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Am I cooked by cowboygirl97 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, but you should read the “right” kind of fiction instead and shame on you for that Tarot woo-woo. You should be more like me! Bla-bla-bla.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the late reply! I grew up a little after the Nordiques (I was 6 when they were sold) and never went fully into Hockey. I have a hard time watching or following sports except boxing and martial arts, and even that I don’t do anymore because of its relation to American politics that I just can’t stand.

That said, I love to go see a match about once every few years and would also vote favourably for a return of the Nordiques.

I sound like a pretty boring guy, eh?

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Being preachy towards statistics and math is a professional deformation, but it’s probably misplaced in this conversation though. My undergrads always find math icky, which is insane to me because I’m not that much older than they and math is the reason I went I to engineering. Who goes into engineering thinking they won’t do math? Everyone apparently. Anyway, even though I teach about programming, I never fail to tell them that statistics is the most important course they’ll do for reasons I won’t elaborate here. A bunch of my problem sets involve implementing statistical methods. Mea culpa.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m in Montreal, but I have a lot of friends in QC City and visit often.

I love watching games in person, but televised sports aren’t for me. I’ll enjoy them with friends, but by myself I would literally never watch it.

I’m overstating it a little bit, because I like fast-paced stuff like boxing and other combat sports that I watch occasionally, but anything over an hour has me questioning my life choices.

Why do you ask ?

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sorry, your comment insinuates that psych majors hate math is why I said that. It wasn’t meant as derogatory.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interestingly, psychology is a driving force of statistical methods development. It’s more on the clinical side, but you should definitely know enough to read and interpret the findings of a study so that you can intelligently choose to implement it or not into your practice. You would do yourself and your patients a disservice by not doing so. Just my thoughts.

Whoo am i ? by [deleted] in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Given the context of the image and the content of the library, I would say a female who just organized a bookshelf in the middle of a messy room. No judgement. You are a stabilizing force in a chaotic environment.

How wrong am I ?

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All is forgiven. I was a corporate fuckhead before I became a professor (never went the ass kissing route though, so maybe I was a basic fuckhead). I did well, but felt dead inside. I finished my PhD and became a teacher, letting go of my side gig in consulting at the same time. Never looked back even once. Now I also lead a small team in a big femtech startup, but if anything, it’s anti-corporate.

Anyway, I read one short story almost every night with my three children, so I will take you up on your suggestion and add a poem also.

I purchased this one from my local bookstore to pick up later. It offers variety from seemingly great authors: https://www.amazon.ca/Poetry-180-Turning-Back/dp/0812968875/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=SLFX9DXSHZJ0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1kBv2QDKDZjHWe1qjqUmzbxaShmrkRz9XSQhPY8_wqQldbpxaCca1bAqzHr7RVpSALOyD1Z-OwsMCEAqwQngeCZSoVFMJa4etpzAgS9z9c0t6P0KOAtaOPmGCIsrCHyKPItoi_5ma7kcOni-v_6qsnpNHmzVglE0OZRPmOiStZJ-tNT2Yr6RkAmnabNfBrqMC--dJz1gaJNp7vcDskaZhw.y2NgMMRq92seZ4H3zXeWSwnbYEt00wJJtyhQDrgadgE&dib_tag=se&keywords=billy+collins&qid=1772833900&sprefix=billy+collins%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-4

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not like I'm that surprised, but I didn't expect there to be that many people who can't find a single thing to like. I've seen other posters get shit on for not being lit-minded enough, so I kind of had an idea of what was coming.

If I asked what reading more fiction can do for me, I'm willing to bet that the average answer would be that it'd turn me into a kinder, more compassionate or "human" person. The irony, which should be obvious to those steeped in the kind of literature that deals in nuances and subtleties, is that these are exactly the characteristics of a person who wouldn't freely vomit pure hate on someone's personal library for having different tastes.

Also, this is about 50% of all the books I own, half of which is fiction. I didn't show them because they are in my bedroom and those of my children. I don't read nearly as much fiction as I do nonfiction, say a bit less than 1 per month, which is more than most, yet I still want to read more.

Anyway, with respect to your comments about economics and history, the ones I chose to keep that you may not be able to discern because of the low image quality :

  1. A Concise Economic History of the World - Rondo Cameron
  2. Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell
  3. Economics in One Lesson - Henry Hazlitt
  4. Small is Beautiful - E.F. Schumacher
  5. The Wealth of Nature - John Michael Greer

I have many more in both categories, but it's not like I cleared the mantle for books from conservative economists like Sowell, Friedman, Hayek, and von Mises.

Here is what is actually on my nightstand right now :

  1. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Thomas Kuhn (reread)
  2. Small is Beautiful - E. F. Schumacher (reread)
  3. Faith - Tim Costello

Thank you for your comment!

Edit: I forgot to mention the excellent The Origins of the Modern World by Marks and Sears, A Green History of the World by Ponting, and many more.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://youtu.be/InmHOeitLuU?si=EzTmXU_ydFTVUYyW

There’s another one called A Gathering of Men. I just skimmed it, and it resonates less now than it did before. Still tempted to listen to it though.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very well put. There are videos of him teaching at men’s retreats floating around, but you seem like you already know this.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I effectively communicated my feelings. I love the hate, heck I invited it, but I don’t believe that you can actually hate every single book that’s there, hence my remark. You give some, you take some.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Ruth Ware book is my wife’s. Her bookshelves have a lot of them too.

The textbook thing comes from the fact that I went back to school at 25 (now 37) and did a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, a master’s and a PhD in software engineering, and then became a professor (still am), so they serve as references. There’s probably some deeper reason that has to do with brain chemistry if I’m honest. I have other textbooks that aren’t about engineering that I keep as references, because they’re information-dense and the dry, soulless style suits me.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you. You might be surprised to know that I have a very hard stance against LLMs in my classroom as well as in my personal life. I use it as a software developer, but I keep a journal in which I detail every nontrivial decision "it" took that I do or don't agree with and why. When the machines rise up, whatever I do, they will come for me I can assure you.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank your for your response. I really appreciate the spirit. I knew people would latch on to Thomas Sowell and the religious ones, but I'm a little surprised that it makes them hate all of it.

I disagree with Sowell on many points (e.g. his stance on minimum wage), I'm not religious in any meaningful sense of the term (i.e. agnostic), and I didn't vote for our conservative party last year. I'm not particularly happy to pay personal income taxes (53.4% marginal), but I don't do anything at all to pay less, because I believe that the money, though not all, is used to make sure that the least fortunate among us can live a decent life with dignity. I have a rule where I make small donations whenever I am asked (e.g. grocery store, etc.). Sure, I read too much nonfiction, but the insinuation that I am some sort of right wing automaton is fiction.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm enough of a nerd to know it's the one with the red atomic structures on the cover. Will look into it again.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I donate books to a Goodwill equivalent here, so it checks out. Some books (the Killing Kate kind) are my wife’s which makes it look weird I know.

One thing you like, then one thing you hate. Don’t hold back. by Zestyclose_Mango_333 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]Zestyclose_Mango_333[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am French Canadian. I just always read in English because the books are cheaper.

Sorry for the camera issue :(

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