Welcome to the desert of the real

What Hacker News says

1. mindcrimeOct 2019
   The Soul of a New Machine - Tracy Kidder. A classic that inspired many people (myself included) to become interested in the computing field.

   Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier - Katie Haffner & John Markoff - there is some dispute about the factual accuracy of some of the book, but it's wildly entertaining nonetheless.

   The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage - Cliff Stoll

   Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - Steven Levy

   Charles Proteus Steinmetz: The Electrical Wizard of Schenectady - Robert W. Bly

   Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe - Lee Smolin

   The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next - Lee Smolin

   The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real - William Irwin

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2. ksrmFeb 2017
   There's a great one at the start of Slavoj Zizek's Welcome to the Desert of the Real:

   In an old joke from the defunct German Democratic Republic, a German worker gets a job in Siberia; aware of how all mail will be read by censors, he tells his friends: “Let’s establish a code: if a letter you will get from me is written in ordinary blue ink, it is true; if it is written in red ink, it is false.” After a month, his friends get the first letter, written in blue ink: “Everything is wonderful here: stores are full, food is abundant, apartments are large and properly heated, movie theaters show films from the West, there are many beautiful girls ready for an affair—the only thing you can't get is red ink.”

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3. maurycyDec 2007
   Many.

   In short:

   All books written by Witold Gombrowicz (Diary if have to pick one),

   All books written by Slavoj Zizek (Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates if have to pick one)

   Recently read and significant:

   The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Karl Popper,

   Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders, Jack Schwager

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