/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.21540234]

Which book (apart from holy texts) changed your understanding of the world?

[Anonymous No.21541088]

War and Peace. It made me realize how inascertainable happiness is.

[Anonymous No.21541090]

>>21540234
teds lil book

[Anonymous No.21541552]

>>21540234
Enchiridion of Epictetus
Tao Te Ching
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Games People Play
Finite and Infinite Games
Death and Existence
The Hero With a Thousand Faces
Understanding Media
The Selfish Gene
Symbols, Sex, and the Stars

There are more, but I can't recall every book that changed my views. Sometimes you read a book and it changes something about you even though you later forget the book itself.

[Anonymous No.21541553]

David Copperfield just made me so sad and teary. I was reading it at work too. Made me feel a lot better about my own failures and delays in life.

[Anonymous No.21541562]

>>21540234
What are the odds by Mike Orkin
Why beautiful women have more daughters
Getting to yes
Defending the Undefendable
Investing for Dummies

These books have shaped my world view or changed the way I live my life

[Anonymous No.21541579]

>>21541552
>Tao Te Ching
based

[Anonymous No.21541877]

>>21540234

[Anonymous No.21541881]

I’ve only gotten back into reading last year in June, so I totally realize that I’ve got a lot of work to do on the “reading something that changes your life” end of things. But so far, these have been the most impactful:

> Fear and Trembling - Soren Kierkegaard
> The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
> Notes from Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky

I realize most of what I read is on the “doomer” side of literature, so this year I want to try and read more “bloomer” books.

[Anonymous No.21541889]

>>21540234
Probably Faust

[Anonymous No.21542216]

>>21540234
>apart from holy texts
No, fuck you. My answer will always be the bible.

[Anonymous No.21542239]

>>21540234

[Anonymous No.21542248]

>>21541552
> The Selfish Gene
Good call. I also see you are interested in game theory. I haven't read Games People Play but it's been on my radar. Would you say it's worth reading for someone who has already steeped themselves in some game theory for several years, or would it be old hat?

[Anonymous No.21542250]

>>21541552
> Finite and Infinite Games
Also what is this?

[Anonymous No.21542276]

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by Blake and All Things Are Possible by Lev Shestov, maybe Gogol's Dead Souls

[Anonymous No.21542493]

>>21540234
Unironically, Anti-Tech Revolution. It's so clearly and plainly argued, and utterly practical in its approach. I think Ted is very insightful about how technology can't be controlled because it gives a competitive advantage.

[Anonymous No.21542824]

>>21542248
Thanks. Tit for tat: It's been awhile since reading it, but I would say yes, because it's mostly about interpersonal dynamics, with plenty of examples of the psychological dramas that people play out with one another. I don't remember if there's too much in there about game theory.

[Anonymous No.21542842]

>>21542250
He sums it up like this:
> There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play. Finite games are those instrumental activities - from sports to politics to wars - in which the participants obey rules, recognize boundaries and announce winners and losers. The infinite game - there is only one - includes any authentic interaction, from touching to culture, that changes rules, plays with boundaries and exists solely for the purpose of continuing the game.

It's one of those philosophical books that's so concise, you end up stopping to reflect every few sentences.

[Anonymous No.21542905]