Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon

Programming, philosophy, history, internet, startups, web3 @ a16z

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10+ Book Recommendations by Chris Dixon

  • Virtual Society

    Herman Narula

    Herman @hermannarula has been obsessed with the Metaverse for the (almost) 10 years I've known him - he finally wrote it all down in his excellent new book Virtual Society https://t.co/eD4B6g11qq And here's our own @VirtualElena's take on it https://t.co/PHOSBkVdIJ

  • Syntax & Sage

    Sep Kamvar

    Syntax & Sage weaves ideas about nature, software, art, and urban design in a book that shows how software shapes the world, how the world shapes people, and how people shape software.

    His book, Syntax & Sage, is an encapsulation of the technical philosophy that underpins his approach to protocol design. https://t.co/LDfyD0s5gz

  • Features twenty-one stories from the well-known science fiction writer, including "Beyond Lies the Wub," " The Days of Perky Pat," and "The Electric Ant."

    Also recommend: Selected Stories Of Philip K. Dick https://t.co/Ow3gdK069z

  • Blade Runner 2019

    Mike Johnson

    Excellent Phillip K Dick books made into movies: Blade Runner Minority Report Total Recall Adjustment Bureau A Scanner Darkly Man In The High Castle (tv)

  • Total Recall

    Arnold Schwarzenegger

    A memoir by the bodybuilder, actor, and former governor of California traces his journey to the United States and rise from Mr. Universe champion to millionaire businessman, and discusses his political achievements and the choices he regrets.

    Excellent Phillip K Dick books made into movies: Blade Runner Minority Report Total Recall Adjustment Bureau A Scanner Darkly Man In The High Castle (tv)

  • Excellent Phillip K Dick books made into movies: Blade Runner Minority Report Total Recall Adjustment Bureau A Scanner Darkly Man In The High Castle (tv)

  • A Scanner Darkly

    Philip K. Dick

    Bob Arctor is a junkie and a drug-dealer, both using and selling the mind-altering Substance D. Fred is a law enforcement agent, tasked with bringing Bob down. It sounds like a standard case. The only problem is that Bob and Fred are the same person. In order to infiltrate the drug ring he hopes to bring down, Fred has had to use Substance D, but Substance D, or "Slow Death," causes the consciousness to split in two, creating distinct personalities that are entirely unaware of the other's existence. Now, Bob must keep from being caught by Fred, while Fred must keep his suspicious superiors at bay. In this semi-autobiographical novel, Dick looks back on his own drug abuse and his own friends who he lost to drugs. By turns thrilling, mind-bending, laught-out-loud funny, and heart-wrenchingly sad, A Scanner Darkly is an award-winning book made into a cult film and may just be Dick's best novel.

    Excellent Phillip K Dick books made into movies: Blade Runner Minority Report Total Recall Adjustment Bureau A Scanner Darkly Man In The High Castle (tv)

  • A one-of-a-kind reference to the international vocabulary of the humanities This is an encyclopedic dictionary of close to 400 important philosophical, literary, and political terms and concepts that defy easy—or any—translation from one language and culture to another. Drawn from more than a dozen languages, terms such as Dasein (German), pravda (Russian), saudade (Portuguese), and stato (Italian) are thoroughly examined in all their cross-linguistic and cross-cultural complexities. Spanning the classical, medieval, early modern, modern, and contemporary periods, these are terms that influence thinking across the humanities. The entries, written by more than 150 distinguished scholars, describe the origins and meanings of each term, the history and context of its usage, its translations into other languages, and its use in notable texts. The dictionary also includes essays on the special characteristics of particular languages—English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Originally published in French, this one-of-a-kind reference work is now available in English for the first time, with new contributions from Judith Butler, Daniel Heller-Roazen, Ben Kafka, Kevin McLaughlin, Kenneth Reinhard, Stella Sandford, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Jane Tylus, Anthony Vidler, Susan Wolfson, Robert J. C. Young, and many more.The result is an invaluable reference for students, scholars, and general readers interested in the multilingual lives of some of our most influential words and ideas. Covers close to 400 important philosophical, literary, and political terms that defy easy translation between languages and cultures Includes terms from more than a dozen languages Entries written by more than 150 distinguished thinkers Available in English for the first time, with new contributions by Judith Butler, Daniel Heller-Roazen, Ben Kafka, Kevin McLaughlin, Kenneth Reinhard, Stella Sandford, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Jane Tylus, Anthony Vidler, Susan Wolfson, Robert J. C. Young, and many more Contains extensive cross-references and bibliographies An invaluable resource for students and scholars across the humanities

    @TrustlessState Great book: Dictionary of Untranslatables: A Philosophical Lexicon https://t.co/SdlIJ3lFNh

  • The Network State

    Balaji Srinivasan

    Just pre-ordered @balajis’ book https://t.co/6IYu77CvoY

  • How We Got to Now

    Steven Johnson

    I appreciate Steven making this post available outside the paywall. I highly recommend subscribing to his Substack: https://t.co/vT66Uhl3f5 I'm also a big fan of his books :) My favorite recent one was How We Got to Now https://t.co/Bv5U0yZODN

  • The Company

    John Micklethwait

    The authors of A Future Perfect provide a close-up look at the history of the joint-stock company and examine its influence on world history, describing the institution's continually evolving forms and how it continues to shape global power. Reprint. 32,500 first printing.

    @RaymondDurk @AdamDraper @BoostVC https://t.co/B8BTJ88lds

  • Ben Horowitz, a leading venture capitalist, modern management expert, and New York Times bestselling author, combines lessons both from history and from modern organizational practice with practical and often surprising advice to help executives build cultures that can weather both good and bad times. Ben Horowitz has long been fascinated by history, and particularly by how people behave differently than you’d expect. The time and circumstances in which they were raised often shapes them—yet a few leaders have managed to shape their times. In What You Do Is Who You Are, he turns his attention to a question crucial to every organization: how do you create and sustain the culture you want? To Horowitz, culture is how a company makes decisions. It is the set of assumptions employees use to resolve everyday problems: should I stay at the Red Roof Inn, or the Four Seasons? Should we discuss the color of this product for five minutes or thirty hours? If culture is not purposeful, it will be an accident or a mistake. What You Do Is Who You Are explains how to make your culture purposeful by spotlighting four models of leadership and culture-building—the leader of the only successful slave revolt, Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture; the Samurai, who ruled Japan for seven hundred years and shaped modern Japanese culture; Genghis Khan, who built the world’s largest empire; and Shaka Senghor, an American ex-con who created the most formidable prison gang in the yard and ultimately transformed prison culture. Horowitz connects these leadership examples to modern case-studies, including how Louverture’s cultural techniques were applied (or should have been) by Reed Hastings at Netflix, Travis Kalanick at Uber, and Hillary Clinton, and how Genghis Khan’s vision of cultural inclusiveness has parallels in the work of Don Thompson, the first African-American CEO of McDonalds, and of Maggie Wilderotter, the CEO who led Frontier Communications. Horowitz then offers guidance to help any company understand its own strategy and build a successful culture. What You Do Is Who You Are is a journey through culture, from ancient to modern. Along the way, it answers a question fundamental to any organization: who are we? How do people talk about us when we’re not around? How do we treat our customers? Are we there for people in a pinch? Can we be trusted? Who you are is not the values you list on the wall. It’s not what you say in company-wide meeting. It’s not your marketing campaign. It’s not even what you believe. Who you are is what you do. This book aims to help you do the things you need to become the kind of leader you want to be—and others want to follow.

    Very excited about @bhorowitz's new book release. I liked it even more than the last one :) https://t.co/MUOWjXeZKC (proceeds are going here https://t.co/5Ph9t05qcd)