks and it really helped comfort me.

Fear - Thich Nhat Hanh

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fear-Essential-Wisdom-Getting-
Throu...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fear-Essential-Wisdom-Getting-
Through/dp/1846043182)

------
miketek11
The big ones for me:

1) Antifragile by Taleb (Skin in the Game is so far excellent as well) 2) The
Border Trilogy by McCarthy 3) The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky 4) East of
Eden by Steinbeck 5) Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut

~~~
volkl48
Taleb's books are something I almost hate to recommend.

I don't like a lot of his attitude (arrogance) and I'm not sure I'd call them
all that well written either. He likes to ramble and seems to cram as many
"SAT words" as possible into his writing, even when simpler/more commonly used
words would done the job just as well.

With that said, they're some of the books that have made me reconsider the
world around me the most and he has a very interesting take on the world.

------
anon1253
"The fall" and "The stranger" from Albert Camus, arguably the most accessible
cornerstones of Existential philosophy, and they really make you think about
your position in this world and as a person. The play "no exit" by Sartre is
also very interesting, and works well as the audio version by Partially
Examined Life (a philosophy podcast).

------
scandox
Well if you've read Frankl then I think you should read Primo Levi. The
Drowned and The Saved and also If This Is A Man. One could say he came to less
easily swallowed conclusions, but I think it is essential reading.

For me personally however I think Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment more or
less informed my world-view from a very young age and continues to do so.

~~~
deathWasp271
Bookmarked.

I picked up Crime and Punishment a few years ago, but had to put it down, due
to both foreseeable and unforeseeable circumstances. How would you introduce
it if you were to recommend it to someone?

~~~
scandox
I think introductions can take away from the direct experience of a great
book. I think what's important is that since it is a work of literature it has
the privilege of not even trying to deal with absolutes. It is an examination
of what it might mean to be a moral human being. A kind of huge, entertaining
thought experiment.

------
hprotagonist
Ecclesiastes. (and the other Wisdom books)

Kierkegaard’s _Either /Or_

Thoreau’s _Walden_

William Stringfellow’s _Impostors of God: Inquiries into Favorite Idols_

... and any good poetry.

------
lsaac
Yuval Noah Harari's books, 'Sapiens' and 'Homo Deus' really changed the way I
look at things.

~~~
ASalazarMX
They have a bit of speculation, but if you seek to introspect and challenge
your convictions, they're excellent books. 'Sapiens' specially.

------
taylodl
1\. Gödel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid

2\. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

3\. Siddhartha

4\. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

5\. The Blind Watchmaker

------
Glench
The book Non-Violent Communication lead me to examine my communication style
and deeper motivations/feelings. Practicing it changed the communication in
all my relationships for the better, even if the other person wasn't
practicing NVC.

------
nexensis
Seneca - On the Shortness of Life

Although it can be read in an hour or two, it completely rewrote the way I
approach life – particularly by reframing procrastination and idleness.

"You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you
desire"

------
adjkant
Vonnegut when read carefully. Slaughterhouse-Five, Galapagos, and Sirens of
Titan are three of the better ones I have read. They all connect tangentially
to the same universe, so reading more Vonnegut also has cool pay-offs and tie-
ins.

------
madads
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Promoting “breathing” without thinking and
not taking your thoughts too seriously has got me through a lot of emotional
turmoil and “life situations”. Incredible even 5 years later.

~~~
emodendroket
I completely hated this book.

~~~
bambataa
Why so? It appears to be in vogue at the moment but it doesn’t seem to be
saying anything novel.

~~~
emodendroket
As you allude to, the basic idea is the same stuff you've heard if you've read
anything about "mindfulness." Basically a lite Buddhism -- a lot of your
unhappiness comes from a constant spigot of unbidden thought you can't shut
off and you can improve your life by learning how to shut it off and be
absolutely focused in the present moment, through exercises like meditation. I
think this is a bit oversold but not bad.

But that's not really enough to have a media empire and series of books, so
the book is larded with all kinds of ridiculous claims, including risible
Biblical exegesis, an attribution of various historical atrocities live
Kristallnacht to a failure to like In the Now, an extended discourse about how
living In the Now can make menstruation a rapturous experience rather than a
painful one, and obviously bogus claims about how living In the Now will
actually cause the molecules of your body to spread out and make your body
less dense.

~~~
fsloth
I found Mr. Tolle's visualization of the pain body an extremely helpful tool
to get me through extreme stress time and again.

I think these things, when moving beyond basic limbic system hacking like deep
breathing, are highly personal, so YMMV.

I agree it has the tepid undertones you imply, but did not devalue the book
since the one tool it provided me with has served me so well.

~~~
emodendroket
I'm glad it worked for you. All the talk of the pain body and the egoic mind
just fell flat for me.

~~~
fsloth
"All the talk of the pain body..."

The point with these therapeutic visualizations is to try how they work,
personally, as an actual tool to solve a concrete dilemma. As such it does not
matter how useless they sound in written form. Human mind has these
psychlogical switches that just seem to work in specific situations. For
example of a pathological "switch", the gambler is lured by an unpredictable
sequence of loss and reward. Which to most people sound extremely silly, until
they try it out themselves, and are totally hooked. Therapeutic switches can
seem to have equal power to deal with ones emotions and pain.

For me, visualizing my pain as a separate entity that fed from my suffering
allowed me to conceptualize my internal pain in a way in which I could observe
and deal with it better.

It's like how some yogis speak of energy flows and whatnot - which is
completely inconsequential hogwash and do not matter just as long as the
movement and breathing techniques do their very physical work on the human
body.

The problem with presenting functional techniques as deeply linked with an
esoteric philosophy, a religious movement or (in Tolle's case) a guru is that
the technique is often used as a token hook just to lure the person to follow
the movement or philosophy.

~~~
emodendroket
I will say that meditation is one of the few things that felt good when I had
a head injury.

------
fredley
Most recently _How Not to be a Boy_ , by Robert Webb (of Mitchell and Webb,
Peep Show fame). An autobiography of his childhood and early career, but also
observed through the lens of how masculinity's cultural demands damage men,
and those around them. All written by someone who's very funny.

He summarises the first few chapters in a brief video, so you have an idea
what you're in for:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ujt4We82Jk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ujt4We82Jk)

~~~
Insanity
I will check that out. David's autobiography was a bit disappointing to me
unfortunately

------
TheAceOfHearts
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by
Jonathan Haidt.

This book had a big impact on me; it definitely made me re-evaluate how I was
approaching things like politics and religion.

------
andersthue
The most important book I have read currently is “The Anatomy of Peace” by the
arbinger institute. This book teaches me how to stay out of interpersonal
conflicts and become a person pthers want to be together with.

“Crucial Conversations” is another really important book that teaches how to
safely deal with very hard conversations.

For my own personal development/relationship with women I must say that “No
more mister nice guy” and “the way of the superior man” has both helped me.

Lastly the letting go e-book by Leo Babauta from zenhabits also is really
good.

------
jpamata
1\. A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine

-my first introduction to stoicism.

2\. Mastery by Robert Greene

-stories about the lives of luminaries such as Henry Ford, Michael Faraday, and Da Vinci on what it takes to be successful.

3\. Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

-for providing me a new mental framework on building discipline and confidence.

4\. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan
Cain

-for giving me a paradigm shift on how to think about myself and others.

5\. Seeking Wisdom From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin

-a compendium of cognitive biases and mental models.

------
bichiliad
I recently read "Outline" by Rachel Cusk, and it made me think a lot about the
importance of listening, and how much you can learn about another person (and,
through them, yourself). "Listening" isn't really something that'll change
your worldview, but it's definitely a tool to enable you to do so.

That aside, the book is just very well written and really quite enjoyable to
read, which is never something that hurts.

------
tryonqc
Book: Vagabonding: an uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel.

Why ? Opened a world of possibilities to me. Changed my mindset on a lot of
topics. His books don't offer many answers, but helped me put my goals / life
into perspective.

excerpt: “There is still an overwhelming social compulsion — an insanity of
consensus, if you will — to get rich from life rather than live richly, to “do
well” in the world instead of living well. And, in spite of the fact that
America is famous for its unhappy rich people, most of us remain convinced
that just a little more money will set life right. In this way, the messianic
metaphor of modern life becomes the lottery — that outside chance that the
right odds will come together to liberate us from financial worries once and
for all. Fortunately, we were all born with winning tickets — and cashing them
in is a simple matter of altering our cadence as we walk through the world.”

there's a full free chapter on Tim's website:
[https://tim.blog/2010/05/12/living-well-vs-doing-
well/](https://tim.blog/2010/05/12/living-well-vs-doing-well/)

~~~
always_good
Vagabonding and Tim's book planted the seed that is responsible for my
immigration to Mexico.

I'm not yet successful on the front of making money off my own projects, but I
was successful in pulling the trigger and finding my own adventure in life
instead of feeling like I was slaving away.

------
pc2g4d
As a person who's gone through something comparable in recent years, I will
first recommend that you seek out a community of people undergoing a similar
shift in worldview. There may be podcasts, forums, blogs, etc. where people
who previously held your same worldview are processing their transition after
finding "that a lot of the things that [they] used to believe were false". For
me this has been immensely helpful.

Now some introspective books:

* The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. If you're open to fantasy, this series delves deep into how to respond when one's worldview is shattered. Highly recommended. Elantris also covers some similar territory.

* The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. How do you reconcile the whims of capricious Fortune with your desire for peace in this world?

* Bonds That Make Us Free by Terry Warner. This book makes you take a brutal look at how you contribute to your own misery in life. It will be agonizing to read, but persevere and I believe you will find it insightful. Try not to be too turned off by the conservative religious viewpoint that occasionally peeks through.

------
kaycebasques
The Selfish Gene. Picturing myself purely as a machine for propagating my
genes was quite the perspective shift.

+1 for Man’s Search For Meaning.

Lord of the Flies. Amazing that this is assigned reading in middle school (or
high school).

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Really drove home the importance of
paying attention to language and framing.

Moby Dick. I’m amazed at myself for reading this on my own in high school.
There’s something about that era of sea travel that speaks to my soul.

6 Pillars Of Self-Esteem. This was a HN recommendation. I’ve been doing the
sentence completion exercises for about 6 months, and it’s been astounding to
palpably feel my self-awareness increase.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Discusses the underlying group
dynamics that influence the progress of science.

A Fire Upon The Deep. Just an amazing work of sci-fi exploring the internal
logic of radically different forms of intelligence.

The Sane Society. It’s liberating to reflect on some of the crazy things that
capitalism pressures us to do.

The Power Of Now. I think I might have some more issues if I re-read it, but
it undoubtedly had a huge impact on me and made me introspect deeply and
finally “get” meditation.

------
BreakfastB0b
“The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus, if you find yourself worrying about
existential nihilism then this is the book for you. I found it extremely
useful after an intense psychedelic experience. The School of Life has a good
overview of his brand of existentialism here
[https://youtu.be/jQOfbObFOCw](https://youtu.be/jQOfbObFOCw)

------
0xdeadbeefbabe
The New Testament along with some history of the early Christian church in
Rome.

------
king_panic
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker

I was not prepared to read this book when I did, and its ideas have haunted me
since. They have kept me awake many a night.

~~~
steveax
Yes, this book changed how I think about death, and life so much.

------
exelius
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus.

------
mikelothar
Not sure it’s for everyone, but I’m sure it improved my way of thinking. It’s
a book called Drug of Choice by Mark van Stratum,
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06X9C6MJ6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06X9C6MJ6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526063074&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=drug+of+choice)

In many ways him and I came from similar backgrounds, only his situation was
in many ways more harsh. Losing his one arm as a kid, growing up in a bad
neighborhood in Holland, becoming a drug dealer, everything in his life was
heading the wrong way. But he managed to pull himself together, leaving the
country, training himself to achieve the most amazing life.

I read it without knowing anything about it, which I can recommend (so sorry
for these first spoilers, but there’s so much more I won’t spoil).

I’ve also read Mans Search For Meaning, recommended in 12 Rules For Life. Also
good, I agree.

------
tgfoobar
\- Chance and necessity by joques monod. It was the first book that brought me
out of my faith-based view of the world into one defined by science. Seriously
rocked my worldview over 15 years ago.

\- Nothing special by Charlette Joko Beck, Steve Smith. I have been playing
with meditation for years now, but this book has really changed my
perspective.

------
billybatson
I recommend Infinite Jest.

It's a deeply introspective and, at least for me, borders on being a
philosophical text. I would even go so far as describing it as a philosophical
text disguised as fiction.

It will take effort to get through, but it's one of those things where you can
immediately feel that the energy put into the book is worth it.

------
wgj
Because I haven't seen it mentioned yet: A Joseph Campbell Companion:
Reflections on the Art of Living, by Joseph Campbell and beautifully edited by
Diane Osbon.

I can trace much of my life direction back to principles I established for
myself while reading this book. My copy is very marked up. :)

------
godelmachine
1) All of Robin Sharma's books - especially The Monk who sold his Ferrari

2) The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell

3) Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

4) The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

5) Barking up the wrong tree by Eric Barker

6) This might be strange - but Harry Potter series also teach us a lot,
especially about Courage and Conviction.

------
staticgarden
Not related to tech, but "A Guide to the Good Live"
([https://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/A-Guide-to-the-Good-
Li...](https://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/A-Guide-to-the-Good-Life-
Audiobook/B00G6ZLMDC)) , "Unconditional Parenting"
([https://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Unconditional-
Pa...](https://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Unconditional-Parenting-
Audiobook/B01IE0HI1G)). These have really been mind altering. Both the books
have challenged my beliefs and they make a lot of sense once you read them
completely.

------
SippinLean
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon. A review on Goodreads sums up the
introspective qualities quite well:

>it is a loping colloquy between Faith and its mate Reason, Free Will and its
mate Fate; I read in it that I should make my way West to go with the day,
with Time, maturation, aging, having children, the coming of the next
generation, the slow fading and dispersal at sunset- and East if I wish to go
against the day, into the past, toward morning, the smokeless altars of
memory, to youth… where we can’t ever stay for long, because the terrain has
started to go missing, there is less firm land under foot to hold and lift us,
and our Lines must again resume their inexorable Westerly course...

------
AnIdiotOnTheNet
You know, thinking back, I think the books that most inspired me
philosophically were actually fiction. Specifically, I think Terry Pratchett
wrote some remarkably insightful things underneath all the entertaining
characters and narrative.

------
twosuns19
I recommend following Muslim Kurdish scholar. In his large collection of work,
he tried to answer questions: who am I? Where I came from? And where am I
going? Start with chapter 10 of "The Words" book. If you like that chapter,
read chapter 17 (17th word). If that make you introspect more then read
chapter 24th. Chapter 24 will take you to the beginning (Chapter 1)--The First
Word.

[http://www.nur.gen.tr/en.html#maincontent=Risale&islem=read&...](http://www.nur.gen.tr/en.html#maincontent=Risale&islem=read&BolumId=8486&KitapId=456&KitapAd=The+Words)

------
JohnDoe_
I highly recommend you read the Bible, it teaches a lot about love and faith
in a higher being who is looking out for you. I suggest you start reading from
the new testament because we can relate more with it. It changed my life.

------
gadders
Charisma - How to get that special magic by Marcia Grad. I'd probably think it
was corny as anything now but it helped a lacking in confidence teenager
become somewhat less so.

How to Win Friends and Influence People - made me realise that 99.99% of
anything you want to to do, you have to do by working through other people,
and the best way to do that 99.99% of the time is to befriend and get on with
people as far as possible.

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay - Just a great story about a young,
bullied kid in South Africa who learns to box.

Lives of the Greeks and Romans by Plutarch - shows you that human nature
hasn't changed much in 2,000 years.

------
justinhj
Some books have been very influential on how I see the world. Ishmael is one
about an intelligent ape that explains the natural world to a guy in socratic
dialogue style. Guns Germs and Steal. The Forest People, a book from the 60s
by an anthropologist who lives with a pygmy tribe. These books about where we
came from I find really interesting.

For self improvement books you can’t go wrong with 7 Habits of a highly
effective people. It’s short and to the point and very practical.

I’m half way through Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and it’s either way
over my head or overrated. I don’t particularly like the narrator which does
not help

------
s_kilk
I'm currently picking my way through Deleuze & Guattari's "Anti-Oedipus". It's
slow going, but I think this one's given me the most material to reflect on
out of any book I've read so far.

------
holri
[http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/essays-6733/1](http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/essays-6733/1)
[http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/des-kaisers-marcus-
aurelius...](http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/des-kaisers-marcus-aurelius-
antonius-selbstbetrachtungen-1479/1)
[http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/handbuchlein-der-
moral-7739...](http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/handbuchlein-der-moral-7739/1)

------
martin-adams
The books which I have read which have had a profound impact on how I think
and improve what I do are:

1\. Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us - Daniel H. Pink

2\. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth

3\. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck - Mark Manson

4\. Be Obsessed or Be Average - Grant Cardone

5\. High Performance Habits - Brendon Burchard

6\. The Obesity Code - Jason Fung

The summary of what I've taken out of this is really fall in love with the
intrinsic reward of doing things, take on the challenge but work at it
pragmatically and patiently. It's okay to be a little crazed at what you want,
do it for you, and always reflect, learn, adapt and try again.

------
lnkmails
A conflict of visions, Sapiens, Crime and Punishment and
[http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenits...](http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenitsynharvard.htm).
I've always been introspective but also was significantly less open minded
than I imagined myself to be. These books opened me up to experience
introspection in better ways. I think Solzhenitsyn's address is the one that
really made a huge difference. My Russian boss pointed me to it :).

------
joshbaptiste
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.

Taught me that Religion, nation states, national pride etc.. are all imagined
realities we all share to allow our particular country to thrive as a whole
collective.

------
taneq
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

------
paulmatthijs
Give and Take by Adam Grant - even after a few years, it still causes me to
constantly reflect on my own actions’ motive and if they’re “otherish” or not.

Getting Things Done - not the method but the insight that you can’t manage
time, only your actions. And that it’s OK not do to anything without having to
make excuses to yourself.

The 2nd and 3rd Ender novels - Ramen and Varelse are concepts that apply to
vega/veganism from a completely different angle. It’s not an intended metaphor
I think, but it applies to my life on a personal leve; (I’m not vegan, my wife
is).

~~~
hosh
Yeah, I ended up liking the 2nd and 3rd Ender novels more, particularly as I
grew older.

------
xkgt
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Just a simple premise of looking at ourselves from
the eyes of another species opens up a lot of introspection about every action
by mankind that we take for granted.

------
dmux
Ever Wonder Why? by Thomas Sowell

Non Violent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg

------
carapace
"Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson" G. I. Gurdjieff

This is not an easy book. It's not really a book in the traditional sense. It
was written: "To destroy, mercilessly, without any compromises whatsoever, in
the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries
rooted in him, about everything existing in the world."

If you try it and it doesn't speak to you, put it aside.

(Look for older editions, the new ones have begun to be edited.)

------
mlboss
Anything by Jiddu Krishnamurti. His work is difficult to understand if you are
not into non duality. But once you get the hang of it everything makes sense.

His style is highly introspective and forces you to analyze everything. There
are also lot of youtube videos with him giving a talk.

[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jiddu+krishnamu...](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jiddu+krishnamurti)

~~~
antisocial
I was going to say the same thing.. anything by JK. I started reading his
books twenty years ago, stopped after a couple of years. He is a constant
presence in my daily life.

------
speedplane
No question,hands down: Proust. He wrote his novels over a hundred years ago,
in a vastly different world that we line in now, but over-and-over again, he
totally nails and dissects human experience.

The first 30 or so pages of Swan's Way is about a child waking up in his room.
He shows that something so benign and ordinary is anything but, it includes
countless memories, senses, instincts, and emotions. Technologists should take
note.

------
I_complete_me
I wanted to answer "How to make yourself introspect" but I'll mention "Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" which actually did.

------
marttt
"A Confession" and "The Kingdom of God is Within You" by Leo Tolstoy.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_Y...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You)

------
narwally
Free Will (Hacket Readings In Philosophy): [https://www.amazon.com/Free-Will-
Hackett-Readings-Philosophy...](https://www.amazon.com/Free-Will-Hackett-
Readings-
Philosophy/dp/1603841296/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526050035&sr=1-6&keywords=free+will)

It's a fantastic collection of contemporary views on the problem of free will.

------
sjackso
'The Man Who Was Thursday' by GK Chesterton. A short novel about which any
description would tend to spoil the effect of reading it cold.

------
sevensor
Since nobody's recommended _The Prophet_ yet, I'll give it a mention. In my
circles, and maybe yours, it's become a bit of a bad joke, the kind of thing
that gets mined for quotes to read at a wedding. But while it's quite brief,
it covers all the big themes in life, and whether you agree with it or not it
can give you a structure for thinking about them.

~~~
hosh
An Austrailian friend of mine gave the book to me as a gift. The words might
be mined for quotes, but when it is fresh, and when approached with an open
mind, it's got a lot of wisdom.

In my local circle, I don't know anyone who has ever read it :-)

Someone else that seems to be similar -- J Krishtamurti. I haven't had a
chance to really dive deep, but the few talks of his I have heard in pieces
were all pretty awesome.

------
togusa2017
1\. Crime and Punishment . 2 Unbearable lightness of being. Opened my mind to
not judge and always think about the other side of things

------
elidourado
Every chance I get, I sing the praises of _Finite and Infinite Games_ by James
Carse. It sounds like you could use it. Good luck!

------
koolhead17
1\. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

2\. Total Freedom by J Krisnamurti

------
mountbranch
\- Gödel, Escher, Bach, Douglas Hofstadter

\- Principles, Ray Dalio

\- L'Etranger, Albert Camus

\- Les Fleurs du Mal, Charles Baudelaire

\- The Dao of Capital, Mark Spitznagel

\- Howl, Allen Ginsberg

\- On the Road, Jack Kerouac

I could go on and on...

~~~
DLA
Totally agree with mountbranch here.

Principles is fantastic. At the same time you may read and think "sure, common
sense" but then did you think that before you read the item -- probably not. I
feel this is a book to keep for a lifetime. Can't wait for Ray's economics
book.

Cool animated summary here: [https://www.principles.com/principles-for-
success/](https://www.principles.com/principles-for-success/)

The Dao of Capital is deeper. The chapter on Conifers (yeah, pine trees) and
how they exist with and balance times of trouble versus opportunity is well
worth the price of the book.

Also, and not least, Nassim Taleb's books: Fooled By Randomness, Black Swan,
and Anti-fragile. Poetic, deep, useful, and entertaining. Fantastic. A
pleasure to read and listen to in audio while driving/traveling.

~~~
shansense
Second this. Taleb's Black Swan and Spitznagel's Dao of Capital especially
were extremely thought provoking and have changed the course of my life. I
read them every year at least.

------
vishvananda
My favorite introspective book is Awareness, By Anthony DeMello[1]

It is a small book but it really makes you think about your views on life.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Awareness-Opportunities-Reality-
Antho...](https://www.amazon.com/Awareness-Opportunities-Reality-Anthony-
Mello/dp/0385249373)

------
conwy
Only a quarter through Satya Nadella's 'Hit Refresh' and it's already giving
me food for thought.

------
dubya
I really enjoyed Marilynne Robinson's "Death of Adam: essays on modern
thought". It's a pretty wide-ranging indictment of the "glib and dismissive"
nature of a lot of modern thought. It won't help you rebuild a world view, but
it will help point out the flaws in existing ones.

------
john37386
Maybe you can start from scratch with the root foundation of your
personnality. Sometimes we don't understand why we react to some situations.

So, I did this Myer Brigg online test at 16personalities.com

I red the description of my personality and it was like reading in my head.

I bought the longer version and it really helped me better understand myself.

Hope it can help you too.

ENTP

~~~
chrisvalleybay
I just want to add something.

I, too, took a lot of personality tests 4-5 years ago. Briefly got a bit
obsessed with them, particularly MBTI (Meyers-Briggs). The problem with these
tests is that they play on the archetypes that we would like to be. Also, the
minutia of being a living person can not be captured by a system with so few
inputs.

Anyhow, I still think it was very helpful, because it got me started on a
track. Exploring intuition vs. sensing, thinking vs. feeling got me thinking
about who I was, and how I respond to things. I wouldn't have been as rigorous
was it not for the fact that I constantly thought about what my 4-letter
combination was. I've probably thought I was 8 of them during my studies.
Always an intuitive, though.

What I think is particularly bad with these tests are the way they highlight
the personality's shortcomings or dificulties. They are portrayed as the
opposites to the good parts of the personality, that you already resonate
with. Since you resonate so much with the good parts, you can sort of
logically repulse the shortcomings as "that's just the way I am", and then
sort of brush it off. At least I found it to be the case.

Anyhow, I recommend the MBTI still, since it is what got me started on this
track, and I've never been the same after spending the past 5 years
introspecting.

~~~
john37386
Like you said it's a good starting point. I wouldn't take all that is written
for granted, but hey! We are at least 2 that agree that there is something to
start your introspection in there. It's very easy to read also.

------
covermydonkey
Don't waste your life - John Piper

------
smarri
Christopher Hitchens - God is Not Great

------
gkya
Read philosophy. Not because it shows you a particular truth, but it teaches
you to think objectively and with structure. I have been a very depressive
adolescent, stepped out of it reading philosophy, learning how to think, and
eventually creating my system of thought.

------
talkingtab
"On Becoming a Person" by Carl Rogers, not so much the content, but because
the concept is foundational. And "Hidden Order" by John Holland provides a
lens for our social existence. They changed how I see myself and how I see my
place in the world.

------
frlnBorg
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Metamorphosis by Kafka. Bend Sinister
by Vladimir Nabokov.

------
nvdarekar
Freedom from the known by J Krishnamurti (Audio book link:
[https://youtu.be/XY4dCXPJAaU?list=PLEbxOVEQgBpO2xdKzlMlMXgMv...](https://youtu.be/XY4dCXPJAaU?list=PLEbxOVEQgBpO2xdKzlMlMXgMvLS0hAqk3))

------
Buldak
A Mathematician's Apology, by G.H. Hardy

[https://www.math.ualberta.ca/mss/misc/A%20Mathematician%27s%...](https://www.math.ualberta.ca/mss/misc/A%20Mathematician%27s%20Apology.pdf)

------
vbsteven
* Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig

* The miracle of mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hanh

* Letters from a stoic - Seneca

* Amusing ourselves to death (Neil Postman) (combined with 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Huxley)

* Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki

* Walden - Henry David Thoreau

------
albertkoz
Antifragile by Nassim Taleb - This book made me rethink a lot of the things in
my life.

~~~
miketek11
Only book I've gone back to re-read as soon as I've finished.

Halfway through Skin in the Game, and I expect I'll do the same with this one.

~~~
monster_group
I thought of buying this book but it seems very similar to 'Antifragile' \- so
I am not sure if it is worth reading. In fact I think all his books are very
similar. Now he is just milking his success by churning out books with the
same message.

~~~
juskrey
No

------
cdiamand
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

------
e_tm_
Alan Watts \- The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are \- The Wisdom
of Insecurity \- Psychotherapy East & West

Herman Hesse \- Siddhartha \- The Journey to the East

Marcus Aurelius \- Meditations

Seneca \- Letters to Lucilius

Daniel Quinn \- Ishmael

------
trumbitta2
Jonathan Livingston Seagull

------
pella
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_\(novel\))
\+ Theory of Constraints

------
noufalibrahim
The Book of Assistance by Imam Al-Haddad (translated by Mostafa Badawi) - I'm
a religious person and read a lot of literature related to that. Most of them
provide a temporary high and then no particular benefit after. This was a
notable exception. It was extremely practical and much of what I read affected
me and made me changed the way I lived. It's highly specific to Islam though
and much of the advice might not be relevant to others.

[https://fonsvitae.com/product/the-book-of-assistance-imam-
ab...](https://fonsvitae.com/product/the-book-of-assistance-imam-abdallah-ibn-
alawi-al-haddad-risalatul-muawanah/)

------
XJahdai
A book that was life changing to me was "Siddharta" from Herman Hesse . It
taught me in a subtle way about what's really important instead of just
material stuff

------
kr4
Try this: [http://omswami.com/book/a-fistful-of-
wisdom](http://omswami.com/book/a-fistful-of-wisdom)

------
novalis78
“How to get what you want”, by Raymond Hull. (Most effective self help book)

“A moral animal”, by Robert Wright. (Evolutionary Psychology overview - will
change your view on life)

------
FundThrowaway
Seneca's Dialogues, I can't recommend them enough

------
mauliknshah
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albon is a light-weight book with a genre of
life-advice(I would not use the word self-help here). I think it would suit
you.

------
monster_group
"If you're so smart why aren't you happy?" by Raj Raghunathan. Very practical
book on being happy rather than pursuing happiness.

------
sunstone
"Consilience" by E.O. Wilson (Nobel Prize winner). A small book, with simple
sentences and a lot of ideas you won't have thought of.

------
mhasbini
"The Art of Thinking Clearly" by Rolf Dobelli: It explains some concepts that
I've been thinking about but can't directly name.

------
askafriend
Seneca's On the Shortness of Life was a profound read for me. I wish I read it
earlier. That and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.

------
Brometheus
Smalltalk-80: The language and its implementation.

------
Simpliplant
Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn - great book about
mindfulness written in a style that's very easy to digest.

------
krueger71
The Three Pillars of Zen by Roshi Philip Kapleau

------
wiredfool
Jo Walton - The Just City. It's SFF, but there's a lot of meditation of living
your best life and equal significance.

------
petra
Byron Katie. She's goes extreme in my opinion, but her instrospection
method("the work") is very powerful.

------
tootie
Kurt Vonnegut probably affected me the most. Particularly Mother Night. You
are what you pretend to be.

------
shreyanshd
East of Eden. Timshel — ‘Thou mayest’

------
drosan
Jack London, "Martin Eden".

------
samirillian
Modern man in Search of a Soul by Carl Jung. Any essays by Wendell Berry. The
Little Prince.

------
hypertexthero
The First and Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Frankenstein (1818 Edition) by Mary Shelley.

------
catchmeifyoucan
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is also a great one. It's about a search for
understanding "what does it mean to be truly free". Siddhartha is
brahmin(upper caste Hindu) and he gives up his life in search for meaning. The
most relatable parts are the questions he asks.

------
jrs235
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

------
hosh
People's journeys are different, so what is insight for me or triggers a
realization for me may not for you. Transformative experiences doesn't always
happen in a book. I will add some non-book medias, but not all of
transformative experiences of my life.

In my teens, I was all over the place. I was exploring some existential stuff.
I probably could have benefited from talking to a transpersonal psychologist.
These were three books that stuck out in my mind from that time:

Ken Wilbur's Brief History of Everything (this is Wilber's Integral
Philosophy, and helped me know there are some framework to put seemingly
competing paradigms and views into a coherent whole, as well as a few
philosophical techniques to get my head out of my rear... somewhat)

James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy (kicked off a lot of things)

Robert M Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (I didn't know
this at the time, but it spoke to me about what can be beyond subject-object
duality)

In my early 30s, I stopped using books and media as a proxy for change and
transformation, and journyed. Went through a lot, experienced many things that
I had only read about. Lots of peak states. But coming back to ordinary life
had proven to be difficult. That started the next era -- of embodying what I
had found with those peak experiences in ordinary life.

Chris Wallis's Tantra Illuminated -- lots of view correction for me, helped
untangled some things for me, particularly around working. I read this one
within my first year of marriage.

Second year of marriage, I might have been able to work, but my marriage at
this point was on the rocks. I had this book on my shelf for years and never
really read it. When I read it, it was pointing out to me some of the deep
stuff on why my marriage was failing:

Glen Mazis's The Trickster, Magician, and the Grieving Man.

This is a critical, honest look at toxic masculinity, and descriptions of
alternate masculine archetypes; but not complete by itself, just made me
wallow in anger and depression, and self-loathing. I could tell, it did not
integrate well with the hard-won personal perspective from all those
journeying earlier.

The next book that followed was one from last summer:

Crucial Conversations. (Four authors)

This book was very good to read following Mazis's book. It was very practical
advice grounded in psychological research, yet very much in alignment with all
the things leading up to it. It wasn't a pancea, but reading this and trying
to apply it was probably the inflection point in my relationship with my wife.

In the past six months, I somehow got sucked into the orbit of one particular
non-dual teacher by the name of Adyashanti. I usually prefer reading rather
than listening, and with Adya, it was the reverse. I mostly listen to his
stuff while washing dishes (and that seems somehow appropriate). There are
some free podcast interviews with him (on different podcast series), and some
of his retreat talks are also available for free. He has some guided
meditation.

His talks and his teaching lineage is very direct. By that, I am talking about
very directly pointing to the nature of being, of letting the world be
_exactly_ the way it is. I don't know what kind of transformative experience
you have, but whatever it is, if you're ready for this stuff, his words will
speak to you. If you are not, that's fine too.

------
nafizh
The Quran. A really good modern translation by Oxford scholar Abdel Haleem is
here-

[https://archive.org/details/TheQuranOxfrdWrldClas](https://archive.org/details/TheQuranOxfrdWrldClas)

------
lazerpants
John Updike's Rabbit series. In particular, Rabbit Redux.

------
pruthvishetty
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.

------
nsomaru
Read in this order:

1\. The Fall of the Human Intellect 2\. The Holocaust of Attachment 3\. The
Vedanta Treatise

The author for them all is 'A. Parthasarathy.' The books are meant as a course
of study, coupled with reflection in the morning between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.
This systematic approach eradicates ignorance in its three stages, viz:

\- "I do not know" \- "I do not understand" \- "I do not experience"

By their three antidotes; Reading/Hearing, Reflection, Meditation. It is
interesting to note that these are effective practices for gaining almost any
sort of knowledge, in steps which gradually bridge between you, the seeker,
and the object which is sought (the known).

Good luck!

------
sogen
tbh i'd read man's search for meaning again, haven't found anything similar.
skip herman hesse's books.

------
gdubs
The Power of Habit

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Inner Game of Tennis

------
momentmaker
The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer

------
fallingfrog
Debt: the first 5000 years by David graeber.

------
IloveHN84
"i Malavoglia" from Giovanni Verga

------
xaucian
Are You Ready To Succeed by Srikumar Rao

------
catchmeifyoucan
Night. Elie Weasel. Its a memoir of his experience during the holocaust. Makes
us value life more the way we have it. Raises the bar for what is our purpose
and speaking out against injustice.

------
joostdevries
Johan Goudsblom - Nihilism and Culture

------
jonbaer
Entanglement by Amir Aczel

------
jeffmcmahan
The Gospel According to St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (also by St.
Luke).

------
hebrew
The Path of the Just

------
leephillips
Leaving aside fiction (but if I weren't I would put _Hamlet_ at the top) to
focus:

The stoic classics mentioned throughout these replies;

 _Reinventing the Sacred_ ;

 _The Art of War_ ;

 _Descarte 's Error_;

 _Free Will_ by Sam Harris

 _Introduction to Probability Theory_

------
cnees
The Bible. The book of Mark is a good place to start, or Romans, since you’re
more interested in introspection. I’ve been meaning to reread a book by a
Holocaust survivor called The Hiding Place.

------
shaunxcode
escape from freedom by erich fromm.

------
enkindu5
pyramid principle - barbara minto

------
cypherg
Waking Up by Sam Harris. The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker.

------
senatorobama
Bhagavadgita

Act now to establish Dharma.

~~~
kr4
I'd recommend this translation/commentary: Perennial Psychology of the
Bhagavad Gita by Swami Rama [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PK14SA/ref=dp-
kindle-redirect?...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PK14SA/ref=dp-kindle-
redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)

------
react_burger38
I recommend the Book of Mormon as it is one of the most introspective books
you can find.

It comes across much clearer than many other religious books like the Bible
(even though the Bible I recommend as well) because it has a common narrator
who fills in the gaps for you and helps you understand the links between
stories.

It also is fairly scientific in its premise-- if you do an experiment by
reading some of it and asking God if it is true, you can receive an answer
from God if you ask Him sincerely and are willing to act upon the answer you
receive. See Moroni 10:3-5 [1]

The Book of Mormon also answers questions like why am I here? [2]

and where am I going after I die? [3]

A key idea of the Book of Mormon that is reflected many times is the cycle of
"pride", where a group of people first humbles themselves, then prospers, then
becomes prideful and makes poor choices, forgets love for others, and then
falls, then causing the people to humble themselves again and repeat the
cycle.

Overall I heartily recommend this book. Reading it will make you feel great.

[1]
[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng](https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng)

[2]
[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng](https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng)

[3]
[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/40?lang=eng](https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/40?lang=eng)

~~~
dmschaab
I'm going to take a page from Bezos and "disagree and upvote". I think the
Book of Mormon (which I will hereafter abbreviate as BoM) is worth reading
once, even if you are just curious about its contents. But I would not elevate
it beyond elaborate fiction as its adherents do. I have been meeting with
Mormons from our local ward for several months now, and these are my
conclusions after long hours of research into both sides. (Disclaimer: I am a
Christian and a staunch advocate of sola scriptura[0]. My opinions are
biased.)

First, it is important to approach the BoM knowing that it has many problems.
If it is divine truth and "the most correct book ever produced", as its
author/"translator" Joseph Smith claimed, then its claims about history should
be correct. After all, if the Bible says something about an ancient city like
Jericho or Jerusalem, we expect to find archaeological evidence to support or
refute this claim. When we apply this test to the BoM, we find that its
recording of history has no support in archaeology. The MormonThink website
(which claims to be objective but tends toward anti-Mormon positions) does a
good job of summarizing these issues.[1] And archaeology is just one of the
many irreconcilable problems. There are also the problems of geography (no one
knows where the events described in the BoM actually took place), language (no
evidence of "reformed Egyptian" has ever been found anywhere), and genetics
(mitochondrial DNA shows no evidence for migrations of Semitic peoples to the
Americas). Mormons defend these points with elaborate, seemingly plausible
explanations, but as time goes on the lack of evidence becomes a louder and
louder witness against the BoM.

Second, the BoM has issues with manuscript reliability. With the New
Testament, we have approximately 5,800 manuscripts (varying in length) in the
original Greek, and when you add in early translations into Coptic, Aramaic,
Syriac, and other languages, we have around 25,000 such fragments. A small
number of these fragments can be dated to within 50-150 years of the time of
the original writing, which is incredible when compared to contemporary
documents and does much to establish credibility. The large number of
fragments is important for error correction: when textual variants occur (as
they always do), you can usually examine multiple sources to determine what
was in the original. For the BoM, on the other hand, we have no original
manuscript, no "golden plates" inscribed with "reformed Egyptian". Only a few
witnesses were supposedly allowed to see these plates, but whether they saw
them with their physical eyes or saw them in a "vision" is up to your
interpretation of their testimony. There is a very real possibility that these
plates never existed or were merely a forged prop. Furthermore, if these
plates did exist and there was only one copy, it would be extremely vulnerable
to corruption. Without the source manuscript, we can never be certain that the
official English translation (which has received at least 3,913 changes[2]
since its original publication in 1830) is accurate. Joseph Smith's ability to
translate anything by divine power is already in question because of his
incorrect translations of Egyptian papyrus scrolls for the Book of Abraham.[3]

Third, and perhaps most importantly, most of what makes Mormons Mormon is,
surprisingly, not found in the BoM. Despite being called "the fulness[sic] of
the gospel", the BoM fails to talk (in detail or at all) about central Mormon
doctrines such as temple ordinances, the celestial kingdom(s), baptism for the
dead, and premortal existence. Most of these things are actually found in the
later additions, particularly the Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great
Price. Certain of these newer doctrines actually conflict with the BoM. The
BoM, for example, quite clearly supports trinitarian monotheism[4], a doctrine
that has existed in Christianity since its inception and was formalized in the
Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. Current Mormon doctrine denies this idea of the
Trinity, and gives yet more elaborate explanations in an attempt to reconcile
this doctrine with the BoM. This ends up creating more holes than it plugs,
and reminds one of the attempts to reconcile the geocentric model of the solar
system with observational data by simply adding more epicycles. By itself, the
BoM makes few doctrinal claims that a typical Baptist or Methodist would take
issue with. But after the doctrinal revisions of the 1830s and 1840s, many
important members of the early Mormon church, including some of the witnesses
to the golden plates, left to join other churches or start their own
denominations.

If you do choose to read the BoM, do so with an open mind and with knowledge
of the problems listed above and described in detail elsewhere. One certainly
cannot deny that the Mormon church today is responsible for much social good,
and that Mormons in general are kind, caring, and serving people with high
moral standards. Like the Bible, the BoM has had a positive impact on the
lives of many. Using this to claim proof of the BoM's divine origin is a
logical stretch, but we fortunately live in an age where (in most places) such
opinions can be held without fear of persecution.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura)

[1] [http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-mormon-
problems.htm#archa...](http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-mormon-
problems.htm#archaeology)

[2]
[http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm](http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm)

[3] [http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-abraham-
issues.htm](http://www.mormonthink.com/book-of-abraham-issues.htm)

[4]
[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31.21?lang=eng#p20](https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31.21?lang=eng#p20)

~~~
pc2g4d
As a mostly non-practicing, lifelong Mormon, I find most of your conclusions
here reasonable. And I commend you for the open-mindedness required to look
into a widely-maligned minority religion like Mormonism.

I would say, though, that the idea that more manuscripts necessarily implies a
more reliable textual history is incorrect. The textual history of the Book of
Mormon is incredibly simple, substantial parts of the original manuscript and
the entirety of the printer's manuscript (a copy made of the original for
purposes of printing it) both exist. For the New Testament there are no
"autograph" manuscripts (original manuscripts) and the earliest manuscripts
are at best a century after the originals. Reconstruction based on all of the
numerous NT manuscripts really only serves to get you back to the point the
the BoM text is already at, and not even quite there. See Royal Skousen's Book
of Mormon Critical Text Project for more on this.

It took hundreds of years for trinitarianism to be adopted as a consensus, and
prior to (and also after) the great creeds there was substantial disagreement
about the nature of God. I wouldn't put too much stock in them as a doctrinal
buttress. See "Voting About God" by Ramsey MacMullen.

Again, kudos for all your research into Mormonism, which I find to be a
fascinating tradition, even if I now seriously question its truth claims.

~~~
emodendroket
> It took hundreds of years for trinitarianism to be adopted as a consensus

For anyone wondering the specifics, the Council of Nicea settled the details
in 325 AD.

