Forming our world view
For many of us, with the possible exception for maybe journalists or lawyers, what we tend to read depends on our own interests. Personally, I like to read things in the technical realm, mostly books focused on software development and engineering as that’s what I’m involved in day to day. I also enjoy reading about technology more broadly, but I’m also fascinated by topics like finance and business as they play such an important role in our lives, whether we are aware of it or not.
When those themes become cumbersome and I want something more digestible, I usually turn to the masters of the espionage genre like John le Carré, Tom Clancy, and Robert Ludlum; the list is endless. The true greats, like le Carré, can achieve a balance of creativity and realism in their writing which is both as convincing as it is unbelievable, a phenomenon that is hard to describe. Most recently, I’ve started reading the work of the critically acclaimed Mick Herron, often touted as an heir to le Carré who has become famous for his Slough House series, which has now been adapted for television by Apple TV+.
Circling back to the subject of what interests us and how it dominates our reading, at a recent family dinner, the topic of conversation shifted to things like climate change, cryptocurrency, the ongoing energy crisis, and the issue of inflation. I’m certainly not an expert on any of those areas but I have noticed that I often default to discussing them through a lens that has been developed from what I have read, more so than from what I have watched or listened to. The little understanding I have around those subjects has largely come from some excellent books that I think are worth sharing.
In my opinion, it is important for each of us to form our own view of the world, especially on the subjects that really matter. A wonderful question often posed by the legendary Peter Thiel “what important truth do very few people agree with you on?” is one which I ponder frequently, especially since I’ve come to realise that the more you read, the less you really know. To close, I think if you take the time to read some of these books, you may arrive at some of those hidden truths that Thiel often talks about.
Zero to One - Peter Thiel & Blake Masters
Digital Gold - Nathaniel Popper
The Dao of Capital - Mark Spitznagel
Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor E Frankl
Antifragile - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John le Carré
The Greatest Trade Ever - Gregory Zucker Man
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - Eric Jorgenson
The Bitcoin Standard - Saifedean Ammous