Books That Will Make You Smarter

My thought was, and still is, that you need to filter what you read. reading, I mean really reading, is not easy. it takes a long time.

so in addition to finding time and remembering what you read, you need to make sure you’re reading the right things.

You are reading: Books that make you wiser

There are a few approaches to this filtering. one is to use the lindy effect. but another approach that I personally use is, and this is really going to sound simple, asking smart people what they’re reading, what they learned from, or in this case, which book has the most wisdom page by page. .

The results are often amazing and I usually find one or two books that I’ve never heard of that offer a lot of value.

in no particular order, here’s what they had to say:

“seeking wisdom” by peter bevelinthis is number 8 on the list of books that changed my life. It’s also the book I give away most often, shipping countless copies around the world.

See Also: How to Transfer Books to iPad (From Win/Mac)

“Cosmos” by Carl SaganThis is one of the best-selling science books of all time. I’ve never read it, so I ordered it after reading the blurb: “traces the fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution that have transformed matter into consciousness, exploring topics such as the origin of life, the human brain, hieroglyphics Egyptians, spacecraft missions, the death of the sun, the evolution of galaxies, and the forces and individuals that helped shape modern science.”

“get the job done!” by steven pressfieldI liked pressfield’s “art war” enough to choose this manifesto arguing that ideas are not enough, you actually have to do the work.

“zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance” by robert pirsigi have read this book at least 3 different times in my life and stopped reading it for one reason or another. Considered a cult classic by many, I haven’t found the right time to read it…yet.

“the conquest of happiness”, bertrand russellfirst published in 1930, this book attempts to “diagnose the innumerable causes of unhappiness in modern life and chart a path out of malaise seemingly inescapable.” The book remains as relevant today as ever, and in this edition Daniel Dennett, who showed us how to criticize with kindness, re-introduces Russell’s wisdom to a new generation of readers and thinkers who call the work “a prototype of the avalanche of self-help books that have been published more recently, few of them are worth reading today like the little book by russell.”

“this is water” by david foster wallacethis is one of the best things you will ever read (and I hope you will read again periodically). I totally agree with this selection.

See Also: 9 books of forbidden knowledge given to 9 unknown mens! Lets see what are those books about. – Flood from history

“meditations”, by marcus aureliusanother of the books that changed my life and also one of the books I gave away at the re:think innovation workshop. translation matters a lot with this book, get this one.

“letters of a stoic”, by Senecalove love love. as relevant today as it was when it was written.

“influence: the psychology of persuasion” by robert cialdinithe person who recommended this book said “no page can be thrown out of this book.” you can read a quick overview of the book, but I recommend digging deeper.

“An Intimate History of Humankind” by Theodore ZeldinI had never before heard of this work that explores the evolution of emotions. Time magazine called it “an intellectually stunning insight into our past and future.”

“the road less travelled”, by m. Scott Peck had never heard of this book (seriously) either and it has sold 7 million copies. a book to “help us explore the very nature of love relationships and guide us towards a new serenity and fullness of life.”