Philosophy Now Forum

http://chronicle.com/article/What-Book- ... d-/149839/

The book that changed my mind was The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk.
http://www.amazon.com/Conservative-Mind ... ative+mind

And I've been reading Kirk ever since. Ironically, the book was recommended to me by Dr. Truman David Wood (d. 2009), my political science professor, whose personal politics were liberal.

"The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout.

Since then I have acquired a second set of (moral) standards for a certain sort of people.

duszek wrote:"The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout.

Since then I have acquired a second set of (moral) standards for a certain sort of people.

http://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Next-Ma ... rtha+Stout.
I suspect that many practicing lawyers are sociopaths. I think that I know two; one I successfully sued for legal malpractice. A lawyer in his community described him as "lawless." the other I practiced with; he is no longer licensed. His license to practice is suspended indefinitely.

You are probably right.

Many other professions are full of sociopaths too, plastic surgeons probably, any professions where you can cheat and get away with it by using the gift of the gab.

That is why it is important to know how to recognize them and how to deal with them.

Two rules from me so far:

If you fight for truth you have lost.
If you get angry you have lost even more profoundly.

All of them.
Every book I read adds something I didn't know before or modifies what I did know or challenges what I thought I knew.

But for a profound change the actual functioning of your mind, there is nobody like Edward De Bono.

Reading Book is my Hobby, I enjoy reading.
Every book that i read it gives me something new.
New way of thinking...
For example i have read The Count of Monte Cristo, Anna Karenina,
Jane Eyre...All three books are very nice stories and spectacular,you really enjoy
your reading.

I recommend all books by Anne Rice about vampires, not because of them but outstanding philosophical matters.

Meh. But I enjoy Anne Rice anyways.... Actually, I did, until the books became popular, and all you heard about was brooding vampires. Way to wreck a decent storyline, pop culture!

After I was a child, no book had the power to change my mind. That is not to say that my mind and my opinions have not changed. Books provide more evidence or ways of thinking, but they only represent another set of opinions to can modify your own rather than change wholeheartedly.

When I was 12 the Bible changed my mind, but I gradually learned how stupid that was as I grew up. In the same way Chariots of the Gods changed my mind about the same time, but not for long.


I not sure how well his ideas have stood the test of time, but Immanuel Velikovski's "Worlds in Collision" was a dramatically different way of explaining some puzzling things. I imagine his ideas have been superseded, but he contributed to the possibility of looking at things differently, that may well have resulted in something positive.

"The Manipulated Man" by Esther Vilar.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Manipulated-M ... 1905177178

Well, it didn't change things exactly, since at the time I was already reading similar sources and considered (and still consider) "Sue Hindmarsh writings" more precise to describe reality as Esther did, yet this book raised so many overwhelming objections and truths, all of them in a persuasive speech that is aimed to instill you to evolve into a greater being, that it was, without a doubt, decisive for me.

Not even Plato Dialogues, that helped to improve my intellectual skills and moral values, had the same effect. This book is simply mesmerizing (I could read it entirely very quickly and multiple times without ever feeling bored), because it tells me exactly how things are, for destroying bit by bit any of the lies devised by this Matrix.

Not speaking personally, but any book of self-hypnosis. Or a text on neurosurgery, read by a surgeon. Now, these are books that change minds, quite literally.

Your Erroneous Zones and I'm OK You're OK helped me through part of my youth.

In my 30s The Selfish Gene answered more questions for me than any work I've read before or since. I once considered the book to be almost unimpeachable but group selection and discoveries in epigenetics make clear that, while genes are important, they are not as overarchingly important as claimed in the book. It's still brilliant, though.

"The God-Father" by Mario Puzo.

Scilician gangster families are not as bad as I expected. And they respect women. And they have a sense of honour that I can understand at least, even though it is not my cultural background.

La famiglia Corleone mi ha impressionato senza darmi disperazione e paura.

duszek wrote:"The God-Father" by Mario Puzo.

Scilician gangster families are not as bad as I expected. And they respect women. And they have a sense of honour that I can understand at least, even though it is not my cultural background.

La famiglia Corleone mi ha impressionato senza darmi disperazione e paura.

Now that's scary...

Hobbes' Choice wrote: I not sure how well his ideas have stood the test of time, but Immanuel Velikovski's "Worlds in Collision" was a dramatically different way of explaining some puzzling things.

It didn't stand the test of time at all and was even soundly ridiculed at the time of publication. I'm sure if you read it again now you'd reckon it was a crock of shit. About as plausible as von Daniken, who also managed to acquire a cult following during the same era.

Greta wrote:In my 30s The Selfish Gene answered more questions for me than any work I've read before or since.

Same here. It made a huge impact on me as a young biologist and is still a very useful source of ideas. Unfortunately most of the ideas have subsequently been shown to be false but such is the fate of all scientists. Dawkins has moved on a long way since 1976 and his remarkable ideas have evolved with him. I just wish he'd stop poncing around the world with that fuckwit Larry Krauss and stop arguing with the theists. It only encourages them.