Name: Stealing Fire
ISBN: 9780062429650

Stealing Fire

CNBC and Strategy + Business Best Business Book of 2017 "A mind-blowing tour along the path from sex and drugs to R&D."- Financial Times It's the biggest revolution you've never heard of, and it's hiding in plain sight. Over the past decade, Silicon Valley executives like Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, Special Operators like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets, and maverick scientists like Sasha Shulgin and Amy Cuddy have turned everything we thought we knew about high performance upside down. Instead of grit, better habits, or 10,000 hours, these trailblazers have found a surprising short cut. They're harnessing rare and controversial states of consciousness to solve critical challenges and outperform the competition. New York Timesbestselling author Steven Kotler and high performance expert Jamie Wheal spent four years investigating the leading edges of this revolution--from the home of SEAL Team Six to the Googleplex, the Burning Man festival, Richard Branson's Necker Island, Red Bull's training center, Nike's innovation team, and the United Nations' Headquarters. And what they learned was stunning: In their own ways, with differing languages, techniques, and applications, every one of these groups has been quietly seeking the same thing: the boost in information and inspiration that altered states provide.

What Hacker News says

everdevMar 2019

> Studying and treating the brain by developing methods to alter conscious states is, I think, going to be a major achievement of the 21st century

There's a great book called "Stealing Fire" by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal about this very subject.

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bob_theslob646Dec 2017

> Extreme Ownership

Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

> Grant

Ron Chernow

> Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy

Dani Rodrik

> Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought

Andrew Lo

> The Best Investment Writing, Volume 1: Selected Writing From Leading Investors and Authors

by Meb Faber (editor),‎ Jason Zweig (contributor),‎ Patrick O’Shaughnessy (contributor),‎ Morgan Housel (contributor),‎ Corey Hoffstein (contributor),‎ Barry Ritholtz (contributor)

> Janesville

Amy Goldstein

> The Man Who Could Be King

John Miller

> My Own Liberator

Dikgang Moseneke

> Hillbilly Elegy

J.D. Vance

> Small Great Things

Jodi Picoult

> Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

> Born to Run

Bruce Springsteen

> The Content Trap

Bharat Anand

> The Gene: An Intimate History

Siddhartha Mukherjee

> Shoe Dog

Phil Knight

> Attitude: Develop a Winning Mindset on and off the Court

Jay Wright

> The Euro and the Battle of Ideas

Markus K. Brunnermeier, Harold James, Jean-Pierre Landau

> 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy

Hamilton Helmer

> Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change

Ellen Pao

> Bellevue

David Oshinsky

> The Woman Who Smashed Codes

Jason Fagone

> Stealing Fire

Steven Kotler

> Hit Refresh

Satya Nadella

> Thank You for Being Late

Thomas Friedman

> Supernormal

Meg Jay

> The Inevitable

Kevin Kelly

> Economics for the Common Good

Jean Tirole

> It’s What I Do

Lynsey Addario

> Gotham: 1898-1919

Mike Wallace

> The Good Daughter

Karin Slaughter

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CrypticShiftDec 2023

Most people don't prioritize self-augmentation; their aspirations lean towards contentment, stability, and the quintessential 'normal life'. The pursuit of self-enhancement often isn't intrinsically rewarding unless one has a predisposition towards it, and even with the impetus, the outcome might not provide the satisfaction one anticipated, or worse.

As for the so-called 'elite' demographic, I will simply say : "Not for lack of trying". (there is this book : "Stealing Fire" [1]). On ancient methods of improvement, it's crucial to note the difference between (super)wisdom and (super)intelligence. But that's a conversation for another time.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Fire-Maverick-Scientists-Rev...

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tomhowardMay 2019

This recent interview [1] with Jamie Wheal, co-author of Stealing Fire [2] is worth watching if you're interested in this topic.

He's observed the psychedelic "revolution" in recent years, and has both positive and negative things to say about it, but on the whole he's deeply pessimistic about where it seems to be going.

His observations about fashion-driven, Instagram-performative "enlightenment", and the propensity for a little bit of enlightenment to lead one down dangerous paths (including charging big money to lead others down the same dangerous path), are resonant for me, having been through the journey myself and seen it from both sides.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPB33bD3hQ

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Fire-Maverick-Scientists-Rev...

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creaghpatrMar 2018

Actually a lot (or at least a not insignificant amount) of MICs are burners according to the book Stealing Fire

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KabuseChaDec 2017

Disclaimer: Non native english speaker - I am doing my best so please ignore my errors...

I read a bunch of the books on the list the most interesting to me that I have not read for now are:

- The Content Trap: A Strategist's Guide to Digital Change

- Stealing Fire

- Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought

- The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

Has anybody here on HN read those? Are these any good? I am usually quite sceptical regarding Amazon recommendations (or some random CEOs thoughts), but most of the time love books recommended on HN...

In turn my thoughts about some of the books on the list:

- Shoe Dog: Probably the best and most inspiring biography/memoir of any entrepreneur I have ever read. If you are thinking about starting a company or are a founder you will love it!

- Sapiens: Fantastic book that completely shattered parts of my worldview. In my opinion a must read for everyone! (Gave it away as a present for many of my friends - almost everybody liked it)

- Extreme Ownership: The best book regarding leadership I have ever read. At first I was skeptical about the "military-parts" of the book, but they have been useful in illustrating the underlying principles the book covers. If you are in any leadership position (top management, middle management or leader of a very small team) it is definitely worth your money.

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