Books which shifted your view
Best books which shifted your view by 180 degrees in a topic on which you thought you were 100% right?
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This is a terrible argument. You can’t just kill unborn babies because you assume they will be bums.
agreed, this argument, logically, turns into why not just kill all the homeless and poor.
just because someone might turn out to be a bum doesn't mean that they shouldn't get a chance to exist lol
Subject: “Books which shifted your view.”
Content: “Books which shifted your view 180 degrees.”
They are not the same. I’ve had books that shifted my view, but not 180 degrees.
Topic: What the content will be about. Contet: The final idea which one wants to share (more detailed than the topic).
Anyway, no big deal, thx for the comment.
Your content is 180 degrees from your subject. I’m sure your ability to articulate ideas in real life is fragmented as well.
Anyway, no big deal, thx for the comment. ;)
Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Taleb
Never Split the Difference - Christopher Voss
How did your view change 180 degrees?
antifragile, zero to one, skin in the game
taleb is a genius. the whole incerto is a must read
C'mon. He's entertaining, but hardly groundbreaking. Life is full of random freak events, so be nimble and be adaptable. That is Taleb's philosophy, condensed. Hard to disagree with him, but not "genius".
Still no one has claimed a 180 degree shift in thinking which is as RARE as thinking black is white.
Not a book, but the rational reminder podcast completely changed how I think about investing.
autobiography of malcolm x - fuck a finance book read about malcolm x
agree, inspiring story
Based and malcolmXpilled
The prince and the 48 laws of power didn’t shift my views, but definitely opened my eyes quite a bit
I feel like we have this type of thread so often, it should be pinned. Personally, general writings of Stoicism (Letters of a Stoic, Meditations, etc.) and some religious writings (The Cloud of Unknowing). Taleb's writings are great too.
Edit: there are a couple books that actually did open my eyes a lot to the built environment: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs and Strong Towns by Charles Marohn. The first's excerpts are usually read in urban planning classes, but it's an interesting book about the human perspective of urban design (a bit dated but most of it still holds true and it does provoke a lot of questions and discussion). Strong Towns is focused on more productive use of real estate and changing urban design so that it's both more human-focused and economically productive.
influence - Cialdini
the one book that shifted my belief 180 degrees was a book on God I read when I was 14 and I cannot recall anything else about the description (The title was "God?") and given the title it's near impossible to find on amazon but what it did was stop my atheism. to be sure, I'm not a church goer but the book was essentially a christian and an atheist scientist having a written debate on the existence of God and the scientist's arguments were so flimsy that it caused me to become less attached to my beliefs.
I will say taleb, stoicism, 7 habits, etc have all been monumentally influential on my life but I cannot say those were 180 degree shifts
So... one book that is so poorly received it basically isn't in print anymore is your basis for theism?
All of your beliefs and choices are your own, of course, but that's the kind of flimsy justifications that atheists and agnostics laugh about. As far as you're trying to "rationalize" your faith, that isn't a rationalization at all. It's being incredibly selective in the "evidence" you choose.
Also, atheism isn't a belief. It's a lack of belief, and concurrently a commitment to an evidentiary worldview. I know that's pedantic, but I feel the need to push back on it, because it's what gives theocrats of all stripes the ammunition to draw equivalence between their barbaric Bronze Age nonsense with modern ethics and philosophy.
I said that "it caused me to become less attached to my beliefs" I didn't say it became the basis for my belief, that took more time to develop. by being less attached to my beliefs I opened myself more to contrary points of view instead of having my heels dug in all of the time. that's the 180 I was referencing
"commitment to an evidentiary worldview".....unless you find disagreement with the evidence. See our abortion discussion above. Are you really commited to an evidentiary worldview or do you reject evidence and science when it doesn't fit your worldview?
To some of the above points, my view likely hasn't been shifted 180 degrees on anything but several books have had an impact on me, so here you go:
Rational Optimist! Great piece, I forgot ALL about that one. I read that when it first came out... 2010 or 2011 IIRC? Really enjoyed that one, think I lent it to my mom and never got it back. Oh well, it's an excuse to give her a ring now. May have to pick that one back up, thanks for reminding me!
It's a solid read! And pretty easy to knock out quickly as well. I saw you highlighted Atomic Habits below as well, that's another great suggestion.
Surprised that no one has mentioned Atomic Habits by James Clear yet. I think a lot of the time it gets overplayed and has unfortunately been construed to weird viewpoints (it's getting that 'mainstream decline' issue), but it's truly an amazing book. Get 1% better every day. That's the motto, and while it's not as easy as it sounds, striving for 1% every single day will undoubtedly make you a better person.
“Every action is a vote for the person you wish to become.” ~James Clear
Truly a great read. If you don't have the time to sit down and read the full book, consider checking out him speaking on the subject below. speaks very eloquently and efficiently, and it's a great read.
Not books, but a couple essays I've read have shifted my view 180 degrees (or near enough) on the moral justification for the 2003 Iraq War. From against, to for, if that is of interest.
interested, which papers?
It was many, many years ago so I forget. I'll try and remember if I have a free moment and see if I can find and link them.
Starting with the official Senate Report on Pre-War Intelligence is always a good idea.
https://web.archive.org/web/20071225161422/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ser…
One of it's findings was that while they found no meaningful presence of WMDs or the current ability to produce them, investigators concluded that Saddam Hussein was absolutely going to restart production of WMDs the moment sanctions ended. Which were only maintained by force of arms. In other words, we were in a forever war there whether we liked it or not, right from the word "go".
Mein Kampf
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