Ishmael

Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. One of the few books where you look so differently at the world after reading it that you literally feel like a different person.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn > the world doesn't belong to man, man belongs to the world. and The Little Book of Humanism

For me, some of the best books I read this year, are: - Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, I have seen many narratives on the fault at the core of current values and goals of human civilization, but never saw a laid out alternative. Whatever it might be, I like the book for attempting at presenting one. - Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, I like this book for extremely original thoughts. This books was so thin (~200 pages), yet it was grand. I also wrote a review [0]. - The Happiness Trap by Russ Hariss, was very helpful to me in sorting through some things. Very practical book. - Anathem by Neal Stephenson, one of the most original book, and probably the best one by Stephenson. Very original ideas, mind expanding. - Permutation City by Greg Egan, this book raised the standard for possibly all SciFi book that I will read in the future. Extremely original and grand ideas. - The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, another book that lays out alternatives to what is now considered mainstream.…

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. As for why it bit and stung me: IYKYK, I guess? Any reasons more than that tend to start flame wars.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn The titular Ishmael is a gorilla who learns to communicate with humans (telepathically) and seeks to teach humanity how to see the underlying cultural narratives that we are captive to, and that define our entire worldview. It's set up as a Socratic dialogue so the character of the pupil can be a bit annoying in his boneheadedness (a device used by the author to advance his points) but otherwise an excellent read. Its main lesson is that culture tells us there is only one way for civilization to act in the world and that we cannot examine this imposition -- because of the "fish asks 'what's water?'" situation we're in -- until we really unpack what narratives are driving people to act and think in the ways they do. These narratives were never independently developed by the people acting through them but rather largely inherited from what is said (how topics are conceptualized) and what's not said (how topics are avoided) that keeps these narratives self-propagating through society.

My field of study (what I really like to think and learn about) isn't my field of work, but I like the question so I'll spill some thoughts. I spend a lot of time thinking about philosophical-ish stuff, so here are some books that have had the strongest residual effects (whether that's changing how I think, changing what I think about, changing my values, or simply getting the thought ball rolling faster): Ishmael (Daniel Quinn) 1984 (George Orwell) Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas Hofstadter) The Republic [imp. "the allegory of the cave"] (Plato) The Genealogy of Morals (Friedrich Nietzsche) The Social Construction of Reality (Peter L. Berger, Thomas Luckmann) Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (L. Wittgenstein) Dissemination [imp. "The Pharmakon"] (Jacques Derrida) The Quest for Reality (Barry Stroud) Languages of Art (Nelson Goodman) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas Kuhn) Concepts (Jerry Fodor) The Web of Life (Fritjof Capra) Foucault's Pendulum (Umberto Eco) Naming and Necessity (Saul Kripke) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig)…

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It is short, and written in a Socratic dialogue, and helped me understand how and why society appears to be destroying itself.

Not sure if these books are unknown or fallen out of favor, but I've never spoken to anyone else who's read them without me passing them on first: Travels - Michael Crichton - a number of useful life lessons I'm only just catching up on https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travels-Vintage-Departures-Michael-... (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travels-Vintage-Departures-Michael-Crichton/dp/0804171270/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E8SW874CLAC8&keywords=travels+michael+crichton&qid=1579527486&sprefix=travels+micha%2Caps%2C292&sr=8-1) The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ragged-Trousered-Philanthropists-Wo... (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ragged-Trousered-Philanthropists-Wordsworth-Classics/dp/184022682X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1DN57D10PVLZS&keywords=ragged+trousered+philanthropist&qid=1579527544&sprefix=ragged+tr%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1) Ishmael https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ishmael-Novel-Book-1-ebook/dp/B000S... (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ishmael-Novel-Book-1-ebook/dp/B000SEFH6A/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ismael&qid=1579527572&sr=8-1)…

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Atlas Shrugged had the most profound impact on me. Ishmael was a funny, short and enlightening read.

Some books have been very influential on how I see the world. Ishmael is one about an intelligent ape that explains the natural world to a guy in socratic dialogue style. Guns Germs and Steal. The Forest People, a book from the 60s by an anthropologist who lives with a pygmy tribe. These books about where we came from I find really interesting. For self improvement books you can’t go wrong with 7 Habits of a highly effective people. It’s short and to the point and very practical. I’m half way through Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and it’s either way over my head or overrated. I don’t particularly like the narrator which does not help

Understanding Media - Marshall McLuhan The Book: on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are - Alan Watts The Limits to Growth - Donella Meadows Ishmael - Daniel Quinn

- Ishmael and Story of B by Daniel Quinn His thoughts on religion and interpretation of religion as propaganda and how we've framed our taker society very much influenced my young mind. - 1491 and 1493 by Charles C. Mann The way we look at the new world and how vastly different standard teachings and what actually happened are. - A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine Put to words what I already mostly practise, it identified my issues I had with buddhism. - A Dictators Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita An interesting flip on politics, it made me stop worrying so much about the here-and-now of it, and quelled my anger with the (further?) realisation that it is a game. If we want to fix what's happening we need to fix the rules, not the players.

I'm currently reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann, excellent book about the Americas before Columbus and how much of what we have been taught is either incorrect or misinformed. A follow up to this is 1943, what happened in the Americas after the arrival of Columbus. A great pair of books. I'll also say Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and The Story of B are two of my favourite books.

I just finished this: http://www.amazon.com/The-Antidote-Happiness-Positive-Thinki... (http://www.amazon.com/The-Antidote-Happiness-Positive-Thinking/dp/0865478015) I think you will like it. It paints Buddhism and Stoicism in a very pragmatic light. I second the Discworld recomendation. The series is fantastic. Read everything Pratchett has written, it is worth it. Also: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn: the only book to truly explain the genesis scripture. The prophet by Khalil Gibran: One of the most beautiful books I've read. And please ignore Paulo Coelho books. Paulo Coelho is to Richard Bach what Dan Brown is to Humberto Eco.

In no particular order: Politics and philosophy: Ishmael - Daniel Quinn (even though in the end, it's just a cute, in essence a softies introduction to anarchist communism) On property - Proudhon (Meta, ye oldist anarchy) Das Kapital (If you read Marx, also read on Marx, can't stress this enough) Beyond good and evil (but in his thought in general) - Nietzsche (Mainly for showing there are no absolutes, moral is what we make of it, and in that moral we can excel) And so, so many others, philosophy really adds up, just keep on reading, there's fundamental books for sure, but every publication adds up in some respect. Sports and nutrition: Starting Strength (for making me bad ass strong in the last couple years) 'Paleo' diet (for showing an extreme solution for a more simple problem, that actually worked and made me not fat anymore) Some random books that made a huge impression the last years: The Alchemist, for showing how humble you can experience the wonders of life Siddhartha, same really. A short summer of anarchy (biography of Durrutti, rise of anarchism in 30s Spain, out of print)…

"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn (as well as "My Ishmael") changed how I view the world and how I characterize contemporary issues. The Takers/Leavers dichotomy, while a tad simplistic, was jaw-dropping at the time. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" had a similar effect, though with the Classicist/Romanticist split more than any other part of the book. Also: "Itty-bitty rules for itty-bitty people" made quite a few things make sense.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance The Fountainhead Ishmael by Daniel Quinn The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Explains an ethical viewpoint in a very clear style. Changed the way I think about human progress.

That's too bad--some of the most interesting parts of the book are analysis of Western religions and their common conclusions about the role humanity plays in the universe. Pretty eye-opening stuff

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn--a novel about the most basic of assumptions civilization makes about humanity's manifest destiny. Eye-opening.