Essential Reading List

I love good old wine 🍷and hung meat 🥩. One side dish to those pinnacles of hedonic well-being is an enlightening, intense, controversial discussion on life, the universe, and all the rest 🤓.

I often experience that I end up with the task of sending some links to some fundamental books I consider must-reads, so why not put this into one Essential Reading List blog post?

Even simple things, such as a good pizza, require a whole universe – I picked this up somewhere in a cooking episode. However, it is so very true, so start with a book like:

Cosmosapiens: Human Evolution from the Origin of the Universe by John Hands

Very long story short: the whole universe-enchilada from the human perspective. On the long way, Hands starts an argument with nearly every scientific discipline you may name. The significant contribution from my point of view is that we have a current state of knowledge that is far less stable and unquestioned than the orthodox mainstream suggests. Everybody who has once been in the university machine will confirm that you never question your professor’s preferences as he is also not questioning the ones above him. Be prepared to throw away or challenge some old paradigms. It happens more often than you think, and people forget that every new paradigm means a full reset.

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber

Get out of our overly Westernized perceptions of how human societies should work. Ours is barely running, and there have been many other ways in the past that are usually only accessible to historians. We are presented with the story written by the victorious ones, which is sometimes far from reality.

Energy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil

This is a fundamental milestone book. Everything depends on reliable and affordable energy from the very beginning and is woven into the very essence of the universe. Follow Smil outlining precise breakdowns of energy consumption from the stone to the atomic age. Energy density is vital, and renewables suck royal at this key figure. So we are still waiting for fusion and confirm the long-standing joke in the scientific community that “fusion energy is always 30 years away.”

The History of Money by Jack Weatherford

Comparable to the one above, just for money – a totally different beast and one of humanity’s two mind-boggling, abstract, virtual creations after the cognitive revolution. The fun part is that money, other than energy, is a purely virtual concept that profoundly impacts reality. Is this not weird? Oh, and money and science are a terrible pairing. Those who call themselves econometricians bend rules of epistemology far beyond acceptable limits. It looks like science, but they sell snake oil. To understand this, we need to absorb the next book. If there is only one book you can read, pick this one:

Thinking, Fast and Slow! by Daniel Kahneman (and Amos Tversky)

This book is about how we think when we try to think and why it is terribly biased and flawed. Read it! There is no way around it. Now we have the tools to appreciate the next.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty

Many neocons will immediately cry Blasphemy! when hearing this name, but it is a well-researched and thorough breakdown of what we see right now in the global economy. If you also belong to Generation X, we share socialization at an exceptionally lucky time. It is gone, and as long as we cannot colonize the solar system, not just Mars, which is just the next gravity trap, there is no way around increasing inequality with all the side effects we have already experienced throughout our history. However and meanwhile, let us sharpen our minds with the next book.

I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter

The book is an engaging exploration into the depths of consciousness and self. Hofstadter uses the concept of a “strange loop” to depict the unique phenomenon of self-perception and introspection.

Using various disciplines, from mathematics to art, he elaborates on how our brains perceive “I” – the feeling of being in control of our thoughts and actions. The book challenges the notion of a singular “I”, proposing that our consciousness is more of an illusion, a collection of feedback loops residing in the brain’s symbolic network.

Hofstadter’s lively writing makes the profound subject matter approachable, even for those who might not have a background in cognitive science. This book will make you rethink the very notion of self and identity. It’s a fascinating read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of the human mind.

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom

It is time to dig into this hot topic. I read this around its first release back in 2016, and since then, it was crystal clear to me that “the Alignment Problem” is by far the most challenging and most threatening problem humankind currently faces – it dwarfs everything else. Speaking about dwarfing makes me think about two other fundamental books.

The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ord

The book is a compelling examination of humanity’s most significant challenges in the 21st century. Ord, a philosopher at Oxford University, takes a sobering look at existential risks that threaten the survival of humankind, from nuclear war and climate change to potential dangers from artificial intelligence and engineered pandemics.
Through comprehensive research and a philosophical lens, he argues that safeguarding our future is a profound moral imperative. This involves mitigating known risks and exploring the unknown to prevent catastrophes that could end human civilization.

The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity by Fred C. Adams

This book is very helpful to calm down, as it relates orders of magnitude. It is an intriguing journey through the vast stretches of cosmic time. This book presents the universe’s future from the Primordial Era to the Dark Era – if the whole enchilada is not just a simulation, what is considerably likely to be.

With the books listed above, we have a minimum foundation to dig into practical methods, frameworks, principles, and paradigms to work on the typical problems we encounter in our VUCA or BANI environment.

Now one of my favorite everyday starting point – I am skipping the whole bunch of System Thinking books.

The Cynefin Framework by Dave Snowden

After all, we are usually headed toward decisions, and why not first figure out in which problem domain type we are?

Try out the Cynefin Framework, created by Dave Snowden, which is like a trusty compass for decision-makers navigating the unpredictable seas of problem-solving. It helps us recognize the kind of situation we’re in and suggests how we should approach it.

Imagine you’re lost in a city. Some areas are well-lit and familiar (the “Obvious” domain) – here, you can follow standard procedures, like asking a local for directions. Then there are areas where you know the landmarks, but it’s dusk and a bit unclear (the “Complicated” domain) – you might need to consult a map or use a GPS.

Sometimes, you find yourself in a part of town at midnight where you’ve never been before (the “Complex” domain). It’s unpredictable and a bit chaotic; you have to try different paths, see where they lead, and learn from the experience.

Lastly, imagine suddenly being teleported into a completely alien city where your usual rules don’t apply (the “Chaotic” domain). You must act immediately to establish order, then figure out what to do next.

The Cynefin Framework is your guide in these scenarios, helping you identify the situation’s complexity and choose the best strategy accordingly. Whether tackling business issues or solving real-world problems, it’s an invaluable tool for decision-making in a complex and ever-changing world.

Listen to Dave himself, and do not be scared. He is very special – I personally adore his style.

Every book I listed is a root branch and a deep rabbit hole, and I have not touched some at all, such as strategy, business value, or stuff such as episteme vs. doxa vs. gnosis vs. logos vs. metis.

Let me know where to continue.