What to read?

Read whatever you like. What do I care? **

However...

The last 24 hours I have been reminded from several sources of how difficult it is to discern knowledge and truth from propaganda and trash in today's media landscape.

E.g., CNN has given the conflict in Israel/Palestine over 50x as much coverage as Kongo, despite the ratio of casualties being even worse than the inverse. 5m people have died in the Kongo conflict - on par with the Korean war.

Also, Mike at D&P yesterday asked his readers what they are reading instead of newspapers (that are too slow* and too biased).

I agree with Mike that newspapers and other old media often miss the point completely (and probably deliberately too). On the other hand, even if there are bloggers that write objectively, they are hard to find among the millions of charlatans.

So what do I read? It really shouldn't concern you anymore than what music I listen to, but just in case you are still interested, here it is:

Non fiction books. High quality NFBs are well researched, written slowly, subject to peer review and relatively timeless. There are more of these than any person can read in a lifetime, so instead of wasting time on yet another news broadcast or morning paper, keep searching for and read the best NFBs.

My all-time favourites are:

How an economy grows and why it crashes
Gödel Escher Bach
The user illusion - Cutting consciousness down to size
The singularity is near
The naked ape
Engines of creation
The universe in a nutshell

The black swan

Abundance

A short history of nearly everything

(and a podcast: TED radio hour)
 

You could also include among worthwhile books:

The road to serfdom
The most important thing
Tomorrow's gold
Thinking fast and slow
How to create a mind
The great crash
Men are from Mars
Bull!

 

And for dog lovers:

Dog Sense


And fictional books that I think have important things to teach about the political system:

Withûr Wé
Atlas Shrugged
The Moon is a harsh mistress


And finally just a couple of good reads with no purpose or message:

Neuromancer
Post-Human
Reamde
The diamond age
Prey

(Just tell me if you are interested in any of the above and need the author)

Blogs are much harder to list or recommend. There are so many that come and go and the quality varies a lot over time. Among the ones I have kept on my reading list for a long time are:

KurzweilAI - technological progress
Zerohedge - counterweight to the polyannish financial commercial media
Hussman - weekly objective comments on the stock markets by one of the best asset managers

Nota Bene that I am probably searching for something completely different than you are. I am already retired and 'done'. I am not trying to get ahead or further my career or earn more money. I am simply trying to understand the world, man and the nature of intelligence and consciousness.

You would probably be much better served by checking out reading lists from Mike or Victor Pride or some other Man, Career or Entreprenurship blogs. At least if you are looking to get big, ripped, strong, rich, successful or admired.

Here, you'll only find a Swedish nerd's personal interests in nature, albeit a nerd that somehow happened to reach the upper echelons of international finance while bench pressing over 300 lbs, only to give it all up.

Btw, I am writing this on my phone so I just might add a few books or descriptions later this evening.

* Which is why I have lost interest in Financial Times and am starting to give up on The Economist too

** Actually, I mean it; read whatever. I have found that I get some of my best ideas and impulses no matter what I'm reading. It can be deep, difficult, easy, stupid, superficial or just strange or funny and it just stirs something in me, makes me want to comment, contradict, defend or memorize. Sure, it is nice to be served smart and deep thought but often it works just as well with simply infecting yourself with somebody else's memes and see what happens.