The Captive Mind

What Hacker News says

1. yakubinNov 2022
   David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

   It showed me that intellectual curiosity doesn't need to be coupled with abstruse language, that in fact unclear language is not a sign of deep thought, but more likely unclear thought. It showed me that being an optimist isn't stupid, that it's an art and that gloom is not an inevitable consequence of intellect. I was suffering from depression back then. It took me 10 more years to win the battle, but I did it. It was all more about how this book was written, rather than what was written in it.

   Tony Judt, Past Imperfect: French Intellectuals, 1944-1956

   Tony Judt, The Burden of Responsibility: Blum, Camus, Aron, and the French Twentieth Century

   Czesław Miłosz, The Captive Mind

   Raymond Aron, The Opium of the Intellectuals

   Those books taught me that there are quite a few secular religions to be beware of, with all the associated dangers and indeed opium for the mind. They were written with the example of Marxism, but this lesson can be generalised to other ideas, which explain away everything about life and bring a prophesy of things to come. It taught me that the religion I left behind when I was young is not the end, but there are more things to be vigilant about, lest your critical mind becomes anaesthetised and subjugated by the current intellectual orthodoxy.

   Judith Butler, Gender Trouble

   A truly insane book. Prior to reading it I thought that the criticisms coming from "the other side" were caricatures. After reading this book I've known that there truly are people denying the reality of biology and making all sort of twisted reasonings you would have never dreamt of. The political movement associated with this book doesn't let it slip at first, but when I confronted core members of this movement (responsible for most of the political messaging in the press etc.) in my country it turned out that they actually believe that stuff. It disillusioned me about the sort of nonsense people can seriously believe, while carefully not admitting it at first.

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2. grumblenumJul 2021
   Please read The Captive Mind for the version based on true events.

   Spoiler: the Poles discovered that a political movement with methods and motivations which should sound very familiar didn't turn out to be the good guys after all.

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3. gnarbarianFeb 2021
   It's easy to understand once you realize it's a propaganda outlet. We have smart minds doing their best to tell a particular story regardless of facts. Here is some good reading on the phenomena https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145660.The_Captive_Mind
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4. alienjrMay 2018
   I can't give just one, but here are a few that had a strong influence on me: "12 Rules for Life" by Jordan Peterson, "Why Switzerland?" Jonathan Steinberg, "Little Book of Common Sense Investing" by John C. Bogle, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Butron Malkiel, "Liberalismus" by Ludwig von Mises, "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, "A Treatise of Human Nature" by David Hume, "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat, "Autobiography" by Benjamin Franklin, "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, "Gespräche mit Goethe" by Johann Peter Eckermann, "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, "The Old Regime and the Revolution" Alexis de Tocqueville, "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill, "A Treatise on Political Economy" by Jean-Baptiste Say, "The Man Versus the State" by Herbert Spencer, "The Revolt of the Masses" by José Ortega y Gasset, "Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy" by Joseph Alois Schumpeter, "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" by Karl Popper, "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Friedman, "On Power" Bertrand de Jouvenel, "1984" by George Orwell, "The State" by Anthony de Jasay, "Sketched With the Quill" by Andrzej Bobkowski, "My Correct Views on Everything" by Leszek Kolakowski, "The Captive Mind" Czesław Miłosz, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, "The House of the Dead" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, "Conversations with an Executioner" by Kazimierz Moczarski, "Diary 1954" by Leopold Tyrmand, "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, "A World Apart: A Memoir of the Gulag" by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński
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5. taway_1212Jul 2017
   The title should be changed - it's about Czeslaw Milosz, not Oscar.

   BTW, anyone who wants to experience some true literary and intellectual bliss, try Czeslaw Milosz's books and essays ("Captive Mind", "Native Realm", "Visions from the San Francisco Bay" or many others). Even his biography is utterly fascinating - it feels like he has experienced more during his lifetime than a dozen of your typical first-world pampered and bored office dwellers.

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6. codybNov 2015
   I've always thought that with automation, increasing population, and globalozation we would need something akin to the universal basic income.

   The question becomes, does that just exist for Western societies or for the entire world?

   I didn't read the entire article but it struck me to point out that "The Captive Mind" by Czeslaw Milosz is extremely relevant here.

   While the USSR was no wonderful place to be, artists tended to be happy there, because even if they were forced to "art" in a particular sense, the USSR recognized art as a fundamental human right and dignity. Compared to capitalism where people were starving just to make it.

   I've had a few drinks, but I absolutely recommend "The Captive Mind" to anyone interested in this sort of sociatal interaction. The part where society collapses (the USSR) and all of the "secret" papers are spilling on to the street will open your mind.

   At least it did mine. When it comes to gold, silver, or secrets, if they can't feed you, clothe you, or shelther you, when things break down, they're not worth shit.

   This is my spurious comment of the night. Check that novel out. "A Captive Mind".

   I'm for a universal basic income. I'm a socialist for essentials, a libertarian for personal liberties, and a capitalist for the rest. I couldn't make it through that entire article. All downvotes are deserved.

   Cheers.

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