Reddit reviews Ishmael:A Novel
We found 76 Reddit comments about Ishmael:A Novel. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Ishmael An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
Reddit reviews Ishmael:A NovelWe found 76 Reddit comments about Ishmael:A Novel. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
I'd highly suggest you read the book Ishmael, as much of the book is spent suggesting that nothing "inherent" leads to our fucked up society as it stands. Only Human choice is what leads us to the fucked-up-ness of today.
What no one wants to say
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is a fantastic read addressing the exact same topic. It challenges our assumptions on society and humanity's place in this world.
Ishmael on Amazon
Start here for some cool entry-level stuff. There are many more sites like it. Do some research on what skills you need to also score some jobs that are work from home, or that give you lots of free time, or that generally just seem like a "wow I can get paid to do that?" type job. And just assign yourself homework. Even if it takes years, eventually you'll be competent enough to apply to some things from self education, or otherwise maybe find a more traditional educational path the get you where you want to be. You have your entire life to find a niche to fill in this thing we call society, and you may find some niches where people are just like you--doing what they do, but living for life more than anything. It's about the journey, and maybe you'll find that niche at age 59, but between now and then you'll have some awesome memories about all the trial and error, experimentation, exploration, and realizations. Just poke around, see what happens!
EDIT: I'd totally recommend some fun, INFP fitting books also--not work related, but more "how to fit into the world related". The first one I finished last week and it makes me think about how society can be all a game, and extremely hard to escape from, even if you go to the fringe. The second two I read one summer, 8 years ago, and they completely shaped my worldview and decision-making about who I want to be.
My suggestions:
Ishmael - If you ever wondered what it would be like to be a telepathic gorilla, this will probably give you the closest answer.
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking - The INTP Toolbox.
The Willpower Instinct - Because we all know we could use a bit more of it around here...
Emotional Vampires - A survival guide to protect your Fe
How To Create A Mind - Since it's ultimately the only thing we really seem to care about, it's interesting to think how we could theoretically create a 'backup' for it eventually
The Talent Code - In case you haven't quite figured out how to go about mastering skills yet.
Ishmael
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
This book has some interesting ideas on Genesis, Cain and Able, and Adam and Eve.
(I tried to link to wikipedia and it broke the Reddit markup)
I would have to say without a doubt it would be Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It is a very short but unforgettable novel that puts the fall of man into such a precise perspective its nearly impossible to contend it.
Quinn is an amazing writer and I really would recommend anything by him.
You should read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0553375407?pc_redir=T1
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Greatly illustrates the "fuck up the planet", and is told from a Gorilla's point of view.
While we are on the topic of books that got us back on track - this was the one for me - ishmael . Find something bigger than yourself like helping others and changing the world around you for good, and you will find an inner strength you may not have known is in you.
This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it will address your perspective: Ishmael
Ishmael
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-An-Adventure-Mind-Spirit/dp/0553375407
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Leguin.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
I feel you. I'm twenty and in college and often wonder what I'm doing in life. Don't worry though, it's completely normal to feel this way. Here are a few suggestions that have helped me:
Whether you take those two points to heart or not, (I really hope you read the book,) just try to remember this: the fact that you were born was an astronomically unlikely event. That being said, why waste it doing anything that doesn't, in the short or long run, make you happy? Look at everyday as a gift; I know, it is easier to say that than to do it. Don't be too worried about the stage you are in right now, you're just questioning, just remember that you're looking for answers, and when you find the answers to your questions, use them.
It reminds me of the Ishmael series by Daniel Quinn
According to Daniel Quinn, it was the people our ancestors killed.
Ishmael
It's an interesting perspective, even if to this day I'm not sure I agree with all of it.
Basically, what is amounts to is that the stories told by the people we wiped out when we were becoming agriculturalists were the basis for the stories in the first part of Genesis. For example, why did God favor Abel (the shepherd/nomadic gatherer) as opposed to Cain (the agriculturist upon which our culture is based)? If the story was written by our ancestors, wouldn't the farmer come out victorious? After all, that's what allowed us to win over all the nomadic humans still wandering around.
Instead, you have this sort of... backwards resentment about humanity. Like the things we believe in, God didn't particularly like. Who would feel that God felt that way?
The people that were getting their asses handed to them, that's who.
And obviously, that wasn't us, because here we are.
Ishmael and My Ishmael.
Ishmael completely changed my view of culture and religion and My Ishmael completely changed my view of education.
Reading some of your replies, already, and thinking about the book Ishmael that I recently read, I think I may have already come to an answer.
 
Confronting my parents and telling them the church, their way of life, is wrong and a cult, is in a similar way no different than them telling me that my way of life is wrong, or missionaries telling everyone around the world their ways of life are wrong. This is especially true if TSCC is what brings my parents happiness and peace; in their case, TSCC is not a destructive cult for them until there are signs of destruction in their own personal lives. As /u/jgslcut mentioned below, ...it's a fairly benign cult. It brings some people happiness...
 
It seems the correct action is to find a way to live in harmony with my parents in such a way that our difference in beliefs are not a topic of segregation (which is a difficult challenge), but, what else is there? There is not, and never will be, just "one way" for everyone and everything.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It was written a few years ago, but is still extremely relevant.
Yeah that's what I was thinking about too.
For those who don't know, this book : http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-An-Adventure-Mind-Spirit/dp/0553375407
It's pretty good and will make you think a little at least.
Ishmael. Not strictly minimal but certainly covers it.
It's not related to tripping per se, but Ishmael is one of the best expressions of a psychonautic spirit that I've seen yet.
Ishmael (and the rest of the series) by Daniel Quinn opened my eyes in my senior year of high school.
It's about a Gorilla, who has lived beside man for a number of decades and teaches a pupil through stories and analogies about how we are already at the cusp of civilization collapse. It's about a lot more than just that, namely the relationship of humans, animals, the planet, and how humans have a unique, egotistical view of themselves where we deemed ourselves rulers of the planet.
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins is an eye opener as well.
Other great reads:
Magicians of the Gods by Graham Hancock.
Necronomicon
UFO's by Leslie Keen
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
I also really enjoyed the Myst series by Rand & Robin Miller (the books the game is based on). It's about worlds within worlds and an ancient race of authors creating worlds through magical ink and books (sci-fi/fantasy).
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Adventure-Spirit-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407
Ismael by Daniel Quinn. Everything about what is wrong with our civilization through a talking gorilla. Great stuff
I highly recommend [Ishmael by Daniel Quinn] (https://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Novel-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505685091&sr=8-1&keywords=ishmael+daniel+quinn) and [Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac] (https://www.amazon.com/Dharma-Bums-Jack-Kerouac/dp/0140042520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505685168&sr=8-1&keywords=dharma+bums+by+jack+kerouac).
The narrators of both books are looking to understand life, or to put their existence in some sort of context. Over the course of their adventures, they find out how to exist in the world in a way that empowers them and celebrates their uniqueness.
Going to try and post books that are related, but not actually "atheist".
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
The first one for obvious reasons. Sagan is the secular Jesus, and I'd say the second is an interesting read for anyone religious or otherwise, but I feel like it would be better received if you don't actually believe in Christianity. It's a great read though
It works locally but it can never work globally. Populations tend to increase when there is enough food for everyone until there is no longer enough sustenance, then you have hungry people again. The only way we can ever feed everyone is if we have an ever increasing food source and ever increasing land source, of which we have neither.
Daniel Quinn wrote a very good book discussing this called Ishmael. I'm not saying it's as cut and dry as that, but you can't really believe that if everyone has enough money and everyone has enough food, we won't be in the same situation all over again in just a couple of years. It's much more complicated than that.
One of them, at least, was reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn in 11th grade. The book has a lot of flaws, but it was eye-opening for me - and helped me see (and analyze) the myths and constructs of the human existence. Some of these myths are good, helpful, etc, but in the end it's all made up.
you might enjoy this book
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
I wouldn't say it's classic philosophy but it help me with thinking in a different way and challenging common knowledge more.
I've read that.. It's just Ishmael.. Good book.
Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner is about water infrastructure in the American West and its politics.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is fiction but talks about human-nature relations.
> Hate it when people make an argument they know is flawed.
Me too.
>> Interesting. But, doesn't that imply that 80% of us actively want back pain? Or, does it imply that God didn't give us an owner's manual for our bodies?
>> God took the time to tell us not to sleep with sheep. Why not also tell us correct posture and job options for a healthy back?
> HAHA I never thought I'd see back pain compared to sheep sodomy...
A) To be fair to the Bible, I am not aware of any specification of exactly which sex acts are and are not allowed. It's more of a sheepskin blanket statement that "baa" means "no". It's a sentiment I agree with. But, I do think it means that the authors of the Bible, either were sleeping with sheep or enough people around them were doing so, that they felt the need to state this explicitly. Compare to cannibalism, which as far as I know has no mention in the Bible, but might have if the Bible had been written on Fiji. I think my ancestors were sheepshaggers, not cannibals.
B) I think/hope I was comparing what is and is not in the Bible rather than comparing the experience of back pain with the experience of having sex with a sheep. Since I've only experienced back pain, I think I'd be bad at actually comparing the two.
> Though the christian God is more concerned with moral health than physical health. I get the vibe he probably could have given this information on health and lifestyle (and probably might have, pre fall) but that now it would only serve as confusion and distraction from his main concern, eternity. An important point to remember when debating religion I think!
I'll keep this in mind. It is interesting. But, to say that God is more concerned about our moral health than our physical health might imply that there is a limit as to how much time God can/will spend on the other. I'm not sure I see why God would have limited resources and need to prioritize or triage our health concerns.
> Though you'd probably question the morality of that in itself - suffering and all. But he would have to draw the line of intervention somewhere no? Possibly, that's at the finite as a whole! With a few miraculous exceptions to bump people in the right moral direction perhaps.
Possibly. I'm not sure I'm the best to argue this point since I don't actually understand what would drive God to create in the first place.
>> That would be interesting. But, I would love to know why God would want us to live as hunters and gatherers but give us all of those instructions for sacrificing animals that we'd have only with animal husbandry.
> From what I understand animal sacrifice was less to do with the animal and more to do with the sacrifice. Sacrifices of grain, fine oils and other valuable commodities were also common in Judaism as a demonstration of prioritizing God over the short term.
True. But, none of that would apply to hunters and gathers. Nor was the Bible written by (or revealed to) hunters and gatherers. My ancestors were a mix of nomadic shepherds and city dwellers. The Bible is clearly written by and for that culture and time.
So, the way we lived for ~190,000 years prior to agriculture may indeed have been healthier for us. But, the authors were so far removed from that time that there is no mention of it at all in the Bible.
Though, I did read an interesting book that suggested that the story of the fall of man may actually be one of the few very vaguely remembered stories from the people who were not agrarian but lived side by side with agrarians and saw the lifestyle as a fall from the grace of hunting and gathering.
I'm not saying I agree or that the book was in any way scientific about it. But, it was an interesting take on the story of the fall. The book is Ishmael (part of a trilogy) by Daniel Quinn. If you haven't already read it, you might find it has some interesting thinking behind it.
> So it's more about morality and giving up what you value than what that sacrifice actually is. If we were hunter gatherers, the sacrifice might have been 10% of our berries and pelts or something.
True enough.
Though the scapegoating bit always bothered me. I don't personally think that one can put their sins on an animal, kill that animal, and waste the food as a means of absolution. In fact, I think this results in increasing their sins rather than decreasing them. For, now they have added needlessly killing an animal. And, while I'm not a vegetarian, I think we should't kill animals without at least the purpose of eating them.
>> We are a young species. We've only been on the planet for 200,000 years. Our bipedalism evolved and has been improving since Ardipithecus, a genus of two species that were likely partially bipedal 4.4 and 5.6 million years ago. This is not a long time in evolution. We've been improving but likely still don't have all of the kinks worked out.
>
> So considering how incredibly effective our bodies are in every other aspect of bipedalism, the idea of our backs being left behind in this development to me, make the causes of late onset chronic pain seem more like a result of societal lifestyle changes than not.
Actually, there are other pains as well that we get from bipedalism. Back pain is not alone. It is in good company with knee and neck pain. And, numerous people have problems with their feet such as flat feet. My own go splat, meaning that I have an arch but it doesn't hold when I stand up. So I need orthotics to keep my arch while walking because otherwise, my knees tip inward and I get knee pain from my bad feet.
> I hear you saying backs just had no reason to be better for our survival sake, but you know, I think they would have been.
Maybe they will be if we can survive the next couple of hundred years. Maybe when the great human die-off happens (because we're way over sustainable numbers right now) that will give us the small population(s) required for speciation to occur. And, maybe we'll get the next incremental improvement, which may be stronger backs or going back to knuckle-walking. Or, it could be letting our legs atrophy altogether and getting around with wheels. Maybe the so-called singularity where we ?download/upload/crossload? our very selves into robot bodies will be our next evolutionary step.
I'm not optimistic. I'm betting extinction of us and a great many other species with us is the next step for us.
> (Only way to have any clue would be by that study we spoke about though). Also, would the argument of aging be reasonable, given all creatures ache towards the end of their lives? Dogs' hips for example, they often go when they get old, so we'd be saying they're an imperfect design too?
I once did read a book on philosophy of engineering that said that perfect engineering would have the whole unit fail at once.
>> Unfortunately, it does not look to me as if we'll survive long enough for that next step.......
> Wellllll that's a terrifying thought! I'll just go crawl back into my confirmation bias shell now, thank you. ;)
Oops. I was responding and reading at the same time. Maybe I should go back and delete some of the more depressing stuff I wrote above. But, I already typed it and still agree with what I typed. So, I'm going to let it stand.
If you believe our lives our eternal, why worry if our physical species is not?
BTW, I personally would not want eternity in heaven or hell. Both are equally scary to me. They'd only differ for the portion of time that I'd be adjusting to my new surroundings. Once I'm used to heaven or abused to hell, I'd go through an OK period (finite) in either and then just be bored out of my soul for the rest of eternity (infinite). I'm not built for eternity and want no part of it. But, that's just me.
Read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
One of the rare books I go back to re-read now and again is Ishmael - An adventure of mind and spirit. If you read it, let me know what you think.
My assertions are axiomatic, and quite obviously so, at that. This is not a wise battle for you to pursue, unless you wish to descend into colonial European notions of manifest destiny and the white man's burden.
>>Those people are just as advanced as any other
>
>No, they're not.
Tell me, then: in a contest of using indigenous medicinal plants, who would prove "more advanced" - you, or these tribespeople? In determining who has superior herding techniques, which party would be the victor? In a comparison of familial kinship and relations? Spearcraft? Long-distance hiking? Animal husbandry?
There simply does not exist any way to declare any of these criteria "unimportant" without making a subjective assertion of your own personal values. And the people we're talking about would most certainly have a different class of values about those things. Why would your values be "more objective" than theirs - or anyone's? The answer is that they cannot be. It is your own opinion, and with any degree of humility, all genuinely reasonable people recoginze that, as I hope that you will, too.
>>Civilization and technology are specific types of advancements, but they are not objectively superior to any others
>
>Yes, they are.
Funny - there sure seem to be a great many very well-reasoned arguments against civilization and technology, even from those who have experienced the very height of their "advancement".
I certainly see no evidence for an objective declaration, even just by examing the meta-issue of the debate itself, which is undeniably still open.
>>to add "culture" in there is frankly just plain racist.
>
>No, it isn't.
Yes, it is. You have virtualy no notions of these people's culture. The very definition of "culture" practically prohibits the very idea of it being declared "advanced" or otherwise. It is simply the collection of common and traditional practices of a given group. I would even go so far as to say that if one were to make judgments of "advancement," surely a culture that has been largely uninterrupted and un-usurped for a period of thousands of years has matured and "advanced" far more than a culture which is ever-shifting and highly dependent on technological advances that didn't even exist a generation prior. But even to make an assertion such as that is meaningless, because the criterion "advancement" simply does not make sense when applied to culture - any culture. The only role that such a declaration can fulfill is to demean and devalue another group of people completely arbitrarily, as to support a racist or otherwise xenophobic worldview.
>By what standard are modern Western civilization, technology, and culture objectively superior to barefoot African tribesmen? By the only objective standard of value: their success at meeting the requirements of human life.
And just what are those "requirements of human life?" These tribespeople might tell you some very different things than what you would tell them. Would either of you be "right?" Absolutely not.
As for the rest of your points, they are all similarly obvious - and highly subjective, though largely incontroversial in our demographic - subjective and personal value judgments. Adding the word "objectively" to your statements does not make it so. Even such criteria as you have mentioned - lifespan, "individualism," property rights (lol), etc., are not objectively "advanced." After all, what are the "objective" benefits of a long lifespan if it is filled with ennui, alienation and oppression? What is the value of "individualism" to a person who cherishes deep bonds and shared struggle with others? How can one declare "property rights" to be an objective good when the very concept of such has only existed for a few hundred years, and has arguably led to the greatest ongoing extinction of species in millions of years?
You see? Value judgments, all of it. And for someone who might call themself a "libertarian," you certainly seem not to understand the true spirit of the credo, "live and let live."
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Adventure-Spirit-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407
Ishmael, I sometimes hate recommending this book because of the tag "adventure of mind and spirit" but it's a very good and fascinating take on the anthropological origins of our civilization.
If you haven't already, check out Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Offers a rather compelling anthropological explanation of the early bible.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. First book to ever truly brake down the world paradigm for me. Wouldn't be in this sub without it. Fair warning though, it's got a lot of earthy, ecology stuff in there. Might be too much for people further to the right. If that is your thing though I'd also recomend Last hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann. Good thread, BWT. Refreshing to see this.
Ishmael
She... she was talkin'... 'bout Ishmael. That's a little bit awesome, I have to say.
Also, a work of fiction that brilliantly addresses the topics your looking to focus on is Ishmael - more than anything, it really just helps prime your mind for understanding these concepts without the clouding of our own cultural perspective.
binjinpurj: ^^original ^^reddit ^^link
I would have to say without a doubt it would be Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It is a very short but unforgettable novel that puts the fall of man into such a precise perspective its nearly impossible to contend it.
Quinn is an amazing writer and I really would recommend anything by him.
Sounds like part of the premise of Ishmael
read Ishmael!
This is definitely a philosophical question, so there is no certain answer. Clearly we don't know where we're going, but some argue that we're not the end goal of anything, just a piece of the path that will continue until humans are gone. I suggest you check out Ishmael by Daniel Quinn if you haven't read it before; pretty easy read and is driven by many of the questions you ask.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-An-Adventure-Mind-Spirit/dp/0553375407
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-An-Adventure-Mind-Spirit/dp/0553375407
Just because.
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
Ishmael:A Novel https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553375407/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_k5BMAbJAHTB50
Maybe this is it
>So basically you? You grant legitimacy to the system by voting. You are part of "the will of the people". You voted so you consent to the killing of children in the middle east.
Seems you don't even know who I vote for.
>How do i opt out? How do I not pay for the death of children?
By fighting for it simple as that. This book might help http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-An-Adventure-Mind-Spirit/dp/0553375407
Damn, so the hotfix didn't work?
Looks like someone's been reading Ishmael.
https://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Novel-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407
Probably cheaper on eBay. This book is important.
My ex once argued that it's not overpopulation that's the issue, but rather lack of resources. One answer to your question is that those two things are the exact same thing worded differently.
Overpopulation is an issue I take very, very seriously. I have a pet theory that everything we've so far failed at on a human rights front would be significantly less of a problem if we had lower population. I've heard many people argue that population is on the decline now and so the concern is unnecessary, but my opinion is that the difference these people are referring to is not substantial enough.
Check out this book to read an argument that really looks at this question as a spiritual and moral issue. The TL;DR of the book is "it is wrong to take more than you need." Bonus: my dad is responsible for the publication of the book, with the only other responsible party being Ted Turner.
read the book ishmael. Explains how we got to here, and what we need to do to reverse the problems that have to do with man in (or not in) nature.
All we need to do is pedal faster!
Read Ishmael, sell everything, and then go subsistence farm for yourself.
Ishmael
also,
The Master and Margarita
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. A quick, though-provoking read perfect for a few layin' on da beach sessions.
The telepathic ape book?
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Adventure-Spirit-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407
I recommend the book Ishmael ( http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Adventure-Spirit-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407 ). It gives an interesting perspective on the origin of the Adam and Eve story.
In essence, the people who adopted the Adam and Eve story as 'their story' didn't write the story to begin with. They didn't understand the story, but coopted it anyway. The story was used to describe them by their cultural enemies, the "fall of Adam and Eve" was what nomadic people used to describe their farmer enemies who were slowing taking land away from them in the Meospotamic region. The nomads saw that those people misunderstood the knowledge of the gods, that they believed in the concepts of good and evil. By thinking they understood the knowledge of good and evil they began a dark path of justifying murder, rape, pillaging, genocide, etc.
History is littered with examples of religious people who thought what they were doing was good and others were evil. However, what in nature is good and what is evil? Find a single example of good and evil in nature, I dare you. The truth is, its a made up concept.
While you referenced orangutans, your comment reminded me of Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn.
>...
>
>Because it was backed by darkness, the glass in this window was black -- opaque, reflective. I made no attempt to see beyond it as I approached; I was the spectacle under observation. On arrival, I continued to gaze into my own eyes for a moment, then rolled the focus forward beyond the glass -- and found myself looking into another pair of eyes.
>
>I fell back, startled. Then, recognizing what I'd seen, I fell back again, now a little frightened.
>
>The creature on the other side of the glass was a full-grown gorilla.
>
>Full-grown says nothing, of course. He was terrifyingly enormous, a boulder, a sarsen of Stonehenge. His sheer mass was alarming in itself, even though he wasn't using it in any menacing way. On the contrary, he was half-sitting, half-reclining most placidily, nibbling delicately on a slender branch he carired in his left hand like a wand.
>
>...
>
>I said to myself that the teacher was plainly not on hand, that there was nothing to keep me there, that I should go home. But I didn't like to leave with the feeling that I'd accomplished nothing at all. I looked around, thinking I'd leave a note, if I could find something to write on (and with), but there was nothing. Nevertheless, this search, with the thought of written communication in mind, brought to my attention something I'd overlooked in the room that lay beyond the glass, it was a sign or poster hanging on the wall behind the gorilla. It read:
>
>WITH MAN GONE,
>
>WILL THERE
>
>BE HOPE
>
>FOR GORILLA?
That film was amazing. If you haven't already, check out Ishmael, the book the film was (very loosely) based on.
Here is one guy's answer to that. The book is fun and my paraphrase is spoilery, but we have no spoiler formating options here. The gist of it is that the Genesis myth is a prohibition of agrarian society. It is an observation that peoples proximal to the myth author became warlike upon adopting agriculture whereas subsistence cultures do not have the means to sustain armies capable of significant warfare. Since war is immoral, and mankind (having just recently evolved from monkeys) exhibits a generally impaired political decision making, agriculture is best avoided.
Ishmael
My Ishmael
The Story of B
Jules Verne - The Mysterious Island -> It's amazing how well the author is able to keep your attention throughout the book, when it's just 4 people trapped on a uninhabited island.
Daniel Quinn - Ishmael -> It raises some incredible viewpoints and questions. Very recommended.
Michael Crichton - Sphere -> A very entertaining read.
Clive Cussler - Atlantis Found -> I enjoyed his NUMA series a lot. It got me into reading.
Ira Levin - The Boys from Brazil -> This is kind of a historical fiction. I liked this book because I've always enjoyed reading about the WWII era.
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy -> Very fun read
"There's nothing fundamentally wrong with people. Given a story to enact that puts them in accord with the world, they will live in accord with the world. But given a story to enact that puts them at odds with the world, as yours does, they will live at odds with the world. Given a story to enact in which they are the lords of the world, they will act like lords of the world. And, given a story to enact in which the world is a foe to be conquered, they will conquer it like a foe, and one day, inevitably, their foe will lie bleeding to death at their feet, as the world is now." - Daniel Quinn, Ishmael
If you really care about preserving the environment even for self serving reasons read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. See why our current mindset in fact puts us at odds with the environment a community and something we absolutely depend on.
I'd also say don't merely discount people as crazy because they disagree or hold a radical world view.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
AND
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance By Robert Prsing
Both books have ideas that influence the way I think since I have read them. Zen Art also is a character with a mental illness and how it influences his really deep thoughts about life.
Read Ishmael and if your mind isn't at least somewhat changed, you're probably a strong embodiment of evil.
this?
If you want to get really frustrated with this idea of "forward progress", read The Big Ratchet.
If you want to read something more insightful and interesting, you might want to check out Daniel Quinn's books: Ishmael, My Ishmael and The Story of B. All 3 books contain the same ideas but within a slightly different story. I think my favorite is My Ishmael but they're all great.
Thanks for this exchange. This made my morning a little brighter.
Ill counter/ agree with Daniel Quinn's Ishmael http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0553375407
I think you should give the book Ishamel a read and it would alter your perception a bit.
>The novel uses a style of Socratic dialogue to deconstruct the notion that humans are the pinnacle of biological evolution. It posits that human supremacy is a cultural myth, and asserts that modern civilization is enacting that myth with dangerous consequences.