Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

-Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas Hosfstadter)

The actual advice is very good and focuses on empathy and kindness; timeless concepts.

Dale Carnegie's Winning Friends and Influencing people is so simple, but the technique really works.

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Same.

Thinking Fast and Slow - made me think about all of the biases that my mind has that I dont even realize

The latter helped me internalise that my thinking, like most humans, is biased.

"Thinking, Fast and Slow": This book made me truly appreciate the value of psychology.

Markus Aurelius - Meditations

Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. Bottom line: judge your success in life by how well you make your decisions, not by your outcome.

K&R's C Programming Language is one. It showed me that a technical book can be concise, well written and enjoyable to read.

I think about this book almost daily.

Herman Hesse - Steppenwolf , Siddhartha and The glass bead game (Magister Ludi)

'The Selfish Gene' by Richard Dawkins. I have a Bachelor degree in science and never thought I'd be able to add to my understanding of evolution, but this book accomplished it.

The Selfish Gene & The Blind Watchmaker by Dawkins Evolution is the reason we exist! Understanding how it happens and why it can lead to counterintuitive outcomes is very important.

"The selfish gene" changed the way I define life, opened my eyes to virtual life, and morality of selfishness vs. altruism.

-Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman (you guys probably already know this)

The Black Swan & Fooled by Randomness by Taleb The role of chance in everyday life! It plays a big role!

I would argue "Guns, Germs and Steel" is actually better than Sapiens.

Guns, Germs and Steel. So many types of thinking and areas of science that I wasn't aware of.

The idea that external factors like geographical starting conditions can have a huge impact and shape things as complex as human culture is a powerful one, regardless of the conclusions drawn in the book.