Has anyone here had poaitive experience with reading scientific/philosophical books?

[irrelevant_string]

I mean in that it affected your overall sense of wellbeing, gave you a useful new perspective or anything like that?
For me personally, I'd say two books that I think broadened my understanding of human nature would be:
Why Buddhiam is True by Robert Wright and
The Happiness Hypothesis by Johnatan Height.

I also enjoyed Ligotti's and Schopenhauer's pessimism, so it doesn't have to be conventionally therapeutic.
If anyone has any recommendations, I would appreciate it.

 

[Orin]

Believe it or not, one of the most philosophical and thought provoking books i've ever read was a comic book, Secret Wars II (1985).

Spoiler: 1

It's a story about the Beyonder, a god-like entity that enters the Marvel Universe, seeking to have a human experience. Such was his power that he can turn thoughts into reality. He lived a hedonistic lifestyle, indulging in every pleasure imaginable; even at some point ruling the entire world. But still he was unsatisfied. There are some allusions to Buddhism like "suffering is due to desire", but also "desire is due to a sense of being incomplete" (this was new for me). At some point he even thought of suicide (yes, that's how depressed he was). It reminds me of how even successful people end up killing themselves. Is life just this unending wanting? Can the human psyche ever be content?

 

[Soul]

The Tao te Ching
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
How Real Is Real (Paul Watzlawick)

 

[cornflowerblue]

I mean in that it affected your overall sense of wellbeing, gave you a useful new perspective or anything like that?
For me personally, I'd say two books that I think broadened my understanding of human nature would be:
Why Buddhiam is True by Robert Wright and
The Happiness Hypothesis by Johnatan Height.

I also enjoyed Ligotti's and Schopenhauer's pessimism, so it doesn't have to be conventionally therapeutic.
If anyone has any recommendations, I would appreciate it.

"man's search for meaning" by Frankl is a classic. Catch-22 is also interesting.

I enjoy a lot of the more philosophical literary fiction, as well as the nonfiction philosophy and scientific works.

 

[Bagger]

"What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell " by Erwin Schrödinger.

 

[not_a_robot]

Yes and no. All the philosophy and science that affected me just convinced me that life is a stupid, meaningless accident.
Evolutionary biology/psychology proves that your emotions are all just stupid animal instincts that you are physically programmed to perceive as "special" so you will think your life "matters"; it doesn't.
Absurdism is the only philosophy that is helpful in accepting this truth.

For me, anyway.
"And so the circle of Life continues, meaningless and grim. Why did they live? Why did they die? No reason."
--Futurama

 

[Temporarilyabsurd]

I listened to the audio book of Ernest Beckers " The denial of death "

I've always had a troubling relationship with 'belief' and culture in general , so this book
gave me a rock bottom Freudian material / objectivist foundation
of my inner emotional world as a reflection of the dog eat dog nature of reality .

Unsettling , but it washed a lot of BS away .

 

[irrelevant_string]

Evolutionary biology/psychology proves that your emotions are all just stupid animal instincts that you are physically programmed to perceive as "special"

Yeah, it's almost as if we're just robots :)
I like that attitude, but there's that popular distinction between believing and acting out what you believe. Does knowing what you know really diminish the power of those primitive mechanisms that you're aware of? I wish it could, I wish all my philosophical beliefs would instantly be registered by every system in my body and shut down everything that's incompatible with them. I'd be dead by now.

I listened to the audio book of Ernest Beckers " The denial of death "

I've always had a troubling relationship with 'belief' and culture in general , so this book
gave me a rock bottom Freudian material / objectivist foundation
of my inner emotional world as a reflection of the dog eat dog nature of reality .

Unsettling , but it washed a lot of BS away .

Oh yeah, I did the same. You'd probably like Thomas Ligotti's "The conspiracy against the human race" too. He cites Becker a lot. I think I first heard of Zapffe and Cioran from him too.

 

[not_a_robot]

Yeah, it's almost as if we're just robots :)
I like that attitude, but there's that popular distinction between believing and acting out what you believe. Does knowing what you know really diminish the power of those primitive mechanisms that you're aware of? I wish it could, I wish all my philosophical beliefs would instantly be registered by every system in my body and shut down everything that's incompatible with them. I'd be dead by now.

Oh yeah, I did the same. You'd probably like Thomas Ligotti's "The conspiracy against the human race" too. He cites Becker a lot. I think I first heard of Zapffe and Cioran from him too.

No, the primitive mechanisms are just as powerful when you're aware of them. Like having your body hijacked while your brain screams "NOOOOOOO!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!".
All one can do is avoid the triggers. Even then, they do their utmost to intrude; others will target any possible vulnerability.
ME: "Maybe that person being nice to me means I made a friend!"
ALSO ME: "No, it's a trap. It's not even a clever trap. I guess I have no choice but to step into it. Here I go!"

 

[irrelevant_string]

No, the primitive mechanisms are just as powerful when you're aware of them. Like having your body hijacked while your brain screams "NOOOOOOO!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!".
All one can do is avoid the triggers. Even then, they do their utmost to intrude; others will target any possible vulnerability.
ME: "Maybe that person being nice to me means I made a friend!"
ALSO ME: "No, it's a trap. It's not even a clever trap. I guess I have no choice but to step into it. Here I go!"

Oh the tragedy of the human condition... Maybe there's a way to override this. Perhaps the time between thinking you made a friend and realizing that they're no different than everyone before them is too long for learning to occur. So instead, you buy one of these:

Amazon.com : Electric Dog Collar

and use it every time you engage in a conversation with someone.

 

[not_a_robot]

Oh the tragedy of the human condition... Maybe there's a way to override this. Perhaps the time between thinking you made a friend and realizing that they're no different than everyone before them is too great for learning to occur. So instead, you buy one of these:

Amazon.com : Electric Dog Collar

and use it every time you engage in a conversation with someone.

The only thing in the world stronger than reason is instinct, sadly.
We aren't just in a trap, we are the trap. The trap is inside us.
Oh and there's no time-lag between thinking you've made a friend and realizing it's trap; they are two simultaneous, yet contradictory, states of being.

 

[Vegrau]

Ironically the first philosophical book I ever read in my life as I stumbled upon it is Ecclesiastes. And everything start to unravel from that point. Never taught that in school so for a large part of my life I didnt even knew what philosophy is.

 

[irrelevant_string]

Ironically the first philosophical book I ever read in my life as I stumbled upon it is Ecclesiastes. And everything start to unravel from that point. Never taught that in school so for a large part of my life I didnt even knew what philosophy is.

Oh that's interesting, what made you read it? Are you religious if you don't mind me asking?
The closest I came to studying the Bible was watching Jordan Peterson's lectures about it a few years back when I still liked him.

The way philosophy is taught at school probably wouldn't make you appreciate it anyway. It's more of a history of philosophy where you're required to remember a lot of information that is useless without proper context and that you forget shortly after the exam. Well, that was my experience at least.

 

[Soul]

Does Kafka count as philosophy? I love his diaries and short stories.

 

[not_a_robot]

Oh that's interesting, what made you read it? Are you religious if you don't mind me asking?
The closest I came to studying the Bible was watching Jordan Peterson's lectures about it a few years back when I still liked him.

The way philosophy is taught at school probably wouldn't make you appreciate it anyway. It's more of a history of philosophy where you're required to remember a lot of information that is useless without proper context and that you forget shortly after the exam. Well, that was my experience at least.

Our schools deliberately teach in a way that discourages actually thinking/engaging with the material. This is how we remain both educated and ignorant at the same time. It trains us for a life of willful ignorance.
"It's not a bug, it's a feature!"

 

[irrelevant_string]

Does Kafka count as philosophy? I love his diaries and short stories.

Yes, I haven't read that many classics but I'd definitely describe works of Dostoevsky and Kafka as philosophical fiction.

 

[RM5998]

Karl Popper's critical rationalism is worth a read-up. The way it critiques the original formulations of psychoanalytic theory form a good basis of understanding what the boundaries of science are. Being and Time by Martin Heidegger is also worth a read, despite how unreadable it is.

On the whole, I tend to engage better with narratives that deal with the dilemma of searching for meaning in a meaningless world. Candide is a great example (and is worth reading for the comedy alone), as is Parable of the Sower (which I still maintain is a book of ideas). Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra is worth a read for the weird writing style, and The Fall by Camus is a great tragic story of a person's downfall.

 

[not_a_robot]

This is a good intro.
Yes I post this often.
Because the question gets asked often.
So here you go.

Absurdism - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[irrelevant_string]

Karl Popper's critical rationalism is worth a read-up. The way it critiques the original formulations of psychoanalytic theory form a good basis of understanding what the boundaries of science are. Being and Time by Martin Heidegger is also worth a read, despite how unreadable it is.

On the whole, I tend to engage better with narratives that deal with the dilemma of searching for meaning in a meaningless world. Candide is a great example (and is worth reading for the comedy alone), as is Parable of the Sower (which I still maintain is a book of ideas). Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra is worth a read for the weird writing style, and The Fall by Camus is a great tragic story of a person's downfall.

That's an interesting collection of books. Enough to keep me occupied for a while. I've also heard that Spinoza's Ethics is a great book for understanding one's self. There's someone called Martin Butler who speaks a great deal about him, he has a youtube channel with the same name and one called Corporeal Fantasy. I enjoy listening to his podcasts from time to time.

On a different note, I read Warhammer 40k novels when I want to relax with a less intellectually demanding read. Although, it has a deeper meaning than most science fiction books I read so far. The conflict between religion and atheism is one of its main themes and it has its own rich mythology and history.

 

[Orin]

On a different note, I read Warhammer 40k novels when I want to relax with a less intellectually demanding read. Although, it has a deeper meaning than most science fiction books I read so far. The conflict between religion and atheism is one of its main themes and it has its own rich mythology and history.

For the Emperor! Glad to find another 40k fan here. Yeah i like the part where the true goal of the Cabal is revealed.

 

[irrelevant_string]

For the Emperor! Glad to find another 40k fan here. Yeah i like the part where the true goal of the Cabal is revealed.

Oh what a surprise indeed! Did you know that there's an upcoming official Games Workshop animated series called "Angels of Death"? There's also a fan project in the making called "Astartes" that looks amazing as well.

 

[RM5998]

r

That's an interesting collection of books. Enough to keep me occupied for a while. I've also heard that Spinoza's Ethics is a great book for understanding one's self. There's someone called Martin Butler who speaks a great deal about him, he has a youtube channel with the same name and one called Corporeal Fantasy. I enjoy listening to his podcasts from time to time.

On a different note, I read Warhammer 40k novels when I want to relax with a less intellectually demanding read. Although, it has a deeper meaning than most science fiction books I read so far. The conflict between religion and atheism is one of its main themes and it has its own rich mythology and history.

A lot of books written by philosophers are much more interesting than they appear to be. However, their flaws are often due to being based on the author's philosophical perspective (Lord of the Flies is a good example of an author's philosophy getting in the way of the writing).
From a structural perspective, Automata's writing is a good reflection of multiple philosophical perspectives - it analyses them by moving them to a society that is removed from people and exaggerates them to the point where they break down into a macabre parody of their intent. (Kierkegaard dies, and then his followers jump from the 'frying pan' of the factory into the 'fire' of the molten metal. Not exactly subtle there.) Also, every major philosophical idea has a sidequest demonstrating a personal version of the concept with lower stakes. I also find it interesting that the game never offers choice to the player in the important moments, but only in the aftermath of them. From both a writing perspective and a philosophical one, I've found Automata to be worth multiple rounds of examination just to see how the structure enhances the points it is trying to make.

 

[not_a_robot]

Fun free links, if outdated. I prefer Vonnegut and Saunders and Heller for modern absurdist literature, myself. All magnificent.

Philosophical Short Stories – Short Story Guide:

www.shortstoryguide.com

Also, list of classic philosophical short stories fails without this one.
Crowley was nuts, but this tale really charmed me.

Liber XLI - Thien Tao

www.bibliotecapleyades.net

 

[RM5998]

Fun free links, if outdated. I prefer Vonnegut and Saunders for modern absurdist literature, myself.

Philosophical Short Stories – Short Story Guide:

www.shortstoryguide.com

Also, list of classic philosophical short stories fails without this one.
Crowley was nuts, but this tale really charmed me.

Liber XLI - Thien Tao

www.bibliotecapleyades.net

Dammit, completely forgot about Slaughterhouse 5. Recently, I've been thinking about making a video game adaptation with a CoD aesthetic but eternally frustrating gameplay.

 

[Vegrau]

Oh that's interesting, what made you read it? Are you religious if you don't mind me asking?
The closest I came to studying the Bible was watching Jordan Peterson's lectures about it a few years back when I still liked him.

The way philosophy is taught at school probably wouldn't make you appreciate it anyway. It's more of a history of philosophy where you're required to remember a lot of information that is useless without proper context and that you forget shortly after the exam. Well, that was my experience at least.

Yes back then I was quite religious my whole life. Brought up that way and we had religion class back then in school too. Going to church every Sunday. Not that I enjoy it. Its more or less my duty. Bored of reading same book again and again. So I began to read other book and stumbled on Ecclesiastes. From that moment I knew I cannot stop. The truth that people wish to ignore. It resonate with me. Thus began my search for ever more answers.

 

[not_a_robot]

Dammit, completely forgot about Slaughterhouse 5. Recently, I've been thinking about making a video game adaptation with a CoD aesthetic but eternally frustrating gameplay.

lol Slaughterhouse 5 is my least favorite of his books. I like him best when he's farcical. Farces are my favorite.

 

[Divine Trinity]

The closest I came to studying the Bible was watching Jordan Peterson's lectures about it a few years back when I still liked him.

He'd have contributed more to society by VAing as Kermit the Frog rather than becoming the asinine political pundit he is today.

Understanding Marx, Chomsky, Bernays, Kuznik, and others is disillusioning to say the least. Learning the mechanisms, functions, and origins of societal rot is quite fascinating as it is depressing, with the sole reason i'm still here being curiousity and nothing else.

With there being so much material, I do have to be selective on what to look into. T

 

[RM5998]

lol Slaughterhouse 5 is my least favorite of his books. I like him best when he's farcical. Farces are my favorite.

I sort of like his work the way I like Martin McDonagh's work and Bojack Horseman - they work best for me when they exist right on the line between comedy and tragedy. Your perspective seems like an interesting one, maybe I need to go back and reread Cat's Cradle.

 

[irrelevant_string]

r
A lot of books written by philosophers are much more interesting than they appear to be. However, their flaws are often due to being based on the author's philosophical perspective (Lord of the Flies is a good example of an author's philosophy getting in the way of the writing).
From a structural perspective, Automata's writing is a good reflection of multiple philosophical perspectives - it analyses them by moving them to a society that is removed from people and exaggerates them to the point where they break down into a macabre parody of their intent. (Kierkegaard dies, and then his followers jump from the 'frying pan' of the factory into the 'fire' of the molten metal. Not exactly subtle there.) Also, every major philosophical idea has a sidequest demonstrating a personal version of the concept with lower stakes. I also find it interesting that the game never offers choice to the player in the important moments, but only in the aftermath of them. From both a writing perspective and a philosophical one, I've found Automata to be worth multiple rounds of examination just to see how the structure enhances the points it is trying to make.

Yeah, the game is a true masterpiece. I'll probably replay it sometime.
Seeing many smart people here reminds me of the book "Flowers for Algernon". I listened to the audio book recently which was really weird during the protagonist's low iq days but it gets better later as he progresses.

Dammit, completely forgot about Slaughterhouse 5. Recently, I've been thinking about making a video game adaptation with a CoD aesthetic but eternally frustrating gameplay

What do you use for game development? Some specific engine or do you write your own in native code? It's quite a rewarding activity when you have a goal in mind. The problem with me is I am not very creative and an internal voice keeps reminding me of that whenever I decide to try doing something that isn't strictly technical.

 

[RM5998]

What do you use for game development? Some specific engine or do you write your own in native code? It's quite a rewarding activity when you have a goal in mind. The problem with me is I am not very creative and an internal voice keeps reminding me of that whenever I decide to try doing something that isn't strictly technical.

I'm working with Unity right now, but I do plan to pick up Unreal in the near future. And as to that feeling you're talking about... yeah, I'm there right now. I need to make the assets for a demonstrable version of a roguelike game I've been working on for my ongoing internship, and I've managed to keep stopping the work because of the voice reminding me how bad it looks. Which is pretty bad, since I'm not allowed to use external resources, even those under CC0.