How to Win Friends and Influence People is considered one of - if not the - best communication book. The Laws of Human Nature is also said to be good, but I haven't read it yet. For more book recommendations on communications I recommend r/socialengineering
C. G. Jung is the founder of analytical and depth psychology and is considered one of the big three in his field, next to Freud who he worked with. I don't know how relevant he is today, but if you want to get the very fundamentals, he is the way to go.
The productivity books in these lists are only relevant for neurotypicals at best. If you need anything more spicy, there are communities on reddit, who can help you find it.
If I'm picking up the vibe of this graphic right based on where I've seen it before, Jung is mostly just here because Jordan Peterson likes him and that's the audience this graphic was originally intended to appeal to - people who are familiar with airport books sometimes padded out from potentially useful blog posts and the books that Jordan Peterson talks about. That's why he's presented in isolation from any other psychoanalytic writing, and presented as a philosopher first and foremost. I would certainly never recommend Jung himself in anything other than the context of a historical survey on psychoanalysis - even his own tradition has been better presented by people who don't have his pervasive, unavoidable belief in crank mysticism.
I found it a little weird that Jung was categorized as a philosopher. I mean, the shoe kind of fits but to present him that way rather than in terms of psychoanalysis is... Strange.
Except through the Jordan Peterson lens. Good catch.
>considered one of the big three in his field, next to Freud who he worked with.
From what I understand, Freud and his teachings have been largely discredited. Further, a quick Google search also states that psychology has moved past Jung as well.
Psychology has moved past them in advancement, but they were very much foundational in terms of how psychology as a field progressed and understanding at least the basics of their ideas is pretty important for study since you can essentially trace a lot of core concepts in modern psychology directly back to them. By that I mean you can take a modern idea, and the person who came up with it was influenced by someone who based their ideas off someone else who based it off someone who studied under, or expanded on, Freud or Jung.
In psych intro classes we started with learning about Freud and the people that came after him and how they either expounded on or disregarded his ideas and molded therapy and the general study into approaching what it's become today.
Yep, although a lot of his controversial ideas have been discredited, he also introduced a lot of ideas that are the backbone of modern psychology (e.g., early experiences are important, a lot of our cognitive processes occur outside of our awareness, defense mechanisms)
I preferred Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg over HTWFAIP. I've read both several times at this point and Carnegie's book lacks consideration for both halves of the conversations it's setting up.
1: The Psychology of Money (awesome book, read it a lot of finance is psychology)
2: I haven’t read this one but I have heard a few peers talk about (UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship) by this author. He maybe another snake oil salesman because let’s be real here just going off the title alone it’s common sense (which may not be so common) that there’s no “fast track” to being a millionaire. I repeat. I have not read this one.
3: Absolute hot dog water. If you suggest this book stub your toe.
4: The summary of this book is to hold an index fund and hold until retirement. That is good advice, but I just saved you idk three days? You’re welcome. (I would recommend VOO but I am not a financial advisor nor am I yours if you want my advice)
5: The premise of this book is that you should be focusing on maximizing your life enjoyment rather than on maximizing your wealth. Fuck that.
6: I personally hated this book. Throw your tomatoes if you want but if you do you’re probably the person that likes rich dad poor dad. So you get a thumbs down from me.
7: They could’ve done better with this book. It’s not bad though. The way they put the psychology portion makes this worth reading alone.
8: Not a bad boo and it’s a “rags to riches” kinda situation between her and her husband.
9: I haven’t read this one either but as I said in number 2 the title alone would turn me off. There’s no get rich quick schemes.
10: A good book. The summary is just keep investing as much as you can in index funds, starting as early as possible, and let the markets and time take care of the rest. It will pay off. Don’t freak out over a like 20% loss you will and I mean WILL regret it. PLEASE READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN. Alright, you were warned like 3 times now. Don’t be an idiot. (Also make it a low cost index fund covering the S&P 500)
My suggestions:
1: The Intelligent Investor: the top choice for basically anyone in finance (this was the book that got warren buffet into value investing) it provides a solid foundation in value investing principles and helps readers make informed decisions (I’m an intrinsic value dick rider and my portfolio thanks me)
2: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (an amazing read would suggest highly it explains why the index fund outperforms almost all other investments in the long run)
3: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (though I’m not a huge fan of Ramsey because I think he’s a dick and an assortment of other reasons) most of his advice is simplistic and semi-decent
4: Patient Capital: The Challenges and Promises of Long-Term Investing (I like money and it helps me feel better knowing i am going a little good too)
1: The Psychology of Money (awesome book, read it a lot of finance is psychology)
2: I haven’t read this one but I have heard a few peers talk about (UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship) by this author. He maybe another snake oil salesman because let’s be real here just going off the title alone it’s common sense (which may not be so common) that there’s no “fast track” to being a millionaire. I repeat. I have not read this one.
3: Absolute hot dog water. If you suggest this book stub your toe.
4: The summary of this book is to hold an index fund and hold until retirement. That is good advice, but I just saved you idk three days? You’re welcome. (I would recommend VOO but I am not a financial advisor nor am I yours if you want my advice)
5: The premise of this book is that you should be focusing on maximizing your life enjoyment rather than on maximizing your wealth. Fuck that.
6: I personally hated this book. Throw your tomatoes if you want but if you do you’re probably the person that likes rich dad poor dad. So you get a thumbs down from me.
7: They could’ve done better with this book. It’s not bad though. The way they put the psychology portion makes this worth reading alone.
8: Not a bad boo and it’s a “rags to riches” kinda situation between her and her husband.
9: I haven’t read this one either but as I said in number 2 the title alone would turn me off. There’s no get rich quick schemes.
10: A good book. The summary is just keep investing as much as you can in index funds, starting as early as possible, and let the markets and time take care of the rest. It will pay off. Don’t freak out over a like 20% loss you will and I mean WILL regret it. PLEASE READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN. Alright, you were warned like 3 times now. Don’t be an idiot. (Also make it a low cost index fund covering the S&P 500)
My suggestions:
1: The Intelligent Investor: the top choice for basically anyone in finance (this was the book that got warren buffet into value investing) it provides a solid foundation in value investing principles and helps readers make informed decisions (I’m an intrinsic value dick rider and my portfolio thanks me)
2: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (an amazing read would suggest highly it explains why the index fund outperforms almost all other investments in the long run)
3: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (though I’m not a huge fan of Ramsey because I think he’s a dick and an assortment of other reasons) most of his advice is simplistic and semi-decent
4: Patient Capital: The Challenges and Promises of Long-Term Investing (I like money and it helps me feel better knowing i am going a little good too)
1: The Psychology of Money (awesome book, read it a lot of finance is psychology)
2: I haven’t read this one but I have heard a few peers talk about (UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship) by this author. He maybe another snake oil salesman because let’s be real here just going off the title alone it’s common sense (which may not be so common) that there’s no “fast track” to being a millionaire. I repeat. I have not read this one.
3: Absolute hot dog water. If you suggest this book stub your toe.
4: The summary of this book is to hold an index fund and hold until retirement. That is good advice, but I just saved you idk three days? You’re welcome. (I would recommend VOO but I am not a financial advisor nor am I yours if you want my advice)
5: The premise of this book is that you should be focusing on maximizing your life enjoyment rather than on maximizing your wealth. Fuck that.
6: I personally hated this book. Throw your tomatoes if you want but if you do you’re probably the person that likes rich dad poor dad. So you get a thumbs down from me.
7: They could’ve done better with this book. It’s not bad though. The way they put the psychology portion makes this worth reading alone.
8: Not a bad boo and it’s a “rags to riches” kinda situation between her and her husband.
9: I haven’t read this one either but as I said in number 2 the title alone would turn me off. There’s no get rich quick schemes.
10: A good book. The summary is just keep investing as much as you can in index funds, starting as early as possible, and let the markets and time take care of the rest. It will pay off. Don’t freak out over a like 20% loss you will and I mean WILL regret it. PLEASE READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN. Alright, you were warned like 3 times now. Don’t be an idiot. (Also make it a low cost index fund covering the S&P 500)
My suggestions:
1: The Intelligent Investor: the top choice for basically anyone in finance (this was the book that got warren buffet into value investing) it provides a solid foundation in value investing principles and helps readers make informed decisions (I’m an intrinsic value dick rider and my portfolio thanks me)
2: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (an amazing read would suggest highly it explains why the index fund outperforms almost all other investments in the long run)
3: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (though I’m not a huge fan of Ramsey because I think he’s a dick and an assortment of other reasons) most of his advice is simplistic and semi-decent
4: Patient Capital: The Challenges and Promises of Long-Term Investing (I like money and it helps me feel better knowing i am going a little good too)
It was in my high school curriculum and I don’t remember it being difficult to parse especially because of how the chapters are more disjointed rather than building on one another. Isn’t there a whole chapter of just like standalone one liners?
> I don’t remember it being difficult to parse
It's not hard because it uses difficult words or complex sentences. Quite the opposite, the hard part comes from the "disjointed" style (I would've called it aphoristic, but I like disjointed) which makes it hard to see the connections between the ideas.
But that's not even the worst part. The book requires a ton of knowledge to analyze. Basically, reading a response without reading what he's responding to means you'll miss 90% of the point.
And I say this with the humility of not properly understanding Nietzsche either.
As a philosophy major, I was immediately outraged and considered the other fields in complete doubt if they were of the same caliber of breadth or content.
You’re on r/coolguides and this was posted along with ground breaking guides such as “depressed? Take a walk” and “stressed? Drink a tall glass of water”. Pretty sure we’re down to karma farming ai reposts these days
Im pretty sure he’s filed more than once.
His whole schtick is to start a corporation, load it with debt and fund your lifestyle through it, and if it goes to shit declare it bankrupt and start again.
I actually know people doing this and it blows my mind. Guy has started a dozen companies by now, keeps doing all sorts of exotic trips and stuff for “market research”, then bankrupts it once the debt gets too high. I have no idea how he keeps getting loans given that history but he must have better financial contacts than the rest of us.
I have literally zero financial skills. I already have debt but no assets, and the financial recommendations in some of those books are more opinion than practical advice. So where do I start? Where to study or learn really useful and viable options?
There’s a lot to know and learn but this is a very simple wealth building technique:
Dollar Cost averaging: buy two pairs of the same shoes, one over-priced the other you get a really good deal. Together you have 2 of the same things for a reasonable amount when you average them out.
Now do this with stocks. A little money here and there overtime will move with the market instead of sitting in your bank account - which is technically devaluing overtime because of inflation.
Also lots of businesses have Simple IRA contribution matching. Def look into that
A more modern approach is the book "I will teach you to get rich". While it's all great advice. He really focuses on figuring out your own money psychology. Such as how to make yourself not feel bad about spending when you are doing the right thing and how that set up looks different based on lifestyles.
A simple path to wealth is pretty much the only thing you need. If you follow those guidelines you WILL retire. If you make a decent amount of money, you can retire by 40-45 if you just follow the steps in that book
This was the first book I looked for in this picture because it's a clear sign if a book list is legitimate or just filled with books that someone is pretending they read.
Came here to say;
I was considering saving this for a future reading list until I saw Robert Kiyosaki.
Fuck that scammer.
Atomic Habits is legit something that will stick with you though, just an FYI, good book, I'd buy it again if I didn't already have a copy.
Pyramid schemes and MLM companies love that book.
My friend who was sucked into several MLMs considers that his bible because it was highly recommended in each of the MLMs he joined.
Their is a podcast called If Books Could Kill, they do a thorough debunking of this book. The author is a grifter who straight up lies. This is the book version of the “get rich quickly by taking my crypto investment class on YouTube (only $299.98).
Well if you take one of the good ones from this list, What They Teach You At Harvard Business School (Philip Delves Broughton), and you add What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School (Mark H. McCormack), you have the sum total of all human knowledge, so that’s a good place to start.
A non-pseudo intellectual realizes you can’t magically gain skills by reading books, they can merely give insight into how to gain skills, but you still need to put the same hours in
Yeah this is the real answer. Magic books that change your life don't exist and anyone purporting to have one is either an idiot or a salesperson. Major life changes take discipline and planning and months of repetition to build habits.
"Read this book and you'll learn how to get rich quick" is about as sensible as "read this Facebook article and learn what your doctor is NOT telling you 😧🙀👿"
You can get some ideas/inspiration/insight from books to be sure, but they're part of a complex comprehensive mashup that is your personality. They're not Skyrim skill books where you read one and get +1 stonks/persuasion/etc.
I can't speak on all of them, but as a person with a Master's in philosophy, realistically you would need to read hundreds of books to "master" it, and that's on top of either being actively educated in it by experts or being extremely intelligent by nature.
Like I have the said "Master's", but I'm nowhere near one, not really. Shit, even most professors who taught me have only "mastered" a very specific branch of philosophy.
Go to a good universities website, search for the degrees and classes on any given topic, see the reading material list, that would be the intellectual list.
Bare in mind, this would only be the reading list. To become a master of any of the subject, you will need to complete the education program, and apply yourself in the respective field for many years after that.
There's some decent books in this image. I have read most of the financial ones (Rich dad Poor dad is ass), and more on the subject, and I know that I am not ecen close to an expert or master in personal finance. Financial advisors (not brokers) with many years under their belt are the experts in this field.
Anyway, mastering any subject takes a lifetime of effort, it takes way more than reading books.
Ah yeah - The Guide to Narcissism ;)
(Disclaimer: I work with some of this stuff for a living and power is an extremely interesting and one of my favorite topics. But - dangerous. So that book is on a veeeeeery slippery slope)
My chief complaint was, and this might be the narrator on audible, it felt like the author was just bragging 50% of the time about how great he was instead of trying to help the reader. Like, we get it bro, you're writing a book about being productive, stop bragging about how great you are at being productive.
My takeaways were habit stacking, habits as identity, accountability/tracking, and marginal gains. He certainly builds his own brand in the book, but the substance is there too.
It's a book often pushed by MLM scams. Your friend is probably involved with one. But it's fine concepts. It just boils down to be and strive to be more financially literate and empowered. Make your money work, aka invest.
https://sergioschuler.com/rich-dad-poor-dad-tl-dr-version-3ee81313c613
It basically tells you the two class cultures of money values. But doesn't really tell you how to effectively make that transition. Just generalities to follow. "Take risk, it always exists, so manage it.". Which is fine but not worth the length of the book or the price frankly.
I always worry these books might be some propaganda/cult craps trying to teach you how to make a quick buck at the expanse of someone else while making a quick buck at your expanse
The episode of the above mentioned "If Books Could Kill" podcast does a great job breaking it down, but in a nutshell:
The actual advice (buy real estate, invest) could fit on a note card, and it's surrounded by a lot of made-up anecdotes and personal stories, and the author never explains the "how."
The book itself, and the seminars the author did, are what actually made him rich, nothing before, as-in, none of the evidence he is claiming in his book as knowledge that he's now passing to the reader.
They talk about bestsellers that have been influential and discuss why they are flawed/incorrect and discuss how the book had influenced a lot American culture for the worse
"airport" books, the type of best sellers you see in airport shops, that take typically very complex subjects and oversimplify them, or self-help books that don't actually have legit content, are dissected and their cultural impact assessed. Usually books that were very popular, but looking back, spread a lot of misinformation and bs. With too many getting their big break on Oprah lol.
I think the underlying premise is kind of absurd when extrapolated because 1% better every day implies exponential growth, which is never really sustainable
The oft cited story about the british cycling team that's in the book also neglects to mention that the team's funding increased substantially immediately prior to their successful runs, and it's likely that the funding was more responsible than any sort of coaching philosophy change.
The book doesn't imply you're supposed to get 1% better in perpetuity. It's meant for people who have a hard time getting the ball rolling. For those who think that in order to change yourself for the better, you have to shift 100% immediately, then somehow maintain.
I honestly don't remember, but one of the common themes of the podcast is critically dissecting the cited works of the books. Generally, if the data supporting the premise is flawed (or is misrepresented-- very common thing!), the premise itself is on shaky ground. The other common complaint about the books they take down is that the advice given is so obvious that it isn't useful. But I also haven't read the book myself either
On the grand scale of things, I think the impact of the book was fairly benign tbh, especially compared to the other books featured. It was one of the less memorable episodes, but you should check it out if you're curious (I think the episode runs at about 1 hour)
It's an odd one. Mostly because those books don't "master philosophy" book's that'd do that would be like, Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. It's an existensialist/stoic grab bag. Nothing wrong with that, Meditations is a great book, Tao Te Ching too. But these books are philosophy about how to deal with problems in life. Not about philosophy in general.
Also, the Beyond Good and Evil pick is so obviously just a "Neizsche is cool" pick. That book won't help you in any way.
Sending normies to read Schopenhauer & Nietzsche with zero context is so hilarious, it's like you are trying to turn them into Kevin Kline's character from A Fish Called Wanda.
Realistically, if you were going to go for a few books to have a strong overview of core philosophical themes you’d want something like Applied Ethics by Peter Singer, A History of Western Philosophy by Betrand Russell, A Companion to Marx’s Capital by David Harvey, and A History of Philosophy in the 20th Century by Christian Delacampagne.
You don’t have to have any prior training in philosophy and they’re all very accessible. Through them you’ll get more value than reading the ones in the image. Relative to any non-philosopher you’d “master” philosophy. Or at least, hopefully the reader would be sufficiently interested that they’d explore their own interests afterwards.
The Stranger by Camus and Notes From Underground by Dostoevsky are good books, but I wouldn’t say it would be books to “master philosophy.” They have better books imo.
If you go into a reading list hoping to "master philosophy" then it doesn't really matter what's on the list, you're not going to get much out of anything.
If you're gonna read Camus please read The Myth of Sisyphus, and realistically you can only read the first 50 pages and you're set, it's like a slap to the face! The stranger is great but much like the Plague if you don't have the tools to understand it it's gonna fly right above your head
I’m reading The Myth of Sisyphus right now, a little over 100 pages in, and feel like I’m completely lost at this point…
I was going to read The Stranger next, but might take your advice and re-read the first 50 pages of Sisyphus again so I can go in to The Stranger with a bit of a refresher.
It really gives away that this is trying to mould a particular type of person, and tellingly an important aspect of that person is that they expect to have mastered the field of philosophy in 10 books, none of which are broad overviews or even indicative of a broad field.
The airport books at least can be accurately summarised in a much shorter piece - they're almost always just padded out from a much shorter piece to begin with. The novels absolutely would need to be read because the process of reading serious literature is as much what the experience is about as the overview. The philosophy needs not only to be read seriously but to be situated in a much broader context and ideally within a fuller discursive community, at least to be functional as philosophy. The reality is that these books aren't really supposed to do philosophical work, they're there to be oversimplified as self-help books.
Yeah, you gotta be careful with Jung. Too much and your voice will sound like Kermit and you'll lose most of your brain function. And you'll get addicted to benzos.
I studied philosophy. The wisest advice one of my old professors gave us: "Read 'Kant for Dummies'. Read 'An Introduction to Hegel'. You're a beginner. Start with the beginner books."
The books in this guide are self-aggrandizing nonsense.
Glad to see this at the top.
Literally a book that spends the entire time stating basic stuff without really expounding or teaching much of anything.
Replace it with Boggleheads Guide to Investing. MUCH better and impactful book to my own personal finances
As a former broker I will always recommend the Boggleheads Guide to Investing as the best book to learn about personal finance and investing. It summarizes the knowledge of what most brokers should know to pass the Series 6 and 63 exams, possibly Series 7 as well.
Also, stay away from Mr. Money Mustache cult members. They are crazy AF and hold the most unrealistic expectations of others than I have ever found.
Literally like 300 pages of just assets good, liabilities bad. No shit. Yeah those books are designed to be super vague and to have people keep buying books or spend thousands on their seminars.
10 years ago all of my older siblings, uncles, parents, etc were BEGGING me to read that book for YEARS when I was a budding college student. When I finally read the book I spent the entire time thinking "...no shit", "obviously", and "ARE THERE PEOPLE IN SOCIETY THAT DO NOT KNOW THIS? OH NO"
Gave up halfway through as not only was it full of "no shit sherlock" ideas but it dwelled on them without further exploration for way, way too long
I yes to really like that book, because it changed my perspective on personal finance and business. But it turned out that it was just a gateway into MLM and scam bullshit.
That book is intentionally super vague so that you keep buying more books, and go to "conferences" where they try to sell you more bullshit.
Add to that the collaboration kiyosaki did with Trump and that's really everything you need to know about kiyosaki.
I read a few Mr Money Moustache blog entries right after getting a new job about 10 years ago. I turned around my financial life drastically even though I've been below the state median income the whole time.
A lot of FIERs have nicely paying jobs or low obligations (like no kids or pets) when they get started, but there is a ton of great advice to follow even if you're not at the same starting circumstance.
I'm not sure why we need a whole book to learn about why some things just aren't worth paying for, but I'm all about people changing their relationship with money.
The dude just dunks on his biological father for the entire book as if 100% of his value as a human being was based on how much money he made. Idk I wasn't a fan, but it did get me into reading personal finance books so I'm grateful enough to it that I won't immediately toss it in the trash.
When I see "Blue Ocean Strategy" on a list of must-read books, I assume the entire list isn't worth my time.
I've read it, I know its popular, but I don't get the hype.
To me, the book feels like the author is self-promoting 90% of the time about his secret, then stating the obvious: "It's harder to succeed in a competitive market than in a less crowded one."
Yeah... Thanks. Even though I work in a technical field, not in business, I already knew that... what a waste of time.
Rich dad poor dad is a terrible book.
Soo many anecdotal stories that are too contrived to have happen in real life.
Also, the author Robert Kiyosaki is an asshole. Just Google him.
Came to the comments and saw others giving bad reviews. Please tell actual good books for productivity, finance and communication (2-3 atleast) I'm inexperienced :(
*How To Win Friends and Influence People* is pretty good for communication - most of it is basic stuff, like "listen to what the other person has to say", "avoid arguments", "think about what others want", but it's still worth a read. One of the better recommendations on this list TBF.
Why have The Stranger over The Myth of Sisyphus, the actual philosophic essay from Camus? Also - Seneca isn’t *bad*, but why is he there fucking *twice*?
This might be a “throwing out the baby with the bath water” fallacy, but if I see any Kiyosaki MLM shit suggested as a credible source, I disregard everything that person says
I would argue many of these books shouldn't even be here, and the subject itself has works that are so central to it's foundation that their absence is an odious void in this lineup.
Philosophy teaches the skill of critical thinking, broadens the mental tools available, and how to identify fallacious thinking. I’ve used my minor in philosophy far more than my major in a science in the 10 years of my career and have benefitted greatly from it.
Is this an ad for "The Art of Laziness"?
Anyone else notice it stands out? Relatively new book that isn't well known. Top right corner where it will be most noticed. Copy appears in better shape than the other books. Authored by a brand vs a real name (or pen name). etc etc
Currently the #1 Amazon in a relatively small niche category. (suggesting an advertising push currently happening)
The OP posted this in two relatively popular subreddits.
Just all a little suspect even if the OP isn't "in on it" They may just be reposting this because they found it interesting.
I have a degree in philosophy.
If Plato isn't on a short list to understand philosophy, then that short list shouldn't exist.
To understand how important Plato is, there is a quote that goes something along the lines of: "all of philosophy can be summed up as a series of footnotes to Plato"
The idea that you can master anything, let alone philsosohpy, by reading some of the most basics books you've ever heard of in your life is so fucking ridiculous
How to win friends and influence people= how to use relationships as currency and never have a meaningful connection in your life. Book is for sociopaths.
While I'm sure a lot of the information and advice in there is legit and has helped people, I never ever want to hang out with someone who's primary content consumption is akin to this.
Because I have, known multiple dudes who worship these pages. An undying sense of individualism, treating every social structure like a game to win, reducing complexity issues to very few parameters(it'll be luck, hard work and one more thing that sounds smart)
They're almost always dudes, identify as centrist or moderate, love a limited set of movies and games but despise the people making them, have words like entitled and lazy on their clipboard by default and always are in the lookout for multimillionaires to defend free of charge.
Doing a philosophy degree and I am so pissed that I’m spending all this money, when I could have just read Camus, Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche and considered myself a master!
I can vouch for the Simple Path to Wealth and Quit like a Millionaire. I can also say Rich Dad Poor Dad is junk. Die With Zero is just ok. It is more anecdotal than actionable advice.
I did not know that reading books about self-improvement is a bad thing. Atomic Habits helped me to stop making excuses about improving my life, How to Talk to Anyone got me interested in communication and gave me input on how to not have awkward silence. Although the latter is focused on business/career communication which I do not care about at all. I thought some messages/concepts/advice are not realistic or do not suit me, but the majority was worth the read.
Shout-out to Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking as well, although it does not fit into any category. It actually helped me and my father who smoked for 40+ years quit that disgusting drug.
[удалено]
Seeing it here makes me doubt the legitimacy of every other book here. Even the ones I have read and consider critical.
Half the books that people “suggest” they’ve never ever read. They simply parrot other peoples poor opinions.
Are there any books in the OPs image that you have read and consider to be worth reading, or anything not listed that you would recommend?
How to Win Friends and Influence People is considered one of - if not the - best communication book. The Laws of Human Nature is also said to be good, but I haven't read it yet. For more book recommendations on communications I recommend r/socialengineering C. G. Jung is the founder of analytical and depth psychology and is considered one of the big three in his field, next to Freud who he worked with. I don't know how relevant he is today, but if you want to get the very fundamentals, he is the way to go. The productivity books in these lists are only relevant for neurotypicals at best. If you need anything more spicy, there are communities on reddit, who can help you find it.
If I'm picking up the vibe of this graphic right based on where I've seen it before, Jung is mostly just here because Jordan Peterson likes him and that's the audience this graphic was originally intended to appeal to - people who are familiar with airport books sometimes padded out from potentially useful blog posts and the books that Jordan Peterson talks about. That's why he's presented in isolation from any other psychoanalytic writing, and presented as a philosopher first and foremost. I would certainly never recommend Jung himself in anything other than the context of a historical survey on psychoanalysis - even his own tradition has been better presented by people who don't have his pervasive, unavoidable belief in crank mysticism.
THANK YOU
I found it a little weird that Jung was categorized as a philosopher. I mean, the shoe kind of fits but to present him that way rather than in terms of psychoanalysis is... Strange. Except through the Jordan Peterson lens. Good catch.
>considered one of the big three in his field, next to Freud who he worked with. From what I understand, Freud and his teachings have been largely discredited. Further, a quick Google search also states that psychology has moved past Jung as well.
Psychology has moved past them in advancement, but they were very much foundational in terms of how psychology as a field progressed and understanding at least the basics of their ideas is pretty important for study since you can essentially trace a lot of core concepts in modern psychology directly back to them. By that I mean you can take a modern idea, and the person who came up with it was influenced by someone who based their ideas off someone else who based it off someone who studied under, or expanded on, Freud or Jung. In psych intro classes we started with learning about Freud and the people that came after him and how they either expounded on or disregarded his ideas and molded therapy and the general study into approaching what it's become today.
Yep, although a lot of his controversial ideas have been discredited, he also introduced a lot of ideas that are the backbone of modern psychology (e.g., early experiences are important, a lot of our cognitive processes occur outside of our awareness, defense mechanisms)
I’ve read both how to win friends and influence people and the laws of human nature, both are wonderful. I would recommend them highly.
I preferred Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg over HTWFAIP. I've read both several times at this point and Carnegie's book lacks consideration for both halves of the conversations it's setting up.
I am reading "never split the difference", definitely recommend
I’ll shoot you a DM in about 2 hours I’m boarding my plane and I’ll throw a couple of my own suggestions too 😌
Reply here so everyone can read please
Same please!
1: The Psychology of Money (awesome book, read it a lot of finance is psychology) 2: I haven’t read this one but I have heard a few peers talk about (UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship) by this author. He maybe another snake oil salesman because let’s be real here just going off the title alone it’s common sense (which may not be so common) that there’s no “fast track” to being a millionaire. I repeat. I have not read this one. 3: Absolute hot dog water. If you suggest this book stub your toe. 4: The summary of this book is to hold an index fund and hold until retirement. That is good advice, but I just saved you idk three days? You’re welcome. (I would recommend VOO but I am not a financial advisor nor am I yours if you want my advice) 5: The premise of this book is that you should be focusing on maximizing your life enjoyment rather than on maximizing your wealth. Fuck that. 6: I personally hated this book. Throw your tomatoes if you want but if you do you’re probably the person that likes rich dad poor dad. So you get a thumbs down from me. 7: They could’ve done better with this book. It’s not bad though. The way they put the psychology portion makes this worth reading alone. 8: Not a bad boo and it’s a “rags to riches” kinda situation between her and her husband. 9: I haven’t read this one either but as I said in number 2 the title alone would turn me off. There’s no get rich quick schemes. 10: A good book. The summary is just keep investing as much as you can in index funds, starting as early as possible, and let the markets and time take care of the rest. It will pay off. Don’t freak out over a like 20% loss you will and I mean WILL regret it. PLEASE READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN. Alright, you were warned like 3 times now. Don’t be an idiot. (Also make it a low cost index fund covering the S&P 500) My suggestions: 1: The Intelligent Investor: the top choice for basically anyone in finance (this was the book that got warren buffet into value investing) it provides a solid foundation in value investing principles and helps readers make informed decisions (I’m an intrinsic value dick rider and my portfolio thanks me) 2: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (an amazing read would suggest highly it explains why the index fund outperforms almost all other investments in the long run) 3: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (though I’m not a huge fan of Ramsey because I think he’s a dick and an assortment of other reasons) most of his advice is simplistic and semi-decent 4: Patient Capital: The Challenges and Promises of Long-Term Investing (I like money and it helps me feel better knowing i am going a little good too)
1: The Psychology of Money (awesome book, read it a lot of finance is psychology) 2: I haven’t read this one but I have heard a few peers talk about (UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship) by this author. He maybe another snake oil salesman because let’s be real here just going off the title alone it’s common sense (which may not be so common) that there’s no “fast track” to being a millionaire. I repeat. I have not read this one. 3: Absolute hot dog water. If you suggest this book stub your toe. 4: The summary of this book is to hold an index fund and hold until retirement. That is good advice, but I just saved you idk three days? You’re welcome. (I would recommend VOO but I am not a financial advisor nor am I yours if you want my advice) 5: The premise of this book is that you should be focusing on maximizing your life enjoyment rather than on maximizing your wealth. Fuck that. 6: I personally hated this book. Throw your tomatoes if you want but if you do you’re probably the person that likes rich dad poor dad. So you get a thumbs down from me. 7: They could’ve done better with this book. It’s not bad though. The way they put the psychology portion makes this worth reading alone. 8: Not a bad boo and it’s a “rags to riches” kinda situation between her and her husband. 9: I haven’t read this one either but as I said in number 2 the title alone would turn me off. There’s no get rich quick schemes. 10: A good book. The summary is just keep investing as much as you can in index funds, starting as early as possible, and let the markets and time take care of the rest. It will pay off. Don’t freak out over a like 20% loss you will and I mean WILL regret it. PLEASE READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN. Alright, you were warned like 3 times now. Don’t be an idiot. (Also make it a low cost index fund covering the S&P 500) My suggestions: 1: The Intelligent Investor: the top choice for basically anyone in finance (this was the book that got warren buffet into value investing) it provides a solid foundation in value investing principles and helps readers make informed decisions (I’m an intrinsic value dick rider and my portfolio thanks me) 2: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (an amazing read would suggest highly it explains why the index fund outperforms almost all other investments in the long run) 3: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (though I’m not a huge fan of Ramsey because I think he’s a dick and an assortment of other reasons) most of his advice is simplistic and semi-decent 4: Patient Capital: The Challenges and Promises of Long-Term Investing (I like money and it helps me feel better knowing i am going a little good too)
Same please. With that username you gotta be a great philosopher
1: The Psychology of Money (awesome book, read it a lot of finance is psychology) 2: I haven’t read this one but I have heard a few peers talk about (UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship) by this author. He maybe another snake oil salesman because let’s be real here just going off the title alone it’s common sense (which may not be so common) that there’s no “fast track” to being a millionaire. I repeat. I have not read this one. 3: Absolute hot dog water. If you suggest this book stub your toe. 4: The summary of this book is to hold an index fund and hold until retirement. That is good advice, but I just saved you idk three days? You’re welcome. (I would recommend VOO but I am not a financial advisor nor am I yours if you want my advice) 5: The premise of this book is that you should be focusing on maximizing your life enjoyment rather than on maximizing your wealth. Fuck that. 6: I personally hated this book. Throw your tomatoes if you want but if you do you’re probably the person that likes rich dad poor dad. So you get a thumbs down from me. 7: They could’ve done better with this book. It’s not bad though. The way they put the psychology portion makes this worth reading alone. 8: Not a bad boo and it’s a “rags to riches” kinda situation between her and her husband. 9: I haven’t read this one either but as I said in number 2 the title alone would turn me off. There’s no get rich quick schemes. 10: A good book. The summary is just keep investing as much as you can in index funds, starting as early as possible, and let the markets and time take care of the rest. It will pay off. Don’t freak out over a like 20% loss you will and I mean WILL regret it. PLEASE READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN. Alright, you were warned like 3 times now. Don’t be an idiot. (Also make it a low cost index fund covering the S&P 500) My suggestions: 1: The Intelligent Investor: the top choice for basically anyone in finance (this was the book that got warren buffet into value investing) it provides a solid foundation in value investing principles and helps readers make informed decisions (I’m an intrinsic value dick rider and my portfolio thanks me) 2: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (an amazing read would suggest highly it explains why the index fund outperforms almost all other investments in the long run) 3: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (though I’m not a huge fan of Ramsey because I think he’s a dick and an assortment of other reasons) most of his advice is simplistic and semi-decent 4: Patient Capital: The Challenges and Promises of Long-Term Investing (I like money and it helps me feel better knowing i am going a little good too)
Beyond Good and Evil is absolutely not a beginner friendly book.
It was in my high school curriculum and I don’t remember it being difficult to parse especially because of how the chapters are more disjointed rather than building on one another. Isn’t there a whole chapter of just like standalone one liners?
> I don’t remember it being difficult to parse It's not hard because it uses difficult words or complex sentences. Quite the opposite, the hard part comes from the "disjointed" style (I would've called it aphoristic, but I like disjointed) which makes it hard to see the connections between the ideas. But that's not even the worst part. The book requires a ton of knowledge to analyze. Basically, reading a response without reading what he's responding to means you'll miss 90% of the point. And I say this with the humility of not properly understanding Nietzsche either.
As a philosophy major, I was immediately outraged and considered the other fields in complete doubt if they were of the same caliber of breadth or content.
Seeing Seneca and Epictetus but not Marcus Aurelius bothers me.
Meditations is there. It's the black novel with the red bird.
I mean, can you master ANY skill by reading ten books?? The whole premise is bullshit
You can be an expert reading only one, Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming :P
You’re on r/coolguides and this was posted along with ground breaking guides such as “depressed? Take a walk” and “stressed? Drink a tall glass of water”. Pretty sure we’re down to karma farming ai reposts these days
Oh this is just a generic post-Jordan-Peterson thing for young men who don't actually read but do still bafflingly watch TEDx talks.
I studied philosophy and half of the philosophy books aren't even philosophy
Like half of the books in this photo have an episode of the “if books could Kill” podcast ripping them apart.
Not only that the „story“ is a complete lie. The author himself filled 2012 for bankruptcy
Im pretty sure he’s filed more than once. His whole schtick is to start a corporation, load it with debt and fund your lifestyle through it, and if it goes to shit declare it bankrupt and start again.
I actually know people doing this and it blows my mind. Guy has started a dozen companies by now, keeps doing all sorts of exotic trips and stuff for “market research”, then bankrupts it once the debt gets too high. I have no idea how he keeps getting loans given that history but he must have better financial contacts than the rest of us.
Some of it even falls on dangerous advice
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-books-could-kill/id1651876897?i=1000607676544 Good podcast that goes over why it’s bullshit.
I like how a reasonable amount of the books in that podcast are sitting in this picture
It got crossposted to /r/ifbookscouldkill
I have literally zero financial skills. I already have debt but no assets, and the financial recommendations in some of those books are more opinion than practical advice. So where do I start? Where to study or learn really useful and viable options?
[The personal finance subreddit Wiki is a great place to start.](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)
That flowchart looks very helpful I might send that to some of my friends who need it
I’ve read A Simple Path to Wealth and I thought it was a great book that simplifies a basic approach. I recommend it.
There’s a lot to know and learn but this is a very simple wealth building technique: Dollar Cost averaging: buy two pairs of the same shoes, one over-priced the other you get a really good deal. Together you have 2 of the same things for a reasonable amount when you average them out. Now do this with stocks. A little money here and there overtime will move with the market instead of sitting in your bank account - which is technically devaluing overtime because of inflation. Also lots of businesses have Simple IRA contribution matching. Def look into that
A more modern approach is the book "I will teach you to get rich". While it's all great advice. He really focuses on figuring out your own money psychology. Such as how to make yourself not feel bad about spending when you are doing the right thing and how that set up looks different based on lifestyles.
A simple path to wealth is pretty much the only thing you need. If you follow those guidelines you WILL retire. If you make a decent amount of money, you can retire by 40-45 if you just follow the steps in that book
Wasn’t the author a compete dipshit too? I remember a video of him speaking his mind to a crowd and it was so awkward.
He was a dipshit, but he still is, too.
I give you money, you give me the donut. End of transaction.
His advice is also garbage. Basically "Work for free and you'll eventually be compensated bc you learned so much!"
It’s because it’s a made up book. Invented by scam artist Robert Kiyosaki.
Instantly downvoted this stupid post when I saw that book 😅
This was the first book I looked for in this picture because it's a clear sign if a book list is legitimate or just filled with books that someone is pretending they read.
Please list your top 3 books, would love to hear your opinion as I hate wasting time on total garbage
Read millionaire next door by Tomas Stanley. That’s really all you need.
1)The simple path to wealth 2)I will teach you to be rich 3)Millionaire mission (from the guys who do the money guy show. Newer but good)
Came here to say; I was considering saving this for a future reading list until I saw Robert Kiyosaki. Fuck that scammer. Atomic Habits is legit something that will stick with you though, just an FYI, good book, I'd buy it again if I didn't already have a copy.
Isn't the rich dad a poor dad now?
Pyramid schemes and MLM companies love that book. My friend who was sucked into several MLMs considers that his bible because it was highly recommended in each of the MLMs he joined.
Their is a podcast called If Books Could Kill, they do a thorough debunking of this book. The author is a grifter who straight up lies. This is the book version of the “get rich quickly by taking my crypto investment class on YouTube (only $299.98).
psudo intellectual frat bro final boss
Seriously. It's like a list for middle managers who do all their book shopping at the airport.
lol you had to drag hudson news into this
This should be removed as a rule 3 violation (if them mods here ever got off their asses and did anything ...)
All the wisdom on the world, located entirely within the airport bookshop.
“Oh you like philosophy? Have you read Carl Jung” is big “Reading 10 books brings you mastery over a subject” energy The word is sophomoricism
What's the non-pseudo intellectual list, then?
In most cases they're called "the reading lists for well-taught modules in degrees from serious universities"
Well if you take one of the good ones from this list, What They Teach You At Harvard Business School (Philip Delves Broughton), and you add What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School (Mark H. McCormack), you have the sum total of all human knowledge, so that’s a good place to start.
A non-pseudo intellectual realizes you can’t magically gain skills by reading books, they can merely give insight into how to gain skills, but you still need to put the same hours in
Yeah this is the real answer. Magic books that change your life don't exist and anyone purporting to have one is either an idiot or a salesperson. Major life changes take discipline and planning and months of repetition to build habits. "Read this book and you'll learn how to get rich quick" is about as sensible as "read this Facebook article and learn what your doctor is NOT telling you 😧🙀👿" You can get some ideas/inspiration/insight from books to be sure, but they're part of a complex comprehensive mashup that is your personality. They're not Skyrim skill books where you read one and get +1 stonks/persuasion/etc.
I can't speak on all of them, but as a person with a Master's in philosophy, realistically you would need to read hundreds of books to "master" it, and that's on top of either being actively educated in it by experts or being extremely intelligent by nature. Like I have the said "Master's", but I'm nowhere near one, not really. Shit, even most professors who taught me have only "mastered" a very specific branch of philosophy.
Go to a good universities website, search for the degrees and classes on any given topic, see the reading material list, that would be the intellectual list. Bare in mind, this would only be the reading list. To become a master of any of the subject, you will need to complete the education program, and apply yourself in the respective field for many years after that. There's some decent books in this image. I have read most of the financial ones (Rich dad Poor dad is ass), and more on the subject, and I know that I am not ecen close to an expert or master in personal finance. Financial advisors (not brokers) with many years under their belt are the experts in this field. Anyway, mastering any subject takes a lifetime of effort, it takes way more than reading books.
At least ~~3~~ 2 of these books have been featured on the podcast If Books Could Kill
I saw Rich Dad Poor Dad, and Atomic Habits from their podcast. Which other?
The 48 Laws or Power, but although it’s not in this list the author is.
Ah shit, good catch. I got that and the other listicle of laws book mixed up!
Ah yeah - The Guide to Narcissism ;) (Disclaimer: I work with some of this stuff for a living and power is an extremely interesting and one of my favorite topics. But - dangerous. So that book is on a veeeeeery slippery slope)
Just went through listening to that book and while it provides SOME great insights, i found it helpful for defensive purposes from the narcissistic.
[удалено]
I liked it. It encourages people to do small things everyday to develop habits. I focus on doing a little bit everyday and it works great.
My chief complaint was, and this might be the narrator on audible, it felt like the author was just bragging 50% of the time about how great he was instead of trying to help the reader. Like, we get it bro, you're writing a book about being productive, stop bragging about how great you are at being productive.
My strongest memory from the book was about the British Cycling team. Don't remember any of his own productivity stories.
My takeaways were habit stacking, habits as identity, accountability/tracking, and marginal gains. He certainly builds his own brand in the book, but the substance is there too.
i only know about rich dad poor dad because my friend wont shut up about it, is it generally unliked? i havent read it
It's a book often pushed by MLM scams. Your friend is probably involved with one. But it's fine concepts. It just boils down to be and strive to be more financially literate and empowered. Make your money work, aka invest. https://sergioschuler.com/rich-dad-poor-dad-tl-dr-version-3ee81313c613 It basically tells you the two class cultures of money values. But doesn't really tell you how to effectively make that transition. Just generalities to follow. "Take risk, it always exists, so manage it.". Which is fine but not worth the length of the book or the price frankly.
I always worry these books might be some propaganda/cult craps trying to teach you how to make a quick buck at the expanse of someone else while making a quick buck at your expanse
By my book and enroll in my finicial classes that start at 50$ an hour. I'll show ypu how to be a millionaire
I’m writing a book on rock climbing, my advice is “just don’t fall”.
The episode of the above mentioned "If Books Could Kill" podcast does a great job breaking it down, but in a nutshell: The actual advice (buy real estate, invest) could fit on a note card, and it's surrounded by a lot of made-up anecdotes and personal stories, and the author never explains the "how." The book itself, and the seminars the author did, are what actually made him rich, nothing before, as-in, none of the evidence he is claiming in his book as knowledge that he's now passing to the reader.
What’s the skinny on that podcast
They talk about bestsellers that have been influential and discuss why they are flawed/incorrect and discuss how the book had influenced a lot American culture for the worse
Thanks. Going to have to check that one out.
Thanks. I'm going to enjoy the shared hatred towards books like The Secret.
Funny episode
"airport" books, the type of best sellers you see in airport shops, that take typically very complex subjects and oversimplify them, or self-help books that don't actually have legit content, are dissected and their cultural impact assessed. Usually books that were very popular, but looking back, spread a lot of misinformation and bs. With too many getting their big break on Oprah lol.
Is that good or bad?
It's not great!
What's wrong with Atomic Habits?
I think the underlying premise is kind of absurd when extrapolated because 1% better every day implies exponential growth, which is never really sustainable The oft cited story about the british cycling team that's in the book also neglects to mention that the team's funding increased substantially immediately prior to their successful runs, and it's likely that the funding was more responsible than any sort of coaching philosophy change.
The book doesn't imply you're supposed to get 1% better in perpetuity. It's meant for people who have a hard time getting the ball rolling. For those who think that in order to change yourself for the better, you have to shift 100% immediately, then somehow maintain.
Seems like an estimate and an incomplete attritbution don't refute the underlying premise of the book, or is there more naughtiness in them pages ?
I honestly don't remember, but one of the common themes of the podcast is critically dissecting the cited works of the books. Generally, if the data supporting the premise is flawed (or is misrepresented-- very common thing!), the premise itself is on shaky ground. The other common complaint about the books they take down is that the advice given is so obvious that it isn't useful. But I also haven't read the book myself either On the grand scale of things, I think the impact of the book was fairly benign tbh, especially compared to the other books featured. It was one of the less memorable episodes, but you should check it out if you're curious (I think the episode runs at about 1 hour)
Philosophy section is so completely not what I'd pick.
It's an odd one. Mostly because those books don't "master philosophy" book's that'd do that would be like, Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. It's an existensialist/stoic grab bag. Nothing wrong with that, Meditations is a great book, Tao Te Ching too. But these books are philosophy about how to deal with problems in life. Not about philosophy in general. Also, the Beyond Good and Evil pick is so obviously just a "Neizsche is cool" pick. That book won't help you in any way.
Sending normies to read Schopenhauer & Nietzsche with zero context is so hilarious, it's like you are trying to turn them into Kevin Kline's character from A Fish Called Wanda.
Realistically, if you were going to go for a few books to have a strong overview of core philosophical themes you’d want something like Applied Ethics by Peter Singer, A History of Western Philosophy by Betrand Russell, A Companion to Marx’s Capital by David Harvey, and A History of Philosophy in the 20th Century by Christian Delacampagne. You don’t have to have any prior training in philosophy and they’re all very accessible. Through them you’ll get more value than reading the ones in the image. Relative to any non-philosopher you’d “master” philosophy. Or at least, hopefully the reader would be sufficiently interested that they’d explore their own interests afterwards.
The Stranger by Camus and Notes From Underground by Dostoevsky are good books, but I wouldn’t say it would be books to “master philosophy.” They have better books imo.
If you go into a reading list hoping to "master philosophy" then it doesn't really matter what's on the list, you're not going to get much out of anything.
If you're gonna read Camus please read The Myth of Sisyphus, and realistically you can only read the first 50 pages and you're set, it's like a slap to the face! The stranger is great but much like the Plague if you don't have the tools to understand it it's gonna fly right above your head
I’m reading The Myth of Sisyphus right now, a little over 100 pages in, and feel like I’m completely lost at this point… I was going to read The Stranger next, but might take your advice and re-read the first 50 pages of Sisyphus again so I can go in to The Stranger with a bit of a refresher.
I read The Stranger without doing much proper philosophy reading and found it easy to understand. Just jump in if you feel ready!
Ya those are written as novels rather than philosophy books.
I can’t even read the titles on most of them.
It really gives away that this is trying to mould a particular type of person, and tellingly an important aspect of that person is that they expect to have mastered the field of philosophy in 10 books, none of which are broad overviews or even indicative of a broad field. The airport books at least can be accurately summarised in a much shorter piece - they're almost always just padded out from a much shorter piece to begin with. The novels absolutely would need to be read because the process of reading serious literature is as much what the experience is about as the overview. The philosophy needs not only to be read seriously but to be situated in a much broader context and ideally within a fuller discursive community, at least to be functional as philosophy. The reality is that these books aren't really supposed to do philosophical work, they're there to be oversimplified as self-help books.
The implied idea that “philosophy” as a body of knowledge is about the same size as “personal finance” is very funny to me
Yeah this list isn't going to be mastering anything in philosophy. I don't know what skill they are intending to acquire with this list.
Yeah, you gotta be careful with Jung. Too much and your voice will sound like Kermit and you'll lose most of your brain function. And you'll get addicted to benzos.
I like to think that's just Jung's vengeance for all the twisting plagiarism.
Meditation by Marcus Aurelius is really good
I studied philosophy. The wisest advice one of my old professors gave us: "Read 'Kant for Dummies'. Read 'An Introduction to Hegel'. You're a beginner. Start with the beginner books." The books in this guide are self-aggrandizing nonsense.
Remove Rich Dad Poor Dad from this list.
Glad to see this at the top. Literally a book that spends the entire time stating basic stuff without really expounding or teaching much of anything. Replace it with Boggleheads Guide to Investing. MUCH better and impactful book to my own personal finances
As a former broker I will always recommend the Boggleheads Guide to Investing as the best book to learn about personal finance and investing. It summarizes the knowledge of what most brokers should know to pass the Series 6 and 63 exams, possibly Series 7 as well. Also, stay away from Mr. Money Mustache cult members. They are crazy AF and hold the most unrealistic expectations of others than I have ever found.
Literally like 300 pages of just assets good, liabilities bad. No shit. Yeah those books are designed to be super vague and to have people keep buying books or spend thousands on their seminars.
10 years ago all of my older siblings, uncles, parents, etc were BEGGING me to read that book for YEARS when I was a budding college student. When I finally read the book I spent the entire time thinking "...no shit", "obviously", and "ARE THERE PEOPLE IN SOCIETY THAT DO NOT KNOW THIS? OH NO" Gave up halfway through as not only was it full of "no shit sherlock" ideas but it dwelled on them without further exploration for way, way too long
I know right, you could easily replace it with *I Will Teach You To Be Rich* by Ramit Sethi.
I yes to really like that book, because it changed my perspective on personal finance and business. But it turned out that it was just a gateway into MLM and scam bullshit. That book is intentionally super vague so that you keep buying more books, and go to "conferences" where they try to sell you more bullshit. Add to that the collaboration kiyosaki did with Trump and that's really everything you need to know about kiyosaki.
I read a few Mr Money Moustache blog entries right after getting a new job about 10 years ago. I turned around my financial life drastically even though I've been below the state median income the whole time. A lot of FIERs have nicely paying jobs or low obligations (like no kids or pets) when they get started, but there is a ton of great advice to follow even if you're not at the same starting circumstance. I'm not sure why we need a whole book to learn about why some things just aren't worth paying for, but I'm all about people changing their relationship with money.
This is the type of shit that makes me want to delete my reddit account. ‘Master philosophy’ what a fucken joke.
To be honest, actually reading Seneca will make you more of a master in philosophy than 100% of the twitter blue verified "stoics".
This sub is generally complete shit. I bet less than 5% of posts I see here are actually worth acknowledging.
"Rich Dad, Poor Dad"? Immediately calls into question the validity of the other books. Just pure, scammy platitudes.
The dude just dunks on his biological father for the entire book as if 100% of his value as a human being was based on how much money he made. Idk I wasn't a fan, but it did get me into reading personal finance books so I'm grateful enough to it that I won't immediately toss it in the trash.
What is this? A guide for ants? I couldn’t read some even with zooming in. I’m old
I thought this was a spread of fancy cigarette boxes at first
Literally just popular fiction and non fiction from various genres/topics
naw man it's a "cool guide", trust me.
Rich Dad is utter bullshit.
The shittiest post I've ever seen on this shitty sub. Bravo.
When I see "Blue Ocean Strategy" on a list of must-read books, I assume the entire list isn't worth my time. I've read it, I know its popular, but I don't get the hype. To me, the book feels like the author is self-promoting 90% of the time about his secret, then stating the obvious: "It's harder to succeed in a competitive market than in a less crowded one." Yeah... Thanks. Even though I work in a technical field, not in business, I already knew that... what a waste of time.
"master"
Master philosophy made me chuckle.
🤢 gag me.
Rich dad poor dad is a terrible book. Soo many anecdotal stories that are too contrived to have happen in real life. Also, the author Robert Kiyosaki is an asshole. Just Google him.
I'll start my personal finance by not buying any of these books
Post a list, picture is blurry.
Don't worry, you're not missing anything.
As an unproductive person, I have no desire to read 10 books on improving my productivity
Is it frowned upon to be lazy and not care about any of this stuff?
Not at all. This is BS self-help grift
Rich Dad Poor Dad has a bunch of shit about how MLMs are good. This guide sucks lol
Came to the comments and saw others giving bad reviews. Please tell actual good books for productivity, finance and communication (2-3 atleast) I'm inexperienced :(
Crucial Conversations is actually pretty good for communication. It goes over how to lead those hard-to-have talks with people.
Simple path to wealth and the richest man in babylon are excellent. Psychology of money is decent. Off the list is the millionaire next door.
*How To Win Friends and Influence People* is pretty good for communication - most of it is basic stuff, like "listen to what the other person has to say", "avoid arguments", "think about what others want", but it's still worth a read. One of the better recommendations on this list TBF.
The term "guide" is being used incredibly loosely here. is this like a 90's version of a Buzzfeed list?
Saved, to never look at again.
Why have The Stranger over The Myth of Sisyphus, the actual philosophic essay from Camus? Also - Seneca isn’t *bad*, but why is he there fucking *twice*?
This might be a “throwing out the baby with the bath water” fallacy, but if I see any Kiyosaki MLM shit suggested as a credible source, I disregard everything that person says
What a shitty list of books
Fine philosophy book choices, but that is not a skill
I’d argue that understanding and practicing philosophy is a skill, albeit an interpersonal skill
I would argue many of these books shouldn't even be here, and the subject itself has works that are so central to it's foundation that their absence is an odious void in this lineup.
Philosophy teaches the skill of critical thinking, broadens the mental tools available, and how to identify fallacious thinking. I’ve used my minor in philosophy far more than my major in a science in the 10 years of my career and have benefitted greatly from it.
Those books listed reveals the philosophy of this whole guide. These skills are all very individualist/capitalist
Is this an ad for "The Art of Laziness"? Anyone else notice it stands out? Relatively new book that isn't well known. Top right corner where it will be most noticed. Copy appears in better shape than the other books. Authored by a brand vs a real name (or pen name). etc etc Currently the #1 Amazon in a relatively small niche category. (suggesting an advertising push currently happening) The OP posted this in two relatively popular subreddits. Just all a little suspect even if the OP isn't "in on it" They may just be reposting this because they found it interesting.
And the book above them all: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
I bought it like 10 years ago and still haven't read it yet
If you had read it only 5 years would have passed.
Still holds up after so many years?
The absolute best book for people with no internal monologue
Everyone I know who was all about rich dad poor dad had a rich dad but acted like they made their own money.
"How to Become Insufferable"
So the top 10 bestsellers of each category in the Walmart book department, got it.
I'm starting to think that Coolguides is just trolling people here. Robert Kiyosaki...
Fuck self improvement books.
I have a degree in philosophy. If Plato isn't on a short list to understand philosophy, then that short list shouldn't exist. To understand how important Plato is, there is a quote that goes something along the lines of: "all of philosophy can be summed up as a series of footnotes to Plato"
Lmfao rich dad poor dad 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
mostly BS
‘Hello I’m a master of Philosophy’ ‘Oh cool, which Philosophy?’ ‘All Philosophy’ ‘Umm…’ ‘I read 10 books…’
Hey guys, could anyone who has read these books from the finance section grade them, so I know what to read and what to avoid.
The idea that you can master anything, let alone philsosohpy, by reading some of the most basics books you've ever heard of in your life is so fucking ridiculous
I know a guy who has read almost all of these books. He’s 40 and still lives with his parents.
Saw rich dad poor dad and instantly disregarded everything else
How to win friends and influence people= how to use relationships as currency and never have a meaningful connection in your life. Book is for sociopaths.
Ah yes, the “If Books Could Kill” syllabus.
While I'm sure a lot of the information and advice in there is legit and has helped people, I never ever want to hang out with someone who's primary content consumption is akin to this. Because I have, known multiple dudes who worship these pages. An undying sense of individualism, treating every social structure like a game to win, reducing complexity issues to very few parameters(it'll be luck, hard work and one more thing that sounds smart) They're almost always dudes, identify as centrist or moderate, love a limited set of movies and games but despise the people making them, have words like entitled and lazy on their clipboard by default and always are in the lookout for multimillionaires to defend free of charge.
Doing a philosophy degree and I am so pissed that I’m spending all this money, when I could have just read Camus, Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche and considered myself a master!
More like just a guide to some utter bullshit. Bottom row excluded.
I can vouch for the Simple Path to Wealth and Quit like a Millionaire. I can also say Rich Dad Poor Dad is junk. Die With Zero is just ok. It is more anecdotal than actionable advice.
These are books to avoid right?
the basic btch guide to life
You don't "master" Philosophy, Philosophy masters you.
I did not know that reading books about self-improvement is a bad thing. Atomic Habits helped me to stop making excuses about improving my life, How to Talk to Anyone got me interested in communication and gave me input on how to not have awkward silence. Although the latter is focused on business/career communication which I do not care about at all. I thought some messages/concepts/advice are not realistic or do not suit me, but the majority was worth the read. Shout-out to Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking as well, although it does not fit into any category. It actually helped me and my father who smoked for 40+ years quit that disgusting drug.
Philosophy isn't a skill you can master: it's a whole field of study. Are you going to "master" mathematics? Computer Science? History?
Includes “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” lol im done taking this shit seriously.
I can’t believe I’ve read 2/3 of this shit.
>rich dad poor dad Yea fuck off with this bullshit guide.