Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?

GEB isn't much to do with philosophy at all, it's more focused on computing and touches on philosophy where that seems relevant.

this was the only book I had with me

It’s great though and definitely worth reading.

I read Code Complete twenty years ago and it was a revelation. Revisiting it recently, it seemed dated and bordering on irrelevant.

Could plausibly have read, but also likely to blindly recommend without having read them (I've done that myself, only ever skimmed either): The Mythical Man Month, Code Complete.

I've heard of this book so many times, and have tried to read it many times, but just can never quite finish it

The Design of Everyday Things can be a bit of a drag, and it's just my hunch that not many folks bother to read it all the way through.

Again the mythical man month still holds true

Could plausibly have read, but also likely to blindly recommend without having read them (I've done that myself, only ever skimmed either): The Mythical Man Month, Code Complete.

That's the opposite of dry and long. Not exactly a page-turner but I think I read it in 3 or 4 sessions.

Moby Dick is enhanced by perspective, it's sublime when dwindled to a 3.5 minute LitRap clip.

Extreme Ownership

and the Old Man and the Sea

A history of western philosophy? GEB and that book don't have much overlap in content

Well, it is a textbook -- one doesn't necessarily read a textbook from cover to cover. However, over the years I've certainly covered and re-covered large swathes of it. It is largely irrelevant for deep learning but its still the best reference I know of for the classic methods.

The Elements of Statistical Learning

I read Plato's Republic -- even as a youth. It is very readable and free from fancy prose.