ITT: The best non-fiction you've ever read

I'm interested to see what others say.

Politics, Metaphysics, Meditations

The book also doesnt start with The Iliad. You didnt read any of it. Thats fine by me, but at least be honest about it. Playing this bullshit game is pointless. I dont think youre an idiot or a pseud if you say "Havent read it, but fromwhat ive heard, it sounds fucking retarded." Let go of needing your feelings and opinions to be "authoratative" or whatever and just qualify them. Nothing wrong with not being an authority on everything. Ill look at the books you mentioned.

>Ill look at the books you mentioned.
Why?

I only mentioned them because you asked if I had read any nonfiction. Don't read it if you don't have any interest.

Hate the ultimatums. I don't know the best NF of all time, but here are some NF that come to mind, and a stack. I highly recommend every one of these books.

Griftopia
How God Changes Your Brain
The Rational Optimist
Seven Daughters of Eve
Art and Fear
D. Franklin Wright is my favorite math text book author...

Recently though, my NF (and most of my reading) has come been publications and periodicals.

I specifically used "look at" instead of "read." I'm going to look at every book in this thread. I started the thread to get recommendations. You don't need to hold my hand through the read/interest process. I've read and not read books before.

wasn't bicameralism disproven

> impressive work of history
> that particularly stuck with me
my man, where did you learn to summarize? in faggot school? kys

Marshall McLuhan. The Medium is the Massage. It's even got pictures in it. What he said might have sounded like complete gibberish back in the 60s, but makes perfect sense now

lesswrong.com/lw/72m/an_epub_of_eliezers_blog_posts/

No paper version, sadly.

1914 tho

yes, it was. no biological support for such different function of the human brain ~4k years ago vs now. also, failure to explain why all humans across the entire glob (including isolated groups in the americas and asia) all experience consciousness the same. end result is that this is one loopy theory that can't back up up any of its claims with hard evidence

>tfw only've heard of this guy because of Terence McKenna
>tfw 70% sure that's where you've heard of him

Holy shit, you're a retard. You're that guy from the Descartes thread a few weeks ago who started calling everyone "king pseud" or whatever. I remember your stupid, faux-bossman rhetorical style. Why don't you fuck off this board already.

>no biological support for such different function of the human brain ~4k years ago vs now
I'm not sure what you mean by this. I can guarantee you, though, that we have never studied a human brain from 4,000 years ago.

>also, failure to explain why all humans across the entire glob (including isolated groups in the americas and asia) all experience consciousness the same
This is a fine point to make, but one that is addressed in the book. I would point out that I do not think that every group is/was as consciousness as every other group. Niggers in Africa aren't Greeks

>can't back up up any of its claims with hard evidence
You don't know what you're talking about. You know the book is over 500 pages, right? Do you think it is filled with pure speculation or something?

Arthur Koestler's Ghost in the Machine is definitely up there for me.

Why is it that a book becomes "trendy" as soon as it get a mention on a crappy TV show, like Westworld? I don't recall if they mentioned that book specifically, but sure they mentioned "the bicameral mind.

Did you hear the concept on the show and decide to read about it since it was trendy, or did the professor realize it was trendy and then assign it?

...

Not the person you were responding to, but were you trying to make a point with that post?

Your responses are completely nonsensical and have nothing to do with what you quoted. You are implying that the human mind has, somehow, evolved DRAMATICALLY within a relatively short timeframe, which you "guarantee" somehow; and then go on to say that anything not covered explicitly in the book is actually there while simultaneously saying that 500 pages means the book is somehow more legitimate than everything else that counters it.

prophetic

What's it about? I like Koestler

you post like a jaded /mu/ hipster.

who cares how people come about information in their lives. what, they need to be on the ground floor of everything interesting or they can fuck off forever?

If the show weren't popular would those same people ever had stumbled upon, and then praised so heavily, these works?

What is more important, the works or the attention towards them?

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>You are implying that the human mind has, somehow, evolved DRAMATICALLY within a relatively short timeframe, which you "guarantee" somehow
No I didn't, fucktard. I said we have never studied a brain from 4,000 years ago. That was all I guaranteed.

>say that anything not covered explicitly in the book is actually there
Wrong again. I said that the point the other user raised was addressed in the book. That is all. I certainly didn't contradict myself like you are saying.

>saying that 500 pages means the book is somehow more legitimate than everything else that counters it.
Nowhere did I say or imply this. I brought up the length of the book to show how well-developed Jaynes's idea is. Dismiss something as a "one loopy theory" that was developed over the course of decades and takes 500 pages to explain is fucking dumb.

You have extremely poor reading comprehension.

everybody agrees that this man is really clever, but he sounds so autistic IRL

maybe because of his orthodox Jewish education

Holy shit. Shut the fuck up, you gigantic faggot. I hadn't even heard of the show Westworld until you just posted about it. TOoCitBotBM is an immensely popular book. It's been in print for 4 decades. There is more than one society dedicated to its author. Several people have written blogs that are tens of thousands of words long to discuss his ideas. Have you even read the book? Or is having knowledge of it before it appeared on television enough for your ego? It's ironic. You are trying to make it out like I'm the pleb who is just soooo fucking influenced by Sunday night HBO. I didn't even know that commercialized garbage existed. I was too busy reading the fucking book. You're the one who only comes into contact with it because of a television show. Don't project on me, fucko.

With that said, the book is fantastic. It's legacy speaks for itself. I hope you read it. It's fucking exhilarating. Maybe one day you'll prioritize experience over criticism. Maybe one day you'll actually give stuff a shot. Maybe one day you'll realize that cynically dismissing something because it received a lot of attention doesn't makes you cool. Maybe you'll realize that you don't know everyone else's mind like the back of your fucking hand. You're a real fucking expert psychologist, huh? You know exactly why I posted about the book, huh? Why don't you go ahead and search the archive, fuckwit. I was posting about this book before you mustered the courage to make babby's first post. You think you're so above people because you've read a few Wikipedia articles. You're a fucking laughing stock. I'd bet my life savings that you get no respect outside of Veeky Forums. You're seen-it-all shit wouldn't fly anywhere else. Oh, some people might've heard about a book they thought was interesting from tv? And then they read it? Hahahaha, fucking damn. What absolute faggots those people are for being curious in things! I bet they don't even analyze social phenomenon on Veeky Forums! What fucking idiots they must be! AHAHAHA I can't fucking breathe! Fuck other people for not being an exact copy of you, right? Feel free to post your favorite non-fiction book, kid. I'm all ears. That is, if you even fucking read.

Thanks for the copy-pasta kiddo

He's got as much sense of style, both general and literary, as your average fedora-bearing neckbeard. That while actually being clever

I'd agree that Westworld's a fun show, but it wouldn't inspire me to read that.

Best literary/cultural theory: All That Is Solid Melts Into Air
Best history: maybe History in Three Keys (on the Boxer rebellion) by Paul Cohen
Best general essaying: The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang

>I'd bet my life savings that you get no respect outside of Veeky Forums
Best part of a thoroughly enjoyable post.

I tried to read it. Was interesting, but also a bit boring after a while.

This desu

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Copleston's 11 volume history of western philosophy.