Ask HN: What books have most influenced the way you see the world? - samcgraw
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mrkstu
The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck - great insight into the human
condition

One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson - concise and
pithy while containing lots of useful pointers

The Divine Center by Steven Covey - the spiritual grounding that informs his
later more secular books and much more interesting if you don't mind religious
thought mixed in with your motivation

The Foundation trilogy by Issac Asimov - Caused a huge detour in my life.
Immersed myself in speculative fiction for decades due to the brain-quake
caused by this material.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein - A detour of a different sort.
Great introduction to alternative modes of thought to my uncultured religious
teen mind.

LDS/Christian Scriptures - regardless of your belief level, the
ideas/thoughts/stories/literature encompassed in scripture is enriching to the
mind

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slg
Meta comment: It would be more helpful if people included a reason why they
are listing these specific books. Seeing a title of a book they never heard of
probably isn't enough to get anyone to read it, but a few quick words about
why you found it important might intrigue people.

~~~
tooltalk
can't agree more.. It seems like many are simply listing their favorite books,
not necessarily the ones that "most influenced the way" they see the world

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bloudermilk
The two books I've read that have shaped my worldview the most:

 _Stranger in a Strange Land_ by Robert Heinlein - A classic SciFi novel that
digs deep on relationships, politics, and religion. Like a lot of old SciFi,
it's filled with blatant sexism. If you can look past that, it has a lot of
great lessons.

 _Island_ by Aldous Huxley - a beautiful look at alternative societal
structures, psychedelics, and the cruelty of the western world overcoming
sacred places.

~~~
lowry
Men also smoked more often that women at that time.

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orcul
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig

~~~
oceanghost
Came here to say this.

The squel "Lila" is also quite profound.

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shriphani
Antifragile - Nicholas Nassim Taleb

Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut

Pavarotti: My World - Luciano Pavarotti, William Wright

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - Jack Weatherford

~~~
mrkstu
The Hardcore History podcast's coverage of Genghis Khan/the Mongols is
additionally a wonderful resource.

------
Necromant2005
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) - classic book of objectivism , self proud and
wealth

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (Daron
Acemoglu and James Robinson) - awesome analytics book about wealth source

The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) - classic book about source of money and
economic processes

------
jcadam
In no particular order:

Ecclesiastes

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

The Prince

How To Win Friends and Influence People

~~~
mrkstu
I wish I'd included Meditations in my contribution- speaks directly, wisely
and usefully even to the modern man's condition.

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AlimJaffer
It's quite trendy at the moment, but Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari was quite
the life changing book. As well as An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by
Commander Chris Hadfield was a rather inspirational tale.

~~~
nojvek
HomoDeus is indeed wonderful

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deusum
_The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up_ by Marie Kondo has life changing
philosophical implications when applied outside of simple home life.

 _Tao Te Ching_ by Lao Tzu is a classic text on harmony and humility.

------
TheBiv
The Epistles of the Bible: Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon,
Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude

------
ragelink
\- A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - aleksandr solzhenitsyn \- Breakfast
of champions - Kurt Vonnegut \- Plato's the republic \- The unfettered mind -
Takuan Soho

------
Ccecil
Bunch of Eastern stuff...Hagakure, Book of 5 rings, art of war, tao te ching

Subtle art of not giving a fuck, The art of happiness

But the one book I always keep...The boy scout handbook

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togusa2017
Crime and punishment - made me open minded and try to put myself in other
person's shoes. This helped me alot to be less judging.

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meri_dian
The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. None of his militant atheism. Just a
brilliant and engaging work on evolutionary biology.

------
xutopia
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan. It
helped me be have more cohesion in my thinking in regards to my love for
science and my very religious upbringing.

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stevenking86
The Better Angels of our Nature - Steven Pinker (The world isn't so bad, and
it's getting better all the time)

Vagabonding - Rolf Potts (It's easy and cheap to move around the world these
days)

------
SirLJ
The Asian Saga by James Clavell, reading as a kid on how to rule your life,
business and create a dynasty...

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

As grown up, on now to rule the world:

More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite by Sebastian
Mallaby

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

------
stormking
The Dune series, especially "Dune Messias", made me a vocal critic of
organized religion.

Books by Vernor Vinge made me a liberal (european meaning, pro free markets
and individual responsibility).

Ken McLeod made me aware of the rich history and valid points of communism and
socialism, even when I'm still not a fan.

Iain M. Banks showed me that an AI-enabled future doesn't have to be a
distopia. He also made me aware of how pale and boring the often cited "Star
Trek Utopia" really is.

~~~
togusa2017
I really liked dune 1 . But God I hated dune 2 and dune 3. I tried so hard to
like 2 and 3. What's your opinion. I would be curious to know

------
Jarb
I don't read very much, but: 1984 2001

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djbelieny
The Bible for sure is #1

~~~
BrandoElFollito
As an atheist, I am curious what in the Bible has influenced you.

I read it and I found that without the faith part (which makes it a book
important to you, no matter if you like it or not) it reads as a story like
others. I am not trying to be critical in any way, it is that I failed to find
really deep thoughts inside, which would make me think after reading it.

It is full of stories which have a moral, not different from many others and
not thought provoquing (of course this is my personal opinion) - as a casual
reader I be glad to be pointed to such parts there.

~~~
djbelieny
In fact, there's quite a lot of practical and interesting insights into
relationship, finances, discipline and more, for example the book of Proverbs
is full of literal advice on dealing with family, children, marriage, business
ethics. The letters of Paul to the Romans and Corinthians contain very
interesting thought provoking statements on love, relationship, respect. Even
if you remove faith completely from the picture you can definitely find very
interesting content.

~~~
silverbax88
When I was younger, I read the Bible from cover to cover, twice.

Now I am much older and as an atheist, I wish I hadn't wasted my time on such
simplistic themes written by simplistic men. There are much deeper and more
profound books also written by man, and far more complex.

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tooltalk
The Elusive Quest for Growth by W. Easterly -- read it when I was in college
hoping to study development (poverty, growth) economics; changed the way I
look at poverty, economics and politics in general. Likewise I helped me ditch
modern liberalism for classical one.

------
cpsempek
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Black Swan by Nicholas Nassim Taleb

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

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georgeecollins
Godal Escher Bach - I think influenced myself and a lot of people who think
about AI.

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momentmaker
The Surrender Experiment - about following the flow of life and seeing events
unfolding in front of you and how amazing the perfection of life is if you
take a step back observe how everything plays out

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psyc
“What makes it go, what makes it work, what makes it fly, what makes it float”
taught me that gadgets and appliances have internal mechanics.

“The Lucifer principle” introduced me to evolution and evo-psych thinking.

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bob_theslob646
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a
Good Life - Mark Manson

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) by
Richard Feynman

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

------
Maro
Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman - got a second degree in Physics

So good they can't ignore you - the one career self-management book you should
read

The essays of Waren Buffet - how to approach investment

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westoncb
_The Social Brain - Michael S. Gazzaniga_

(Relays a bunch of super interesting experiments done on 'split brain'
patients with important consequences for normally functioning brains. Not at
all gimmicky, doesn't read like a popularization—I think my dad said he read
it in grad school for cognitive psych. But I read it as a teenager so it's
generally accessible, and it'll likely change the way you think about people
and their brains.)

 _The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Thomas S. Kuhn_

(Looks at large scale trends in scientific progress [as well as looking more
closely at the notion of 'progress' in this context]. Probably the most
important features he extracts have to do with distinct phases that scientific
work can typically be classified under: 'normal' science and 'revolutionary'
science. These concepts are easiest to understand in relation to the notion of
a 'framework'. In revolutions, we are developing new frameworks and
potentially abandoning lots of old work; during normal science, we are
elaborating within an established framework. Phrases like 'the dominant
paradigm' in this context are due to Kuhn [IIRC he uses 'paradigm' rather than
'framework']. The book isn't so long and his argument for and presentation of
these ideas is well worth reading.)

 _Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - Steven Levy_

(Traces the major trends, personalities, and events leading to personal
computing as we know it today, starting with IBM mainframes mediated by an IBM
employ. Also describes the origin and meaning of the 'hacker ethic'. The
hacker ethic, especially as exemplified by early MIT programmers in the book,
was hugely influential on how I came to think about programming and creative
work generally.)

 _The Varieties of Religious Experience - William James_

(It's largely an attempt at a scientific account of the potential
cognitive/emotional impacts of adopting various beliefs, though especially
religious/philosophical beliefs. James was an early experimental psychologist
and philosopher. The book is mostly a transcription of his Gifford Lecture
series of the same name.)

 _The Philosophy of Physical Science - Sir Arthur Eddington_ (Got me thinking
about deep issues where we still trip ourselves up by assuming that parts of
our own mental makeup are parts of the objective universe instead. Also
clarified my understanding of the notions of 'structure' and 'analysis'. Also
gives an interesting example of using Group Theory for physics work. Not as
scary (or long) as it sounds, though it takes some work.)

Also: Three Scientist's and their Gods, Metamagical Themas, The Society of
Mind, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Chaos: Making a New Science, and
Darwin's Dangerous Idea.

------
thallian
The Discworld Novels by Terry Pratchett and the Fencer Trilogy by K.J. Parker.

I read a lot of everything I can find but always get back to these.

------
keiferski
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. No single book has changed my
view of reality, specifically ethical reality, more.

~~~
stenecdote
What about Beyond Good and Evil made such a big impact on you? I read it and
enjoyed it a lot as well but struggle to put it into words how it has impacted
me.

------
rgloeckner
many years ago and long before 'matrix' his books changed my view on the
world: William Gibson, the guy who invented 'cyberspace'

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

------
qualitytime
Narcissus and Goldmund - Hermann Hesse

------
raymondgh
beautiful boy - david sheff

crime and punishment - fyodor dostoevsky

the trial - franz kafka

catch-22 - joseph heller

how to win friends and influence people - dale carnegie

mindset: the new psychology of success - carol dweck

I really enjoy novels a lot more than self-help and business books, but lately
everything I read is about some business concept or backstory.

------
philippz
Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist - because it wonderfully describes the journey of
an entrepreneur

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leak
The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz

The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

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dadiomov
Not Fade Away: A Short Life Well Lived by Laurence Shames & Peter Barton

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matchmike1313
Start With Why - Simon Sinek

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bribroder
East of Eden - timshel "thou mayest"

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hkeide
The Beginning of Infinity - David Deutsch

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Udik
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

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huevosabio
The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins

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spinlock_t
Lying - Sam Harris.

Behave - Robert Sapolsky.

Gene: An Intimate History - Siddhartha Mukherjee

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bovermyer
The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli.

------
decentrality
The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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IdontRememberIt
The Prince, Machiavelli

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hprotagonist
in no particular order:

Lord of the Rings

Cryptonomicon

Anathem

Moby Dick

The Master and Margarita

Walden

Arabian Sands

Gawain and the Green Knight

Beowulf

~~~
thallian
I love The Master and Margarita. A lithuanian friend introduced me to it and
she told me that it was censored back when Lithuania was still part of the
Soviet Union and they used to share those parts in secret (copied on a
typewriter).

~~~
hprotagonist
true samizdat!

I have the english translation by Burgin and O'Connor, which is excellent.
[https://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-
Bulgakov/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-
Bulgakov/dp/0679760806/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1516992816&sr=8-1)

~~~
thallian
Ha, that was the word I was looking for, thanks :)

Ok, I'll have to read this version too then (only know a german one so far).
And probably learn russian.

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rodjomatic
Surprised nobody has yet mentioned "Waking Up" by Sam Harris.

