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25 books recommended by Elon - EndtheMadnessNow - 03-24-2024

A thread that probably nobody cares about, but I was curious and provides a little bit of insight into the thinking of Deus ex.

"I was raised by books. Books, and then my parents" says Elon Musk.

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25 books recommended by Elon:

1) Issac Asimov’s Foundation Series

“In terms of sci-fi books, I think Isaac Asimov is really great. I like the Foundation series, probably one of the all-time best.

His Foundation books were an inspiration for the need to make life multiplanetary while civilization is still strong.” — Elon Musk

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2) Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson.

“I didn't read actually very many general business books, but I like biographies and autobiographies, I think those are pretty helpful. Actually, a lot of them aren't really business. [...]

Isaacson's biography on Franklin is really good. Cause he was an entrepreneur and he sort of started from nothing, actually he was just like a run away kid, basically, and created his printing business and sort of his way of doing that, and then over time all of the science and politics.

I'd say certain he's one of the few people I most admire. Franklin's pretty awesome." — Elon Musk

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3) Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom

"Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes." — Elon Musk

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4) Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark

"This is a compelling guide to the challenges and choices in our quest for a great future of life, intelligence and consciousness—on Earth and beyond."
— Elon Musk

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5) Human Compatible by Stuart Russell

"Worth reading “Human Compatible” by Stuart Russell (he’s great!) about future AI risks & solutions."  — Elon Musk

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6) Our Final Invention by James Barrat

"While on the subject of AI risk, Our Final Invention by James Barrat is worth reading." — Elon Musk

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7) Zero to One by Peter Thiel

"Peter Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how." — Elon Musk

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8) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams

"I guess when I was around 12 or 15... I had an existential crisis, and I was reading various books on trying to figure out the meaning of life and what does it all mean?

It all seemed quite meaningless and then we happened to have some books by Nietzsche and Schopenhauer in the house, which you should not read at age 14 (laughter). It is bad, it’s really negative.

So then I read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy which is quite positive I think and it highlighted an important point which is that a lot of times the question is harder than the answer. And if you can properly phrase the question..."  — Elon Musk

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9) The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

"I know it's cliche, but this is my favorite book ever.

The heroes of the books I read, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and the ‘Foundation’ series, always felt a duty to save the world."  — Elon Musk

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RE: 25 books recommended by Elon - EndtheMadnessNow - 03-24-2024

10) Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway

"I recommend people read a book called Merchants of Doubt. All they need to do is create doubt." — Elon Musk

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11) Deep Learning by Ian Goodfellow, Yoshua Bengio and Aaron Courville

"Written by three experts in the field, Deep Learning is the only comprehensive book on the subject." — Elon Musk

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12) Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by W. Bernard Carlson

"I didn't read actually very many general business books, but I like biographies and autobiographies, I think those are pretty helpful.

I think it's also worth reading books on scientists and engineers. Tesla, obviously." — Elon Musk

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13) The Culture Series by Ian Banks

"Reading The Culture series by Banks. Compelling picture of a grand, semi-utopian galactic future. Hopefully not too optimistic about AI." — Elon Musk

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SpaceX, the rocketry firm he founded in 2002, owns two ocean-going barges that serve as mobile landing pads for its rockets. One is called Just Read the Instructions, the other is Of Course I Still Love You.

Both are named after sentient spaceships in the "Culture" books, all of which have similarly playful names (one warship, which spends most of its time waiting idly to be called up for action, is called the Killing Time.)


14) The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

[Elon Musk recommended this book as one of his favorite books about space.]

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15) Isaac Asimov Robot Series

"In terms of sci-fi books, I think Isaac Asimov is really great." — Elon Musk

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16) The Art of War by Sun Tzu

"I've read this book many times." — Elon Musk

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17) Structures by J. E. Gordon

"It is really, really good if you want a primer on structural design." — Elon Musk

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18) The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant

"The Story of Civilization. First book is a little dry, but second book, The Life of Greece, is incredible." — Elon Musk

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19) The Parasitic Mind by Gad Saad

"Worth reading." — Elon Musk

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RE: 25 books recommended by Elon - EndtheMadnessNow - 03-24-2024

20) The Capitalist Manifesto by Johan knorberg

"This book is an excellent explanation of why capitalism is not just successful, but morally right." — Elon Musk

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21) What We Owe the Future by William MacAskill

"Worth reading. This is a close match for my philosophy." — Elon Musk

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22) Dune Series by Frank Herbert

"Dune series by Herbert also brilliant. He advocates placing limits on machine intelligence." — Elon Musk

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23) Lying by Sam Harris

"Excellent cover art and lots of good reasons not to lie!" — Elon Musk

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24) The Big Picture by Sean Carroll

"Highly recommend anything by Sean Carroll." — Elon Musk

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25) Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up by Abigail Shrier

"Every parent should read this." — Elon Musk

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List is curated from his Twitter feed, his biography by Walter Isaacson and interviews over the years. He used to read 10 hours a day as a kid, it was mentioned in his biography by Walter Isaacson.

RE: 25 books recommended by Elon - NightskyeB4Dawn - 03-24-2024


I am not a fan of Elon. I think he is on the spectrum, but that is not why I am not fond of him. Actually, my belief that he is on the spectrum is what interests me about him. I have known a lot of folk a lot smarter than him, and a lot poorer.

I am an Asimov fan. I also loved Dune. I am not crazy about the movies that have been made from either of the series. The Lord of the Rings is another favorite, and I am a fan of Tesla.

So it seems we may have a thing or two in common. Not really a biggie, as I am willing to bet that within a few minutes I can find something in common with me and any living thing. Laughing

RE: 25 books recommended by Elon - p358 - 03-25-2024

(03-24-2024, 10:01 PM)NightskyeB4Dawn Wrote: I am not a fan of Elon. I think he is on the spectrum, but that is not why I am not fond of him. Actually, my belief that he is on the spectrum is what interests me about him. I have known a lot of folk a lot smarter than him, and a lot poorer.

I am an Asimov fan. I also loved Dune. I am not crazy about the movies that have been made from either of the series. The Lord of the Rings is another favorite, and I am a fan of Tesla.

So it seems we may have a thing or two in common. Not really a biggie, as I am willing to bet that within a few minutes I can find something in common with me and any living thing.  Laughing

The term "I think he (she) is on the spectrum," is a term created to disenfranchise those of high intelligence.

It is a term with the same goals as the term "Conspiracy Theorist."

Both are terms designed to dismiss the thoughts and reasoning of the highly intelligent amongst us.

Both are disgusting abuses of smart people.

PSmile

RE: 25 books recommended by Elon - NightskyeB4Dawn - 03-25-2024

(03-25-2024, 01:39 AM)p358 Wrote: The term "I think he (she) is on the spectrum," is a term created to disenfranchise those of high intelligence.

It is a term with the same goals as the term "Conspiracy Theorist."

Both are terms designed to dismiss the thoughts and reasoning of the highly intelligent amongst us.

Both are disgusting abuses of smart people.

PSmile
That may be how you view the term "on the spectrum", however it is not how it is meant nor how many of us see it.

On the spectrum is used to identify those with Autism Spectrum Disorder. "The spectrum" is the official diagnosis, and is often used when generally referring to other developmental disorders. 

My nephew is also on the spectrum and though he is of high intelligence he has great difficulty in being able to process nuance and he has trouble reading and understanding common body language and behaviors. He has trouble making friends and communicating with those that he does not know.

I find people that are on the spectrum extremely interesting. I think that they have a lot to teach us.