Hello Level 1 community,
I wanted to scrape the db of your minds in order to see what you were reading / thinking philosophically. Since we can’t do this over a beer, I feel that it’s only appropriate to do this on the forums.
Post some interesting books you read that interested you philosophically. My bias is that it should somewhat relate to the field of technology, since we are in that type of community, but it does not have to be that.
I will put as much effort into responding to the post as you do, so respond accordingly and think well.
2 Likes
2 Likes
been reading a lot of cyberpunk and dystopian fiction recently
good reads in terms of philosophical content:
also, good talk by bryan cantrill (not a book but hey)
3 Likes
Ah, the man who turned Hegel on his head. I’m so 3rd wave. Have you tried Giorgio Agamben or Michael Hardt?
Interesting content. Looks like Black Mirror had some interesting predecessors.
Oh, and BTW can’t stress this site enough for parsing through and price comparison of paper format books:
For a historical understand of the field:
The History of Western Philosophy
Copleston’s volumes
Jean-Paul Sartre
are damn good reading.
Some fiction with a twist, I’ll get back with that. Have some good stuff at home.
1 Like
Bertrand Russelled my Jimmies
Tell me more about Copleston
And Sartre is very cumbersome to read 
1 Like
I’d characterize black mirror as half twilight zone, half drunk glaswegian in a room positing hypotheticals like “what if you had to charge your dog instead of walk it” while the netflix writers take notes.
Does draw some thematic elements from the genre, but it’s approaching parody in how those themes are handled.
1 Like
Acknowledged, you deserve a free beer.
“wot if facebook was in real life”
“wot if your computer knew your name”
“wot if your game character had a mind of its own”
“wot if there was uber reviews for everyfing”
“wot if VR made you kill people”
“wot if reality tv was a religion”
“wot if your gran came back as a mechanoid”
It’s like babie’s first consequences of tech thinkie time
3 Likes
Giving Language, Truth, and Logic a re-read since it’s been a while, highly recommended if you want to read the mistakes of a very smart man. Approx 50 years after he wrote this he denounced it, but it’s still a great read and it’s a good exercise to find what’s wrong with it.
1 Like
I wrote a philosophical rambling here today as well.
1 Like
Lots of psychological insights in this one.
3 Likes
This book has been used to teach business ethics
“Seek mutually beneficial relationships”
.
Examine what it means to be human as taught by an intelligent talking gorilla.
.
This is my current read. I am taking my time, because it is such an important book.
The bad news from Sally Kohn: We all hate, and if we think we don’t, we’re lying to ourselves. Kohn’s good news: With fearless scrutiny of our personal histories, motives and prejudices, and by connecting with those who are different, we can hate less. To launch this growth, she insists, we must be willing to admit to the biases that fuel our hatred.
Washington Post book review
Learn to love your trolls, so one can understand them and then find one point of common ground.
Only then one can start to heal the hatred that pervades the internet.
1 Like
Seems like an interesting read. Should be included in my holocaust studies section of my library.
Not bad. Sort of sounds like MLK’s message about loving our enemies.
bell hooks (sic) has some great work on that subject as well. I’d recommend any of her work.
1 Like
I am not done reading the whole book yet but I learned a good method yesterday. If someone is arguing AT you try this:
“While I don’t agree with everything you said, point #17 makes sense. Tell me more about that.”
It shows you are listening and willing to learn and thus compromise.
Maybe the other person will be willing to listen, learn and compromise also.
1 Like
Sure, that might work in a respectful environment. In regards to political argumentation I always try to find an “out”. For example if a bully is just going on and on and pressuring everyone with his ‘brilliant’ opinions during a company outing or event, I will wait for the right moment to strike and expose a simple lapse in his logic and embarrass him in front of everyone. After that I simply announce to the audience that I am ordering a round of drinks to lighten the mood and get everyone on my side so I won’t be stuck talking to him for the rest of the night.