Book Lists : Neuroscientist Sam Harris Selects 12 Books Everyone Should Read

[Alias Reader]

Neuroscientist Sam Harris Selects 12 Books Everyone Should Read


The History of Western Philosophy (public library) by Bertrand Russell
A History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell … is one of the great philosophers of his time… a remarkably clear thinker and writer… a great example of how English should be written and just a great voice to have in your head.

Reasons and Persons (public library) by Derek Parfit
Reasons and Persons
Brilliant and written as though by an alien intelligence. A deeply strange book filled with thought experiments that bend your intuitions left and right. A truly strange and unique document, and incredibly insightful about morality and questions of identity.


The Last Word (public library) by Thomas Nagel
The Last Word
I’m a big fan of Thomas Nagel’s earlier work… He is a very fine writer — a very clear writer — and just as a style of communication … he’s worth going to school on.


The Holy Qur’an (public library)
The Holy Qur'an
Everyone should read the Holy Qur’an… Read it — it’s much shorter than the Bible; you can read it in a weekend, and you’ll be informed about the central doctrines of Islam in a way that you may not be, and it’s good to be informed, given how much influence these ideas have currently in our world.


Superintelligence (public library) by Nick Bostrom
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
The clearest book I’ve come across that makes the case that the so-called “control problem” — the problem of building human-level and beyond artificial intelligence that we can control, that we can know in advance will converge with our interests — is a truly difficult and important task, because we will end up building this stuff by happenstance if we simply keep going in the direction we’re headed. Unless we can solve this problem in advance and have good reason to believe that the machines we are building are benign and their behavior predictable — even when they exceed us in intelligence a thousand-, a million-, or a billion-fold — this is going to be a catastrophic intrusion into our lives that we may not survive.


Humiliation: And Other Essays on Honor, Social Discomfort, and Violence (public library) by William Ian Miller
Humiliation: And Other Essays on Honor, Social Discomfort, and Violence


The Flight of the Garuda: The Dzogchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism (public library) by Keith Dowman
The Flight of the Garuda: The Dzogchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism


I Am That (public library) by Nisargadatta Maharaj
I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


Infidel (public library) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Infidel


The Year of Magical Thinking (public library) by Joan Didion
The Year of Magical Thinking


The Journalist and the Murderer (public library) by Janet Malcolm
The Journalist and the Murderer


Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak (public library) by Jean Hatzfeld
Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak


Full article
https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/07...

[Alias Reader]

Thanks, Amber !

Welcome to Book Nook Cafe where your To Be Read list is sure to grow. :)

[Shomeret]

Reasons and Persons sounded like it was the most interesting to me. I will probably be able to put it on hold next week. My holds are maxed out until I pick some up.

[Alias Reader]

I read Infidel and thought it was a very good read. I should read more by that author.

[Julie]

I have Infidel on my to-read list.

[Julie]

Oh looks like A Year of Magical Thinking is on there too.

[Alias Reader]

I was interested in Bertrand Russell
A History of Western Philosophy
until I checked Amazon and saw it was over 800 pages. I am not that interested. ;)

[Julie]

Yeah, I don't blame you!

[madrano]

I liked both Magical Thinking and Infidel. I'm not sure about the other books, though.

[Susan from MD]

Alias Reader wrote: "I was interested in Bertrand Russell
A History of Western Philosophy
until I checked Amazon and saw it was over 800 pages. I am not that interested. ;)"

I have it on my shelf - haven't gotten there yet.