Have you ever felt that you were able to understand the world better after learning, for example, thermodynamics, even in topics totally unrelated to chemistry and physics? Have you ever noticed that the "patterns & structures of thought" seem to repeat themselves in science, philosophy, and even literature?
What about encountering books that were substantial enough to affect your life after thinking and applying its ideas? Do you consider a certain text to be "foundational" for those in pursuit of knowledge?
I'm hoping to create a list of 15-20 books, in a variety of subjects, that will increase clarity & depth of thought, leaving autodidacts with the mental faculties necessary to tackle future challenges. I would also like to have this list of books be sufficient to achieve a cursory education for people looking to improve their knowledge beyond the dregs of their high school or college education, though this isn't as important.
I need to keep the scope limited to the fundamentals. There are far more than 20 worthwhile books, and this isn't a definitive guide to "the best books ever". Some fields like "economics" may already require proficiency in basic fields like history, mathematics, and philosophy, so it would be redundant to cover include them. Only the bare necessities should be maintained for brevity.
CRITICAL THINKING PRIMERS: How to Read a Book - Mortimer Adler The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric - Sister Miriam Joseph Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman
SELF-REGULATION BASICS The Discourses on Epictetus - Epictetus A Primer in Positive Psychology - Christopher Peterson
SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS Improve your Social Skills - Daniel Wendler No More Mister Nice Guy - Robert Glover
MATHEMATICS BASICS How to Solve It - G. Polya Pre-Calculus – Carl Stitz & Jeff Zeager Elements - Euclid Geometry: Euclid and Beyond - Robin Hartshorne
SCIENCE BASICS The Character of Physical Law - Richard Feynman The Machinery of Life - David Goodsell
HUMANITIES BASICS The Art of Fiction - David Lodge The Socratic Dialogues, The Republic, & The Symposium - Plato The Art of War - Sun Tzu The Bible - KJV Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Jose Diaz
check out Poor Charlie's Almanack and also the reading list he provides in it
Parker Russell
That is my shortlist.
There are some basic topics that I feel like might need more coverage, like algorithms & advanced logic, computer & data science, statistics, natural and social sciences, psychology, world history, government, modern politics & propaganda, history of ideas, phenomenology, communication, poetry & music theory, hermeneutics, religion & spirituality, esoterics & mysticism, semantics & semiotics, reference materials, and books on rigorous writing. Of course, there's also practical living that might be useful to consider as well. You're not smart unless you've built something with your hands, in my opinion.
Otherwise, I think this roughly covers the "breadth" of all of the structures of thought possible for the mind with sufficient depth. It would also give you a passable education, though better curation might improve the final outcome.
Thanks for your time. What are some other books that might be helpful here?
Anthony Martin
I wanna milk in a womans tum tum
Jacob Mitchell
This is interesting. Bump.
Asher Howard
I've never heard of this. Checking this out now.
Austin Adams
Bump and save for massive interest. I want to get ahead of my fellow spics
Josiah Evans
For Biology, Campbell is the most comprehensive book that I know of; but obviously it's a huge field that could fill a dozen libraries and then some.
Thomas Howard
Also I feel like dumping these titles because they're relevant in the modern world, but I don't know which, if any, would I include in any "basic toolkit list:
The Century of Self - Adam Curtis (documentary) 1984 - George Orwell Brave New World - Aldous Huxley Minimalia Moralia - Theodor Adorno Propaganda - Jacques Ellul Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky Propaganda - Edward Bernays
Dominic Collins
Where's Jung?
Henry Phillips
I personally keep Biology by Campbell, Essential Cell Biology by Alberts, and Genetics by Pierce in my personal library. Suits all of my /biology/ needs. But I think that Machinery of Life by David Goodsell is best for understanding the big picture of microbiology.
Maybe we need an additional book for macrobiology, like the environment or evolution. I don't know of any good ones. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Dan Dennett? Stephen Jay Gould? Richard Dawkins? E.O. Wilson? I need 1, maybe 2, books maximum.
Josiah Johnson
I wanted to put Freud, Jung, Heidegger, and some other proto-psychologists, existentialists, and phenomenologists on the list, but then I felt that the list would very quickly grow out of control.
The Century of Self documentary, IMO, is a sufficient "primer" into the subject. Then you can start reading up on whatever you want, whether you want to delve into the cognitive realm, the psychoanalytic realm, or the social realm.
Do you have anything you'd recommend in particular?
Aiden Walker
Add one of any of Robert Cialdini's books onto this list, too. Perhaps Influence, his most famous book.
Jaxson Foster
Looks interesting. Anything good for history & spirituality? Bump.
Adrian Reyes
Atlas of World History - Patrick O'Brien A Concise Economic History of the World - R. Cameron & L. Neal The Story of Civilization - Will Durant
The first is a must. The other two are very helpful supplemental materials.
Austin Roberts
I would suggest "The idiot" (or however is called in english) wrote by Dostoievski
Jaxon Peterson
Thanks senpai
Colton Foster
Anything by Dostoyevsky is great. But desu, I only included him as a "test-run" for literary skills and for the philosophical & psychological themes. I'd love to include the entire literary canon, but then it wouldn't be a toolkit. It'd be a curriculum.
Adam Ward
Richard Dawkins is a shill a big fat stupid mistake
Reading books doesn't make you smart it lets you know what other people thought like who didn't read their own books to get where they were when they wrote those books.
Brody Hernandez
False. Some topics are difficult and enlightening enough that they go beyond regurgitating some jackass's opinion. Are you telling me that learning mathematics didn't make every other STEM 100x easier?
Jose Wood
Reading is like meditation it's a time sink to cuck you out of your time Completely wasteful activity
Parker Ross
Only if you exclusively read New York Times best sellers. Read my list bruh.
Jacob Gutierrez
Do you feel smarter posting some cucky example of extreme? You're not.
David Gray
There is nothing worth reading that human hands wrote.
Evan Adams
I have no idea what you're even talking about. "Cucky example of extreme"? I think you need to read my list bruh.
Hunter Gray
Bitch please. How about no
Jason Morales
Democracy, The God That Failed is also a good read. I don't agree with anarcho-capitalism, but the book does a good job of getting you to look at democracy in a critical light.
Carter Myers
Any religious or mystic texts you'd recommend then? What is an essential supplement to the intellectual mind?
Noah Morris
You're the one left confused why should I read the books that lead you here?
Cameron Bennett
Yes. As an engineering major that has also studied philosophy, sociology, psychology, polisci, and economics more than the general public, I typically feel I can btfo of most people in a debate.
Camden Wilson
•Miracles in American History by Susie Federer •Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment by Rudolf Steiner • When You Hear Hoofbeats Think of a Zebra by Shems Friedlander • Nine Faces of Christ by Eugene E. Whitworth •The Vishnu Purana, Book 1 of 6: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition by Unknown
Jason Rodriguez
I like where you're thinking. I included Democracy by Hoppe in larger lists that had a larger emphasis on political philosophy, but I think The Republic by Plato covers a lot of necessary ground already. Remember, this thread is for thinking basics only.
Daniel Roberts
I'm enlightened now? Alright.
Those books really did a number on you.
Gabriel Cook
Read the world itself and if you cannot do that go hide away in your queer gay little pages that emulate and wish they were what they represent
Isaac Brooks
Recommend any "fundamental" texts for this purpose? What would you read to get to where you are today, assuming that you're a high school graduate with some smarts, motivation, and time?
See my list:
Logan Smith
Beyond good and evil Nietsze (or how is it called in english) Prince Machiavelli
Liam Morales
You said that nothing written by man was important. So I used my /criticalthinking/ skills to deduce that you had religious insight.
Henry Gray
Learning basic biology and evolutionary science explained all the most disgusting aspects of human behaviour.
James Murphy
How do people feel about infinite jest
Nolan Collins
>t. Aalewis
Brandon Torres
Euclid's elements is overrated as fuck. It starts with a logic gap then shows another logic gap at SAS. If you want mathematical logic, look up a discrete math book.
Blake Richardson
MORE RELIGION The Abolition of Man - C. S. Lewis Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri Reasonable Faith - William Lane Craig The Miracle of Theism - John. L. Mackie Bhagavad-Gita (Translation) - M. Mahesh Yogi What the Buddha Taught - Walpola Rahula
MORE ESOTERICISM & MYSTICISM
The Ritual Process - Victor Turner Corpus Hermeticum - Hermes Trismegistus Kabbalah - Gershom Scholem Introduction to Magic - Julius Evola The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson
Gabriel Green
heres 1 • In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World by Ian Stewart
Bentley Watson
>In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World by Ian Stewart
Euclid isn't rigorous but pretty much every great man before the 1900s read it to appreciate the beauty of mathematics and problem-solving. I attached it with a great secondary resource for modern applications and readability.
Thomas Stewart
At least you're able and willing to use that. In time if you follow that force you will find these long forgotten etchings carved in stone that repeat everything I told you. You won't remember this or me but the expression will remain forever imprinted in the wispering and sun bleached stone.
Daniel Martinez
I'd like to increase the ability of other people to do that, too. Contribute to the list!
Thomas Perry
Shit responded to the wrong post. See I'd have a hard problem not putting Nietzsche in there. But I don't know if he's necessary or if it's worthwhile, since it takes some background knowledge to fully get him.
The table of contents looks solid. Have you personally read it?
Leo Stewart
Fuck, I responded to the wrong post again!
Jace Murphy
I suggest you read more carefully.
Angel Flores
Yes, entropy (your example of thermodynamics) is a good example of a concept that occurs across disciplines. I Recommend: Creative and Critical Thinking: W. Edgar Moore
Michael Baker
!!!
Christopher Lee
Can't find a table of contents for it. Why do you recommend it?
Cooper Miller
Found one on my university website.
>Decision making -- The hypothetical syllogism -- Reliability and probability -- Evaluating evidence -- Forming hypotheses -- Testing hypotheses -- Generalizations -- Statistical concepts -- Statistics and probability -- Reasoning from generalizations -- Forming causal theories -- Testing causal theories -- Evaluation and decision -- Value judgments -- Creative thinking -- Fallacies of irrelevance -- Neglected aspect -- Pitfalls in language -- Classification and definition -- Categorical propositions -- Immediate inference -- Categorical syllogisms -- Alternative and disjunctive syllogisms -- Interpreting propositions -- Involved arguments -- Complex syllogistic forms -- Need-directed thinking -- The personal point of view -- How we distort the evidence -- Emotions and thinking -- Hidden propositions -- Psychological pitfalls -- False assumptions -- Devices of persuasion -- Refining value systems.
Good stuff, but don't you think some of this might be outdated?
Jonathan Garcia
Both my parents recommended it to me. Its an old staple for fundamental reasoning, used at institutions such as west point. It sounded like exactly what you were looking for.
Christopher Lee
Hmm... I think I'll include it in the first category. It looks like a solid recommendation. Thanks for the input!
John Clark
It wasn't books I read but men and beast and nature. The internet is just a silicon forest.
Cooper Morris
A silly con of a forest. An echo of hope and a reflection of our dreams.
Don't you get it? The internet is the only book you need and it's written by (You)'a and me.
Landon Ramirez
Nietzsche isnt that hard, but I cant judge the english translation. English can make some philosophy books pretty confusion due to language structure. Thus spoke Zarathustra is better than beyond good & evil, but normies will only read into the dead god and untermench meme
Jacob Martin
TAKE FUCKING NOTES OR IT WILL ALL BE IN VAIN
Gabriel Smith
The books on my list need to fill three criteria: * Great, unique mind-bender. * Important to the history of ideas * Foundational for understanding other ideas.
What Nietzsche book is best for this? If you were in my position, would you be dying to put a book on a list of "essential critical thinking"?
Luke Thompson
That's why we included the first book, senpai. My entire bookshelf is full of books jampacked with notes, sticky notes, highlighters, journals, etc. I even use Anki to automatically remind me every so often to review what I've learned.
If this thread gets more active, I'll upload a page of my "reading methodology".
Ayden Roberts
Burton Watson's translation of the Zhuangzi is potentially life-changing.
Other than that, some books that will make you smarter:
Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy by Bernard Williams
Knowing Right from Wrong by Kieran Setiya
The Possibility of Altruism by Thomas Nagel
Mortal Questions by Thomas Nagel
Robert Smith
PSYCHOLOGY READING LIST:
Origins of Consciousness - Julian Jaynes Intro. Lectures on Psychoanalysis - Sigmund Freud The Phenomenological Mind - Shaun Gallagher How the Mind Works - Steven Pinker The Social Animal - Elliot Aronson
Juan Young
Beyond good and evil teaches you that philosophy or any idea cant be good or evil. Thinking is whats matter and ideas should be judged. Ateast its what I remember from it. Also dontthe forget about the Prince. Its great book about power and history that teaches you how to get shit done, much better than art of war
Blake Myers
I just want to read it allllll
Hudson Stewart
For me it was fighting games. I learned how to play them then somehow i learned how to learn and see after that. It was strange
Luke Cox
This is very helpful. I took note of Zhuangzhi, since I'm interested in Daoism. I also like Thomas Nagel as well. But I feel that a lot of those other books would already be covered in a topic like Plato's works or Justice by Michael Sandel.
Which books do you think are most unique for this list?
Adrian Richardson
Lol. I learned that I could do anything and plan for everything by playing World of Warcraft. Shit was weird. I didn't have much sense of agency before then.
Charles Flores
Classical Electrodynamics J.D. Jackson
Hudson Kelly
art of war is a han dynasty compilation of hundreds of years of disjointed bits of military "wisdom" much like the analects. it is in no way a book in the sense in which the Prince obviously is. It's more of a bookshelf.
i don't think that michael sandel is a good philosopher. he has a straw-manny critique of rawls from the 90s that most people quickly moved on from and since then he's mostly done pop philosophy for undergraduates.
Williams is refreshing because the point is to make philosophical ethics less parochial and more messy, like the way ethics actually is. the book can come off as sloppy at times but there's plenty of food for thought and wisdom in the book.
Setiya's book is difficult and his style is, well, bad. But the moments of clarity are deeply rewarding and the general picture is really beautiful when you put all the pieces together.
if you're into ancient chinese wisdom though then check out the Xunzi, hutton's translation if you can. some of it is translated on www.ctext.org in the discussion forum. Xunzi, the text with the name and the thinker it is named after, is by far the most comprehensive and systematic philosopher of the warring states period.
Christian Peterson
Your list is shit if it doesn't include Gorilla Mindset and Barbarians: How Baby Boomers, Immigrants, and Islam Screwed My Generation.
Mason Rogers
>KJV you fucked up massively
Cooper Long
>book called how to read a book what
Noah Moore
Invisible landscapes by Terence Mckenna
Kevin Stewart
>reading the six gorillion mindset
most people suck at reading well. this is a good starter pack
Adam Lopez
>do you ever misapply your laymen's understanding of scientific ideas to gain a false sense of understanding? >can you give me a list of books that will teach me what to think in order to be smart?
Brayden Price
>most people suck at reading well. this is a good starter pack I always assumed your ability to read was just based on nature. Did you really improve significantly after reading that?
Brody Kelly
>implying
Thanks for the bump. There are patterns of thought across disciplines, and I'm looking for books to challenge you in order to develop more rigorous thinking habits. The Trivium doesn't tell you what to think. It beats the fuck out of your sloppy language skills, increasing precision of thought. If I was giving you bullshit, I would have provided a meme list of books.
Got any suggestions?
Caleb Nelson
It helped me get more out of books by developing habits that forced me to constantly think about what I was reading and its implications. Before, it was more random and less structured.
Charles Miller
That precalc book is for brainlets. You also don't need a fucking book for proofs when you pick that up naturally by doing problems. For precalc, use George Simmons and supplement it with Gelfand's books and problems as needed. Euclid is good, but a more modern and clearer approach lies with Kiselev's geometry books. Why no Calculus? Piskunov has a great one for people who don't want to dive into just proofs, and it's still fairly rigorous. Spivak is a meme of sorts, but the problems in there fantastic.
You should also pick up some Art of Probleming Solving books for some real noggin joggin.
Joseph Long
>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer_J._Adler >The ethnic composition of Adler's Great Books list was controversial in some academic circles, as was his response to accompanying criticism. Some fellow academics characterized the list as ethnically exclusive with Henry Louis Gates saying later that the assembly of the list showed a "profound disrespect for the intellectual capacities of people of color – red, brown or yellow."
Sounds pretty based.
>He attributed the lack of Latino authors to the lack of recommendations by Mexican poet and committee member Octavio Paz
Kek
>and the lack of black authors to a lack of books good enough to fit the criteria.
TOPKEK
Grayson Hall
just make a list of all the basic "intro to x" university books...
cheap as dirt to buy as well because the old versions are always worthless since kids will only buy the newer editions
Robert Robinson
>There are patterns of thought across disciplines You don't actually gain anything from studying "patterns of thought". Solving a problem does not involve trying out a predefined list of "thinking patterns" to see which one fits.
>books to challenge you in order to develop more rigorous thinking habits No book can do this. The only thing that can challenge your thinking habits is being called out on your bullshit by more rigorous thinkers.
Adrian Reyes
An Introduction to Inequalities is also a good prep book for Spivak. The New Mathematical Library has plenty of great books.
Jason Harris
unsarcastic 1/10
Jeremiah Martinez
literally just stop for five minutes and think about shit and you'll already be smarter than 95% of the population
James Fisher
>no Apology of Socrates by Plato >no Discourse on the Method
10/10
Thomas Evans
Cambell Biology is the bible of basic biology. Always a great reference.
Angel Cook
Science and sanity Programming the human biocomputer Escaping the plantation
Kevin Turner
*Campbell
Ethan Reyes
Learn about electrostatic reactions in plasma.
It will explain everything about HOW the universe functions.
Asher Rivera
You wouldn't want to slice your dick off a second time with that edge.
Zachary Nelson
Sorry but i'm just to smart for this thread
Wyatt Reyes
Not an argument. Stay mad and keep telling yourself that if only you read the right books, you'll be less of an idiot.
Evan Hernandez
>The only thing that can challenge your thinking habits is being called out on your bullshit by more rigorous thinkers.
Maybe for you.
Different people learn in different ways.
John Young
Jung caught his mother cheating in the act. That fucked him up I guess e.g. "the orgon".
His theory: Unleash peoples libido and passions that they do not commit to the idea of nationalism or fascism.
But just take a look at the left you can have both fascism and leftism with their moral relativism. His ideas are full of flaws and projection like any big "psycho analyst"
Colton Carter
Sometimes I forget how subversive the Jew can truly be, thank you for reminding me.
Zachary Long
There's a huge gap between reading about how to think rigorously and actually being forced to think rigorously. To make matters worse, books aren't perfect, and to make the most out of them you need to have pretty good critical thinking skills in the first place to see all the unstated caveats and faults with the author's own thinking.