Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a HN favorite, but seems to have dropped off the charts. It's not exactly CS, but covers the topic of tech and quality.

Moby Dick, Herman Melville VALIS, Philip K Dick Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance + also Lila, Robert Pirsig Naked Lunch, William Burroughs Immortality, Milan Kundera Catch-22, Joseph Heller (pair with The Deserters, Charles Glass -- In fact a lot of the stuff in Catch-22 is actually toned down from reality) Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha, Daniel Ingram (but ignore 80% of it)

there are two: Pirsig's "Zen..." and Thoreau's "Walden...." the quality which is defined is not the quality, and the sun is but a morning star. iykyk. no posturing intended, just answering the d*n question.

One of the previous posts mentioned that it changes for them frequently, and I'm pretty much the same way. But for right now: Fiction: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Non-Fiction: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig) - Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid (Hofstadter) - Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness (Penrose) - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (Suzuki) - Demian (Hesse) - The Stranger (Camus) - Slaughterhouse-Five (Vonnegut) - Another Roadside Attraction (Robbins) I have read many books that have had an impact on me for a time, but these are the books that have had an enduring impact going on now for decades. And yes, one of these books, Another Roadside Attraction, is unlike the others. You can substitute any Tom Robbins book, or read them all!, but this is the book that started it all for me. Tom Robbins' books taught me to not take life so seriously. Demian and The Stranger may be fiction, but let's just say their purpose is to get across a philosophical point. Finally, with regards to Slaughterhouse-Five, you'll just have to read it. Enjoy!

Pirsig's book is not really about engineering, but about how we engineers relate to the world. In engineering school I was taught to see the world in a special and unique way, to be able to solve engineering problems as a professional. In the book, this worldwiew is very well laid out. An example: > Precision instruments are designed to achieve an idea, dimensional precision, whose perfection is impossible. There is no perfectly shaped part of the motorcycle and never will be, but when you come as close as these instruments take you, remarkable things happen, and you go flying across the countryside under a power that would be called magic if it were not so completely rational in every way. It's the understanding of this rational intellectual idea that's fundamental. John looks at the motorcycle and he sees steel in various shapes and has negative feelings about these steel shapes and turns off the whole thing. I look at the shapes of the steel now and I see ideas. He thinks I'm working on parts. I'm working on concepts.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

> - "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig. Truly marvelous book and nice to read. This book requires the reader to be of certain kind attaining a certain level. Without that, this book will seem a fluff and overrated hugely. Fundamentally changed my thinking It seems I am the kind of not reaching the certain level as I had to drop the book halfway due to being boring. Not trying to troll here, but would you kindly elaborate how the book helped to changed thinking? I am trying to understand what did I miss here.

Fiction: - "The Dark Forest" by Liu Cixin and the whole Three Body Problem/Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. Truly massive, grand SciFi. Would recommend 10/10. [HN] - "Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy. Made me face deeper parts of my mind. Attempted to answer some questions I had. Great story. Huge book. Historical fiction is something I like across languages. - "Candide" by Voltaire. Genuinely fun and entertaining, besides it being- you know- Voltaire. - "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson. Very good story, world buulding, nice technology. Great thinking by the author. Non Fiction: - "Fermat's Last Theorem" by Simon Singh. Was very happy to see a Popular Math book where there are so many Popular Science books. Great book. Goes over FMT's solving history, with many many fun anecdotes, short biographies, etc. Truly enjoyable to read. - "Code Book" by Simon Singh. Genuinely fun and learned a lot. Cryptography's history, progress, and so much more. [HN] Self-Help:…

Easily one of my favourite books. My advice for anyone reading it is not to see it as a philosophical book, although some of the philosophical digressions are extremely interesting. Rather, read it as an autobiography of a person suffering from an obsession, and his quest to connect with his son. The end was very satisfying from this point of view. Edit: so to answer your points 1. No need to. 2. Worth reading the whole thing. 3. At the first reading when younger, one might focus too much on the philosophy and miss the story of the person behind the thoughts. It's not a book where you learn philosophy, but how this person thinks and how it impacts his life. With some life experience and perspective this aspect is much more interesting.

1. Most definitely 2. The revelation about quality 3. I've read it three or four times, generally about ten years apart. I'm due...

I have tried reading this twice but couldn't get past 30 pages or so. I was enjoying the read but not sure what made me drop it both times. I was much younger though, so perhaps a 3rd attempt is in order.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Good take on what is quality vs function and form. Art of War. Good example of a creature to last a damn long time.

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)…

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance is a classic, written by a technical writer, and touches on the subject at some length.

Came here to say this. I reread it every ten years or so and each time I find something new in it.

I really liked ZAMM the first few times I read it, when I was very young, and for a while thought it was the greatest book ever. With age and experience comes wisdom, though, and over the years I recognized that there is a lot of pretentious pseudo-scientific crap in there. The part about "Gumption Traps" is very true and valid, however, and following Pirsig's advice on that front has saved me countless hours of fruitless troubleshooting.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read this as part of course but it really stuck with me.

Kind of a dumb title, but it'll make sense when you read it. I have zero interest in motorcycles (let alone maintenance), but it's a fantastic read.

I'm aiming to read Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. I'm always being told I should read it, but the title has always put me off. I used to read a lot, but over the past few years I've read less and less. 2020 was definitely not a good year for deep reading.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. The only book I've read twice (at about 18 and again in late twenties.) Deep thoughts on the contrast between "pragmatic" vs "romantic" perspectives on life, and the meaning of "Quality".

I could see that. Especially if you read it. The premise centers around the idea of a Chautauqua, so I think it does really well as an audio book.

Interesting, this book got some heat when I asked about books people do not recommend some time ago :) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16785473

Seconding that. Fantastic book!

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Preferably the audio book.

- Anna Karenina: Tolstoy knows people better than they know themselves - Brave New World: Aldous Huxley is a genius and a wordsmith - Dune: a sci-fi masterpiece, highly recommended to anyone into sci-fi - Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: not purely fiction but an amazing book I will surely re-read during my lifetime

I've read this twice. Enjoyed it both times and have referred frequently back to it. I second this wholeheartedly Also, random side note, here's an interesting talk given by Ashley Williams on Rust that refers to the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-1so-Ibsg (Zen and the Art of Convincing Your Company to Use Rust)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

This was one of my favorites. The style of writing made me rethink what is possible in storytelling and philosophical/psychological narratives.

"Gumption trap". oh yeah. Book of wisdom. Eventually I read the sequel, also good.

zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance masterpiece

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

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as well as Godel, Escher, Bach. Helped me see the limitations of rationality, rigor, and measurement.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It appeals to a certain type of thinker. For me, it was for confirmation that there was another individual in the universe whose brain worked like mine. This alone was a revelation, even aside from the book's profundity.

Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman The Richest Man in Babylon - George Samuel Clason Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie This is such a beautiful thread!

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The synoptic gospels and NT, but to choose one book from the NT, ... The Epistle of James - as it has some strong counterpoints to other parts of the NT particularly the contrast of Pauline notions of grace with charity/works. Emperor's New Mind, Penrose - probably my biggest take away from it was to consider how human perception works alongside, and co-mingles with, physics. Web of Life, Capra - considering holistic nature of life, one's connection to the World at large; emergent patterns, complex structure birthing from simplicity (goes well with what I recall of Gleick's Chaos). Zen and the Art ... - what is value, what is valuable to me, whither/whence/wherefore value; how should I relate to my children (long before i had any) and how to challenge them philosophically. Republic, Plato - the first book that really set me thinking about the structure of society, about inequalities. And of course about stepping out of The Cave.…

The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav The Naked Ape, by Desmond Morris The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich Hayek The Worldly Philosophers, by Robert Heilbroner The Story of Philosophy, by Will Durant Grammatical Man, by Jeremy Campbell Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance per the recommendations of a lot of HN'ers. Have to say, having a pretty difficult time following it.

They mean 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by the late Robert M. Pirsig - I second the recommendation

- The Pragmatic Programmer - The Practice of Programming - The Mythical Man Month - The Cathedral and the Bazaar - The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Introduction to Algorithms - Hackers and Painters Some of these do contain mixed language code examples, but they are expressed in a way to be agnostic. A problem is a problem; in any language.

1) Jonathan Livingston Seagull. 2) Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. 3) Illusions.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. I've been really taking my time with this one, lots of annotations, lots of re-reading passages and pages. I'm not done yet, but what I've read so far has really spoken to me and provided a lot of clarity where I previously had trouble filling in the blanks.

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. As a scientist, it helped me to realise that the quest for truth is only a tool: I have to choose my own goal. Edit: I also want to mention "Language in Action" by S.I. Hayakawa. I read it too recently to say that it has had the most impact on my life of any book, but it opened my eyes to orders of magnitude more cases of imprecision in our language than I had ever noticed before.

I give Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to High School graduates. It's a good book for that time in a person's life.

1. "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" by Robert Pirsig 2. "The art of war" by Sun Tzu 3. "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

I've read, at the behest of my spouse, The Hobbit and the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. As someone who was never really "into" the whole world Tolkien had created, I must say I was won over by the end. Who wouldn't want to be a hobbit? At least, a hobbit who is not Frodo. Every year or two I give a light reading to Andy Hertzfeld's compilation "Revolution in the Valley", which is a print edition of many (and probably some extras) of the stories available on www.folklore.org I am also midway through "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (Robert M. Pirsig) and I must recommend it. It's got a lot of philosophy in it that I think is both accessible and transcendent all at once. It's actively changing my world view. In terms of skills acquired, I don't typically read for that purpose. I learn skills primarily by active work, not passive ingestion of information.

I haven't read the book, but I found this summary: https://lettersfromtheporch.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/what-yo... (https://lettersfromtheporch.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/what-you-might-discover-from-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/) You are close, but I think the message is more nuanced than you state (as you guessed). What the book seems to be contrasting is the "romantic" view of something (the emotions it generates) and the classical view (the logic and order of something). This applies to a lot of things in life (cooking, music, programming etc) and the book uses the examples of motorcycles. One person doesn't mind tinkering with his motorcycle because it's part of the "experience" and he finds an emotional appeal to it. The other person only sees the motorcycle as a means to a different experience (traveling) and only cares that it works for their purpose. The summmary says, "Only by finding the middle ground that accepts both views can a person deal with the frustration and dissatisfaction of everyday life."…

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is amazing and I happened to read it at just the right time in my life where it shaped a lot of how I think about technology and the different ways to approach it.

It would be great if my manager read anything at all. Having been through a few managers; the good ones read, the bad ones don't read. It doesn't matter what they read, the last good one I had pretty much only read WW2 novels. That being said, I think Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an important read for anyone in technology. It changed how I approach and appreciate technology.

I had the same experience when I read it for the first time, I was skipping over the "philosophy" part to just read about the motorcycle trip. Then I read it the second time. And the "chautauqua" (what the author calls the philosophical discussions) blew my mind! I have read the book 3x so far, and the insights keep deepening.

> Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I really enjoyed the parts of that book that were actually about the motorcycle trip. Pirsig's thoughts on quality didn't resonate with me, at all.

Not really non-fiction, but Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is always a good read. Also if you're just interested in 'stuff', Plato's The Republic is very worth reading : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_%28Plato%29

Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance Godel Escher Bach Time enough for love - Heinlein Illusions -Richard Bach A wrinkle in time Stranger from the depths Sidartha and all the other books by Hess Zen MInd Beginners mind MOre to come Books by Bradbury Books by asimov Just starting Antifragile and it might make the list

> "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsing Seconded. I think this one does a good job at resetting one's worldview to the state of 'what do we actually know?'

"JOB: A Comedy of Justice" by Robert Heinlein "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsing

I liked the part where he talks about gumption traps. Very relevant if you've worked on a big project.

Quiet by Susan Cain, great book about introversion and why we have the "Extrovert Ideal". It's really fascinating to see how introverts have their qualities and how Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert Pirsig: Fantastic book that talks about philosophy in a new way and goes deeper into discovering what's "Quality" and what are the main 2 ways of interacting/reading the world around us. Adam Smith, theory of moral sentiments: Just began the book under ryan holiday advice, but can't really say more about it. Game of thrones, 1st volume, I suppose this book doesn't need any explanation :)

I read this book a few years back and while I found it quite interesting as a story, I did not glean any major insights from it. It most likely has to do with my own ignorance about philosophy, but all I got from the book was that the author hates Aristotle and rigorous classification. And that quality is a more important property than morality.

Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Surprised this wasn't already mentioned, but the best description I've ever read of debugging is in Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (Unsurprisingly, it's about debugging motorcycles, but the author was a programmer so it's directly transferable)

I'm 28 and I've read it 3-4 times now. It's a truly an inspired work. I think that it would appeal to the HN community because the author, Robert Persig, arguably reaches a statement of enlightenment entirely through deductive reasoning. The story is essentially Persig's attempt to piece this whole event together after having undergone electric shock therapy. The story unfolds as Persig and his son travel across the US by motorcycle and is complemented by intermediary "chautauquas" (philosophical monologues) and technical monologues about motorcycle maintenance. The book is an enigma (unlike its sequel "Lila" which is not), and there isn't any other book that I've read that is like it.

I'm 46 and have read it 3 times over the past 25 years. Definitely a book that changed my life!

`Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance` The book looks at what it means to say something has 'quality'. It didn't teach me any new philosophical methods or theories, but it did make me look at my own work differently and start asking: how can I make something with the highest quality? What compromises that quality? What is a method that leads to the highest quality? Translating that to my business life: in the startup scene I've scene a lot of startups treat lean as gospel (myself included at one point), and as a result they compromise on the quality that both themselves and their customers are happy with. So I certainly found it useful to have a book that made me think about this.

re: buddhism: read Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's not about motorcycles. ;)

- Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance was a real eye-opener to me. - Last year, I read both Das Kapital by Karl Marx and The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes. - Walden by Henry David Thoreau Note that these are classic works (Zen is the newest, from 1974), but they haven't lost their relevance yet. Zen is a journey in your mind, disguised as a journey by motorcycle by a father and his son. Das Kapital and GToEIM offer deeper insight in why our economy works the way it does, and I especially liked the contrast between the two books. Walden is difficult to classify. It changed the way I look at things, but I can't say exactly how. Sometimes I encounter a situation and a quote or scene from the book pops up in my head. Highly recommended!

+1 for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It really is as good as its reputation suggests. I re-read it every half-decade or so.

Siddhartha The Alchemist Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance How to Win Friends and Influence People

After reading Game of Thrones I wanted to read more book series, so went with science fiction ones: Started with: Dune, by Frank Herbert (+ 5 books in the series) Continued to: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (+ 3 sequels) Now reading: Foundation by Isaac Asimov (+ 5 books) All those are pretty great in sense of that they take set in span of thousands of years, and touch bit different ideas around society, myths, religion, morals, physical and mental technologies. Other than that, been been enjoying some classic literature, Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, James Clavell, Haruki Murakami and books about Richard Feynman.

Many of the ones I would list have been said before so I'll not list them, but I would also add. Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - at it's core I felt it was about systems and how we can never truly eliminate or remove them from our lives but only replace them with other ones. A hard lesson for me to learn but I feel it really changed the way I look at the world. The Book of Five Rings - it's a book written by a masterless samurai duelist about his thoughts on dueling. But there was one statement in it that changed how I looked at everything, he basically broke down how we shouldn't have favored tools but rather use the ones that are best suited for the task at hand. Which had a profound impact on me. there are more but I'll need time to think about it some more

Yes, I think, there are various takeaways at various levels in that book. The way I understood it, at the surface level, there is the lovely story of Father and Son on a road trip. At deeper levels a lot of things are left to the interpretation of the reader, as it is with most abstract things. He uses the word Quality in the most fundamental way. To me that word held the meaning for his life. Quality in the way in which he understands and reacts to the world. Before he learned to fix his motor cycle, he was at the mercy of various kinds of mechanics with varying skill levels and attitudes. He particularly cites an example of some listening to music while working on the machine. Which he does not like. For him working on the machine or writing technical documents for his job, is a spiritual activity. Also, he makes a point regarding his nervous breakdown, that for others it was a nervous breakdown. But for him, the way he saw it, it was the deepest of meditations. Following which phase the understanding and meaning of Quality, dawned on him, and he was at peace with his life. Also, I found the way he treats his 11 year old son, i.e like an adult, very interesting.…

Last month I read "Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig and just completed reading "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" by Dan Ariely. I would recommend both of these books. I have just started with 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman.

I have been reading "Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance" since I got it couple of days back. I must say that the first chapters of the book are teaching me a few new things. The ability to see things for not "what they are" but "what they mean" is some new gum for me to chew on.

Here are some of the top of my head, assuming you already read some: - The New Capitalist Manifesto - Umar Haque - Net Smart - Howard Rheingold - Delivering Happiness - Tony Hsieh - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig

Ahh true... That book is really deep. I love it. Unrelated comment, but I feel compelled to mention... I just moved to SF and read that book right when I got here, only to find out that Pirsigs son (who is one of the main characters of the book) was stabbed and killed at roughly 22 (I am 25) a few blocks from where I work. For some reason, that story really affected me and has changed the way I look at life. I highly recommend the book to anyone in any field. Being an engineer amplifies its meaning.

Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankel. It was recommended by several friends, and I finally got around to reading it. Helped, along with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to work through my personal thought process. Highly recommended.

Brothers Karamazov Gravity's Rainbow Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanance

Best overall: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and its less well-known sequel, Lila Best fantasy in terms of most imaginative and full of wonder: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. (I know, everyone saw the crappy movie; it simply does not do the book justice.) Best Scifi: The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

"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.

Heinlein: He presents a characterization (or characterizations), but some of his core points soak in over time, as one gains one's own life experience. Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance": For letting me know I was/am not alone (even in my alone-ness). Upon reflection, I guess these books haven't changed my way of thinking. But they've influenced them. Perhaps Heinlein helped me to change from approaching the world as it was presented to me to approaching it as I actually saw and see it. Pirsig helped me recognize and... formalize[1], at least for myself, some of my thoughts on quality. Emily Dickinson: Less really can be more. So much more. -- EDIT: Re [1], perhaps "explore" would be a better word.

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

Reposted from my site: (http://ben.kudria.net/post/2548785108/my-favorite-books-of-2... (http://ben.kudria.net/post/2548785108/my-favorite-books-of-2010)). Affiliate links there, for those inclined. === In 2010, every single book I read, I read on my Kindle. Buying a Kindle has been the best thing I have ever done for my reading addiction. I recently upgraded to a Kindle 3, and I wholeheartedly recommended you get one as well, even if you currently have a Kindle 2. Here are the top books I enjoyed in 2010, and you will enjoy also. - The His Dark Materials Trilogy. Start with The Golden Compass. - The City & The City by China Miéville. Quite the post-modern detective story. (Read also his novel Perdido Street Station) - Surface Detail, the new novel by Iain M. Banks, who has quickly catapulted to the very top of my “Favorite Sci-Fi Authors” list. Surface Detail may not be the best novel for a Banks-unfamiliar reader, however — you may wish to start with something like Consider Phlebas or Look To Windward.…

Non-fiction - 'The Selfish Gene' - Richard Dawkins Grokking the concept changed the way I thought about life forever. - 'Quantum Reality' - Nick Herbert One of the best introductory level books on quantum physics mysteries. No nonsense. - Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig The book that introduced me to Kant, Hume and philosophy of science. Just for that, I'm forever indebted to it. Some favorite fiction books - - Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson Loved 'Snowcrash' too. - 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' - Robert Heinlein - Anything by Kurt Vonnegut, Milan Kundera, Somerset Maugham

Agreed. This book changed my life like very few others have. It completely defies categorization and whatever you're expecting it to be, it isn't.

Definitely all three of these... Plus recently "Made to Stick" has really changed how I think about ideas and sharing them with others. http://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/140... (http://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/1400064287/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282795235&sr=1-1)

The Alchemist http://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Fable-About-Following-Dream/... (http://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Fable-About-Following-Dream/dp/0062502182) Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry... (http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0688002307/) How to win friends an Influence people http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/14... (http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/1439167346)

Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, R Pirsig Recently each of Alain de Botton's books (Status Anxiety, Pleasures and Sorrows of Work and Essays on Love) had a valuable lesson to teach. Alexander Pope's 'Essay on Criticism' (poem, not a book) was one the first poems that I gleaned something from, and that opened up a whole new library of potential reads.

I wouldn't call Zen overrated, at least insofar as it's a relatively easy read which makes some good points. Those points, IMO, are not the author's main philosophical contention, but his presentation of philosophical introspection intertwined with everyday life. Would that more Americans realized they could contemplate metaphysics even while going about their everyday lives.

It is with joy that I answer your question. And if I may be allowed to answer it philosophically. The books you find incredibly interesting may be the books the validate your worldview. There are many of these. The book you find eye-opening may be the books that open the door into the world of philosophy proper for you. There are not many of these because you only need to go through that door once I feel. Also, I would observe that besides Ayn Rand (who for many is not a philosopher) not a single female philosopher has been mentioned here which I find is a damning indictment on the state of affairs of the world of ideas. To remedy that I would recommend to you read A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft or anything by De Beauvoir (and do ignore her contemporary Sartre for he was nothing but a windbag).…

I really enjoyed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It's not quite a philosophy book but I found his take on the concept of 'quality' very useful. To me it's a story of how a westerner discovers eastern philosophy, which is great to read coming from a western perspective.

i'm trying to come up with the right analogy to explain why it isn't and coming up short. if you can imagine a book, work of art, whatever, that explains something other than its obvious subject matter obliquely yet simply & elegantly, this is that sort of book. perhaps analogous to reading some lisp or haskell code that solves a problem you don't care about at all...but realizing that the algorithms were beautiful, appropriate, concise, and powerful despite that? motorcycle maintenance is just a path, metaphor, example used in exploring different outlooks on life (i'd say, the hacker ethic versus the walmart ethic; DIY versus throwaway one-size fits all.) i am also uninterested in motorized transport in general, but have read that book three times and it is the only book i've ever read twice in a row.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Definitely a great read. By the way, if you find Pirsig on the sophists interesting, you might look up Lev Shestov, _Potestas Clavium_.

Anathem, by Neal Stephenson Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins Business Stripped Bare, by Richard Branson Programming Collective Intelligence, by Toby Segaran Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values" - Robert M. Prisig I wouldn't say I agree with all of it, but its a great read nonetheless.

To give an alternate opinion. You should read through the first dialogue and the following chapter, then decide for yourself. Maybe skip ahead a bit. I read half of it sitting in a library when I didn't really have time to read it, it presented ideas I hadn't thought before. I hadn't heard of figure and ground, at least not generalized, so I enjoyed noticing that my conversations jumped around the subject rather than being on the subject. I also hadn't heard about recursion before, so... If the writing engages you then you and presents interesting ideas, to you, in a non-obvious way, then it is worth reading.

>> would you mind writing up a comment with why you found it so profound and enjoyable? It's been many years since I read it, but I can still remember the terror of identifying with its hero and his struggle against insanity and alienation. His struggle to create a connection with his son, his deep sense of caring for him and yet not being able to fully reach him. Pirsig's genius was to get us to identify with its hero Phaedrus, a deeply damaged human being fighting to make sense of his world. Phaedrus is rather clearly an INTP/INTJ personality type, which should only deepen the identification with him by HN readers. His clear explanations of the scientific method in terms of motorcycle maintenance are a big plus as well, especially for me. I worked for several years repairing electronics and, being a philosophical type, was often struck by how similar the process was to scientific experimentation and theory formation. Great read. My books: The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand -- A sharp, bitter, and ultimately soaring defense of the individual against the conformity of the compact majority, without the didacticism and moralizing that marred Rand's later novel, Atlas Shrugged.…

- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig - Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy

The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig Lila: An Inquiry into Morals - Robert M. Pirsig The Open Society and its Enemies - Karl. R. Popper The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks Pale Blue Dot - Carl Sagan The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." from "The Road not Taken" by Robert Frost

The half dozen or so books about Richard Feynman life and approach to problems. (somewhat cliched but) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. GEB.

How about... How the mind works (Pinker) Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance (Pirsig) Sophie's World (Gaarder)

The Robert Pirsig books are excellent: Zen and the Art of Motercycle maintenance, and its sequal Lila.