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Expose yourself to as many smart people as possible read a lot of books.[38]
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
"Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" by Douglas Adams is in fact a book of philosophy, disguised as a silly humor book. If you read it from the standpoint of "wow, this is an interesting book of philosophy,” it is quite insightful. It really hits this point: the answer is easy once you can properly formulate the question.[35]
He also makes fun of bureaucracy. Earth essentially gets destroyed by a sort of clerical error. They basically decide that they need to have an interstellar highway and the Earth's in the way. They post the fact that Earth needs to get destroyed for this interstellar highway, but of course, it's posted on alien bulletin board that no one on Earth can access.[35]
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
I know it's cliche, but Lord of the Rings is my favorite book ever. Want to see the set and take my kids on tour of greater New Zealand.[64]
Foundation Series by Isaac Azimov
I recommend reading the foundation series. It's about if you know there's likely to be another Dark Ages, which my guess there will be at some point. I'm not predicting that we're about to enter a Dark Ages, but that there's some probability we will particularly if there's a third world war. We want to make sure that there's enough of us of a seed of human civilization somewhere else to bring civilization back and perhaps shorten the length of the dark ages.
It's unlikely we'll never have another world war. There probably will be at some point. I'm not predicting this, but given enough time will it be likely because this has been our pattern in the past.[53] Asimov’s zeroth law: you take the set of actions most likely to support the humanity of the future.[53]
Dune series by Herbert also brilliant. He advocates placing limits on machine intelligence.[64]
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
I like Stranger in a Strange Land, although it kind of goes off the rails at the end.[115]
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
Favorite books about space: Asimov's Foundation, Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress.[64]
The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster
Worth reading The Machine Stops, an old story by E. M. Forster[64]
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Best books in recent years in my opinion are by Iain Banks & George Martin.[64]
Reading The Culture series by Banks. Compelling picture of a grand, semi-utopian galactic future. Hopefully not too optimistic about AI.[64]
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Have recently come to appreciate the awesome, absurdist humor of Waiting for Godot. We so often wait, without knowing why, when or where.[64]
It’s a counterpoint to communism and useful as such, but should be tempered with kindness[64]
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Must admit to liking The Fault in Our Stars. Sad, romantic, and beautifully named[64]
If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... Where is Everybody? by Stephen Webb
Great book. Read it when it came out.[64]
The Big Picture by Sean Carroll
Highly recommend anything by Sean Carroll[64]
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe by Steven Novella
The @SkepticsGuide book is 👍[64]
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Most people don't realize that the origin of the word meme is the, I believe, 1976 book by Richard Dawkins.[122]
Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes
Worth reading Merchants of Doubt. Same people who tried to deny smoking deaths are denying climate change[64]
What We Owe the Future by William MacAskill
Worth reading. This is a close match for my philosophy.[64]
This book is accurate.[64]
One of my favorite books for learning space travel. Ignition by John Clarke, Huzel & Wang book on propulsion.[64]
Modern Engineering for Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines by Dieter K Huzel
A good book on structural design. It is really, really good if you want a primer on structural design.[118]
The Story of Civilization by Will & Ariel Durant
Read The Story of Civilization by Will & Ariel Durant.[64]
The Age of Napoleon by Will & Ariel Durant
The Age of Napoleon by Will & Ariel Durant is an amazing book.[64]
The Life of Greece by Will & Ariel Durant
The Life of Greece is incredible.[64]
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Gibbon’s famous book about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and how they had advanced technology in terms of roads, aqueducts plumbing and so forth and then they basically forgot about it.[35]
Catherine The Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Just finished Massie's book on Catherine. An amazingly expansive and compelling portrait of an incredible woman. Highly recommend. Yeah, I know what you're probably thinking... did she really f* a horse?[64]
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger
I was fascinated by Junger's famous book Storm of Steel, which was published roughly a hundred years ago about Junger's experiences in the first world war. For some reason I'm fascinated by war and history in general. I thought Junger’s book was an excellent first-hand account of world war one. A lesson taken from this book is we don't ever want to do that again.[19]
Not Much of an Engineer by Sir Stanley Hooker
In recent months, read American Caesar, Masters of Doom, Not Much of an Engineer, Wages of Destruction and Storm of Steel.[64]
The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze
There should be a chapter saying 'if you have a decisive technology advantage, you can actually win with minimal casualties.'[119]
The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Edward Shepherd Creasy
Insightful analysis, ensconced in eloquent prose[64]
An interesting book I’ve read many times[119]
Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson
Great biography of Ben Franklin by Isaacson. Highly recommended.[64]
Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore
“Stalin: Court of the Red Tsar” was one of the few books that was so dark I had to stop reading. If only they’d listened to Lenin’s last wish, much tragedy may have been averted.[64]
American Caesar by William Manchester
Quite interesting.[124]
Explore/Create by Richard Garriott
Explore/Create is a chronicle of wonder, and the many wondrous things the future may hold. Richard and I have long shared a passion for space. Perhaps one day our kids will create and play games on a new world![125]
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Autobiographies are really helpful... something like Franklin's[126]
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Maybe read through like the condensed version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, I'd recommend that.[6]
A compelling guide to the challenges and choices in our quest for a great future of life, intelligence, and consciousness—on Earth and beyond.[120]
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom
Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.[64]
Human Compatible by Stuart Russell
Worth reading “Human Compatible” by Stuart Russell (he’s great!) about future AI risks & solutions[64]
Our Final Invention by James Barrat
Our Final Invention is also worth reading[64]
Deep Learning by Ian Goodfellow
Written by three experts in the field, Deep Learning is the only comprehensive book on the subject.[121]
Screw Business As Usual by Richard Branson
Liked "Screw Business as Usual" a lot. This approach should be taken to heart by all, as it really is the smart move.[64]
Masters of Doom by David Kushner
Masters of Doom is a great book.[64]
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Adam Smith for the win, obviously.[64]
Peter Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how[123]
What's Our Problem? by Tim Urban
Worth reading.[64]
Read "Lying", the new book by my friend Sam Harris. Excellent cover art and lots of good reasons not to lie![64]
A Woman Makes a Plan by Maye Musk
My Mom wrote a book ♥️[64]
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