997 sats \ 15 replies \ @Doo_Deux 8 Jan \ on: I'm not the brightest bulb out there, help me change it. BooksAndArticles
In Robert Heinlein's book Time Enough For Love, the character Lazarus Long says
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
I'm not a big sci-fi fan, but a few Heinlein books were a good read.
Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl should be on everyone's must read once in their life list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man's_Search_for_Meaning
The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin I could not put down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discoverers
Some others.... Guns, Germs and Steel, 1491, Sapiens.
Just to get you started. Hope it helps.
Guns, Germs and Steel, 1491, Sapiens.
Seconded
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Particularly for Guns, Germs, and Steel, and 1491, these books changed the perception of what precolonial America was like and how it was conquered. They also added a lot to the public understanding of what other civilizations had been like pre-European colonization.
Jared Diamond (the author of Guns, Germs, and Steel) also wrote Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, which I found very interesting.
Also, I realized while typing this reply that I haven't read Sapiens, but I have heard it's very good.
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If you have ever watched the old TV show, Connections by James Burke, you'd love The Discoverers by Boorstin. Basically showing you how inventions lead to inventions that lead to discoveries. He has more series out, but these was super to me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Boorstin
Also if you can find old books by Eric Sloane, they are super books to help you learn visually. His weather book is great to help you learn the weather. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Sloane
Oh, I forgot, if you love the outdoors, Natural Navigator by Tristen Gooley. https://www.naturalnavigator.com/tristan-gooley/
OK... enough. I'll hop off my reading soap box now.
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Some of my favorite books have titles like History of Mathematics or History of Economic Thought, so I'm making a mental note of The Discoverers. The sequence of how ideas and innovations spread and built on each other is really fascinating.
Have you read H.G. Wells' A Short History of the World? I have a sense you would enjoy it. It has a much more integrated narrative flow than most big picture history books.
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Have you read H.G. Wells' A Short History of the World? I have a sense you would enjoy it.
Welp... into the queue it goes. I have an overseas trip coming up and needed something to read. And I see it is on Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35461 Thanks.
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Don't undersell yourself. Many years ago I felt very "unread" and decided I would change that. I started listening to audio books on the way to work. I have continued reading non-fiction books every year and over time I've read a great number of books. Many listed here. Just start with one and do the next, then another. There is much wisdom out there that we can listen to and think about. Then apply to our lives. The only thing that can stop you is you saying "I can't" If you say that it will come true. If you reject that thinking you have just opened up a new world of possibilities. Don't say I can't. Say how can I?
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It depends. Are you looking for tactical, hands on skills, or you looking for how to survive?
I'll just throw a few out...
For a foundational knowledge:
For technical knowledge:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17124853-how-to-stay-alive-in-the-woods (this is dated, but from one of the original back to the wilderness authors post-World War II)
And honestly most "survival skills" books are just re-hashes of the same information over and over again. The SAS book is a good compilation of them.
And from our discussion the other day... survival has been commercialized and commoditized starting back around 2009 since the Aztec calendar was going to end the world in 2012. There are a ton of resources on how to rub sticks together and how to make a pile of sticks on sleep in. There are not a lot of people that know how to survive. Build on this foundation.
Again, off my soap box. :)
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I always thought of the SAS book as sort of gimmicky,
It sort of is with a title like that. But, it is probably the most comprehensive book showing technical skills. Like I said, almost everything is just a rehash of knowledge that has been around in perpetuity and people are not discovering or inventing new ways to stay alive. Also pick up the US Army's FM 21-76 Survival Manual too.
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