Books that Shaped Your Views the Most

[Rational Agnostic]

Just curious what books have shaped the views of you all the most. For me, I'd have to go with:

This is the main book that turned me into the pompous, obnoxious, contrarian, anti-liberal AND anti-theist that you all know and love.

In all seriousness though, this is a thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining book. Though I don't agree with everything in it, I highly recommend it for people of all beliefs and backgrounds. Almost everyone who reads (Christian or not) it will get riled up about something in it, and for that reason, it's well worth the read.

What are the books that have shaped your views the most?

 

[Polymath257]

Russell + Whitehead "Principia Mathematica" -- showed me what proof is in mathematics

Golding "Applied Wave Mechanics" --showed how the periodic table of elements can be described by one equation.

Roberts "The Pelican History of the World" -- gave me basic data about how humans behave

Stuart Kauffman "The Origins of Order" -- discussed how self-organization happens in the real world and its ability to make complex structures naturally.

Douglas Hofstadter "Godel, Escher, and Bach" --- a wonderful discussion of consciousness, artificial intelligence, and self-reference.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Just curious what books have shaped the views of you all the most. For me, I'd have to go with:

This is the main book that turned me into the pompous, obnoxious, contrarian, anti-liberal AND anti-theist that you all know and love.

In all seriousness though, this is a thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining book. Though I don't agree with everything in it, I highly recommend it for people of all beliefs and backgrounds. Almost everyone who reads (Christian or not) it will get riled up about something in it, and for that reason, it's well worth the read.

What are the books that have shaped your views the most?

Letters to a young poet
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

"Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

It's almost as if he is speaking to me. I listen to the audio as well. There's so many versions of it. Classic.

Native Wisdom for White Minds
Native Wisdom for White Minds by Anne Wilson Schaef

I don't care for books that insult western culture. I thought she did a very good job with her daily reflections and experiences interacting with native people.

Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure Folk Magic from Appalachia
Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure Folk Magic from Appalachia by Jake Richards

I read this and gave a copy to my mother. She's into this too but I told her to look into it since she has "it" more than I do; though she's busy. The author talks about his home school practices at his home. More of a bibliography if that's the right word.

 

[exchemist]

Just curious what books have shaped the views of you all the most. For me, I'd have to go with:

This is the main book that turned me into the pompous, obnoxious, contrarian, anti-liberal AND anti-theist that you all know and love.

In all seriousness though, this is a thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining book. Though I don't agree with everything in it, I highly recommend it for people of all beliefs and backgrounds. Almost everyone who reads (Christian or not) it will get riled up about something in it, and for that reason, it's well worth the read.

What are the books that have shaped your views the most?

If I'd had to bet on your choice, I've have picked that god-awful person Ayn Rand.

When I was a tiny boy, I read a book by, I think, Rachel Carson, called "The World We Live In." It was that book that made me interested in the natural world and in science, even though looking back, it had some quaint ideas - it even predated the acceptance of continental drift!

 

[Rational Agnostic]

If I'd had to bet on your choice, I've have picked that god-awful person Ayn Rand.

Lol, never read a word of Ayn Rand. Nietzsche was a game-changer for me though. He definitely pushed me to the right politically (but most conservatives hate him because he blasts Christianity with insults that make Hitchens and Dawkins look like the most polite atheists in the world).

When I was a tiny boy, I read a book by, I think, Rachel Carson, called "The World We Live In." It was that book that made me interested in the natural world and in science, even though looking back, it had some quaint ideas - it even predated the acceptance of continental drift!

Never read her either, maybe I'll check that out.

 

[Flame]

The Myth of Sisyphus and The Stranger by Albert Camus

 

[Mock Turtle]

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. One of the few titles I can remember. Russell, Tolstoy, Sartre, are a few others of which I read more than one book - and they probably influenced me the most.

 

[ChristineM]

Social Psychology. Understanding human interaction by Robert Baron and Donn Byrne

Charles Babbage, pioneer of the computer by Anthony Hyman

The new scientist guide to Chaos

Why does E=MC2, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

Any of the Terry Pratchett books shaped my humour

 

[sun rise]

Books related to Meher Baba especially The Discourses, the biography "Lord Meher" and "How a Master Works"

Books related to other religions and spiritual figures such as: Bible, Gospel of Ramakrishna, Wisdom of Muhammad, Three Pillars of Zen, Tibet's Greatest Yogi: Milarepa, Tales from the Masnavi, "Jewish Tales of Mystic Joy" and many more.

 

[PureX]

Too many to list! Reading books changed my life, many times over.

Just a few:

'Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander' and 'A Thomas Merton Reader' by Thomas Merton

'Notes From The Underground' and 'The Brothers Karamozov' by Fyodor Dostoevsky

'Waiting For The Barbarian' and 'Disgrace' by J. M. Coatzee

'Gimpol The Fool' and all collected short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer

'Siddhartha' and 'The Glass Bead Game' by Hermann Hess

'The Periodic Table' and 'The Monkey's Wrench' by Primo Levi

These are just a few, there are so many more.

 

[Secret Chief]

Why You Don't Need Meat, by Peter Cox.
This has to be the single most influential book since it completely changed my diet overnight (and views about food) which has stayed with me for 36 years and counting. I only read the book because it was a customer order that came in whilst I was working in a very unbusy book shop. Till then food was just the stuff I ate, with no ethical perspective. (I see the word "why" has been dropped from the title)

Buddhism Without Beliefs, by Stephen Batchelor.
This was the first book I read framing Buddhism as a secular, modern practice. I found it resonated a great deal with me; I read several of his other books but this one had the most impact.

 

[BSM1]

So many, but:

Conversations With God, Neale Donald Walsh

The Urantia Book

 

[metis]

"The Naked Ape" by Desmond Morris, "E=MC2" by David Bodanis, and "The Essential Gandhi" by Louis Fischer.

 

[MNoBody]

What are the books that have shaped your views the most?

'The book of life'....we are living in it

 

[robocop (actually)]

 

[robocop (actually)]

 

[MNoBody]

stan tenen has a lot of very informative videos on his meru site

 

[robocop (actually)]

stan tenen has a lot of very informative videos on his meru site

Meru Foundation Research: An Introduction to the Meru Project

 

[MNoBody]

Meru Foundation Research: An Introduction to the Meru Project

yup, that's the one, have you gone through his material much?

 

[robocop (actually)]

yup, that's the one, have you gone through his material much?

I've watched all his videos and even tried to work with him. I've found many patterns myself. I'm only behind on his blog/newsletter.