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What has been the most influential book in your life?

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I'm sure some will point to their holy books and that's fine, but I'm really looking for something a little more down-to-earth.

Right now, I'm reading Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers. It has been an interesting listen so far. What are you reading? 
ZeusAres42
A supreme being is just like a normal being...but with sour cream and black olives.



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  • RickeyDRickeyD 953 Pts   -  
    @SkepticalOne ; The Holy Bible with an emphasis on the Gospel of John; Book of Romans; Genesis.


  • TKDBTKDB 694 Pts   -  
    The Non Published Book, still in the process of being written, by the millions of participants who add to its artificial pages each day.

    The Book called, "The Internet."

    And it's plethora of Chapter's on:

    The Atheists, The Theists, along with the other Non Religious Organizations.

    Along with every Religion that is being represented by its participants as well.

    Abortion, Adoption, and the billions of opinions, and perceptions that have been written, in regards to Contraceptives, Abortion, and Adoption in the same Abortion conversation light.

    Politics; The Liberal, the Socialist Liberal, the Conservative, and the Independent views on the subject of Politics.


    The Gun Violence Crimes Chapter.

    The Pro Gun Extremists Chapter.

    The NRA Chapter.

    The Religion of the Pro Gun Extremist, in regards to what the Second Amendment says, when it comes to the right to bear arm's.

    But still no where in the Second Amendment, does it say, that any individual, has a Right to bear any illegal arms, now does it?

    There's the subject of Science, that helped to put Humanity on the Moon.

    And then, there's the other subject, of "Science," that can be used to discredit God, Jesus, or the Bible, at the behest of the various individuals, and their individual arguments, or perceptions? 

    The Chapter on War.

    The Chapter on Peace.

    The Chapter on how Humanity came to exist on Earth.

    The Chapter on how some of Humanity views others through the various individual lenses that some use to define others with?

    The Lens of how some view the Rich?

    The Lens of how some view the poor, and the homeless.

    The Lens of how some view Taxation and Revenue.

    The Lens of how some view the Criminals and the Offenders, and the Illegal Immigrants, or illegal aliens.

    Both from a Pro point of view Lens, and from a Negative point of view Lens.

    And these individual Lenses exists, because this is how some have gone about defending their individual platforms.

    That benefit some of the Criminals, the Offenders, and the Illegal Immigrants, or Aliens.

    Or that benefit the Public as a whole, because everyone is has the Right, to live their lives, without their individual lives being infringing on by the Criminal acts, that get committed daily, by those same Criminals, Offenders, and Illegal Immigrants, who commit their crimes daily.

    Thus victimizing their victims, and the families, of those victims as well.


    All of the above Chapters, can be found, in the still being written in the yet to be published Book, called, "The Internet."






    ZeusAres42
  • MayCaesarMayCaesar 5965 Pts   -  
    Undoubtedly, "Mathematics Can Be Fun" by Yakov Perelman:

    https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Can-Fun-Yakov-Perelman/dp/B000W18X5Q

    I have been interested in numbers and abstract logic for as long as I remember myself, but it was reading this book at the age of around 8 that made me realise that I want to be a scientist. This book started the chain reaction of me reading other books on mathematics, physics and programming, and later economics: I was finding unexpected connections between all these disciplines and wanted to see how far I can take them, and this curiosity has only strenghtened with time.

    With regards to general personal philosophy, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand was very influential, as it was the first time I read someone far smarter than me systematise individualism in a way that made moral and logical sense at the same time. I thought there was something wrong with me for not getting into the general blame game and always taking full responsibility for my circumstances, but Ayn showed brilliantly that I was actually in the right, and it is everyone else who was misguided.
    Granted, the book itself is not the most fun read in the world: the language is pretty dry, and the characters are one-dimensional. It is the general philosophy expressed in the book that made a strong impact on my life.

    Finally, I will mention "Feeling Good" by David Burns.It promotes cognitive behavior therapy, one which you can do on your own, and it made me realise that I am fully in control of how I feel and what I do, and that any psychological barriers to success can be overcome by, in essence, "outsmarting" your own mind. I read this book at the age of 20 and used the techniques described regularly since then, and they dramatically improved my quality of life.
    Happy_KillbotZeusAres42SkepticalOne
  • Happy_KillbotHappy_Killbot 5557 Pts   -  
    Anti-Fragile, The black Swan, Fooled by randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
    This series is about probabilities and the complete inability of humans to properly account for and understand the nature of unknowns in a chaotic and fundamentally unpredictable marketplace. In the latter books he details methods that someone can account for and even become stronger from shock events and survive in a marketplace that is unforgiving to even the toughest.

    Never Split the Difference by Chris Vos
    An FBI hostage negotiator takes all of the practical knowledge learned in the field and applies it to business negotiations. Rather than just going for the goal, it explains a method to make the other party desire what you want so that they will be willing to work with you rather than fighting against you. I can personally say that this knowledge is both helpful and practical, as I have used it to get a better deal when car and antique shopping.

    Accessory to War by Neil Degrass Tyson
    Throughout history, science has played an inseparable role in the development of technology that has been used for military purpose. On the surface astronomy seems to be an exception rather than the rule, but this is not the reality. The study of the stars has yielded just as much military technology as other high profile sciences, such as physics and and chemistry. This reality is explored throughout this book.

    The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series by Douglass Adams
    A series of satirical space adventures exploring the absurd nature of reality and the complete and though non-sense that is trying to find some sort of objective purpose in a world that just is. Don't forget your towel.

    Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
    Although now somewhat outdated due to scientific advances made after it's time, Star Maker is still considered to have laid the  foundation for many sci-fi concepts that are taken for granted today, such as Dyson spheres, moving planets, intergalactic federations, alien biology, and the future of the universe as explored though the spirit. This book opens up cosmic spirituality as a way of thinking about the world that isn't tied to any particular religion or belief and most importantly works with science rather than fighting it, a lesson that all zealots ought to learn.

    I have tons of other favorites but these books are by far the most influential and they all have practical knowledge that would be hard to obtain purely through experience. I typically prefer books that teach me a practical skill or challenge my way of thinking about things, and as you can tell I'm a total nerd. Not that that's a problem.
    MayCaesarSkepticalOne
    At some point in the distant past, the universe went through a phase of cosmic inflation,
    Stars formed, planets coalesced, and on at least one of them life took root.
    Through a long process of evolution this life 
    developed into the human race.
    Humans conquered fire, built complex societies and advanced technology .

    All of that so we can argue about nothing.
  • ZeusAres42ZeusAres42 Emerald Premium Member 2665 Pts   -   edited January 2020
    Well, there have been many. But right now the one I can think of as having the best influence in recent times is:


    The thing with this book is that if you read it more than once is that not only do you remember more, but you also notice more about your own mistakes.
    MayCaesar



  • DeeDee 5395 Pts   -  
    @TKDB


    noun
    1. 1. 
      a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.
      "a book of selected poems"
  • TKDBTKDB 694 Pts   -  
    @Dee

    Im sorry that you disagree with the Internet Book.

    But you and others, are amongst some of the best co authors of this book, that I've ever had the Internet supplied opportunity to learn from.

    Your Chapter.

    @ZeusAres42 Chapter.

    All of the above Chapters, can be found, in the still being written in the yet to be published Book, called, "The Internet."

    The Internet is its own special type of Book.

    And nearly every day, it fails to amaze me, with its various co-author's lushly expressing themselves with such Internet provided ideological vigor. 

    The non Religious, and the Religious, among some of the other Chapters that Humanity has written into the Internet Book.
    ZeusAres42
  • DeeDee 5395 Pts   -  
    @TKDB


    Repeated definition of Book for those who were home schooled in the Bible Belt ......


    noun
    1. 1. 
      a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.
      "a book of selected poems"
  • MayCaesarMayCaesar 5965 Pts   -  
    @Happy_Killbot

    I think you would also like "What Every BODY is Saying" by Joe Navarro, and "Crucial Conversations" by Kerry Patterson. The first book is written by an experienced interrogator and provides techniques to extract a lot of information from simple body language, easily applicable in the everyday life (it is actually a bit scary how practical this book is and what it allows one to do in principle). And the second book explains how to deal with the most stressful social situations - it did not seem as practical to me, and it is more on the theory of it, but can still be useful if internalised.
    Happy_Killbot
  • DeeDee 5395 Pts   -   edited December 2019
    @MayCaesar

    Navarro is using variations on a technique ( cold reading ) used by mentalists / magicians of which I used to work at professionally it’s a fascinating field and very lucrative , I was taught by some of the best in the field and used the techniques to give people an uncannily accurate reading under the guise of palmistry , tarot reading or astrology .

    Cold reading as used by mentalists differs in it doesn’t rely on body language for information as such but something called Barnum statements and variations of such and is incredibly accurate and a lot of fun 

    http://www.magicwordsbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Top-Twelve-Most-Agreed-With-Statements-Magic-Words.pdf

    There are books on the subject especially aimed at magicians / mentalists and make fascinating reading indeed 
    MayCaesar
  • RickeyD said:
    @SkepticalOne ; The Holy Bible with an emphasis on the Gospel of John; Book of Romans; Genesis.


    Some of my father's favorites. John is probably the best work in the gospels.
    A supreme being is just like a normal being...but with sour cream and black olives.
  • MayCaesar said:
    Undoubtedly, "Mathematics Can Be Fun" by Yakov Perelman:

    https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Can-Fun-Yakov-Perelman/dp/B000W18X5Q

    I have been interested in numbers and abstract logic for as long as I remember myself, but it was reading this book at the age of around 8 that made me realise that I want to be a scientist. This book started the chain reaction of me reading other books on mathematics, physics and programming, and later economics: I was finding unexpected connections between all these disciplines and wanted to see how far I can take them, and this curiosity has only strenghtened with time.

    With regards to general personal philosophy, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand was very influential, as it was the first time I read someone far smarter than me systematise individualism in a way that made moral and logical sense at the same time. I thought there was something wrong with me for not getting into the general blame game and always taking full responsibility for my circumstances, but Ayn showed brilliantly that I was actually in the right, and it is everyone else who was misguided.
    Granted, the book itself is not the most fun read in the world: the language is pretty dry, and the characters are one-dimensional. It is the general philosophy expressed in the book that made a strong impact on my life.

    Finally, I will mention "Feeling Good" by David Burns.It promotes cognitive behavior therapy, one which you can do on your own, and it made me realise that I am fully in control of how I feel and what I do, and that any psychological barriers to success can be overcome by, in essence, "outsmarting" your own mind. I read this book at the age of 20 and used the techniques described regularly since then, and they dramatically improved my quality of life.
    Atlas Shrugged was very influential to me as well, but I've been moving away from Ayn Rand and her 'Objectivism' in general. Thanks for the other suggestions, I will look into them.
    A supreme being is just like a normal being...but with sour cream and black olives.
  • Well, there have been many. But right now the one I can think of as having the best influence in recent times is:


    The thing with this book is that if you read it more than once is that not only do you remember more, but you also notice more about your own mistakes. And as Sun Tzu said:

    "Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories."



    I believe I've read this - I'll have to check my library.
    A supreme being is just like a normal being...but with sour cream and black olives.
  • TKDBTKDB 694 Pts   -   edited December 2019
    @Dee

    Excuse me?

    "Repeated definition of Book for those who were home schooled in the Bible Belt ......"

    Aren't you, in a sense, living a part of your life, by how you, accordingly come to the Internet day in and day out, to Publicly educate the public, from your individual opinion, and perception of others?

    Your individual mindset alone, is a gold mine in how you Teach others through your own Publicly expressed musings? 

    You musings are a unwritten book, on you being you.

    So thank you, for your various self created musings, they are a public joy, to indulge in.

    Basically the Internet, has grown into becoming it's own Encyclopedia like Reference Material source, of Information sources.

    This is why the Internet, can in sense be viewed as a Book, or an Internet type of Book.

    Because the original definition of what a Book once was, is irrelevant and outdated, by the way that your shared definition was written.

    I'm an outside of the box, Independent thinker.

    The Internet has changed, how a Book can be categorized, according to how the Internet has globally changed that perception, via the reality introduced by the creation of the Internet.

    There are now Audio Books, and Books that can be downloaded, and read on a tablet, or a cell phone, aren't there?

    Your definition of a Book, is irrelevant, because of the advent of the Internet. 

    So, I view the Internet as it's own type of Book, or a series of Books, like a set of online Encyclopedias. 

    The Internet Book has become the most influential book, because of the billions of opinions, and perceptions, that have created this artificial Book.

    What has been the most influential book in your life?


    Happy Reading everyone.






  • DeeDee 5395 Pts   -  
    @TKDB

    You really need help 
  • 1.Dale Carnegie's 'How to stop worrying and start living: It is a self help book that provides a set of guidelines that helps you how to act wisely and effectively in difficult times. It is one the few books that actually changed my mindset.
    2. On liberty: This fantastic book taught me many important ideas such as the impotance of individualism and freedom of speech( there are many other things that I learned from this book though). It blew my mind and made me throw away my biased mindset. I strongly recommend this book. 
    3. Nietzsche:Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist : This book offered Nietzsche's inspirational ideas such as an overman, eternal recurrence, God's death and so on. This book is just mind blowing.

    MayCaesarSkepticalOne
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