Read a fucking book

[ShadowKatt]

Always wanted to use that. Anyway, I grew up reading the classics, Wells, Verne, others, and I regularly just read encyclopedias. I just love to learn. I know people think it's insane, but I think if people just read random articles of interest out of an encyclopedia, they'd be amazed what they find.

 

[Ambi]

Logical fallacies and cognitive bias. It seems like most of my teachers were ignorant of them, but mainly the chaplaincy team. I went to a Christian school, not the type that has the title of Christian for the sake of tradition, but the type that was founded for the sake of indoctrinating kids. They used so many logical fallacies.

Spoiler: hey look kids this is what evolutionists believe how stupid hur hur now believe in xtianity because if evolution's true no-one is special

No, it's not just some Christians who could do with learning how to think critically, I just mentioned them because I've grown up around them.

Despite the fallacies associated with apologetics, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Jesus' words are good to know. Proverbs in general are good to read, not necessarily just Christian ones. I'm not a self-righteous paragon of wisdom, but I think everyone could do with something like that to ponder upon. Not everyone will be interested in reading thick philosophical books and in depth studies, but they will take in profound sounding quotes. Proverbs are a good way to get people thinking about their actions, especially Children.

I also wish everyone would practice consumer ethics by paying attention to where their money is going. Sure, the corporate overlords (lols) need to take responsibility for their production chains, but it comes down to the consumers letting them get away with things they shouldn't. Mass boycotts ftw. However, "no single raindrop wants to take responsibility for the flood". A lot of the time no-one can be bothered standing up for some things or even think about them just because it's not interfering with their comfortable little lives or because they don't see enough people around them doing it. This applies to things other than consumer ethics. I'm a bit of a hypocrite for sitting around typing this on my Chinese manufactured laptop that I bought new.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

"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'."

Replace that with "I watch "CSI" every week" and you understand why trial lawyers tear their hair out.

I don't know about a particular book to recommend, but I think the world would be a slightly better place if we all followed the guidance of this [http://xkcd.com/843/] comic strip.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

The legislative process of any (especially their own) country.

 

[CptRumGuy]

This reminds me of the bit XKCD just did a couple days ago:

http://www.xkcd.com/843/

I actually read that wiki article later on and realized how much I was also wrong about. So I definitely 100% agree with that strip and wish my school did that when I was young.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

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.

Yeh...very often used to justify racism.

The one that bugs me is when I meet someone who is smug aboug buying organic produce...and think they're doing the world a favour in doing so. Which is ignoring why we have GM foods. The crops are larger and healthier, when we don't have enough farm land to feed everyone, you'd think this would be unanimously seen as a good thing. Especially when it's provably safe, and when testing has confirmed that in practice people can't actually taste any difference between GM and "organic" produce.

When "organic" means half the crop is dead before harvest, I can't see how it's a good thing. It's an irresponsible triumph or marketing.

 

[Anarchemitis]

When Men Think Private Thoughts by Gordon MacDonald
Complex and thorough insight about being a Man in modern society.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Awesome read giving discourse about a fictional pacification of society via entertainment.

The one that bugs me is when I meet someone who is smug aboug buying organic produce...and think they're doing the world a favour in doing so. Which is ignoring why we have GM foods. The crops are larger and healthier, when we don't have enough farm land to feed everyone, you'd think this would be unanimously seen as a good thing. Especially when it's provably safe, and when testing has confirmed that in practice people can't actually taste any difference between GM and "organic" produce.

When "organic" means half the crop is dead before harvest, I can't see how it's a good thing. It's an irresponsible triumph or marketing.

Marketing, I bet.
They're the ones who made Edison win the Power Wars over Tesla.

 

[badgersprite]

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.

Pretty much this. I'm not inclined to tell people that they should know more about something specific just because it's something I'm interested in.

Although, I will say it has been getting on my nerves lately when I have seen and heard people spout an answer or opinion on something subjective that's pretty clearly copied and pasted from another source. Especially when the person they're quoting is someone who encourages people to form their own opinions and think critically about films, games or TV shows. Critical thinking isn't mindlessly agreeing with someone who is popular on the Internet or has a column in the newspaper. I'm not saying these people don't have valid criticisms or opinions, but it's really obvious when people just take their word as the gospel and present that opinion as their own.

I do think people who simply repeat things they've heard instead of forming their own opinions could benefit from exposing themselves to more film or literature. That way, they will have a wider array of texts they can compare and contrast, and they'll be able to analyze things for themselves, or at least feel more confident about forming their own tastes. Who knows? Maybe they'll come to the conclusion that they agree with those reviewers after all, and then they'll be able to explain why they agree those points were right.

 

[smearyllama]

I wish more people read Larry Niven's books.

He puts the science in science fiction!
A real scientist who also happens to be a great writer?
Double points!

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Those grammar books we had in elementary school (that's erm... age 5ish-11ish for you non-Americans) that taught you how to write sentences with correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

 

[Lbsjr]

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.

I agree with him. I've read the series and its sister the Shadow series. Very moving and thought provoking, but if nothing else, I want people with the money to start making the battle room. It made the first book for me (reading it at about 13) and going back to it 5 years later made me reflect more on the psychological aspect, but you can't read that part without thinking you can fly. Amazing. Say what you want about Card and his religion and politics, he wrote an amazing series and expanded it far beyond its starting point. Very very astounding.

 

[s0nic_al]

The Zombie handbook thingy.

I hate Zombie threads.

Considering how seriously obsolete the Zombie Survival Guide is, I wouldn't recommend it to serious zombie hunters as anything more than purely entertainment.

 

[tjcross]

i don't find these threads annoying however i do want every videogame designer to read villains by necessity so they understand BRAIN WASHING IS EVIL.

 

[nofear220]

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.

If you dont like threads like that, simple, stop reading them. Your whole post is like saying to someone "OMG YOU HAVENT SEEN THAT VIDEO ON YOUTUBE YET? IT HAS LIKE 8 MILLION VIEWS" no one has read/seen everything

 

[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.

the reason we have that reaction to pirates is because we the good people went out and paid for that thing whatever it is because we worked our day and wanted to spend our money on it. And pirates get the right to(because they know how) circumvent the system and not only put good capitalist systems to shame (removing money from the system) but also giving everyone who paid for said thing the finger. These things aren't a right. You work to get the money to get you nice things. If you don't have the money then don't use the product/service.

The motivation is irrelevant because your making somebody else's hard work and time(the developers) less important than your personal enjoyment. Not only is that selfish its damn rude.

That's exactly my point. It is definitely unethical, but there are often reasons behind that you can't grasp just from looking at the surface through a forum post. In my case, it was very limited access to funds and no easy way to pay as a kid, as well as the fact that I didn't have much access to any retail stores.

But now with Steam, a big download allowance and my brother's PayPal account (don't worry, I transfer the money to his account first) I haven't pirated a game since I signed up in March (except that copy of Quake 3 I urgently needed for practice, which I later also bought on Steam).

I think there's a fundamentally wrong assumption that pirates are perfectly capable of legitimate purchases but don't do it out of apathy for the developers or something. In my case, it definitely wasn't.

 

[UberNoodle]

When I was a kid TV was a luxury, I didn't have a game console after the 2600, until the N64, that is (which I bought when I was in University the second time). I was reading every day. I loved it. When I wasn't reading, I was discussing things with my parents, well, mostly my dad. I can't imagine growing up in a family that didn't value knowlege aquisition and discussion over brain numbing entertainment.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

"1984" and "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. Great reads by a great author.

Ooh, my friend just finished reading Animal Farm. It sounds fascinating.

 

[brodie21]

Grammar, and how to make an interesting thread.

BURN!

Fixed your post.

I was being ironic.

 

[nin_ninja]

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.

Third book ruined part of the story line for me. The ending just proved that no one on that stupid planet learned a damn thing.

 

[zHellas]

I was being ironic.

It's hard to notice that fact when you're on the internet.

Or you're just making an excuse.

Ooh, my friend just finished reading Animal Farm. It sounds fascinating.

It is.

You should really go read it, though it's in the style of like a kid's picture book but it's still a great read.