jscn comments on Open Thread: May 2009 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: steven0461 01 May 2009 04:16PM

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Comment author: jscn 02 May 2009 07:32:41AM *  1 point [-]

Having recently received a couple of Amazon gift certificates, I'm looking for recommendations of 'rationalist' books to buy. (It's a little difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.)

I'm looking mainly for non-fiction that would be helpful on the road to rationality. Anything from general introductory type texts to more technical or math oriented stuff. I found this OB thread which has some recommendations, but I thought that:

  • this could be a useful thread for beginners (and others) here
  • the ability to vote on suggestions would provide extra information

So, if you have a book to recommend, please leave a comment. If you have more than one to recommend, make them separate comments so that each can be voted up/down individually.

Comment author: MichaelHoward 02 May 2009 05:44:12PM 2 points [-]

See also Eliezer's Rationalist Fiction and Great Books of Failure posts, and his old but good Bookshelf. A few here too.

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:02:19AM 2 points [-]

Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell.

Comment author: CronoDAS 02 May 2009 03:25:55PM 0 points [-]

That looks good. Is it worth reading even if you've taken and understood the standard Econ 101 college course?

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:10:24PM 0 points [-]

I would think that it is, but I've never taken a standard Econ 101 college course (not educated in the US, and didn't take any economics courses as part of my degree).

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:00:53AM 2 points [-]

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:00:19AM *  2 points [-]

Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett.

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:03:34AM 1 point [-]

Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman.

Comment author: evtujo 03 May 2009 05:57:41AM 1 point [-]

I'm reading The Moral Animal (Robert Wright) currently and have been recommending it to everyone I talk to.

Comment author: arundelo 02 May 2009 05:57:42PM *  1 point [-]

[Hm, the unordered list doesn't seem to be working for me. Any hints?]

Beginning of unordered list test

  • Item one
  • Item two

End of unordered list test

Source code:

Beginning of unordered list test
* Item one
* Item two
End of unordered list test

My guess: you're missing a blank line before your list.

Comment author: jscn 02 May 2009 09:32:40PM 0 points [-]

That sorted it, thanks.

Comment author: CronoDAS 02 May 2009 03:20:46PM 1 point [-]

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:17:55AM 1 point [-]

Empire by Niall Ferguson.

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:14:04AM 1 point [-]

Freedom Evolves by Daniel Dennett.

Comment author: ciphergoth 02 May 2009 05:03:57PM 0 points [-]

I wasn't that taken with this book, and I'm usually a big Dennett fan. What did you like about it?

Comment author: mattnewport 02 May 2009 09:08:07PM 0 points [-]

It helped clarify some thoughts I'd already had about free will - that the standard paradox of free will as incompatible with determinism was not a true paradox. I think the concept of free will used by many people is horribly confused and this book is the best attempt I've seen to come up with a coherent conception of what free will can mean in a purely material universe.

Comment author: timtyler 02 May 2009 08:33:35PM 0 points [-]

Same and same. Recently, Dennett has been good on memes, but elsewhere he does tend to waffle a bit. In Freedom Evolves, Dennet redefines the terms he is discussing, berates everyone else for not using his definitions, and then bangs on about them for hundreds of pages. That's philosophy for you.

Comment author: Lawliet 02 May 2009 08:02:02AM 1 point [-]

Might be easier to manage comments and direct people to it if its a whole post rather than a comment in the may 09 open thread.

Comment author: jscn 02 May 2009 11:02:47PM 0 points [-]

According to this post, doing so would be "against blog guidelines". The suggested approach is to do top-level book review posts. I haven't seen any of these yet, though.

Comment author: CronoDAS 02 May 2009 03:19:47PM 0 points [-]

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer

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