1. All of Nassim Taleb's Books - They changed the way I thought about tail probabilities and risk taking + bar bell strategies in general
2. Thinking Fast and Slow - made me think about all of the biases that my mind has that I dont even realize
3. The organized mind - This book gave me a lot of ideas about how I can change my life to live with less distractions and maybe do thinks more efficently
4. The Vital Question - Made me realize how lucky we as humans and complex cellular beings are to even exist.
5. Misquoting Jesus (and all of Ehrman's other books) - Gave me talking points I use against any/all overzealous Christians in my life. The stories of the bible are not remotely close to the stories that where handed down by the people that were with Jesus when he died. Over 100s of years and many errors (and a lot of luck), people decided Jesus was the son of God. Unfortunately for them, the chances of that being true are very very close to zero.
Bart Ehrman is not the most conservative scholar. He's also been known by peers to have two faces, depending on who he's dealing with, whether his audience is academic or pop.
Bruce Metzger is a far more reliable (and recognized) guide, regardless of religious inclination. At worst, you will have a more balanced perspective after reading Metzger, and at best you will see where Ehrman has let you down.
"Over 100s of years and many errors" is pseudo-science. It makes for a Dan Brown novel for the uninitiated, but it doesn't fit the facts. Few mainstream scholars today would deny the accuracy of the New Testament documents, nor their 1st century authorship and dating.
I'll check him out. Im not sure what your definition of mainstream scholars is but most evangelical christians i speak with in the US don't doubt the accuracy - and they compose a large group of people.
Fantastic. Would be great to hear how you find him.
"most evangelical christians [...] don't doubt the accuracy"
By "mainstream scholars" I don't necessarily mean evangelical Christians, just non-fringe ancient historians or textual critics.
In this respect, Ehrman himself is interesting, because he's not actually the most extreme liberal, and you can find Ehrman himself correcting the fringe scholars when he wants to. When Ehrman is writing for the masses, however, you almost want to say to him "you should know better". After all, he had the privilege of sitting under Metzger.
2. Thinking Fast and Slow - made me think about all of the biases that my mind has that I dont even realize
3. The organized mind - This book gave me a lot of ideas about how I can change my life to live with less distractions and maybe do thinks more efficently
4. The Vital Question - Made me realize how lucky we as humans and complex cellular beings are to even exist.
5. Misquoting Jesus (and all of Ehrman's other books) - Gave me talking points I use against any/all overzealous Christians in my life. The stories of the bible are not remotely close to the stories that where handed down by the people that were with Jesus when he died. Over 100s of years and many errors (and a lot of luck), people decided Jesus was the son of God. Unfortunately for them, the chances of that being true are very very close to zero.