I bought my niece a Kindle that just arrived and I'm about to load it up with books to give it to her tomorrow for her birthday. I've decided to be a sneaky uncle and include good books that can teach better abilities to think or at least to consider science cool and interesting. She is currently in the 4th Grade with 5th coming after the Summer.

She reads basically at her own grade level so while I'm open to stuffing the Kindle with books to be read when she's ready, I'd like to focus on giving her books she can read now. Ender's Game will be on there most likely. Game of Thrones will not.

What books would you give a youngling? Her interests currently trend toward the young mystery section, Hardy Boys and the like, but in my experience she is very open to trying new books with particular interest in YA fantasy but not much interest in Sci Fi (if I'm doing any other optimizing this year, I'll try to change her opinion on Sci Fi).

I know some wrongians have studied pickup. In case any are formally diagnosed on the Autism spectrum: 

http://www.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/ncov4/aspergerspua_official_university_research_project/

Hey guys!

Have you improved a lot socially after studying the game? (even if your overall game isn't rockstar level?)

Would your family say you are easier to get along with now?

Is your stress level better?

We are four formally diagnosed aspies who have found major improvement via the game. We've investigated this thoroughly and now a clinical professor in autism at a major university is going to research this in depth. This is likely to draw major funding as a formal research project.

Yes, that means the changes you have felt may enter the academic system and be available to help aspies all over the world.. not just the few of us who are able to study social dynamics.

But we need your help!

We need more guys willing to go through an interview process with the clinical professor, to talk about their experiences and how your life has changed. (we're doing it too!). This is something very very special and the cornerstone of some big things. You must be formally diagnosed on the autism spectrum (which includes PDD NOS).

This is not about promoting the game. This is about extracting the key pieces out of the game with the goal of helping everyone on the autism spectrum lead happier lives.

We get asked if this is real. Yes, it absolutely is. The reality is that for a small percentage of aspies who get into it, the game has a profound impact on their lives, far beyond anything else available today. The rest aren't advanced enough socially to be able to handle the game. We're doing this to help them because we understand how difficult their lives are. Everyone deserves quality relationships in their lives.

If you're interested, please email us. Of course everything will be 1000% confidential -- we fully understand that both the autism and game aspects of this need to be quiet. And thats why this research is so important, because it hasn't been done before for this reason.

Please, contact us.. even if you're not sure.. we'll show you what we have.. I think you'll be blown away.

Daniel [1] project.aspergers@gmail.com (we're using a throwaway email address for the initial research. but yes, this is 100% real and you will work directly with us.)

I just finished skyping with the organizer of this shindig and I can confirm its legit. If you are formally diagnosed on the autism spectrum and seen improvement after studying pickup I strongly encourage you to send an email.

http://www.reddit.com/r/GEB/comments/nmy4p/starting_a_readthrough_january_17/

[Context: [1] waingro and I want to start a Reddit read-through of GEB.

I've done an [2] in-person MIT seminar where we read through the book twice before. I think a subreddit would be a great way to make the same experience available to anyone on the Internet!

My plan for when to start would be around January 17. Yes, that's almost a month from now, but it allows time for:

• Publicizing this subreddit
• Allowing people to find copies of the book if they don't own it
• Most importantly, it's after the [3] MIT Mystery Hunt which will be consuming all of my recreational brainpower until then.]

The read through is organized and run by Rob Speer who taught a seminar on GEB once as a senior and once as a grad student at MIT [1](http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/special-programs/sp-258-goedel-escher-bach-spring-2007/). GEB is occasionally referenced on LessWrong and is considered and influential book by Eliezer Yudkowsky, the subject of a short review by LukeProg who recently claimed that it "[...] defied summary more than all the other books I had previously said "defied summary." If you are interested in reading GEB but have not taken the time to do so, I do not need to cite the research on how mechanisms such as commitment contracts are helpful to reaching goals. Joining this group would make the goal read Gödel, Escher, Bach more reachable than it otherwise would have been.