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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
See also Eliezer’s Rationalist Fiction and Great Books of Failure posts, and his old but good Bookshelf. A few here too.
Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell.
That looks good. Is it worth reading even if you’ve taken and understood the standard Econ 101 college course?
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).
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett.
I’m reading The Moral Animal (Robert Wright) currently and have been recommending it to everyone I talk to.
Beginning of unordered list test
Item one
Item two
End of unordered list test
Source code:
My guess: you’re missing a blank line before your list.
That sorted it, thanks.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
Empire by Niall Ferguson.
Freedom Evolves by Daniel Dennett.
I wasn’t that taken with this book, and I’m usually a big Dennett fan. What did you like about it?
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.
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.
Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman.
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.
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.
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer