The best History & Philosophy of Science books: Reddit reviews

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Yep, kids on the way; had to sell his home and move in on the couch of another silicone valley investor to finish the first rocket launch that landed his first contracts. Said he was days away from being negative. This is an amazing read <EDIT harmless joke out> https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-SpaceX-Fantastic-Future/dp/006230125X

Read the book "A mind for numbers" by Barbara Oakley and take the course "learning how to learn"

Link to course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra/dp/039916524X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=a+mind+for+numbers&amp;qid=1570212770&amp;sr=8-1

Edit: if I remember correctly, you don't have to pay for the course if you're not able to. Hope this helps you :)

The book &quot;The Demon Haunted World&quot; by Carl Sagan is a less aggressive introduction to the type of thinking that leads to atheism.

I cannot recommend Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark enough. Some parts of it may be a bit dated, but the chapter entitled "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection" is timeless and it may be exactly what you're looking for.

Take your time and don't feel like you have to rush this. No one can tell you what you should believe, only you can decide what's right for you.

As for book recommendations I always recommend Demon-Haunted World as a good place to begin. It serves as a kind of primer for learning to distinguish what's true from what we only think to be true.

If you like this then you'll really like a book by Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, highly recommended. Anything by Bryson, really.

Check out the book A Mind for Numbers. Really insightful for CS majors IMHO.

Nope!
Far far less often.
Immediacy, more comprehensive reporting, and the complete lack of any kind of geographic filtration just make it seem like things are getting worse, when it is in fact the exact opposite. There's plenty of good statistical analysis to back it up, but the easier solution is to just pick up a copy of 'Better angels of our nature' by Stephen Pinker. It does a good job of breaking down the trends on different comparative perspectives, analyzing different interpretations of the data, and highlighting the most compelling conclusions we can draw from it: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Angels-Our-Nature-Violence/dp/0143122010

When I was growing up, we didn't really hear much about most murders or other violent crimes any further away than the next town over...

This process (called the diffused mode of the brain) is discussed in depth in a book I read a few years ago called A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra).

Would highly recommend if anyone is interested in how your brain learns things - especially abstract concepts like mathematics and programming.

To add to your book comment, anytime I see this I always have to recommend the pocket ref its like google in a tiny ass book. I have a few of them.

Seconded. This is a fun little book!

u/Sarmancat, you may also want to check out the Granddaddy of them all, The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. If you haven't read Demon-Haunted World, I would highly, highly recommend it. It's the book I recommend more than any other book, and it's right up your alley.

Se está interessado em se aprofundar no assunto de por que violência aumenta ou diminui. Sugiro ler esse livro do Steven Pinker que é referência mundial no assunto.

O livro foca mais no cenário global como um todo. Aonde a violência está diminuindo na média. Mas reconhece que em alguns focos na América latina violência está indo em direção contrária.

O livro é extremamente extenso, a explicação não é simples, são diversos fatores diferentes. Mas uma das teclas que ele bate bastante e nos parece bem familiar no Brasil, é um Estado ineficiente na área de segurança. Apesar de alguns políticos populistas estarem apelando pra sugestão de que deveria ser responsabilidade de cada indivíduo se defender sozinho. O que o livro mostra é que historicamente a evidência é bem forte de que quem faz segurança é a polícia. Os estados brasileiros aonde a polícia está mal paga, com greves, paralisações, é justamente aonde estão os piores focos de violência.

My overall view is that he's an increadible, but deeply flawed, person.

He's simultaneously transforming the transportation, space exploration, and energy sectors all at once. He's already accomplished multiple things in aeronautics and transportation areas that nobody else had done before. I honestly think he's possibly the most important person alive, and we're really lucky to have him.

But... he's probably a narcissist, and at least appears to be an asshole.

Like many people who are increadible workers, he demands incredible amounts from the people around him. Often enough that he hurts them. If you read his biography it's replete with stories of Elon hurting people close to him because he doesn't seem to understand how they see the world. His ex-wife, Justine, wrote a really sad article about their divorce back in 2010. This doesn't excuse anything, but his biography strongly suggests he was abused as a child by his father.

He seems to share a lot of traits, both positive and negative, with some of the most successful people in history. It's possible to be that driven that something inside of you needs to be broken, or that you demand so much of yourself that you despise mediocrity in others.

As someone left of center and an environmentalist.... Free markets and enlightenment values have lifted humanity out of squalor and superstition into modern day lives of plenty and comfort. Check out Steven Pinker's works if you don't believe me.

As long as we bring both to Mars with us, we'll be fine.

By all means keep it - a bible is a most useful reference work when one has to occasionally deal with aggressive fundies - so few of them actually refer to the source text.

However, I feel like it would only be right and proper to reciprocate the gesture.

My impression of enlightenment based on reading Waking Up by Sam Harris (highly recommended) and Jeffery Martin's PNSE studies is that it doesn't necessarily change your personality much and it does not really have much to do with moral behavior one way or the other. Gupta would likely behave in a similar way whether or not he was enlightened.

I'm sorry? Wars in the past were way more horrific and casualties were significantly higher than they are now, we are living in one of the most peaceful eras in history.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Better-Angels-Our-Nature/dp/0143122010

Here is a good book that discusses this exact subject.

Hey man we all get discouraged when learning something new.

You should check out this https://www.amazon.ca/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra-ebook/dp/B00G3L19ZU

The author was terrified of math throughout high school and joined the army after graduating. When she was ~25 she realized the work she was doing was not going to provide her a great future, and she went back to school for an engineering degree. During this time she learned how to overcome her issues, and she's now doing a PHD.

I really liked the book, I got it on Audible but wouldn't be surprised if the library had it :) She covers strategies to deal with solving new problems and also procrastination.

I'm early thirties, and left a controlling ex a couple years ago myself (still married because they keep "accidentally" dropping the ball on their end, but that's another story). I had a discouraging experience going back to school while we were still living together, and it made me nervous about trying again. But this time has been totally different. I'm graduating from CC this spring with a 4.0!

We adult students have a lot of things going for us. There's the benefit of life experience and a fully developed brain. We tend to be more organized and driven, too. You may even find that material you struggled with as a teen comes more easily now.

However, I still get panicked every semester that I'm going to lose focus and flunk. Recently I've started having nightmares that I'm going to fail a class and not get to walk for graduation. I'm also worried because I'm starting STEM "weed out" classes next semester, so the difficulty is about the ratchet up significantly.

I'm managing by keeping my focus mostly on my current semester. I also bought a book called <em>A Mind For Numbers</em>, which is recommended for folks who aren't so confident in their math skills. It focuses on strategies for studying more efficiently and reducing the time you feel like you're grinding away but not getting anywhere.

I know it's scary, but school won't be as bad as your fear is telling you. Community colleges are very supportive places, with lots of resources to help you succeed. Take advantage of advising, free tutoring, and disability services (if panic attacks continue to be a problem). Don't let fear stop you from getting that degree! You can do it!!

I'm not sure about those "poor results"?

Violence is lower than ever. Unless you count exceptions like Baltimore, which we are not allowed to talk about.

I think abortion should be legal and widely available. But it's at an all time low. Birth control is getting better.

It's not a study so much as a thesis that analyzes many different studies, but I would highly recommend Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature as a jumping off point.

Actually, if you're interested, there's a book on this exact subject called A Universe from Nothing that explains how this can happen.

But also, you're forgetting that you're applying that logic to the universe and then making god "immune" to that same logic. So what you're saying is logically inconsistent and would not qualify as a viable explanation of the universe's existence.

I’m not just making this up to make you feel bad. What I’m talking about, the personal gratification, the superiority complex, the lack of education in science and history...all of it...it’s studied psychology. It’s a type of thing a human brain typically does under certain specific conditions.

I don’t know how old you are, hopefully young enough to grow up. If you’re older you’re fucked, it’s probably too late. The mindset you have is a liability for you in life. You need to learn how to learn. You need to be better at detecting bullshit. It takes effort but it’s worthwhile for a million reasons, and being smarter and more analytical and intellectually curious never hurt anyone.

There’s a great book by Carl Sagan called The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. He talks about exactly this stuff and I promise if you start reading you won’t want to put it down, it’s good. I’m sure there is an audiobook version too.

You can do better.

Agree about Carl Sagan. This book is especially designed to help people develop a healthy, knowledgeable skepticism. It's also everywhere in PDF form as well, I believe.

You may wish to consider some science podcasts too. Bill Nye has a podcast, as does Neil Degrasse Tyson. Those are good for people less knowledgeable about science. Plus you can listen on the go.

If you’re serious about this and want to do real research outside of jw approved literature, give The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan a read.

If you’re too scared to read it (I’m being serious, I was once like you), here’s the Wikipidea article that explains it a bit.

Religion is a part of the "supernatural". I put that in quotes because there is no evidence for the supernatural, whether we're speaking of gods, witchcraft, spirits, ghosts, or otherwise.

You are right in that they seem to go hand in hand. Why? Because both concepts rely on accepting things without evidence. There are Christians here in the West that are terrified of witchcraft, but they believe in it because they accept supernatural claims in the first place. It is true that belief in witchcraft here isn't as prevalent as in Africa, but those that believe in it share the same types of thought processes as those that live in Africa. Likewise, Christians here are leaving their churches because they are starting to fall for the newest rage, "Q" conspiracy theories. Why? Again because they share the same mindset. None of them stress critical thinking, standards of evidence, or media literacy. They accept ideas on faith, on the word of others, and readily give their belief to such things.

One thing many former Christians here struggle with after they walk away from Christianity is that they still have a fear of hell for some time, even as they do not believe any longer in God. When you are surrounded by many people that believe and tell you something is true, it becomes harder to challenge and harder to break out of such a belief. Such fears do fade with time, however. Some even seek therapy or counseling for help with it. It does take courage, especially when your entire peer group believes in such things.

I hope you find your way out of things, and I hope you find peace. One book I always recommend for critical thinking is by Carl Sagan.

I know my advice is not from an especially African point of view, nevertheless I wish you peace.

I was very similar to you, and found the book <em>A Mind for Numbers</em> incredibly helpful for helping develop effective studying techniques (I read it my last semester in school, and kicked myself for not reading it sooner). There's a coursea course called &quot;Learning how to Learn&quot; by the same woman (+ a man, iirc) that seems to cover the same content.

Good luck!

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

It saddens me that there are adults in this world that believe in demons.

Bill Bryson A Short History of Nearly Everything is a great place to start. Read his introduction in the Amazon preview and you'll get an idea of the books content.

Here's a typical review:

'A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson's quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. His challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out? On his travels through time and space, Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye-opening journey, and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.'

Leia o livro &quot;The Better Angels of Our Nature&quot; do Steven Pinker

Foi indicado pelo Bill Gates em um Gates Notes. O impressionante é o cara mostrar, com dados científicos e históricos que no momento atual, mesmo com toda a merda que vemos diariamente e mundialmente, estamos em um dos momentos mais pacíficos possíveis.