Guns Germs and Steel. I remember feeling, after I read it, that I saw things differently. But now the ideas presented in it seem the most natural things in the world, and I can’t imagine I ever thought otherwise. Or maybe I had the same views before but not historical foundations for them… I can hardly remember now.
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror (2010) by Thomas Ligotti was referenced heavily in writing Rust Cohle’s character in True Detective season one. After falling in love with the series, I picked up the book and… wow. If you’re into some misanthropic nihilism written by a succinct fiction author and not an unnecessarily verbose philosopher, it’s a good read.
Currently also reading Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right (2017) by Angela Nagle. I just started last night but it’s changed a lot about how I see the current alt-right, where they came from, and how to effectively counter their arguments (and why conventional counterarguments don’t work).
It was a paradigm shift for me because of the time that I read it and the decisions I needed to make at the time. A case of good timing. Your results may vary
When I was about 12, my father brought from the airbase thrift shop two books of the “Tell me why” series. It blew my mind knowing how stuff, iI never paid attention to, worked.
From then on I knew that there was an explanation for almost everything, it just required looking for the right book :-)
This has been my entire life only with Google. People always ask me why I know so much about so many things, but it’s really all just surface level knowledge. There’s an answer for just about every question you can have, so why not find it?
When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm by Michael Forsyth and Walt Bogdanich. A cutting expose into the forces that are shaping our society that most don’t see.
The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America—and How to Undo His Legacy by David Gelles. Gives you a better understanding of the philosophies that shaped corporate offshoring, outsourcing and sell offs from the 70s to today.
Currowan: A Story of Fire and Community During Australia’s Worst Summer by Bronwyn Adcock. A revealing firsthand account of what it’s like to live through the catastrophic real life effects of climate change.
A Good Place on the Banks of the Euphrates: Stories from the War Against ISIS by Warren Stoddard II. A frightening and inspiring collection of short stories and diary entries from the perspective of an internationalist fighter on the ground.
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton. A digestible collection of reassuring practical tactics to understanding personal attitudes and behaviours as framed by some of history’s most influential philosophers.
The Art of War- expressed better than any other piece I’ve read the rationale of war. War is conflict and understanding both the enemy and yourself is the only way to effective success.
Atomic Habits- the best way to improve your life is to improve the minutia of it by just 1%. Applies rationale to how we operate while on auto pilot and gives effective solutions to combat the negative habits we fall into.
The Way of Monkey Book- an amazing, modern lens to stoicism and individually written in the style of eastern texts. While the author is deplorable to say the least, the message and morals of the work brilliantly reflect the ebb and flow of nature and the distortion of such through the actions of the average man.
The Sun Does Shine - I was a supporter of the death penalty until I read this book. It totally rocked my world and I realized how totally wrong I was. There are evil people in this world, but I am not God and I don’t get to decide who lives and dies. Also, if there is even a small chance that someone was wrongly convicted, we can not kill them - we make ourselves murderers.
Really this book made me rethink my entire view on systematic racism, the prison system, and the death penalty.
The Zhuangzi.
I tried a few times to describe why but I’m having a hard time of it. I guess it made me accept that I can’t control everything and that there’s a natural ebb and flow in most things. Not in a defeatist kind of way. But more like you ride out the bad and find joy where you can. You never know if the alternative could have been worse.
Basically it made me appreciate the weird and little things in life and not overthink the big.
There’s a lot more to it, but it’s one of the lasting benefits it gave me.
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