Book Recommendations

I get the impression that most of us are readers. I’ll get us started with a book I’m enjoying now:
Guitar Zero
A cognitive psychologist starts playing guitar at 40, which leads him to delve into the neuroscience of learning a musical instrument as an adult. Sound familiar?
I bought a used copy for $5.

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Does he have a chapter on MBD? (Or MGD in his case I guess.)

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I haven’t touched a book since my College days! Lol
They cured me of the desire to read with all that crap they required me to read!

Everything I read now is technical guides at work and I would not call that fun.

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This reminds me of a book by a neuroscientist which started from Mozart’s feat of decoding and recalling from a single listening a particularly complex piece of music(Allegro’s Miserere). Let me see if I can find out the title…

Here we go:

The book is “le cerveau de Mozart”, even if I read it many years ago in Italian translation.

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A few years ago I got through some math to Integrated Information Theory theory of Consciousness. … One of the core points about this theory is that consciousness isn’t an outcome of complex computation… It’s quite counterintuitive, so even extraordinary people like Roger Penrose cannot really get their heads around that core point. …Nonetheless, the father of the theory, with all the math and philosophy in your regular research papers ( Giulio Tononi on Consciousness - YouTube ), Giulio Tononi has written really good, much easier digestible “story” explanation of the IIT theory of consciousness. Which could be maybe interesting for someone.

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I’m part way through this classic.

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:joy::joy::joy:

On the other side of the spectrum, I’m pretty sure that if I don’t get an Amazon delivery for a couple of days, Jeff Bezos will call personally to check up on me. Last check, I’m just under 3K.

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We’re that way with iHerb. (which is not what it sounds like :slight_smile: )

For me, I am reading more now that at any other point in my life, yet I don’t remember the last book I read.

It was probably “Hydrogen Sonata” but it may have been “The Prefect” (now called Aurora Rising).

Books are like movies for me now, sadly. Completely replaced by other media.

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I used to read a lot and i was particularly interested in the likes of the Viking sagas , biography’s etc.
However, since my “accident “ I have lost the ability to concentrate enough to absorb storyline’s and the daily headaches contribute to my loss in interest.

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I am too and do enjoy it when I take the time and can focus on a book…and don’t fall asleep in the first 5 minutes (books have a way). Working my way through all the Sam Harris books. He’s wordy but damn interesting.

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Sorry to hear @Mac. Wishing you a full recovery!

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Thank you @RuknRole

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That sucks.
Does bass playing break through that for you?

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A little @John_E but i have to limit my screen time and I do struggle with some stuff particularly memorising chord progressions etc.
Same goes for trying to learn to read music.
BUT I’m still alive and it could have been a lot worse .
I do, however, feel so bad for those around me as I have very little empathy and very changeable moods. Playing music however badly it might be really does improve my state of mind

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They are both great, but also quite different… :wink: However, Sonata is hands down the better book. I so miss Iain Banks and more Culture novels…

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I miss Banks so much. Especially as you could tell he was reaching new heights just before the end - Surface Detail might be his best work. Tragic loss.

I like Reynolds a lot too, but as you note, for different reasons. The British New Wave of SF was really astoundingly good overall.

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It’s brilliant! It took me a while to read it a second time… those virtual hells really had me freaked - like stepping into a Hieronymus Bosch painting :joy:
And so cool with that little nod to another book/part of his universe at the very end (something he otherwise never did).

Yeah, but I have to admit I went cold in the middle of the second Inspector Dreyfus… will probably pick it up again at some point, but somehow never really got into it when I read it a while back.

Are you familiar with more “off the wall” authors like exurb1a and qntm?

Almost fan service, but very very well done fan service :slight_smile:
Especially as Use of Weapons is one of my favorite books of all time.

There were actually other references in there too, to Look to Windward and (I think) Consider Phlebas as well.

No! Will need to check them out.

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Ha, will need to pay close attention on my next read :grin:

Probably refering to a ship/mind, I am guessing!?

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