(I am slightly anxious about making my first discussion post! If there is anything about this that should not have been done, or done differently, please let me know!)
I'm new to this rationalist stuff. I want to improve my grasp on many topics. I want a richer vocabulary and set of concepts with which to discuss these topics. These are some nonfiction books I'm thinking of trying to eat this year, in no particular order of priority:
So if you have read any of these books and would like to help me with this:
Are there any that you would endorse? Which books might I be I wasting my time with? Are any of them too crank or pseudoscientific to be worthy of my time? Ones I had better save for later because I couldn't get anything out of them with my high school level math ability? Books that are similar to a different book that does the same thing better? Or any books along these lines you think it would be a CRIME not to include? Or any other suggestions? I would be grateful for any bit of help!
If you just want recommendations, you can look at past book recommendation threads like the textbook one, or at people's lists on places like Goodreads (eg. me).
Upvoted, and you're right, of course. In fact, I created much of this list by looking at Goodreads, and the lw textbook thread, and Eliezer's bookshelf, and the SI reading list, etc, and cherry-picking what I was interested in. I was more soliciting commentary on those specific books, than just general recommendations per se.
I assumed the odds were that most of Lesswrong wouldn't have read most of them, or just wouldn't want to bother, which would be understandable. Honestly, I wasn't expecting too much from posting this. I figured if I could improve on or drop one book from that list it would be worth it.
Edited to add: I looked at your favorites list and will probably make a few additions