Books I’ve read as an adult. This does not include textbooks.
Reading Log
2024
Breathrough Advertising | Eugene Schwartz
This book is free money. Completely changed my perspective on marketing as a whole, and what marketing fundamentals really are.
Recommended by a good friend of mine. For anyone looking to start their journey in sales or DTC ecom, I would recommend this book.
2023
Elon Musk | Walter Isaacson
Quick and easy read. Would recommend this to anyone interested in the tech space today. This book did two things really well:
- Humanize Elon. Learning about his childhood and how that led him to the man he is today was really enlightening.
- Motivate me to work harder. His sense of urgency for his missions for all of humanity made my own goals feel laughably small. I think he’s a great example of what a focused, motivated, and disciplined person can do in a lifetime.
- Show how stupid some Elon critics are. Especially those saying his dad was a millionaire who owned an emerald mine.
Why We’re Polarized | Ezra Klein
It gives a nice overview of polarization in this digitized world. Although, I didn’t really learn anything new from this book. I think the core material is the same as The Social Dilemma movie. Classic social media algorithm -> confirmation bias -> echo chamber -> digital identity chain of thought.
I think tribalism is innately a part of human nature and not solvable. We’ve always been polarized to a degree. I don’t think it’s outright bad - tribalism had uses that served our ancestors. And logically, you’d want to prioritize people closer to you first before strangers - family, friends, community, nation, and only then would the world matter.
Am I the only one who thinks tribalism is perfectly normal? Would anyone actually give their last $100 to a random homeless person over their starving cousin?
The Selfish Gene | Richard Dawkins
This book fit my interests really well - evolution, game theory, modelling humans, behaviourism, etc. Dawkins does a great job arguing for the gene-centric perspective of human evolution.
It raises good questions: is chance really how we evolved to the sentient creatures we are today? Are there “objective” morals that are based off winning evolutionary strategies?
Laws of Human Nature | Robert Greene
First Robert Greene book. It gives a good overview of human psychology and analyzing biases, and sprinkled cute sporadic self help rules and history lessons.
Given its surrounding hype, I was a bit disappointed. In fact I think this book is really midwit. A lot of things weren’t revolutionary, rather things most people could figure out if they were really critical and honest with themselves. Moreover, the tactics taught on how to manipulate others according to their human nature won’t work on competent people. This is a peak r/iamverysmart book.
2022
Educated | Tara Westover
Gripping read. It’s a well-timed, refreshing counter perspective of what can go wrong in a family-centric, anti-government, libertarian system. I’ve always been really passionate about education accessibility, so seeing someone go through a challenging journey of attaining that was really inspiring.
It makes you really think about how one should filter the benefits of modern science from dirty science work (driven by misaligned incentives).
A Thousand Brains | Jeff Hawkins
This book offers a neuroscience-based POV on AI, intelligence, and existential risk.
It motivated me to learn a lot about neuroscience. I wish it dug deeper into the details though, about certain neurological mechanisms. I think the most insightful takeaway was that intelligence and animalistic behaviour are structured separateed in our brains. It gives me hope we can build AI systems that won’t behave have animalistic self-replicative behaviours too :)
Why it’s OK to Ignore Politics | Christopher Freiman
Really good (and needed) read for someone like me who spends a lot of time immersing myself in politics. TLDR: wanna do good for the world? There are better things to do with your time.
I largely agree with his arguments, although the reason I debate people and spent time on politics has more to do with awareness and truth-seeking, than trying to maximize my net good on the world.
The Machinery of Freedom | David Friedman
This was my first introduction to a very unique governance system that I’ve never read before: anarcho-capitalism. Friedman’s arguments are convincing. But, I think a capitalist system of any form without guardrails will lead to monopolies over time, and I wonder how an an-cap model would deal with monopolies. In such system, a monopoly over enough valued goods and services would effectively act as a centralized government, just with a different label.
2021
A Brief History of Time | Stephen Hawking
This is a captivating book that really made me think about the universe. I think Hawking does a great job breaking concepts down to a point where a high schooler could understand them.
Space is the neverending frontier for human exploration. A gift from God.
A Promised Land | Barack Obama
This book is tremendously insightful and frankly humbling. People (like myself) always have things to say about how a president could make better choices or do more, but this memoir gives an insight to the presidency that shows decisions are not as easy as they seem.
A big takeaway is that having the right romantic partner can help you do impossible things.
12 Rules for Life | Jordan Peterson
I think Peterson’s rules are good - they’re broadly shared across many different cultures: fixing your posture, getting yourself in order before criticizing others, being cautious about short term gain, etc. I think the message resonates to the emasculated crowd of modern young men who look for father figures to give them this type of advice.
The War on Normal People | Andrew Yang
Yang gives a confident and accurate diagnosis of how automation will disrupt the labour market. He pitches a strong case for UBI, and I do think it’s one of the best solutions out there for a post-work economy. A really nice thing about this book is how every one of his claims is cited with sources.
I wish he dug more and ideated on how to navigate the transitionary period between our existing economy and a post-4th industrial revolution economy. I also think there is a fragile premise underlying all of his arguments: a hopeful optimism that in a post-work world, we will shift focus onto what he calls the human experience, family & community centric activities, rather than fall into the pits of hedonism.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | Yuval Noah Harari
An interesting perspective on homo sapiens evolution. Good read for anyone looking to start expanding their worldview on history.
Many of Harari’s arguments are rooted in the belief that our belief systems are purely socially constructed, and because of this that no belief system has inherent validity to them. I think it’s naive to conclude that and to dismiss biologically driven tendencies for certain behaviours alltogether. Moreover, certain social constructions are not equal to others. There’s a lot of contradiction between this book and The Selfish Gene.
1984 | George Orwell
Classic. I re-read this often. It’s chilling once you see the links to the real world. Woke thought control is real.
On the Shelf
Three Body Problem | Liu Cixin
Reading…
The Diamond Age | Neal Stephenson
Reading…