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What Book Has Had The Most Impact On You?

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For me, it's "When I Say No, I Feel Guilty" by Manuel J. Smith.



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  • RayanSajjadRayanSajjad 18 Pts   -  
    Argument Topic: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

    This book really resonated with me on a deeper level. 
    John_C_87
  • BoganBogan 622 Pts   -  
    The book which had the most impact on me, and which began my transformation from a young left winger to a person who could appreciate the right side of politics, is "Eastern Approaches" by Fitzroy Mclean.     Fitzroy McLean was truly an exceptionally brave and intelligent young man.     It is believed that David Fleming who knew Fitzroy modeled his fictional James Bond character on him.

    The book begins in 1937 where Fitzroy, as a young diplomat in Russia in the British embassy, attends the show trials of the top Communist Party leaders who Stalin wanted dead.     After the trials, Fitzroy travelled to Soviet Central Asia as a tourist and we can see the effects of communism on this fascinating and at that time, almost unknown part of the world.      At the beginning of WW2, he tried to enlist in the army but he was refused leave from the diplomatic service who threatened him with prosecution if he tried to resign.     Undeterred, he then did the only thing that would get him sacked from the diplomatic service, he stood for parliament and won.      He then enlisted as a private.     It did not take the army long to realise that Fitzroy had an abundance of brains and they made him an officer.

    The second part of the book sees Fitzroy in Cairo where he bumps into his friend david Stirling, who offers him a job in a new outfit he is creating called the "SAS".      Fitzroy then accompanies Stirling on some hair raising raids into German occupied Libya, along with David Stirling and that incomparable British warrior, Paddy Maine. (4 MM's but no VC).    He is then sent to Iran to prevent the Iranians from joining the Axis, which he succeeds in doing.  

    The third part of the book sees Fitzroy McLean MP parachuted into Yugoslavia at the request of Churchill to meet up with Tito's partisans and to assess whether the communist partisans were worth giving military aid to.    Fitzroy's report to Winston Churchill was that this was very much the case.    Fitzroy noted that Tito's partisans were holding down 14 German and Italian divisions all by themselves using only captured military equipment, while the entire British Commonwealth armies in Africa were engaging a paltry 2 German and 2 Italian divisions, and losing.     Fitzroy McLean became a personal friend of Tito and he accompanies Tito on many adventures in Yugoslavia.     This book was instrumental in making me realise that a committed communist could be a very admirable and intelligent man worthy of great respect.   So too, Fitzroy McLean was an example of the sort of people that made the Empire.    Intelligent, daring, and brave, he was the sort of patriotic young man who Churchill once quipped :were "the gentlest of men who ever cut throat or scuttled ship."

    An extremely interesting and fascinating book of some of the great events of history seen through the eyes of an intelligent young man, who enlists in the army as a private and ends the war as a general.  
    John_C_87
  • DreamerDreamer 287 Pts   -  
    Argument Topic: Charles Mann 1491.

    Wow, I knew almost nothing about American Indians before hand.
  • MayCaesarMayCaesar 6739 Pts   -   edited May 2023
    Most likely this one: "Mathematics can be fun" by Yakov Perelman.

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

    My cunning parents sneaked it into my bedroom when I was around 8. At that time I was just a silly kid who liked running around and getting into trouble, but also was crazy about all kinds of puzzles, board games and the like. I loathed math at school and thought it an exercise in the ability to tolerate the most boring stuff in the Universe.

    But, as it happens, eventually I got my hands on this book; I was 10 or so. What can I say... It shook my entire world. I found indescribable beauty in all those examples of seemingly complicated problems solved easily upon making a neat observation such as some unexpected symmetry. I remember very well the chapter describing a method of telling how much money is in a pile of coin by simply weighting it and then applying an algorithm based on the fact that all numbers in question can be "primized" (i.e. bijectively converted into primes). So many ways to approach the problem, so much complexity - and such an elegant solution based on one simple property that any child can understand.

    I have delved in quite a few STEM fields, but if I were to describe myself in as concise a way as possible, I would call myself an "applied mathematician". I love taking a complicated problem from a field I have only recently familiarized myself with, building a mathematical model of the relevant objects, noting some non-obvious properties (requiring a well developed intuition which can only come as a consequence of thousands of hours put into this kind of thinking) and simplifying the model as a consequence, then letting the model run and seeing what happens.

    Needless to say, without that book, I would never have become what I am. I would probably have chosen some money-making career in finance or something, never discovering that one's job can be one's hobby, something they would do for free, yet something others are willing to pay fortunes for. Can you think of many other hobbies like that, easily monetizable?! Few people make fortunes by playing hockey, or doing rock-climbing, or eating delicious cheesecakes. But logical puzzles encompassed in applied mathematics - why, people are spending billions of dollars just so we could have a lot of fun and write a report or two at the very end. We have the privilege of going to work as if we were going to a cinema theater or a chess club, getting paid exorbitant amounts, having a blast throughout the whole process - and then, as the last benefit, having everyone tells us how smart we are. "You are a mathematician? Wow!!! You must be very smart!" The latter is a lie: I am secretly a huge dumbass. But I happen to be somewhat decent at what I do, and I am all too happy to "upplay" it.
    John_C_87JulesKorngold
  • @MayCaesar

    If I may ask a question. Why are algebra letters used the way they are in mathematics? In Calculus the letters a,b,c,d,e,f,g do not have the same meaning as the letters z,y,x,w,v,u,t, in calculations why? As algabra is a introduction to calculus does the same rule apply?

    I am going to go with the science on this one. The book which has made the largest impact on me was the book with the most mass.:)


    JulesKorngold
  • SwolliwSwolliw 1533 Pts   -  
    @JulesKorngold For me I think it would have to be the Bible that has had the most impact on me for the very reason that I have never seen another publication so full of gratuitous violence, perverted sex, exaggerations and utter lies.

    Dreamer
  • Calculus made Easy, 1st addition 1910. The questions are not a fallacy, and they may or may not be relevant. " We classify all quantities into two classes constants and variables, we generally denote algebraically by letters from the beginning of the alphabet, such as a, b, or c, while those which we consider as capable of growing, or (as mathematicians say) of varying, we denote by letters from the end of the alphabet, such as x, y, z ,u, v , and sometimes t."

  • just_sayinjust_sayin 1345 Pts   -  
    I would argue that for most people it is the Bible, even if you are not a religious person.  Most legal systems are based off of the Bible.  Even US bankruptcy laws are based on biblical laws.  The influence of Biblical stories, themes, and values as expressed in the Sermon of the Mount have been the focus of many works of fiction which range from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, even to the Twilight series.
  • BarnardotBarnardot 730 Pts   -  
    @just_sayin ;Even US bankruptcy laws are based on biblical laws. 

    Are you still trying to deceive people still with your total dishonest corrupt logic?

    May be there are laws that bankruptcy has that are the same as laws in the Bible. Does that mean that bankrpcy lawyers sat down with a bible and wrote them? No

    Does the Bible contain laws that were written as the rule of the land at the time? Yes. Does that mean the Bible wrote them first? No.

     Is the Bible a collection of societal laws and customs and morals that wer a round at the time? yes.

    So stop your sneaky snivelling crawling assumptions that just because something is in the Bible that thats where it originatied from.

    Theres no end to your sick deception is there?

  • just_sayinjust_sayin 1345 Pts   -  
    Barnardot said:
    @just_sayin ;Even US bankruptcy laws are based on biblical laws. 

    Are you still trying to deceive people still with your total dishonest corrupt logic?

    May be there are laws that bankruptcy has that are the same as laws in the Bible. Does that mean that bankrpcy lawyers sat down with a bible and wrote them? No

    Does the Bible contain laws that were written as the rule of the land at the time? Yes. Does that mean the Bible wrote them first? No.

     Is the Bible a collection of societal laws and customs and morals that wer a round at the time? yes.

    So stop your sneaky snivelling crawling assumptions that just because something is in the Bible that thats where it originatied from.

    Theres no end to your sick deception is there?

    I think you underestimate the extent that culture has been influenced by the Bible.  Are you circumcised?  The Bible influenced that custom.  Named David, Michael, Mark, Jonathan, John, Joseph, Luke, Paul, etc.  - those names were influenced by the Bible.  There are thousands of Biblical sayings that people say every day.  Ever watched a sports game and said it was like 'David and Goliath' when you compared the two teams.  Ever said a woman was 'forbidden fruit' - that's from the Bible.  Ever used the term 'scapegoat' - that's biblical.  Ever called a woman a 'Jezebel'?  Ever used the term Armageddon?

    A lot of literature draws from the Bible either in its archetypes, imagery, morals, etc.  Most of the judicial laws used in the western world are based on the Bible.  If you think the Bible wasn't an influence you are just being dishonest with yourself again.
  • MayCaesarMayCaesar 6739 Pts   -  
    I would argue that for most people it is the Bible, even if you are not a religious person.  Most legal systems are based off of the Bible.  Even US bankruptcy laws are based on biblical laws.  The influence of Biblical stories, themes, and values as expressed in the Sermon of the Mount have been the focus of many works of fiction which range from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, even to the Twilight series.
    That does not seem to be plausible, given that less than a quarter of the entire world's population are Christian and far less than a half live in non-Christian majority countries, and non-Christians, while sometimes curious enough about the book to read it, rarely consider it to be very impactful on their lives. And the fact that the Bible influenced certain elements of the system and society is hardly relevant; we might as well be saying that, since the Ancient Greek philosophers have affected so much of our intellectual pursuits throughout history, the most impactful book in human history is a collection of Plato's writings. Not a lot of people think about those writings in their everyday life.

    That said, if we are not talking about the most impactful book for most people (such a book likely does not exist), but the most impactful books for the largest numbers of people, then definitely the Bible, the Quran and the Quotations from Mao would all be up there. Regretfully so, I would add. I would like to instead see such books up there as 1984, Meditations and - well, Plato's writings. If, instead of reading about various gods and then fighting over it, people instead read Plato and debated peacefully over it, think how much better the world would be...
  • DeeDee 5401 Pts   -  
    @just_sayin


    That's true enough American " christians" used the teachings of the Bile ( intentional) to treat blacks like animals, remember blacks were still segregated and  seen as second class people right up to the 1960"s is so called " Christian, USA.....

    • TIME MAGAZINE 
    • HOW CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDERS USED THE BIBLE TO JUSTIFY SLAVERY 

    How Christian Slaveholders Used the Bible to Justify Slavery

    A bible Michael Dmmler EyeEmampGetty Images
    A Bible

    During the period of American slavery, how did slaveholders manage to balance their religious beliefs with the cruel facts of the “peculiar institution“? As shown by the following passages — adapted from Noel Rae’s new book The Great Stainwhich uses firsthand accounts to tell the story of slavery in America — for some of them that rationalization was right there in the Bible.

    Out of the more than three quarters of a million words in the Bible, Christian slaveholders—and, if asked, most slaveholders would have defined themselves as Christian—had two favorites texts, one from the beginning of the Old Testament and the other from the end of the New Testament. In the words of the King James Bible, which was the version then current, these were, first, Genesis IX, 18–27:


    “And the sons of Noah that went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole world overspread. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.”

    Despite some problems with this story—What was so terrible about seeing Noah drunk? Why curse Canaan rather than Ham? How long was the servitude to last? Surely Ham would have been the same color as his brothers?—it eventually became the foundational text for those who wanted to justify slavery on Biblical grounds. In its boiled-down, popular version, known as “The Curse of Ham,” Canaan was dropped from the story, Ham was made black, and his descendants were made Africans.

    The other favorite came from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, VI, 5-7: “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” (Paul repeated himself, almost word for word, in the third chapter of his Epistle to the Colossians.)

    The rest of the Old Testament was often mined by pro-slavery polemicists for examples proving that slavery was common among the Israelites. The New Testament was largely ignored, except in the negative sense of pointing out that nowhere did Jesus condemn slavery, although the story of Philemon, the runaway who St. Paul returned to his master, was often quoted. It was also generally accepted that the Latin word servus, usually translated as servant, really meant slave.

    ***

    Even apparent abuses, when looked at in the right light, worked out for the best, in the words of Bishop William Meade of Virginia. Suppose, for example, that you have been punished for something you did not do, “is it not possible you may have done some other bad thing which was never discovered and that Almighty God, who saw you doing it, would not let you escape without punishment one time or another? And ought you not in such a case to give glory to Him, and be thankful that He would rather punish you in this life for your wickedness than destroy your souls for it in the next life? But suppose that even this was not the case—a case hardly to be imagined—and that you have by no means, known or unknown, deserved the correction you suffered; there is this great comfort in it, that if you bear it patiently, and leave your cause in the hands of God, He will reward you for it in heaven, and the punishment you suffer unjustly here shall turn to your exceeding great glory hereafter.”

    Bishop Stephen Elliott, of Georgia, also knew how to look on the bright side. Critics of slavery should “consider whether, by their interference with this institution, they may not be checking and impeding a work which is manifestly Providential. For nearly a hundred years the English and American Churches have been striving to civilize and Christianize Western Africa, and with what result? Around Sierra Leone, and in the neighborhood of Cape Palmas, a few natives have been made Christians, and some nations have been partially civilized; but what a small number in comparison with the thousands, nay, I may say millions, who have learned the way to Heaven and who have been made to know their Savior through the means of African slavery! At this very moment there are from three to four millions of Africans, educating for earth and for Heaven in the so vilified Southern States—learning the very best lessons for a semi-barbarous people—lessons of self-control, of obedience, of perseverance, of adaptation of means to ends; learning, above all, where their weakness lies, and how they may acquire strength for the battle of life. These considerations satisfy me with their condition, and assure me that it is the best relation they can, for the present, be made to occupy.”

    Reviewing the work of the white churches, Frederick Douglass had this to say: “Between the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference—so wide that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of the one is of necessity to be the enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slave-holding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason but the most deceitful one for calling the religion of this land Christianity…”

    Overlook Press

    Adapted from The Great Stain: Witnessing American Slavery by Noel Rae. Copyright © 2018 by Noel Rae. Reprinted by arrangement with The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc. http://www.overlookpress.com. All rights reserved.


  • BarnardotBarnardot 730 Pts   -   edited November 2023
    @just_sayin ; If you think the Bible wasn't an influence you are just being dishonest with yourself again.

    That's quite right I am being dishonest with myself if I think the Bible wasn't an influence. But the fact is that I don't think that and I never said it and never implied it in any way shape or form. There fore I am not dishonest with myself at all.

    The point that I quite rightly pointed out is that you are totally dishonest with every body else because you deliberately mis quote as you did just then.

    Oh and like the time that you mis quoted that I said my work mates are illegal immigrants and ex prisoners.

    Oh and also like the many times that you plastered the site with spam and illegal websites that misquote that you had the nerve to call evidence.

    Especially the fraud newspaper clipping that was totally made up to look like it was the Dily Mail and made to look like it was a clipping. That was a classic peace of dishonesty and liering wasn't it?

    And the video of the con woman and the Pasta who got court out ages ago about deceiving about being ill and getting cured by prayer.

    And will Lier Boy ever admit it. No he wont ever. Will you Lier Boy.

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