#lang:metadata
tags: books, point_of_view
description: There are many great books. I've read thousands of them, but only a few changed my life, and only few of them were universally good. Here is my list of six books that I think everyone should read.
last-mod:
2021-06-24
2019/04/23
There are many great books. I've read thousands of them, but only a few changed my life, and only few of them were universally good.
I've read Neuromancer, and it changed my life, but not because it was eyes-opening, but because it stroked the right pieces of my personality. I've read The Cyberthief and the Samurai, and it motivated me to learn everything about computers, but most of the people would find this book boring. Likewise, I've read books like Veniss Underground, which made me feel like I am on a trip of some hallucinogen, and books like Perdido street station and The Scar, which sucked me in and made me feel like I live in a bizarre world that really exists. I've read books which were antidote to my bad mood, which brought light into my life and made me feel alive. This list is not about such books.
I've tried to limit this list only to those of which I truly believe should be part of everyone's life curriculum. Books, that changed the angle of my view of the world, and made me think deeply. Books that I really think can change your life.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2542808.Blindsight
On the surface level, this is just a science fiction. But this book is actually deeply about the nature of our minds and consciousness.
I've finished the book and enjoyed it alright and I thought "what a great sci-fi". But then I've begun to see pieces of the theories it is based on to sneak up on me from everywhere. In the 30-years-old talks from Alan Kay. In the talks of Jordan Peterson. In the Strange loop by David Hofstadter.
Only later I've seen Peter Watt's talk Conscious Ants and Human Hives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uwaw_5Q3I
and I was hooked on his ideas. But most of them are concentrated in enjoyable fashion in this book.
Since then, I've read it three times and I will read it again.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13589182-mastery
If you only got to read just one book in your entire life, this could be very well it. This is a framework for your mind, the same thing as "rationality" (as it is defined by Yudkowsky), but in more concentrated and more accessible form.
To truly understand all ideas and to change your life to live it accordingly with teachings in this book may be the greatest advantage in life anyone will ever give you. It is only up to you to take it.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10016013-harry-potter-and-the-methods-of-rationality
This is what hooked me on the "rationality", as it is defined by Eliezer Yudkowsky. Incredibly funny, incredibly inspiring. I simply wanted to know more, so I picked up next book, which is..