Read a fucking book

[Jaime_Wolf]

It's pretty boring when every other post is either
(a) debating a question with a very well-known, extremely robust answer
or worse
(b) claiming that the author has some great insight and everyone else in science/mathematics/whatever is wrong because no one has ever put forth that idea before.

Most of the time, a simple google search or wiki walk would answer the question. Other times, someone who actually knows what they're talking about will step in and answer. But all of the time, a huge number of people will take option (b) the moment they're presented with a possibly counterintuitive (yet extremely robust) answer.

So I want to know, Escapist, what books do you wish people had read, things you wish people had studied, concepts you wish people were familiar with? What topics have you just given up arguing over because the people who are wrong will never be convinced that they're not special snowflakes.

And before anyone chimes in with "I don't just listen to what books tell me like a sheep", neither do I and you are in group (b) above.

 

[Unesh52]

In all honesty, I don't run into this situation often enough to think of any specific ignorance that I wish was gone from the world. Sorry.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Not so much a book thing but I wish people took a Criminology course at university (English criminology, not American).

It's some amazing eye opening stuff, theories as to crime and criminals, societal conditioning etc.

It kind of makes me wince when people condemn criminals in such a way, their idea of 'justice' is to beat them to a bloody pulp or kill them.

Also, my lecturer said something quite funny.

"As a criminology graduate, in every conversation you bring up your qualification as a sign of knowledge in that area, prepare for the onslaught of people who think they know more about crime than you because 'their bike was stolen'."

Funny stuff.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I wish people knew the laws of thermodynamics so we wouldn't get someone every week going, "HOW ABOUT PERPETUAL MOTION GUYS!" That and some people really need to learn a bit of grammar.

 

[brodie21]

Grammar and how to make an interesting thread.

BURN!

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

Finally, about a decade late, I'm working my way through Orson Scott Card's Ender saga. I had read Ender's Game a few years back (and several times since then), but finally moved on to Speaker for the Dead and I plan on continuing. Now, reading how incredible and emotional these books are, I wish so much that more people would read them. I know that the first two books are bona fide sci-fi classics, but if something as poorly written as Twilight can become a phenomenon like it has, then a masterpiece like Speaker, while popular, should have been infinitely bigger than it is.

That and some people really need to learn a bit of grammar.

And this. Spending a good deal of time on the internet, I now honestly believe that there is a frightening number of people that did not pass the 3rd grade.

 

[DforSpiD]

I make an effort to read as much on as many topics as I can, I simply like knowing things.
Despite its limitations, such as the fact it can be changed by idiots, wikipedia is a great place to start looking for new knowledge, it's a great place to start and it often has many sources on subjects which you can look into later

 

[QuadFish]

It kind of makes me wince when people condemn criminals in such a way, their idea of 'justice' is to beat them to a bloody pulp or kill them.

I get that this is not quite the same thing, but I feel the same way about people and their reaction to pirates. Most people (including most of The Escapist staff) resort to 'jerks' without ever thinking about the motivation behind it. I mean, if someone downloads a game/CD/movie, they're obviously doing it because they hate the industry and want to see the developers/writers go broke and starve, in the same way that criminals obviously have a personal grudge toward you and want to take your stupid bike so you have to pay for a new one.

Same for people's reaction to pedophiles. A group did a documentary where they actually interviewed someone with pedophilic tendencies (not a convicted pedophile) who, thanks to the MASSIVE condemnation from simple things like talk-back radio (not to mention basically everyone else), was too afraid to seek professional help for it. And god help anyone who actually has made public efforts to correct their situation, since the word 'pedophile' is enough to get them driven out of every suburb they try to settle in.

 

[Verp]

I wish people knew more about heredity and natural selection.

It's not like I'm an expert myself, but I do know the principles via the same general education in natural sciences that (I thought) everyone in civilised countries gets. Yet, I keep bumping into people who seem relatively smart otherwise but fail the basics and harbor some really weird pseudo-Darwinian views on natural selection and what's natural and what's not.

 

[Baron Von Evil Satan]

Well for one, European vs. American political scales. I swear if one more person tries to tell me people like Pelosi or Obama are conservative I shall write a strongly worded letter ending with a challenge of pistols at dawn.

Other than that? Probably just people in general need to get some common sense once in awhile.

 

[Icarion (aka Stockholm)]

I wish everyone had read the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That way when I say, "Bring a towel," I wouldn't get blank stares. And of course, Star Wars EU books. That's one thing I've pretty much given up arguing over, because people say "The EU didn't actually happen. Chewbacca isn't dead!" And then I correct them, and have to go digging in my bookcase to quote my sources.

 

[Caligulove]

I don't think it really changes if someone had read a certain book before or reads it now, the important thing to instill in people is to just read in general. Enjoy the characters and the arcs, get immersed and build a lexicon of allusions, vocabulary and themes, but also read and learn the facts, and constantly ask questions. Never assume anything is true simply because you read it, always back things up and check credibility from your sources, and that will carry on into other parts of your life and conversational skills.

Be better off for it.

 

[mindlesspuppet]

So I want to know, Escapist, what books do you wish people had read, things you wish people had studied, concepts you wish people were familiar with? What topics have you just given up arguing over because the people who are wrong will never be convinced that they're not special snowflakes.

And before anyone chimes in with "I don't just listen to what books tell me like a sheep", neither do I and you are in group (b) above.

PCs for Dummies, so I don't have to hear/see technology illiterate console kids constantly ramble on about how complex and complicated playing games on PCs is.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

grammar, and how to make an interesting thread.

BURN!

Yep, this.

Not the thread part, the grammar part.

 

[Ranchcroutons]

Studying psychology is a good way to gain some insight to the thought processes of others. You learn why people can be such jerks and learn to emphasize with people who might just be having a bad day. You also learn that happiness is a state of mind and you are as miserable as you want to be. This realization is life changing honestly.

 

[Rainboq]

Some text books on Media Studies, it'd make us all smarter.

 

[Yomandude]

Might be controversial to discuss, but theology. Theology is WAAAAY too misconcieved and misinterpreted of a subject. Ya gotta have all the facts about a subject before you can be sure about a decisive conclusion, and all-powerful deities are no exception.
The next one isn't quite book related, but I do wish more people understood the artistic merit of videogames. Teens don't play them because "the mechanics flesh out a simple story with beautiful complexity," they play because it's fun, and it's the "in" thing to do! That bothers me somehow.

 

[peduncle]

mein kampf
a textbook on biology
and the ENTIRE bible from start to finish

 

[Super Toast]

grammar, and how to make an interesting thread.

BURN!

The irony!

OT: I wish people would just Google their technical problems rather than ask us.

 

[Lerxst]

"A Brief History of Everything" Ken Wilber. Seriously. If everyone here read that, 90% of the arguments wouldn't exist.