90+ Book Recommendations by Paras Chopra
The Six Systems Of Indian Philosophy
Max Müller
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.@BhavikKothari19 No, there are multiple schools of thought. I read this book which was my gateway to appreciating Indian philosophy. https://t.co/qyEFFhogkR
The Beginning of Infinity
David Deutsch
A pioneer in the field of quantum computation explores the nature and progress of knowledge in the universe, arguing that humans are subject to the laws of physics but unlimited by what can be understood, controlled, and achieved.@KARTHIK_SAMA11 @naval Yeah, the book definitely has left an impression on my worldview
Deep Work
Cal Newport
Many modern knowledge workers now spend most of their brain power battling distraction and interruption, whether because of the incessant pinging of devices, noisy open-plan offices or the difficulty of deciding what deserves your attention the most. When Cal Newport coined the term 'deep work' on his popular blog, Study Hacks, in 2012, he found the concept quickly hit a nerve. Most of us, after all, are excruciatingly familiar with shallow work instead - distractedly skimming the surface of our workload and never getting to the important part. Newport began exploring the methods and mindset that foster a practice of distraction-free productivity at work, and now, in DEEP WORK, he shows how anyone can achieve this elusive state. Through revealing portraits of both historical and modern-day thinkers, academics and leaders in the fields of technology, science and culture, and their deep work habits, Newport shares an inspiring collection of tools to wring every last drop of value out of your intellectual capacity. He explains why mastering this shift in work practices is crucial for anyone who intends to stay ahead in a complex information economy, and how to systematically train the mind to focus. Put simply: developing and cultivating a deep work practice is one of the best decisions we can make in an increasingly distracted world.1/ Just finished the book that’s often called a deeper, and a more philosophical version of the popular book Deep Work by Cal Newport.
The Shallows
Nicholas Carr
"A modern classic of internet criticism" (Leo Mirani, Quartz) returns.1/ Just finished the book that’s often called a deeper, and a more philosophical version of the popular book Deep Work by Cal Newport.
The Shallows
Nicholas Carr
"A modern classic of internet criticism" (Leo Mirani, Quartz) returns.Notes from the book “The Shallows”. 🧵 https://t.co/rgNCvLk8rK
Structures
J. E. Gordon
In a book that Business Insider noted as one of the "14 Books that inspired Elon Musk," J.E. Gordon strips engineering of its confusing technical terms, communicating its founding principles in accessible, witty prose. For anyone who has ever wondered why suspension bridges don't collapse under eight lanes of traffic, how dams hold back--or give way under--thousands of gallons of water, or what principles guide the design of a skyscraper, a bias-cut dress, or a kangaroo, this book will ease your anxiety and answer your questions. Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down is an informal explanation of the basic forces that hold together the ordinary and essential things of this world--from buildings and bodies to flying aircraft and eggshells. In a style that combines wit, a masterful command of his subject, and an encyclopedic range of reference, Gordon includes such chapters as "How to Design a Worm" and "The Advantage of Being a Beam," offering humorous insights in human and natural creation. Architects and engineers will appreciate the clear and cogent explanations of the concepts of stress, shear, torsion, fracture, and compression. If you're building a house, a sailboat, or a catapult, here is a handy tool for understanding the mechanics of joinery, floors, ceilings, hulls, masts--or flying buttresses. Without jargon or oversimplification, Structures opens up the marvels of technology to anyone interested in the foundations of our everyday lives.@MISTERAYOTUNDE Reading this book that you’ll enjoy too https://t.co/Oymzb9pBQh
A Shot to Save the World
Gregory Zuckerman
Longlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award The authoritative account of the race to produce the vaccines that are saving us all, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Man Who Solved the Market Few were ready when a mysterious respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan, China in January 2020. Politicians, government officials, business leaders, and public-health professionals were unprepared for the most devastating pandemic in a century. Many of the world's biggest drug and vaccine makers were slow to react or couldn't muster an effective response. It was up to a small group of unlikely and untested scientists and executives to save civilization. A French businessman dismissed by many as a fabulist. A Turkish immigrant with little virus experience. A quirky Midwesterner obsessed with insect cells. A Boston scientist employing questionable techniques. A British scientist despised by his peers. Far from the limelight, each had spent years developing innovative vaccine approaches. Their work was met with skepticism and scorn. By 2020, these individuals had little proof of progress. Yet they and their colleagues wanted to be the ones to stop the virus holding the world hostage. They scrambled to turn their life's work into life-saving vaccines in a matter of months, each gunning to make the big breakthrough--and to beat each other for the glory that a vaccine guaranteed. A #1 New York Times bestselling author and award-winning Wall Street Journal investigative journalist lauded for his "bravura storytelling" (Gary Shteyngart) and "first-rate" reporting (The New York Times), Zuckerman takes us inside the top-secret laboratories, corporate clashes, and high-stakes government negotiations that led to effective shots. Deeply reported and endlessly gripping, this is a dazzling, blow-by-blow chronicle of the most consequential scientific breakthrough of our time. It's a story of courage, genius, and heroism. It's also a tale of heated rivalries, unbridled ambitions, crippling insecurities, and unexpected drama. A Shot to Save the World is the story of how science saved the world.Who thought a scientific book could be a page-turner! This wonderful #book by @GZuckerman traces how multiple covid vaccines were developed in record time (1 year). My notes and musings in the 🧵 https://t.co/bNzNTxedq5
Metazoa
Peter Godfrey-Smith
Finished reading this #book on animal consciousness. This book is more journalistic in style than a strictly scientific account. I've been diving deep into the subject, so didn't learn a lot of new ideas but someone who's curious about animal consciousness, it's a good overview. https://t.co/a9h5jHks7l
A Complaint Free World
Will Bowen
Simplified Chinese edition of A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted. A minister offers a simple and effective way to live happier - stop complaining. It is the most direct way to become happier. He has issued a challenge; stop complaining for 21 days - that's how long it takes to break a habit. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.Finished reading this #book. Simple but powerful message: we complain too much and if we stop complaining, our outlook towards life will become more positive. Describes the 21 day no complaining challenge I talked about earlier. https://t.co/s0yqY7os3T
The Spike
Mark Humphries
The story of a neural impulse and what it reveals about how our brains work We see the last cookie in the box and think, can I take that? We reach a hand out. In the 2.1 seconds that this impulse travels through our brain, billions of neurons communicate with one another, sending blips of voltage through our sensory and motor regions. Neuroscientists call these blips “spikes.” Spikes enable us to do everything: talk, eat, run, see, plan, and decide. In The Spike, Mark Humphries takes readers on the epic journey of a spike through a single, brief reaction. In vivid language, Humphries tells the story of what happens in our brain, what we know about spikes, and what we still have left to understand about them. Drawing on decades of research in neuroscience, Humphries explores how spikes are born, how they are transmitted, and how they lead us to action. He dives into previously unanswered mysteries: Why are most neurons silent? What causes neurons to fire spikes spontaneously, without input from other neurons or the outside world? Why do most spikes fail to reach any destination? Humphries presents a new vision of the brain, one where fundamental computations are carried out by spontaneous spikes that predict what will happen in the world, helping us to perceive, decide, and react quickly enough for our survival. Traversing neuroscience’s expansive terrain, The Spike follows a single electrical response to illuminate how our extraordinary brains work.1/ As the book's subtitle suggests, it's about the neural code our brain uses for doing what it does. The book is rich with details and I learned a lot of new facts and ideas about the brain. I highly recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in neuroscience.
Moment of Lift
Melinda Gates
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings—and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity. For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift society up, you need to stop keeping women down. In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, “That is why I had to write this book—to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.” Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention—from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world—and ourselves. Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another. When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.48/ These books are Atomic Habits, Factfulness, The Moment of Lift, Tools of Titan and The Brief History of Time. What makes me happy about the project is that these books are something schools or colleges would never recommend as part of the syllabus.
Tools of Titans
Timothy Ferriss
"Fitness, money, and wisdom--here are the tools. Over the last two years ... Tim Ferriss has collected the routines and tools of world-class performers around the globe. Now, the distilled notebook of tips and tricks that helped him double his income, flexibility, happiness, and more is available as Tools of Titans"--Page 4 of cover.48/ These books are Atomic Habits, Factfulness, The Moment of Lift, Tools of Titan and The Brief History of Time. What makes me happy about the project is that these books are something schools or colleges would never recommend as part of the syllabus.
A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking
An anniversary edition of a now-classic survey of the origin and nature of the universe features a new introduction by the author and a new chapter on the possibility of time travel and "wormholes" in space48/ These books are Atomic Habits, Factfulness, The Moment of Lift, Tools of Titan and The Brief History of Time. What makes me happy about the project is that these books are something schools or colleges would never recommend as part of the syllabus.
Inner Presence
Antti Revonsuo
The question of consciousness is perhaps the most significant problem still unsolved by science. In Inner Presence, Antti Revonsuo proposes a novel approach to the study of consciousness that integrates findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a coherent theoretical framework. Arguing that any fruitful scientific approach to the problem must consider both the subjective psychological reality of consciousness and the objective neurobiological reality, Revonsuo proposes that the best strategy for discovering the connection between these two realities is one of "biological realism," using tools of the empirical biological sciences. This approach, which he calls the "biological research program," provides a theoretical and philosophical foundation that contemporary study of consciousness lacks. Revonsuo coins the term "world simulation metaphor" and uses this metaphor to develop a powerful way of thinking about consciousness as a biological system in the brain. This leads him to propose that the dreaming brain and visual consciousness are ideal model systems for empirical consciousness research. He offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of consciousness research and defends his approach against currently popular philosophical views, in particular against approaches that deny or externalize phenomenal consciousness, or claim that brain activity is not sufficient for consciousness. He systematically examines the principal issues in the science of consciousness—the contents of consciousness, the unity of consciousness and the binding problem, the explanatory gap and the neural correlates of consciousness, and the causal powers and function of consciousness. Revonsuo draws together empirical data from a wide variety of sources, including dream research, brain imaging, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology, into the theoretical framework of the biological research program, thus pointing the way toward a unified biological science of consciousness. Applying imaginative thought experiments, Inner Presence reaches beyond the current state-of-the-art, revealing how the problem of consciousness may eventually be solved by future science.8/ My top 3 picks for the year: - Inner Presence (book on consciousness) - The Entangled Life (book on fungi) - The Mind is Flat (book on mind)
Entangled Life
Merlin Sheldrake
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Merlin Sheldrake’s marvelous tour of these diverse and extraordinary life forms is eye-opening on why humans should consider fungi among the greatest of earth’s marvels. . . . Wondrous.”—Time A mind-bending journey into the hidden universe of fungi, “one of those rare books that can truly change the way you see the world around you” (Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk). NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • BBC Science Focus • The Daily Mail • Geographical • The Times • The Telegraph • New Statesman • London Evening Standard • Science Friday When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave. In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. Sheldrake’s vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the “Wood Wide Web,” to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision. Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms—and our relationships with them—are changing our understanding of how life works. SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE “Entangled Life is a gorgeous book of literary nature writing in the tradition of [Robert] Macfarlane and John Fowles, ripe with insight and erudition. . . . Food for the soul.”—Eugenia Bone, Wall Street Journal “[An] ebullient and ambitious exploration . . . This book may not be a psychedelic—and unlike Sheldrake, I haven’t dared to consume my copy (yet)—but reading it left me not just moved but altered, eager to disseminate its message of what fungi can do.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times8/ My top 3 picks for the year: - Inner Presence (book on consciousness) - The Entangled Life (book on fungi) - The Mind is Flat (book on mind)
The Mind Is Flat
Nick Chater
8/ My top 3 picks for the year: - Inner Presence (book on consciousness) - The Entangled Life (book on fungi) - The Mind is Flat (book on mind)
Empire of Ants
Susanne Foitzik
This sweeping portrait of the world’s uncontested six-legged conquerors will open your eyes to the secret societies thriving right beneath your feet—and shift your perspective on humanity. Ants number in the ten quadrillions, and they have been here since the Jurassic era. Inside an anthill, you’ll find high drama worthy of a royal court; and between colonies, high-stakes geopolitical intrigue is afoot. Just like us, ants grow crops, raise livestock, tend their young and infirm, and make vaccines. And, just like us, ants have a dark side: They wage war, despoil environments, and enslave rivals—but also rebel against their oppressors. Engineered by nature to fulfill their particular roles, ants flawlessly perform a complex symphony of tasks to sustain their colony—seemingly without a conductor—from fearsome army ants, who stage twelve-hour hunting raids where they devour thousands, to gentle leafcutters cooperatively gardening in their peaceful underground kingdoms. Acclaimed biologist Susanne Foitzik has traveled the globe to study these master architects of Earth. Joined by journalist Olaf Fritsche, Foitzik invites readers deep into her world—in the field and in the lab. (How do you observe the behavior of ants just millimeters long—or dissect a brain the width of a needle?) Richly illustrated and photographed in full color, Empire of Ants will inspire new respect for ants as a global superpower—and raise new questions about the very meaning of “civilization.”35/ Back to biology. I followed my exploration into the world of fungi and microbes with ants. https://t.co/gN3L4XIF9i
The Power of Principles
Howard Burton
29/ Continuing my journey into physics, I was craving to learn what physicists working at the very edge of our knowledge have to say. So, I found this book where Nima is interviewed. Full of insights about how to look at the world: https://t.co/QgK06C7533
The Tyranny of Merit
Michael J. Sandel
A world-famous political philosopher, and the bestselling author of Justice, reveals the driving force behind the resurgence of populism: the tyranny of the meritocracy and the resentments it produces. These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favor of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the American credo that "you can make it if you try". The consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fueled populist protest and extreme polarization, and led to deep distrust of both government and our fellow citizens--leaving us morally unprepared to face the profound challenges of our time. World-renowned philosopher Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the crises that are upending our world, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalization and rising inequality. Sandel shows the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind, and traces the dire consequences across a wide swathe of American life. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success--more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility and solidarity, and more affirming of the dignity of work. The Tyranny of Merit points us toward a hopeful vision of a new politics of the common good.26/ Is meritocracy good? This book takes the controversial stance of it being used to justify injustice. A refreshing, heretical view indeed. https://t.co/GxoXk7nUmj
Pain Is Really Strange
Steve Haines
Answering questions such as 'how can I change my pain experience?', 'what is pain?', and 'how do nerves work?', this short research-based graphic book reveals just how strange pain is and explains how understanding it is often the key to relieving its effects. Studies show that understanding how pain is created and maintained by the nervous system can significantly lessen the pain you experience. The narrator in this original, gently humorous book explains pain in an easy-to-understand, engaging graphic format and reveals how to change the mind's habits to transform pain.21/ A 10-page book on pain (which I'm not sure qualifies as a book, but whatever!) https://t.co/g7G1sVUalG
Entangled Life
Merlin Sheldrake
"Living at the border between life and non-life, fungi use diverse cocktails of potent enzymes and acids to disassemble some of the most stubborn substances on the planet, turning rock into soil and wood into compost, allowing plants to grow. Fungi not only help create soil, they send out networks of tubes that enmesh roots and link plants together in the "Wood Wide Web." Fungi also drive many long-standing human fascinations: from yeasts that cause bread to rise and orchestrate the fermentation of sugar into alcohol; to psychedelic fungi; to the mold that produces penicillin and revolutionized modern medicine. And we can partner with fungi to heal the damage we've done to the planet. Fungi are already being used to make sustainable building materials and wearable leather, but they can do so much more. Fungi can digest many stubborn and toxic pollutants from crude oil to human-made polyurethane plastics and the explosive TNT. They can grow food from renewable sources: edible mushrooms can be grown on anything from plant waste to cigarette butts. And some fungi's antiviral compounds might be able to ease the colony collapse of bees. Merlin Sheldrake's revelatory introduction to this world will show us how fungi, and our relationships with them, are more astonishing than we could have imagined. Bringing to light science's latest discoveries and ingeniously parsing the varieties and behaviors of the fungi themselves, he points us toward the fundamental questions about the nature of intelligence and identity this massively diverse, little understood kingdom provokes"--20/ Oh my, what I book! Introduced me to the fascinating and highly underappreciated world of fungi. (so much so that I decided to grow them on my own!) https://t.co/8f8JBVeTi9
The Precipice
Toby Ord
'Toby Ord has written a powerfully-argued book that alerts us to what is perhaps the most important - and yet also most neglected - problem we will ever face' Peter Singer'The Precipice separates science from hype and will remain the definitive work on existential risk for a long time to come' Max Tegmark, author of Life 3.0Humanity stands at a precipice. We live at a time of unprecedented innovation. Technology is accelerating faster than at any point in history, granting us ever greater power, and creating ever greater risk. In the twentieth century, we developed the means to destroy ourselves - without developing the moral framework to ensure that we won't.The Precipice introduces us to the risks to humanity's future, from the familiar man-made threats of climate change and nuclear war, to the greater risks on the horizon from engineered pandemics and advanced artificial intelligence. With clear and rigorous thinking, Toby Ord calculates the various risk levels, and shows how our own time fits within the larger story of human history. Can we protect the legacy of the hundred billion who have come before us, and secure a future for the trillions of generations that could follow? What can we do, in our present moment, to face the risks head on? Guided by a positive vision of the long-term future, The Precipice is a call for a new ethical perspective: a major reorientation in the way we see the world, our history, and the role we play in it.18/ @tobyordoxford's book classified different types of existential risks facing humanities and rough odds of them happening. If we prepare against existential risks, we will spread the light of life, culture, and knowledge throughout the universe. https://t.co/EFrC4HSUBO
A Thousand Brains
Jeff Hawkins
A bestselling author, neuroscientist, and computer engineer unveils a theory of intelligence that will revolutionize our understanding of the brain and the future of AI For all of neuroscience's advances, we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence? Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses maplike structures to build a model of the world-not just one model, but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought. A Thousand Brains heralds a revolution in the understanding of intelligence. It is a big-think book, in every sense of the word.15/ After hearing a lot of buzz about Jeff Hawkins' new book on AI, I picked it up. It certainly impacted the way I thought about the brain and convinced me that neocortex is a general-purpose substrate, which means human-level AI shouldn't be hard. https://t.co/witdGbUBrB
Inner Presence
Antti Revonsuo
The question of consciousness is perhaps the most significant problem still unsolved by science. In Inner Presence, Antti Revonsuo proposes a novel approach to the study of consciousness that integrates findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a coherent theoretical framework. Arguing that any fruitful scientific approach to the problem must consider both the subjective psychological reality of consciousness and the objective neurobiological reality, Revonsuo proposes that the best strategy for discovering the connection between these two realities is one of "biological realism," using tools of the empirical biological sciences. This approach, which he calls the "biological research program," provides a theoretical and philosophical foundation that contemporary study of consciousness lacks. Revonsuo coins the term "world simulation metaphor" and uses this metaphor to develop a powerful way of thinking about consciousness as a biological system in the brain. This leads him to propose that the dreaming brain and visual consciousness are ideal model systems for empirical consciousness research. He offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of consciousness research and defends his approach against currently popular philosophical views, in particular against approaches that deny or externalize phenomenal consciousness, or claim that brain activity is not sufficient for consciousness. He systematically examines the principal issues in the science of consciousness—the contents of consciousness, the unity of consciousness and the binding problem, the explanatory gap and the neural correlates of consciousness, and the causal powers and function of consciousness. Revonsuo draws together empirical data from a wide variety of sources, including dream research, brain imaging, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology, into the theoretical framework of the biological research program, thus pointing the way toward a unified biological science of consciousness. Applying imaginative thought experiments, Inner Presence reaches beyond the current state-of-the-art, revealing how the problem of consciousness may eventually be solved by future science.12/ This book was perhaps the most insightful book I've ever read on consciousness. Highly recommended. https://t.co/vj7gDNGNu1
Galileo's Error
Philip Goff
From a leading philosopher of the mind comes this lucid, provocative argument that offers a radically new picture of human consciousness--panpsychism. Understanding how brains produce consciousness is one of the great scientific challenges of our age. Some philosophers argue that consciousness is something "extra," beyond the physical workings of the brain. Others think that if we persist in our standard scientific methods, our questions about consciousness will eventually be answered. And some even suggest that the mystery is so deep, it will never be solved. Decades have been spent trying to explain consciousness from within our current scientific paradigm, but little progress has been made. Now, Philip Goff offers an exciting alternative that could pave the way forward. Rooted in an analysis of the philosophical underpinnings of modern science and based on the early twentieth-century work of Arthur Eddington and Bertrand Russell, Goff makes the case for panpsychism, a theory which posits that consciousness is not confined to biological entities but is a fundamental feature of all physical matter--from subatomic particles to the human brain. In Galileo's Error, he has provided the first step on a new path to the final theory of human consciousness.5/ Then I read @Philip_Goff's Gallileo's Error. The book inspired me to take panpsychism seriously and for most of 2021, I believed in it but now I think I have a slightly more refined view of consciousness (see next tweet). https://t.co/q57C8EXo6r
Factfulness
Hans Rosling
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.4/ In the spirit of thinking clearly, the book Factfulness changed my view of the world from "things are not great" to "things are not great, but they were worse before". https://t.co/gwigc9GfyE
What Has Government Done to Our Money?
Murray N. Rothbard
(Large Format Edition)1/ This little book is jam-packed with insights about money. https://t.co/E55WA0MPvf
Dreams of a Final Theory
Steven Weinberg
The Nobel Prize-winning physicist describes the quest for a unifying theory of nature--one that explains events such as the pull of gravity and the cohesion inside of an atom. By the author of The First Three Minutes. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.Notes from the #book "Dreams of a final theory" by Steven Weinberg, who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1979 for unifying electromagnetism and weak nuclear force. a 🧵 https://t.co/Bm3O0himHz
The Innovator's Solution
Clayton M. Christensen
An innovation classic. From Steve Jobs to Jeff Bezos, Clay Christensen’s work continues to underpin today’s most innovative leaders and organizations. A seminal work on disruption—for everyone confronting the growth paradox. For readers of the bestselling The Innovator’s Dilemma—and beyond—this definitive work will help anyone trying to transform their business right now. In The Innovator’s Solution, Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor expand on the idea of disruption, explaining how companies can and should become disruptors themselves. This classic work shows just how timely and relevant these ideas continue to be in today’s hyper-accelerated business environment. Christensen and Raynor give advice on the business decisions crucial to achieving truly disruptive growth and propose guidelines for developing your own disruptive growth engine. The authors identify the forces that cause managers to make bad decisions as they package and shape new ideas—and offer new frameworks to help create the right conditions, at the right time, for a disruption to succeed. This is a must-read for all senior managers and business leaders responsible for innovation and growth, as well as members of their teams. Based on in-depth research and theories tested in hundreds of companies across many industries, The Innovator’s Solution is a necessary addition to any innovation library—and an essential read for entrepreneurs and business builders worldwide.@PsButran His other book: "Innovator's Solution" is even better.
Deep Down Things
Bruce A. Schumm
A useful scientific theory, claimed Einstein, must be explicable to any intelligent person. In Deep Down Things, experimental particle physicist Bruce Schumm has taken this dictum to heart, providing in clear, straightforward prose an elucidation of the Standard Model of particle physics -- a theory that stands as one of the crowning achievements of twentieth-century science. In this one-of-a-kind book, the work of many of the past century's most notable physicists, including Einstein, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Dirac, Feynman, Gell-Mann, and Weinberg, is knit together in a thorough and accessible exposition of the revolutionary notions that underlie our current view of the fundamental nature of the physical world. Schumm, who has spent much of his life emmersed in the subatomic world, goes far beyond a mere presentation of the "building blocks" of matter, bringing to life the remarkable connection between the ivory tower world of the abstract mathematician and the day-to-day, life-enabling properties of the natural world. Schumm leaves us with an insight into the profound open questions of particle physics, setting the stage for understanding the progress the field is poised to make over the next decade or two. Introducing readers to the world of particle physics, Deep Down Things opens new realms within which are many clues to unraveling the mysteries of the universe.A great introduction to the beauty of particle physics, this #book goes one level deeper than most pop-science books. The author introduces the essential topics (Lie groups, symmetries, gauge theories) in a relatively simple way. Highly recommended! https://t.co/apLaPiJkxx
Dreams of a Final Theory
Steven Weinberg
The Nobel Prize-winning physicist describes the quest for a unifying theory of nature--one that explains events such as the pull of gravity and the cohesion inside of an atom. By the author of The First Three Minutes. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.12/ He recommended following books in the conversation: - Dreams of a Final Theory by Weinberg - Character of Physical Law by Feynman - First Three Minutes by Weinberg
The Character of Physical Law (The MIT Press)
Richard Feynman
An introduction to modern physics and to Richard Feynman at his witty and enthusiastic best, discussing gravitation, irreversibility, symmetry, and the nature of scientific discovery.12/ He recommended following books in the conversation: - Dreams of a Final Theory by Weinberg - Character of Physical Law by Feynman - First Three Minutes by Weinberg
The Order of Time
Carlo Rovelli
'A dazzling book ... the new Stephen Hawking' Sunday Times The bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics takes us on an enchanting, consoling journey to discover the meaning of time 'We are time. We are this space, this clearing opened by the traces of memory inside the connections between our neurons. We are memory. We are nostalgia. We are longing for a future that will not come.' Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe. With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery. Enlightening and consoling, The Order of Time shows that to understand ourselves we need to reflect on time -- and to understand time we need to reflect on ourselves. Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica SegreRead this #book the second time. It’s written beautifully and, for a science book, is full of poetry. However, it’s so short that for beginners not enough explanations and for people who know basics, not enough technical juice. Will still recommend it highly. https://t.co/e8X2syYtop
The Order of Time
Carlo Rovelli
@Sarthak96236781 You should read this book to understand more: https://t.co/WJtfV2T1bu
The Mind Is Flat
Nick Chater
Finished reading The Mind is Flat by @nickjchater and here are my notes from the #book. (brace yourself for 50+ tweets 🧵) https://t.co/bCePtkqJ28
Moment of Lift
Melinda Gates
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings—and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity. For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift society up, you need to stop keeping women down. In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, “That is why I had to write this book—to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.” Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention—from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world—and ourselves. Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another. When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.Giving away 150 copies of the book “The Moment of Lift” by @melindagates If you’re an 🇮🇳 Indian student, and can’t afford a copy, get it here https://t.co/CpQMvPYsvS https://t.co/hu14YlHMKK
I Contain Multitudes
Ed Yong
Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin—a “microbe’s-eye view” of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on earth. Every animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. Ed Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light—less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are. The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. In the deep oceans, mysterious creatures without mouths or guts depend on microbes for all their energy. Bacteria provide squid with invisibility cloaks, help beetles to bring down forests, and allow worms to cause diseases that afflict millions of people. Many people think of microbes as germs to be eradicated, but those that live with us—the microbiome—build our bodies, protect our health, shape our identities, and grant us incredible abilities. In this astonishing book, Ed Yong takes us on a grand tour through our microbial partners, and introduces us to the scientists on the front lines of discovery. It will change both our view of nature and our sense of where we belong in it.Having multiple books around you that you can’t wait to read is a wonderful feeling.
Pain Is Really Strange
Steve Haines
Answering questions such as 'how can I change my pain experience?', 'what is pain?', and 'how do nerves work?', this short research-based graphic book reveals just how strange pain is and explains how understanding it is often the key to relieving its effects. Studies show that understanding how pain is created and maintained by the nervous system can significantly lessen the pain you experience. The narrator in this original, gently humorous book explains pain in an easy-to-understand, engaging graphic format and reveals how to change the mind's habits to transform pain.This #book is a really short (30 page) graphic novel on what pain is and how we can reprogram our brain to reduce or eliminate it. Honestly, when I was ordering it I thought this was a proper non-fiction book on pain but the comics format turned out to be a pleasant surprise. https://t.co/UGsEVkJRQ8
The Secret of Our Success
Joseph Henrich
Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory. Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.@parvezdosani20 You'll love this book https://t.co/ZtqnpIFspB
Feeling Good
David D. Burns
The good news is that anxiety, guilt, pessimism, procrastination, low self-esteem, and other ′black holes′ of depression can be cured without drugs. In Feeling Good, eminent psychiatrist David D. Burns, M.D. outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life. Now, in this updated edition, Dr Burns adds an all-new Consumer′s Guide To Antidepressant Drugs, as well as a new introduction to help answer your questions about the many options available for treating depression. Recognise what causes your mood swings. Nip negative feelings in the bud. Deal with guilt. Handle hostility and criticism. Overcome addiction to love and approval. Build self-esteem. Feel good everyday.@udayias11 Yes, you may likely get phases of life where you’re bored and dejected. What helped me was reading this book “Feeling Good”. It helps you rationally deal with feelings of depression. Also know that it’s ok. Everyone gets them and you’ll overcome them for sure.
The End of Everything
Katie Mack
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2020 NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY * THE WASHINGTON POST * THE ECONOMIST * NEW SCIENTIST * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * THE GUARDIAN From one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an “engrossing, elegant” (The New York Times) look at five ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in cosmology. We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it expanded from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now? Dr. Katie Mack has been contemplating these questions since she was a young student, when her astronomy professor informed her the universe could end at any moment, in an instant. This revelation set her on the path toward theoretical astrophysics. Now, with lively wit and humor, she takes us on a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.Monday blues take another meaning after reading this #book @AstroKatie explores various ways our universe is going to end (spoiler: we don’t know how but it certainly will end) Written with wit, it forces you to confront the ultimate destruction of everything Photo @sia_steel https://t.co/GeLqtGqJn5
Inner Presence
Antti Revonsuo
The question of consciousness is perhaps the most significant problem still unsolved by science. In Inner Presence, Antti Revonsuo proposes a novel approach to the study of consciousness that integrates findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a coherent theoretical framework. Arguing that any fruitful scientific approach to the problem must consider both the subjective psychological reality of consciousness and the objective neurobiological reality, Revonsuo proposes that the best strategy for discovering the connection between these two realities is one of "biological realism," using tools of the empirical biological sciences. This approach, which he calls the "biological research program," provides a theoretical and philosophical foundation that contemporary study of consciousness lacks. Revonsuo coins the term "world simulation metaphor" and uses this metaphor to develop a powerful way of thinking about consciousness as a biological system in the brain. This leads him to propose that the dreaming brain and visual consciousness are ideal model systems for empirical consciousness research. He offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of consciousness research and defends his approach against currently popular philosophical views, in particular against approaches that deny or externalize phenomenal consciousness, or claim that brain activity is not sufficient for consciousness. He systematically examines the principal issues in the science of consciousness—the contents of consciousness, the unity of consciousness and the binding problem, the explanatory gap and the neural correlates of consciousness, and the causal powers and function of consciousness. Revonsuo draws together empirical data from a wide variety of sources, including dream research, brain imaging, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology, into the theoretical framework of the biological research program, thus pointing the way toward a unified biological science of consciousness. Applying imaginative thought experiments, Inner Presence reaches beyond the current state-of-the-art, revealing how the problem of consciousness may eventually be solved by future science.A really fascinating #book on consciousness and dreaming. I got so many new ways to think about from it. Highly recommended. This book is definitely going into my re-read list. https://t.co/RmHChnXWsu
Galileo's Error
Philip Goff
From a leading philosopher of the mind comes this lucid, provocative argument that offers a radically new picture of human consciousness--panpsychism. Understanding how brains produce consciousness is one of the great scientific challenges of our age. Some philosophers argue that consciousness is something "extra," beyond the physical workings of the brain. Others think that if we persist in our standard scientific methods, our questions about consciousness will eventually be answered. And some even suggest that the mystery is so deep, it will never be solved. Decades have been spent trying to explain consciousness from within our current scientific paradigm, but little progress has been made. Now, Philip Goff offers an exciting alternative that could pave the way forward. Rooted in an analysis of the philosophical underpinnings of modern science and based on the early twentieth-century work of Arthur Eddington and Bertrand Russell, Goff makes the case for panpsychism, a theory which posits that consciousness is not confined to biological entities but is a fundamental feature of all physical matter--from subatomic particles to the human brain. In Galileo's Error, he has provided the first step on a new path to the final theory of human consciousness.The podcast largely covers @Philip_Goff's book: Galileo's Error: https://t.co/wWUR55UOjd I absolutely loved reading the book. https://t.co/iMydXodePd
Inner Presence
Antti Revonsuo
The question of consciousness is perhaps the most significant problem still unsolved by science. In Inner Presence, Antti Revonsuo proposes a novel approach to the study of consciousness that integrates findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a coherent theoretical framework. Arguing that any fruitful scientific approach to the problem must consider both the subjective psychological reality of consciousness and the objective neurobiological reality, Revonsuo proposes that the best strategy for discovering the connection between these two realities is one of "biological realism," using tools of the empirical biological sciences. This approach, which he calls the "biological research program," provides a theoretical and philosophical foundation that contemporary study of consciousness lacks. Revonsuo coins the term "world simulation metaphor" and uses this metaphor to develop a powerful way of thinking about consciousness as a biological system in the brain. This leads him to propose that the dreaming brain and visual consciousness are ideal model systems for empirical consciousness research. He offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of consciousness research and defends his approach against currently popular philosophical views, in particular against approaches that deny or externalize phenomenal consciousness, or claim that brain activity is not sufficient for consciousness. He systematically examines the principal issues in the science of consciousness—the contents of consciousness, the unity of consciousness and the binding problem, the explanatory gap and the neural correlates of consciousness, and the causal powers and function of consciousness. Revonsuo draws together empirical data from a wide variety of sources, including dream research, brain imaging, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology, into the theoretical framework of the biological research program, thus pointing the way toward a unified biological science of consciousness. Applying imaginative thought experiments, Inner Presence reaches beyond the current state-of-the-art, revealing how the problem of consciousness may eventually be solved by future science.@kunalb11 https://t.co/LP3z4ukWHx
The Collected Schizophrenias
Esmé Weijun Wang
Hat tip to @sia_steel for picking the book and recommending it to me (a after reading it multiple times). I highly recommend the book to develop intuition about what it is like to struggle with mental disorders.
Atomic Habits
James Clear
James Clear presents strategies to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that help lead to an improved life.We run a book club at @wingify and the last book we read was Atomic Habits by @JamesClear. We will publish the best notes to come out from the club. For Atomic Habits, @ishan_goel made really good notes: https://t.co/xsWTU3qOBE
Inner Presence
Antti Revonsuo
The question of consciousness is perhaps the most significant problem still unsolved by science. In Inner Presence, Antti Revonsuo proposes a novel approach to the study of consciousness that integrates findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a coherent theoretical framework. Arguing that any fruitful scientific approach to the problem must consider both the subjective psychological reality of consciousness and the objective neurobiological reality, Revonsuo proposes that the best strategy for discovering the connection between these two realities is one of "biological realism," using tools of the empirical biological sciences. This approach, which he calls the "biological research program," provides a theoretical and philosophical foundation that contemporary study of consciousness lacks. Revonsuo coins the term "world simulation metaphor" and uses this metaphor to develop a powerful way of thinking about consciousness as a biological system in the brain. This leads him to propose that the dreaming brain and visual consciousness are ideal model systems for empirical consciousness research. He offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of consciousness research and defends his approach against currently popular philosophical views, in particular against approaches that deny or externalize phenomenal consciousness, or claim that brain activity is not sufficient for consciousness. He systematically examines the principal issues in the science of consciousness—the contents of consciousness, the unity of consciousness and the binding problem, the explanatory gap and the neural correlates of consciousness, and the causal powers and function of consciousness. Revonsuo draws together empirical data from a wide variety of sources, including dream research, brain imaging, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology, into the theoretical framework of the biological research program, thus pointing the way toward a unified biological science of consciousness. Applying imaginative thought experiments, Inner Presence reaches beyond the current state-of-the-art, revealing how the problem of consciousness may eventually be solved by future science.Some books on consciousness I have. May help in building your reading list. https://t.co/UCk9tVQb92
Conscious
Annaka Harris
As concise and enlightening as Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, this mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience. What is consciousness? How does it arise? And why does it exist? We take our experience of being in the world for granted. But the very existence of consciousness raises profound questions: Why would any collection of matter in the universe be conscious? How are we able to think about this? And why should we? In this wonderfully accessible book, Annaka Harris guides us through the evolving definitions, philosophies, and scientific findings that probe our limited understanding of consciousness. Where does it reside, and what gives rise to it? Could it be an illusion, or a universal property of all matter? As we try to understand consciousness, we must grapple with how to define it and, in the age of artificial intelligence, who or what might possess it. Conscious offers lively and challenging arguments that alter our ideas about consciousness—allowing us to think freely about it for ourselves, if indeed we can.Some books on consciousness I have. May help in building your reading list. https://t.co/UCk9tVQb92
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Haruki Murakami
In a best-selling memoir, the award-winning Japanese writer recalls his preparation for the 2005 New York City marathon, interweaving his reflections on the meaning of running in his life, his thoughts on the writing process and career, and his greatest triumphs and disappointments. Reprint.What a beautifully written #book. This book is more about growing old than running. Also, my first memoir in a long while. What other such books will you recommend? https://t.co/7GmXorzBvN
How Not to Be Wrong
Jordan Ellenberg
"Using the mathematician's method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic community to the layman, minus the jargon ... Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide those not trained in math with the knowledge they need"--A beautiful #book. Mathematics is not a subject, but rather a way of thinking. This book is an interesting tour of how mathematics can help you think clearly and know for sure what you should be uncertain about Somewhat focused on US (politics, culture), but I recommend it. https://t.co/MGoigYZHga
Monetizing Innovation
Madhavan Ramanujam
"The book explains how most companies get sidetracked by Product-Driven Thinking and how to innovate by starting with the price customers will pay, and creating the product for that price. It will present a process that Simon-Kucher & Partners has used to help dozens of others avoid innovation failure by making pricing and marketing their guiding light throughout the product development process"--Finished reading this #book. Consider it as the “Lean Startup” equivalent for scaled up companies. Very practical, hands on guide to process of innovating that prioritise discovering willingness to pay for a product before building anything. https://t.co/dc0hxeVsgF
The World Beyond Your Head
Matthew B. Crawford
Such a beautifully written #book. Each page has multiple quotable lines. Planning to write my notes on the book soon, but the big idea in it is that constraints - and not absolute freedom - is what leads to human flourishing. Highly recommended reading multiple times. https://t.co/BaKotzBcSD
The Mystery of Existence
Milton K. Munitz
@siddharthvaderr @TheRunt6 May I recommend reading this book: https://t.co/AFF0kyj7Qj It's a category error to club the gravitation and reason-for-world's-existience questions together. The book illustrates why.existence
The Secret of Our Success
Joseph Henrich
Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory. Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.Wow, what a magnificent #book. So happy to have stumbled across this via @slatestarcodex review of it https://t.co/kDvNQK2J0y Consider this book as the scientifically accurate version of Sapiens, which is written by an actual professor of anthropology (and not a historian) https://t.co/excUyfLxoR
The Mom Test
Rob Fitzpatrick
The Mom Test is a quick, practical guide that will save you time, money, and heartbreak. They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea, because she loves you and will lie to you. This is technically true, but it misses the point. You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea. It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little . As a matter of fact, it's not their responsibility to tell you the truth. It's your responsibility to find it and it's worth doing right . Talking to customers is one of the foundational skills of both Customer Development and Lean Startup. We all know we're supposed to do it, but nobody seems willing to admit that it's easy to screw up and hard to do right. This book is going to show you how customer conversations go wrong and how you can do better.@varunjain Yes, it’s an amazing book.
Finite and Infinite Games
James Carse
“There are at least two kinds of games,” states James P. Carse as he begins this extraordinary book. “One could be called finite; the other infinite.” Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end. But infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play. The rules may change, the boundaries may change, even the participants may change—as long as the game is never allowed to come to an end. What are infinite games? How do they affect the ways we play our finite games? What are we doing when we play—finitely or infinitely? And how can infinite games affect the ways in which we live our lives? Carse explores these questions with stunning elegance, teasing out of his distinctions a universe of observation and insight, noting where and why and how we play, finitely and infinitely. He surveys our world—from the finite games of the playing field and playing board to the infinite games found in culture and religion—leaving all we think we know illuminated and transformed. Along the way, Carse finds new ways of understanding everything, from how an actress portrays a role to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil to the nature of science. Finite games, he shows, may offer wealth and status, power and glory, but infinite games offer something far more subtle and far grander. Carse has written a book rich in insight and aphorism. Already an international literary event, Finite and Infinite Games is certain to be argued about and celebrated for years to come. Reading it is the first step in learning to play the infinite game.James Carse’s book Finite and Infinite Games has been one of the biggest influences on how I think about life. May more people abandon finite games and embrace the joy of never ending play. https://t.co/NBPmGpo4e5
Deep Work
Cal Newport
One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results. Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way. In DEEP WORK, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill. A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, DEEP WORK takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. DEEP WORK is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.@VaibhavTake1 Yes, highly recommend the book.
Hackers & Painters
Paul Graham
Everything around us is turning into computers. Typewriters, phones, cars, letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls "an intellectual Wild West."Reading this #book by @paulg. Will keep sharing notes in this thread as I go along. https://t.co/8QyMYD9wgz
Do Design
Alan Moore
So much goes unnoticed. We multi-task, switch between screens, work faster. When was the last time you paused to consider a beautifully made object or stunning natural landscape? Yet this is when our spirits lift, our soul is restored. Some say beauty is a luxury. But what if it is key to creating a better world for us all? Designer Alan Moore invites us to rethink not only what we produce whether it s a website, a handmade chair, or a business but how and why. With examples including Pixar, Apple, Yeo Valley and Blitz Motorcycles, we are encouraged to ask: is it useful and considered. Is it a thing of beauty? Do Design you will inspire you to: - Improve your creative process - Raise the quality and craft of your work - Consider the experience as much as the product - Adopt simplicity, utility and honesty as guiding principles We are creative beings. We love to make things. This book will inspire you to create better things, for better reasons. Things that people will love for a long time to come."I love books that can be read in a sitting and feel solid while holding. This #book is compact but full of inspiration to aim at achieving beauty in your work. https://t.co/l9gFtyR2I1
The Theory That Would Not Die
Sharon Bertsch Mcgrayne
@sahilkukreja9 Yes, book isn’t about Bayes but its history. I learned new things: - How it was used for finding lost submarines and nuclear bombs - How it was used to win World War II (and kept confidential) - How frequentists fought tooth and nail to keep Bayes worldview away
Conscious
Annaka Harris
As concise and enlightening as Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, this mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience. What is consciousness? How does it arise? And why does it exist? We take our experience of being in the world for granted. But the very existence of consciousness raises profound questions: Why would any collection of matter in the universe be conscious? How are we able to think about this? And why should we? In this wonderfully accessible book, Annaka Harris guides us through the evolving definitions, philosophies, and scientific findings that probe our limited understanding of consciousness. Where does it reside, and what gives rise to it? Could it be an illusion, or a universal property of all matter? As we try to understand consciousness, we must grapple with how to define it and, in the age of artificial intelligence, who or what might possess it. Conscious offers lively and challenging arguments that alter our ideas about consciousness—allowing us to think freely about it for ourselves, if indeed we can.Beautiful, compact intro to the wonderful hope that one day we will have an Einstein of consciousness studies who will illuminate the mysteries. Read this #book by @annakaharris https://t.co/mqEjCOlVDA
The Selfish Gene
Richard Dawkins
With a new epilogue to the 40th anniversary edition.@vikSchandra My all time favorite science books are: selfish gene and the brief history of time.
Zero to One
Peter Thiel
The billionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur behind such companies as PayPal and Facebook outlines an innovative theory and formula for building the companies of the future by creating and monopolizing new markets instead of competing in old ones. 200,000 first printing.@pradologue I remember gifting these 3 books to entire @wingify team: - Zero to One - Beginning of Infinity - What got you here won’t get you there One time, there was a theory going around in @wingify that I’m trying to brainwash people through books :)
The Beginning of Infinity
David Deutsch
A pioneer in the field of quantum computation explores the nature and progress of knowledge in the universe, arguing that humans are subject to the laws of physics but unlimited by what can be understood, controlled, and achieved.@pradologue I remember gifting these 3 books to entire @wingify team: - Zero to One - Beginning of Infinity - What got you here won’t get you there One time, there was a theory going around in @wingify that I’m trying to brainwash people through books :)
The Secret of Our Success
Joseph Henrich
How our collective intelligence has helped us to evolve and prosper Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory. Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.9/ I found the review by @slatestarcodex really well written. The book is “The Secret of Our Success” Read the full review here: https://t.co/kDvNQKkkp8
The Timeless Way of Building
Christopher Alexander
This introductory volume to Alexander's other works, A Pattern of Language and The Oregon Experiment, explains concepts fundamental to his original approaches to the theory and application of architectureNotes from this classic #book on architecture that I read recently. (A thread) https://t.co/f53BQ7RsKk
QED
Richard P. Feynman
An amazing #book. Can be read by the lay person. Wonderful explanations of quantum mechanics and interaction of photos and electrons. Highly recommended. https://t.co/54rDVcuW4A
Good Strategy, Bad Strategy
Richard P. Rumelt
Argues that a manager's central responsibility is to create and implement strategies, challenges popular motivational practices, and shares anecdotes discussing how to enable action-oriented plans for real-world results.@abhirajbutala Amazing book. Changed the way I interpreted the word “strategy” - Goals != strategy - If you don’t leave out something, it’s not a strategy - “We will beat competitors” isn’t a strategy
Shoe Dog
Phil Knight
In this instant and tenacious New York Times bestseller, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh” (Booklist, starred review), illuminating his company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. Bill Gates named Shoe Dog one of his five favorite books of 2016 and called it “an amazing tale, a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like. It’s a messy, perilous, and chaotic journey, riddled with mistakes, endless struggles, and sacrifice. Phil Knight opens up in ways few CEOs are willing to do.” Fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his car in 1963, Knight grossed eight thousand dollars that first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In this age of start-ups, Knight’s Nike is the gold standard, and its swoosh is one of the few icons instantly recognized in every corner of the world. But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always been a mystery. In Shoe Dog, he tells his story at last. At twenty-four, Knight decides that rather than work for a big corporation, he will create something all his own, new, dynamic, different. He details the many risks he encountered, the crushing setbacks, the ruthless competitors and hostile bankers—as well as his many thrilling triumphs. Above all, he recalls the relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers. Together, harnessing the electrifying power of a bold vision and a shared belief in the transformative power of sports, they created a brand—and a culture—that changed everything.@izshreyansh This book is so well written. Almost a page turner.
Deep Work
Cal Newport
One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results. Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way. In DEEP WORK, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill. A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, DEEP WORK takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. DEEP WORK is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.@product1guy Love this book. Influenced my workday significantly
Being Ecological (The MIT Press)
Timothy Morton
My notes and interpretation of the #book “Being Ecological” by @the_eco_thought It’s a short book that I read back to back, twice. I highly recommend it. https://t.co/fGZLmxAknA
Systematic Trading
Robert Carver
This is not just another book with yet another trading system. This is a complete guide to developing your own systems to help you make and execute trading and investing decisions. It is intended for everyone who wishes to systematise their financial decision making, either completely or to some degree. Author Robert Carver draws on financial theory, his experience managing systematic hedge fund strategies and his own in-depth research to explain why systematic trading makes sense and demonstrates how it can be done safely and profitably. Every aspect, from creating trading rules to position sizing, is thoroughly explained. The framework described here can be used with all assets, including equities, bonds, forex and commodities. There is no magic formula that will guarantee success, but cutting out simple mistakes will improve your performance. You'll learn how to avoid common pitfalls such as over-complicating your strategy, being too optimistic about likely returns, taking excessive risks and trading too frequently. Important features include: - The theory behind systematic trading: why and when it works, and when it doesn't. - Simple and effective ways to design effective strategies. - A complete position management framework which can be adapted for your needs. - How fully systematic traders can create or adapt trading rules to forecast prices. - Making discretionary trading decisions within a systematic framework for position management. - Why traditional long only investors should use systems to ensure proper diversification, and avoid costly and unnecessary portfolio churn. - Adapting strategies depending on the cost of trading and how much capital is being used. - Practical examples from UK, US and international markets showing how the framework can be used. Systematic Trading is detailed, comprehensive and full of practical advice. It provides a unique new approach to system development and a must for anyone considering using systems to make some, or all, of their investment decisions.A good, no-nonsense #book that relies more on common sense to design a system rather than torturing the data long enough to fund spurious patterns that work in theory but fail in practice. https://t.co/pHbT3FnfJH
The Origin of Wealth
Eric D. Beinhocker
What is wealth?How is it created? And how can we create more of it for the benefit of individuals, businesses, and societies?In The Origin of Wealth,Eric Beinhocker provides provocative new answers to these fundamental questions. Beinhocker surveys the cutting-edge ideas of economists and scientists and brings their work alive for a broad audience. These researchers, he explains, are revolutionizing economics by showing how the economy is an evolutionary system, much like a biological system. It is economic evolution that creates wealth and has taken us from the Stone Age to the $36.5 trillion global economy of today. By better understanding economic evolution, Beinhocker writes, we can better understand how to create more wealth. The author shows how “complexity economics” is turning conventional wisdom on its head in areas ranging from business strategy and organizational design to investment strategy and public policy. As sweeping in scope as its title,The Origin of Wealthwill rewire our thinking about the workings of the global economy and where it is going.@seneca_nt @stevenstrogatz Another good book in unrelated field is origin of wealth https://t.co/uTknrzm9DT
Life Unfolding
Jamie A. Davies
Where did I come from? Why do I have two arms but just one head? How is my left leg the same size as my right one? Why are the fingerprints of identical twins not identical? How did my brain learn to learn? Why must I die? Questions like these remain biology's deepest and most ancient challenges. They force us to confront a fundamental biological problem: how can something as large and complex as a human body organize itself from the simplicity of a fertilized egg? A convergence of ideas from embryology, genetics, physics, networks, and control theory has begun to provide real answers. Based on the central principle of 'adaptive self-organization', it explains how the interactions of many cells, and of the tiny molecular machines that run them, can organize tissue structures vastly larger than themselves, correcting errors as they go along and creating new layers of complexity where there were none before. Life Unfolding tells the story of human development from egg to adult, from this perspective, showing how our whole understanding of how we come to be has been transformed in recent years. Highlighting how embryological knowledge is being used to understand why bodies age and fail, Jamie A. Davies explores the profound and fascinating impacts of our newfound knowledge.@seneca_nt @stevenstrogatz Sorry, I misinterpreted then. I’ve found books on systems biology, evo-devo to be great examples of real life non-linear effects. Specifically this book https://t.co/HsE0WVeo7Q
Arrival of the Fittest
Andreas Wagner
"Wagner draws on over fifteen years of research to present the missing piece in Darwin's theory. Using experimental and computational technologies that were heretofore unimagined, he has found that adaptations are not just driven by chance, but by a set of laws that allow nature to discover new molecules and mechanisms in a fraction of the time that random variation would take"--Amazon.com.@kunalb11 Actually, the entire diversity of life is an example of that but take E. coli as a specific one and read the following snippets from the book. https://t.co/6g18zpRl6G
The Righteous Mind
Jonathan Haidt
Presents a groundbreaking investigation into the origins of morality at the core of religion and politics, offering scholarly insight into the motivations behind cultural clashes that are polarizing America.A decent #book but too verbose. Thankfully, each chapter comes with a summary at the end of it so I could do with just the summary for last few chapters. https://t.co/qLQid6e0zm
Advances in Financial Machine Learning
Marcos Lopez de Prado
Machine learning (ML) is changing virtually every aspect of our lives. Today ML algorithms accomplish tasks that until recently only expert humans could perform. As it relates to finance, this is the most exciting time to adopt a disruptive technology that will transform how everyone invests for generations. Readers will learn how to structure Big data in a way that is amenable to ML algorithms; how to conduct research with ML algorithms on that data; how to use supercomputing methods; how to backtest your discoveries while avoiding false positives. The book addresses real-life problems faced by practitioners on a daily basis, and explains scientifically sound solutions using math, supported by code and examples. Readers become active users who can test the proposed solutions in their particular setting. Written by a recognized expert and portfolio manager, this book will equip investment professionals with the groundbreaking tools needed to succeed in modern finance.A really good #book by @lopezdeprado Will need another reading. Explains the dark and voodoo art of algorithmic trading. Though requires basic knowledge of ML and trading as a prerequisite. https://t.co/XwQf59uw1X
What We Know about Climate Change (The MIT Press)
Kerry Emanuel
An updated edition of a guide to the basic science of climate change, and a call to action. The vast majority of scientists agree that human activity has significantly increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—most dramatically since the 1970s. Yet global warming skeptics and ill-informed elected officials continue to dismiss this broad scientific consensus. In this updated edition of his authoritative book, MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel outlines the basic science of global warming and how the current consensus has emerged. Although it is impossible to predict exactly when the most dramatic effects of global warming will be felt, he argues, we can be confident that we face real dangers. Emanuel warns that global warming will contribute to an increase in the intensity and power of hurricanes and flooding and more rapidly advancing deserts. But just as our actions have created the looming crisis, so too might they avert it. Emanuel calls for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gases and criticizes the media for downplaying the dangers of global warming (and, in search of “balance,” quoting extremists who deny its existence). This edition has been updated to include the latest climate data, a discussion of the earth's carbon cycle, the warming hiatus of the first decade of this century, the 2017 hurricanes, advanced energy options, the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, and more. It offers a new foreword by former U.S. Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC), who now works on climate action through his organization RepublicEN.I asked a neural network (GPT-2) to write an article with the title "Climate Change is a hoax" and here's what it produced. Note: - It made up book title name and quotations by scientists - All content is original (I didn't find exact matches for many phrases on Google) 🤯 https://t.co/KL8ODUywqJ
Surfing Uncertainty
Andy Clark
This title brings together work on embodiment, action, and the predictive mind. At the core is the vision of human minds as prediction machines - devices that constantly try to stay one step ahead of the breaking waves of sensory stimulation, by actively predicting the incoming flow. In every situation we encounter, that complex prediction machinery is already buzzing, proactively trying to anticipate the sensory barrage. The book shows in detail how this strange but potent strategy of self-anticipation ushers perception, understanding, and imagination simultaneously onto the cognitive stage.@kunalb11 Haha. The next one I read in the last week of 2018 so I hope it still counts (because I loved it so much). It’s called “Surfing Uncertainity”. It changed the way I looked at what brain does https://t.co/KfZYQOmqLk
The Theoretical Minimum
Leonard Susskind
A string theorist and a citizen scientist instruct lay readers on elementary principles of physics and associated math that amateur enthusiasts should know in order to study more advanced topics, in a reference that covers such topics as classical mechanics, electromagnetic fields and chaos theory.What a #book to end the decade Even though I didn’t fully comprehend everything in it yet, it certainly provided me with deeper understanding that cannot be had from popular science books PS: principle of least action is mysteriously amazing. Read: https://t.co/0sYoJ4LRuI https://t.co/YY7pBWTMhI
Devil Take the Hindmost
Edward Chancellor
Examines stock market speculation since the seventeenth century, discussing the range of motivations of investors and the effects on economies throughout history.A fascinating account on how “this time it’s different” keeps on repeating for centuries across different cultures and economies. https://t.co/wZSZm9Iw11
Bulls, Bears and Other Beasts
Santosh Nair
What a wonderful #book by @sant0nair. I can almost visualise this book getting adapted for a movie. The early days of Indian stock market and scams are described beautifully. I highly recommend it. https://t.co/Px04W9EMO1
The Outsiders
William Thorndike
It's time to redefine the CEO success story. Meet eight iconoclastic leaders who helmed firms where returns on average outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 20 times.A beautifully written #book. I wish all business books were this concise. Highly recommended. https://t.co/QeapWO7Bx5
Thinking in Systems
Donella H. Meadows
In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet— Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Meadows' newly released manuscript, Thinking in Systems, is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world—war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation—are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner. In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.@mrchrisadams I've read it and it's a good book. I want to be a systems thinker but I know that awareness of it and desire to be a systems thinker won't make me a systems thinker. Our world is far more complex than whatever systems we can model.
The Dhandho Investor
Mohnish Pabrai
A good #book that can be read in a couple of hours. Covers basics of value investing in simple words. https://t.co/73qWozECF7
The Little Book of Valuation
Aswath Damodaran
What a gem of a tiny #book by @aswathdamodaran. TLDR: valuation of a stock really depends on three things: - Post-tax earnings per share of a company that can be given to shareholders - Growth in those earnings over time - Risk (or predictability) of those earnings https://t.co/l6WsWXh0nc
More Than You Know
Michael Mauboussin
Since its first publication, Michael J. Mauboussin's popular guide to wise investing has been translated into eight languages and has been named best business book by BusinessWeek and best economics book by Strategy+Business. Now updated to reflect current research and expanded to include new chapters on investment philosophy, psychology, and strategy and science as they pertain to money management, this volume is more than ever the best chance to know more than the average investor. Offering invaluable tools to better understand the concepts of choice and risk, More Than You Know is a unique blend of practical advice and sound theory, sampling from a wide variety of sources and disciplines. Mauboussin builds on the ideas of visionaries, including Warren Buffett and E. O. Wilson, but also finds wisdom in a broad and deep range of fields, such as casino gambling, horse racing, psychology, and evolutionary biology. He analyzes the strategies of poker experts David Sklansky and Puggy Pearson and pinpoints parallels between mate selection in guppies and stock market booms. For this edition, Mauboussin includes fresh thoughts on human cognition, management assessment, game theory, the role of intuition, and the mechanisms driving the market's mood swings, and explains what these topics tell us about smart investing. More Than You Know is written with the professional investor in mind but extends far beyond the world of economics and finance. Mauboussin groups his essays into four parts-Investment Philosophy, Psychology of Investing, Innovation and Competitive Strategy, and Science and Complexity Theory-and he includes substantial references for further reading. A true eye-opener, More Than You Know shows how a multidisciplinary approach that pays close attention to process and the psychology of decision making offers the best chance for long-term financial results.Good set of essays in this #book by @mjmauboussin The diversity of topics touched is fantastic though I wish there was more depth. Recommended. https://t.co/p9lPwmK8n0
Warren Buffett's Ground Rules
Jeremy Miller
At the age of 26, Warren Buffett founded Buffett Partnership Limited, which lasted from 1956 to 1970. During this time he wrote 33 letters to his small but growing group of partners. These letters chronicle his thoughts, approaches and reflections in the period immediately prior to his Berkshire Hathaway tenure - one that saw an unprecedented record of investing success. This early period was astonishing: in 1968 he beat the Dow by more than 50%. Because Buffett wanted to ensure that his partners understood his process, he wrote letters. In them, he sets out what he termed "ground rules" for investing that remain startlingly relevant today for every type of investor - from beginners to sophisticated pros. Warren Buffett's Ground Rules brings together, for the first time, and with Buffett's blessing, the key investment principles and teachings the letters reveal. Here you will find the basis for Buffett's contrarian diversification strategy, his almost religious celebration of compounding interest and his tactics for bettering market results by at least 10% annually.Quoting extensively and directly from Buffett, equity research expert Jeremy Miller introduces us to the timeless advice the letters contain, demonstrating a set of highly effective investment strategies that continue to resonate today.A good, short #book chronicling pre-Berkshire day’s of Warren Buffet’s investment philosophy. Can be read in 1-2 days. Recommended. https://t.co/9uG4NVlun1
Straw Dogs
JOHN GRAY
A radical work of philosophy, which sets out to challenge our most cherished assumptions about what it means to be human. John Gray explores how the world and human life look once humanism has been finally abandoned.The central message of this wonderful #book is that humans feel special and apart from animals when they’re also just another animal. We preach morality and purpose but in reality we live, eat, fuck and die. https://t.co/GOZtCkTZxi
Debt
David Graeber
A revised and updated edition of the international bestseller. Graeber, one of the early organisers of Occupy Wall Street and a well regarded academic, presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom; he shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods, long before the invention of cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we first see a society divided between debtors and creditors.@siddy_sid001 “Debt: the first 5000 years” by @davidgraeber is an amazing book on the subject
The Soul of the Marionette
John Gray
In his brilliantly enjoyable and freewheeling new book, John Gray draws together the religious, philosophic, and fantastical traditions that question the very idea of human freedom. We flatter ourselves about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous forces--logical, physical, metaphysical--constrain our every action. Many writers and intellectuals have always understood this, but instead of embracing our condition we battle against it, with everyone from world conquerors to modern scientists dreaming of a "human dominion" almost comically at odds with our true state. Filled with wonderful examples and drawing on the widest possible reading (from the Gnostics to Philip K. Dick), The Soul of the Marionette is a stimulating and engaging meditation on everything from cybernetics to the fairground marionettes of the title.That's it. The book touched on many topics on meaning and freedom. I highly recommend reading it. (Thanks to @rdntola for recommending the book) My other book summaries are listed here: https://t.co/JnGi27blI5
The Soul of the Marionette
John Gray
In his brilliantly enjoyable and freewheeling new book, John Gray draws together the religious, philosophic, and fantastical traditions that question the very idea of human freedom. We flatter ourselves about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous forces--logical, physical, metaphysical--constrain our every action. Many writers and intellectuals have always understood this, but instead of embracing our condition we battle against it, with everyone from world conquerors to modern scientists dreaming of a "human dominion" almost comically at odds with our true state. Filled with wonderful examples and drawing on the widest possible reading (from the Gnostics to Philip K. Dick), The Soul of the Marionette is a stimulating and engaging meditation on everything from cybernetics to the fairground marionettes of the title.Recently finished reading the excellent #book "The Soul of The Marionette" by John Gray. It's is a short metaphorical essay on progress in human life. (a thread with my notes on the book) https://t.co/lqDjlMSXth
The Enigma of Reason
Hugo Mercier
Reason, we are told, is what makes us human, the source of our knowledge and wisdom. If reason is so useful, why didn't it also evolve in other animals? If reason is that reliable, why do we produce so much thoroughly reasoned nonsense? In their groundbreaking account of the evolution and workings of reason, Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber set out to solve this double enigma. Reason, they argue with a compelling mix of real-life and experimental evidence, is not geared to solitary use, to arriving at better beliefs and decisions on our own. What reason does, rather, is help us justify our beliefs and actions to others, convince them through argumentation, and evaluate the justifications and arguments that others address to us. In other words, reason helps humans better exploit their uniquely rich social environment. This interactionist interpretation explains why reason may have evolved and how it fits with other cognitive mechanisms. It makes sense of strengths and weaknesses that have long puzzled philosophers and psychologists--why reason is biased in favor of what we already believe, why it may lead to terrible ideas and yet is indispensable to spreading good ones.--9/ That's all. Hope I did justice to the book :) I really like the hypothesis and evidence that reasoning evolved in an interactionist context to convince others, and not in intellectual, truth-seeking context.