CRITICAL THINKING TOOLKIT

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Rate my list x/10

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CRITICAL THINKING PRIMERS:
How to Read a Book - Mortimer Adler
The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric - Sister Miriam Joseph
Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

SELF-REGULATION BASICS
The Discourses on Epictetus - Epictetus
A Primer in Positive Psychology - Christopher Peterson

SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS
Improve your Social Skills - Daniel Wendler
No More Mister Nice Guy - Robert Glover

MATHEMATICS BASICS
How to Solve It - G. Polya
Pre-Calculus – Carl Stitz & Jeff Zeager
Elements - Euclid
Geometry: Euclid and Beyond - Robin Hartshorne

SCIENCE BASICS
The Character of Physical Law - Richard Feynman
The Machinery of Life - David Goodsell

HUMANITIES BASICS
The Art of Fiction - David Lodge
The Socratic Dialogues, The Republic, & The Symposium - Plato
The Art of War - Sun Tzu
The Bible - KJV
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

check out Poor Charlie's Almanack and also the reading list he provides in it

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That is my shortlist.

There are some basic topics that I feel like might need more coverage, like algorithms & advanced logic, computer & data science, statistics, natural and social sciences, psychology, world history, government, modern politics & propaganda, history of ideas, phenomenology, communication, poetry & music theory, hermeneutics, religion & spirituality, esoterics & mysticism, semantics & semiotics, reference materials, and books on rigorous writing. Of course, there's also practical living that might be useful to consider as well. You're not smart unless you've built something with your hands, in my opinion.

Otherwise, I think this roughly covers the "breadth" of all of the structures of thought possible for the mind with sufficient depth. It would also give you a passable education, though better curation might improve the final outcome.

Thanks for your time. What are some other books that might be helpful here?

>>110848894
I wanna milk in a womans tum tum

This is interesting. Bump.

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>>110849100

I've never heard of this. Checking this out now.

>>110848894
Bump and save for massive interest. I want to get ahead of my fellow spics

>>110848894
For Biology, Campbell is the most comprehensive book that I know of; but obviously it's a huge field that could fill a dozen libraries and then some.

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Also I feel like dumping these titles because they're relevant in the modern world, but I don't know which, if any, would I include in any "basic toolkit list:

The Century of Self - Adam Curtis (documentary)
1984 - George Orwell
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Minimalia Moralia - Theodor Adorno
Propaganda - Jacques Ellul
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky
Propaganda - Edward Bernays

>>110849042
Where's Jung?

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>>110849606

I personally keep Biology by Campbell, Essential Cell Biology by Alberts, and Genetics by Pierce in my personal library. Suits all of my /biology/ needs. But I think that Machinery of Life by David Goodsell is best for understanding the big picture of microbiology.

Maybe we need an additional book for macrobiology, like the environment or evolution. I don't know of any good ones. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Dan Dennett? Stephen Jay Gould? Richard Dawkins? E.O. Wilson? I need 1, maybe 2, books maximum.

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>>110849966

I wanted to put Freud, Jung, Heidegger, and some other proto-psychologists, existentialists, and phenomenologists on the list, but then I felt that the list would very quickly grow out of control.

The Century of Self documentary, IMO, is a sufficient "primer" into the subject. Then you can start reading up on whatever you want, whether you want to delve into the cognitive realm, the psychoanalytic realm, or the social realm.

Do you have anything you'd recommend in particular?

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>>110849728

Add one of any of Robert Cialdini's books onto this list, too. Perhaps Influence, his most famous book.

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Looks interesting. Anything good for history & spirituality? Bump.

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>>110851336

Atlas of World History - Patrick O'Brien
A Concise Economic History of the World - R. Cameron & L. Neal
The Story of Civilization - Will Durant

The first is a must. The other two are very helpful supplemental materials.

>>110849042
I would suggest "The idiot" (or however is called in english) wrote by Dostoievski

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>>110851645

Thanks senpai

>>110851739

Anything by Dostoyevsky is great. But desu, I only included him as a "test-run" for literary skills and for the philosophical & psychological themes. I'd love to include the entire literary canon, but then it wouldn't be a toolkit. It'd be a curriculum.

Richard Dawkins is a shill a big fat stupid mistake

Reading books doesn't make you smart it lets you know what other people thought like who didn't read their own books to get where they were when they wrote those books.

>>110852102

False. Some topics are difficult and enlightening enough that they go beyond regurgitating some jackass's opinion. Are you telling me that learning mathematics didn't make every other STEM 100x easier?

Reading is like meditation it's a time sink to cuck you out of your time
Completely wasteful activity

>>110852347

Only if you exclusively read New York Times best sellers. Read my list bruh.

>>110852339
Do you feel smarter posting some cucky example of extreme? You're not.

>>110852465
There is nothing worth reading that human hands wrote.

>>110852533

I have no idea what you're even talking about. "Cucky example of extreme"? I think you need to read my list bruh.

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>>110852347

Bitch please. How about no

>>110849728

Democracy, The God That Failed is also a good read. I don't agree with anarcho-capitalism, but the book does a good job of getting you to look at democracy in a critical light.

>>110852648

Any religious or mystic texts you'd recommend then? What is an essential supplement to the intellectual mind?

>>110852674
You're the one left confused why should I read the books that lead you here?

>>110848894
Yes. As an engineering major that has also studied philosophy, sociology, psychology, polisci, and economics more than the general public, I typically feel I can btfo of most people in a debate.

>>110851336
•Miracles in American History by Susie Federer
•Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment by Rudolf Steiner
• When You Hear Hoofbeats Think of a Zebra by Shems Friedlander
• Nine Faces of Christ by Eugene E. Whitworth
•The Vishnu Purana, Book 1 of 6: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition by Unknown

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>>110852760

I like where you're thinking. I included Democracy by Hoppe in larger lists that had a larger emphasis on political philosophy, but I think The Republic by Plato covers a lot of necessary ground already. Remember, this thread is for thinking basics only.

>>110852776
I'm enlightened now?
Alright.

Those books really did a number on you.

Read the world itself and if you cannot do that go hide away in your queer gay little pages that emulate and wish they were what they represent

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>>110852844

Recommend any "fundamental" texts for this purpose? What would you read to get to where you are today, assuming that you're a high school graduate with some smarts, motivation, and time?

See my list:

>>110849042

>>110848894
Beyond good and evil Nietsze (or how is it called in english)
Prince Machiavelli

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>>110853027

You said that nothing written by man was important. So I used my /criticalthinking/ skills to deduce that you had religious insight.

>>110848894
Learning basic biology and evolutionary science explained all the most disgusting aspects of human behaviour.

How do people feel about infinite jest

>>110852648
>t. Aalewis

>>110849042
Euclid's elements is overrated as fuck. It starts with a logic gap then shows another logic gap at SAS. If you want mathematical logic, look up a discrete math book.

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>>110853005
>>110851336
>>110853005

MORE RELIGION
The Abolition of Man - C. S. Lewis
Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri
Reasonable Faith - William Lane Craig
The Miracle of Theism - John. L. Mackie
Bhagavad-Gita (Translation) - M. Mahesh Yogi
What the Buddha Taught - Walpola Rahula


MORE ESOTERICISM & MYSTICISM

The Ritual Process - Victor Turner
Corpus Hermeticum - Hermes Trismegistus
Kabbalah - Gershom Scholem
Introduction to Magic - Julius Evola
The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson

>>110853305
heres 1
• In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World by Ian Stewart

>>110853912

>In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World by Ian Stewart

Euclid isn't rigorous but pretty much every great man before the 1900s read it to appreciate the beauty of mathematics and problem-solving. I attached it with a great secondary resource for modern applications and readability.

>>110853484
At least you're able and willing to use that. In time if you follow that force you will find these long forgotten etchings carved in stone that repeat everything I told you. You won't remember this or me but the expression will remain forever imprinted in the wispering and sun bleached stone.

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>>110854310

I'd like to increase the ability of other people to do that, too. Contribute to the list!

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>>110854287

Shit responded to the wrong post. See
>>110854287

>>110853344
I'd have a hard problem not putting Nietzsche in there. But I don't know if he's necessary or if it's worthwhile, since it takes some background knowledge to fully get him.

>>110854036

The table of contents looks solid. Have you personally read it?

>>110854036

Fuck, I responded to the wrong post again!

>>110854287

>>110855139

I suggest you read more carefully.

>>110848894
Yes, entropy (your example of thermodynamics) is a good example of a concept that occurs across disciplines.
I Recommend:
Creative and Critical Thinking: W. Edgar Moore

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>>110855303

!!!

>>110855469

Can't find a table of contents for it. Why do you recommend it?

>>110855469

Found one on my university website.

>Decision making -- The hypothetical syllogism -- Reliability and probability -- Evaluating evidence -- Forming hypotheses -- Testing hypotheses -- Generalizations -- Statistical concepts -- Statistics and probability -- Reasoning from generalizations -- Forming causal theories -- Testing causal theories -- Evaluation and decision -- Value judgments -- Creative thinking -- Fallacies of irrelevance -- Neglected aspect -- Pitfalls in language -- Classification and definition -- Categorical propositions -- Immediate inference -- Categorical syllogisms -- Alternative and disjunctive syllogisms -- Interpreting propositions -- Involved arguments -- Complex syllogistic forms -- Need-directed thinking -- The personal point of view -- How we distort the evidence -- Emotions and thinking -- Hidden propositions -- Psychological pitfalls -- False assumptions -- Devices of persuasion -- Refining value systems.

Good stuff, but don't you think some of this might be outdated?

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>>110855812
Both my parents recommended it to me. Its an old staple for fundamental reasoning, used at institutions such as west point. It sounded like exactly what you were looking for.

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>>110857014

Hmm... I think I'll include it in the first category. It looks like a solid recommendation. Thanks for the input!

It wasn't books I read but men and beast and nature.
The internet is just a silicon forest.

A silly con of a forest. An echo of hope and a reflection of our dreams.

Don't you get it? The internet is the only book you need and it's written by (You)'a and me.

>>110854987
Nietzsche isnt that hard, but I cant judge the english translation. English can make some philosophy books pretty confusion due to language structure.
Thus spoke Zarathustra is better than beyond good & evil, but normies will only read into the dead god and untermench meme

TAKE FUCKING NOTES OR IT WILL ALL BE IN VAIN

>>110859083

The books on my list need to fill three criteria:
* Great, unique mind-bender.
* Important to the history of ideas
* Foundational for understanding other ideas.

What Nietzsche book is best for this? If you were in my position, would you be dying to put a book on a list of "essential critical thinking"?

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>>110859348

That's why we included the first book, senpai. My entire bookshelf is full of books jampacked with notes, sticky notes, highlighters, journals, etc. I even use Anki to automatically remind me every so often to review what I've learned.

If this thread gets more active, I'll upload a page of my "reading methodology".

Burton Watson's translation of the Zhuangzi is potentially life-changing.

Other than that, some books that will make you smarter:

Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy by Bernard Williams

Knowing Right from Wrong by Kieran Setiya

The Possibility of Altruism by Thomas Nagel

Mortal Questions by Thomas Nagel

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PSYCHOLOGY READING LIST:

Origins of Consciousness - Julian Jaynes
Intro. Lectures on Psychoanalysis - Sigmund Freud
The Phenomenological Mind - Shaun Gallagher
How the Mind Works - Steven Pinker
The Social Animal - Elliot Aronson

>>110859447
Beyond good and evil teaches you that philosophy or any idea cant be good or evil. Thinking is whats matter and ideas should be judged. Ateast its what I remember from it. Also dontthe forget about the Prince. Its great book about power and history that teaches you how to get shit done, much better than art of war

>>110860284

I just want to read it allllll

>>110848894
For me it was fighting games. I learned how to play them then somehow i learned how to learn and see after that. It was strange

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>>110860091

This is very helpful. I took note of Zhuangzhi, since I'm interested in Daoism. I also like Thomas Nagel as well. But I feel that a lot of those other books would already be covered in a topic like Plato's works or Justice by Michael Sandel.

Which books do you think are most unique for this list?

>>110860543

Lol. I learned that I could do anything and plan for everything by playing World of Warcraft. Shit was weird. I didn't have much sense of agency before then.

Classical Electrodynamics J.D. Jackson

>>110860284
art of war is a han dynasty compilation of hundreds of years of disjointed bits of military "wisdom" much like the analects. it is in no way a book in the sense in which the Prince obviously is. It's more of a bookshelf.

>>110860562
i don't think that michael sandel is a good philosopher. he has a straw-manny critique of rawls from the 90s that most people quickly moved on from and since then he's mostly done pop philosophy for undergraduates.

Williams is refreshing because the point is to make philosophical ethics less parochial and more messy, like the way ethics actually is. the book can come off as sloppy at times but there's plenty of food for thought and wisdom in the book.

Setiya's book is difficult and his style is, well, bad. But the moments of clarity are deeply rewarding and the general picture is really beautiful when you put all the pieces together.

if you're into ancient chinese wisdom though then check out the Xunzi, hutton's translation if you can. some of it is translated on www.ctext.org in the discussion forum. Xunzi, the text with the name and the thinker it is named after, is by far the most comprehensive and systematic philosopher of the warring states period.

>>110849042
Your list is shit if it doesn't include Gorilla Mindset and Barbarians: How Baby Boomers, Immigrants, and Islam Screwed My Generation.

>>110849042
>KJV
you fucked up massively

>>110849042
>book called how to read a book
what

>>110848894
Invisible landscapes by Terence Mckenna

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>>110861834

>reading the six gorillion mindset

>>110862166

most people suck at reading well. this is a good starter pack

>>110861494

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>>110848894
>do you ever misapply your laymen's understanding of scientific ideas to gain a false sense of understanding?
>can you give me a list of books that will teach me what to think in order to be smart?

>>110864371
>most people suck at reading well. this is a good starter pack
I always assumed your ability to read was just based on nature. Did you really improve significantly after reading that?

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>>110864788

>implying

Thanks for the bump. There are patterns of thought across disciplines, and I'm looking for books to challenge you in order to develop more rigorous thinking habits. The Trivium doesn't tell you what to think. It beats the fuck out of your sloppy language skills, increasing precision of thought. If I was giving you bullshit, I would have provided a meme list of books.

Got any suggestions?

>>110865134

It helped me get more out of books by developing habits that forced me to constantly think about what I was reading and its implications. Before, it was more random and less structured.

>>110849042
That precalc book is for brainlets. You also don't need a fucking book for proofs when you pick that up naturally by doing problems. For precalc, use George Simmons and supplement it with Gelfand's books and problems as needed.
Euclid is good, but a more modern and clearer approach lies with Kiselev's geometry books. Why no Calculus? Piskunov has a great one for people who don't want to dive into just proofs, and it's still fairly rigorous. Spivak is a meme of sorts, but the problems in there fantastic.

You should also pick up some Art of Probleming Solving books for some real noggin joggin.

>>110859703
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer_J._Adler
>The ethnic composition of Adler's Great Books list was controversial in some academic circles, as was his response to accompanying criticism. Some fellow academics characterized the list as ethnically exclusive with Henry Louis Gates saying later that the assembly of the list showed a "profound disrespect for the intellectual capacities of people of color – red, brown or yellow."

Sounds pretty based.

>He attributed the lack of Latino authors to the lack of recommendations by Mexican poet and committee member Octavio Paz

Kek

>and the lack of black authors to a lack of books good enough to fit the criteria.

TOPKEK

>>110848894
just make a list of all the basic "intro to x" university books...

cheap as dirt to buy as well because the old versions are always worthless since kids will only buy the newer editions

>>110865301
>There are patterns of thought across disciplines
You don't actually gain anything from studying "patterns of thought". Solving a problem does not involve trying out a predefined list of "thinking patterns" to see which one fits.

>books to challenge you in order to develop more rigorous thinking habits
No book can do this. The only thing that can challenge your thinking habits is being called out on your bullshit by more rigorous thinkers.

>>110865770
An Introduction to Inequalities is also a good prep book for Spivak. The New Mathematical Library has plenty of great books.

>>110849042
unsarcastic 1/10

literally just stop for five minutes and think about shit and you'll already be smarter than 95% of the population

>>110849042
>no Apology of Socrates by Plato
>no Discourse on the Method

>>110861834
10/10

>>110850358
Cambell Biology is the bible of basic biology. Always a great reference.

Science and sanity
Programming the human biocomputer
Escaping the plantation

>>110867074
*Campbell

>>110848894

Learn about electrostatic reactions in plasma.

It will explain everything about HOW the universe functions.

>>110866311
You wouldn't want to slice your dick off a second time with that edge.

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Sorry but i'm just to smart for this thread

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>>110867604
Not an argument. Stay mad and keep telling yourself that if only you read the right books, you'll be less of an idiot.

>>110866311

>The only thing that can challenge your thinking habits is being called out on your bullshit by more rigorous thinkers.

Maybe for you.

Different people learn in different ways.

>>110849966

Jung caught his mother cheating in the act. That fucked him up I guess e.g. "the orgon".

His theory: Unleash peoples libido and passions that they do not commit to the idea of nationalism or fascism.

But just take a look at the left you can have both fascism and leftism with their moral relativism. His ideas are full of flaws and projection like any big "psycho analyst"

>>110866311
Sometimes I forget how subversive the Jew can truly be, thank you for reminding me.

>>110868346
There's a huge gap between reading about how to think rigorously and actually being forced to think rigorously. To make matters worse, books aren't perfect, and to make the most out of them you need to have pretty good critical thinking skills in the first place to see all the unstated caveats and faults with the author's own thinking.

>>110869384
>muh jooz! muh jooz!
>t. /pol/ intellectual

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>>110867838
>don't read books goyim ! Knowledge is bad for you !

Nice try Shlomo.
Also you are full of shit, crystallized intelligence is exactly what the burger and the leaf are talking about.
The scientific method for example improves drastically your capacity at problem solving and critical thinking when you assimilate it, it's not "knowledge" per say but it is the frame that will help in every part of your life.

>>110869931
Where the fuck was I implying that one shouldn't read books? I'm just pointing out that the idea that "a list of 15-20 books" can ever "increase the clarify and depth of thought" is ridiculous. You need to have clarity and depth of thought to actually see beyond the superficial details and understand which ideas presented in it are actually valuable and when they apply, and which ideas are mere artifacts of the era the book was written in and the author's idiosyncrasies.

>The scientific method for example improves drastically your capacity at problem solving and critical thinking
Yes, if you actually understand how it was derived. Your infographic precisely demonstrates the problem.

>>110871018
You see, the main thing about rigorous thinking is that it involves a kind of humility and self-reflection that the vast majority of people are incapable of, and that no book can instill. The only thing that does the trick is having your own ideas constantly challenged by others in forcing yourself into a productive mode of discussion.

the only fiction book id add would be gravitys rainbow by pynchon.

The black swan by Nassim Taleb is a pretty interesting way of looking at things also.

Russel Whitehead Principia Mathematica

the only book that REALLY makes you think

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>>110849164

>>110848894
>King, Warrior, Magician, Lover...
teaches you how to be a real man

https://www.scribd.com/doc/518116/King-Warrior-Magician-Lover-Rediscovering-The-Archetypes-Of-The-Mature-Masculine

>>110848894
I tried to get into quantum mechanics until I realized it's just a Jewish invention to keep paying money into with nothing to show since it's all hypothesis.

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It depends what you want to do, OP. Do you want to develop an ACTUAL understanding of the world or a particular subject or do you want to be a slightly more sophisticated scientific meme-man full of disparate but interesting and quotable factoids but no real deep understanding?

If it's the former, people have already put book lists together - just go to the website of a good university and look at their recommended undergrad texts. And be prepared to dedicate a few years to it; knowledge and expertise doesn't come without hard work and putting the hours in.

t. physics grad

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>>110872935
fuck this gay earth

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>>110874776
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmC0ygr08tE

Jesus, fucking read a book nigger.

>>110848894
Book #1:
The Republic by Plato.

>>110866938

The Socratic Dialogues includes The Apology. Jesus.

>>110848894
Good thread

>>110866311

So you don't believe that certain kinds of books, when tackled with the right mindset, can provide the "sink or swim" experience needed to enhance your own thinking abilities? You contradicted yourself there.

This isn't about book fetishism. In fact, there's millions of combinations of books that can probably get the task done. It should go without saying that if you're an unmotivated brainlet, no book can help you.

>>110865770

Any particular grievances that you have against that pre-calculus textbook? I chose it for its cheapness (open-source), breadth of topics (extensive practice in trigonometry and vectors), and depth (acceptable difficulty, certainly harder than my high school textbook). Precalculus in a Nutshell also seems good, but I feel that it's not comprehensive enough.

>>110848894
>>110849042
The books that gave me the best insights were actually science fiction / fantasy.

Stop listening to /lit/.
Stop listening to pseudointellectuals.

You don't need to read neitzche or whatever the fuck. You need books that show you the reality of life, the mistakes of the past, and the possibilities of the future.

People lie, that people in power lie, that good people don't always win and in fact bad people have the advantage, and a million other little things like this you'll slowly glean from "junk food" literature precisely because that literature isn't policed for thought crime, with even the author barely cognizant of any life advice that might come out of it.

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>>110871563

How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler talks exactly about what you're saying. I return to difficult books that challenge me in this way, and I try my best to extract more value and nuance whenever I can. Some books will bear more fruit. And one can always make personal exercises in improving quality of interpretation and thought. Why is it so hard for you to accept that some books are better references for this kind of undertaking?

>>110878452

Nobody said you had to read Nietzsche. Reread the OP. It's about finding a variety of stimulating books that do the job stated effectively. If Beyond Good and Evil is helpful for thinking rigorously outside the box, then great! If there's 1000 other books that can do the job just as well, then that's cool too! But different books force you to think in different ways in order to reach the truth.

>>110849042
I was actually going to suggest a Feynman book. Glad to see he's on your list.

You should also read "Life at the bottom" by theodore dalrymple.

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>>110848894
Eric P Dollard dot com

There is only one dimension, space, after you've got that you can try to wrap your head around counter-space

also get some early thinkers like stienmetz and plank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwUk2A6-DNw

>>110878672
>I return to difficult books that challenge me in this way
>Why is it so hard for you to accept that some books are better references for this kind of undertaking?
Okay, but no book is actually going to listen to your arguments and ask you to clarify your meaning, point out your fallacies, provide counter-arguments or ask you further questions and see where your logic leads. It's like trying to learn to play chess by reading chess books and playing against yourself.

>>110880700
>nobody's been to the inside of the sun so I'm going to throw away your best guess and say it's interdimensional magic

K have fun

>>110851739
I've read about halfway through it. Was thinking of picking it up again from the start.

Is it me, or are the flowery, flattering descriptions of the characters more or less the opposite of their actual traits? It seems like whenever the narrator describes somebody, it's off. But whenever it describes them from Myshkin's eyes, it's dead on.

Like, there was a part dedicated to describing how socially conscientious, mindful, and tactful the general is. Then two pages later he outs the whole Fillipnova affair in a rant; right in front of Myshkin, who is a total stranger to the family at this point.

WHOLE THREAD IN PNG http://imgur.com/a/HNhGQ

>>110877509
>So you don't believe that certain kinds of books, when tackled with the right mindset, can provide the "sink or swim" experience needed to enhance your own thinking abilities?

I think that the only thing that enhances your thinking abilities is the action of thinking itself, and while books can provide you with things to think about, they will not force you to think, especially not when it's emotionally easier to dismiss something than to give it serious consideration.

>>110881126
I pretty much agree. I just can't enjoy reading on a topic more then a Wikipedia level page - anything more then that and its just a pure one-sided conversation that can poorly influence the reader because they don't have to exercise, refute, etc etc whatever they are formulating.

>>110882847
Or alternatively, when it's easier to accept something at face value because it resonates with you on an intuitive level than to be skeptical about it.