books to read

The single most important skill you should have is  how to think and think well—how to look at an argument, evaluate it, decide on how reasonable it is, and make one of your own. Its not about being a well-informed individual. But being educated is not the same as being aware . Learning how to think is about learning to evaluate things— in short, making up your mind about what is true (or most nearly true) and what isn’t. 

All of this, though, might strike you as strange, since most of us have been brought up to be supremely tolerant of the viewpoints of others. How many times have you heard—or even said—“One person’s opinion is just as good as another’s”? Or “It’s all just a matter of opinion”? Well, the fact of the matter is that it isn’t. Some opinions are well-formed and intelligently reasoned; others are off-the-cuff and ignorant.If we look at schools we will ask the question why are most students basically idiotic in their outlook. We have to look no further than their teachers, most lessons at least in Italy are about opening a book and reading the crap inside. Most teachers are walking dead whose life has been merely that of examining facts to pass tests, most have zero intellectual value as regards real intellect. A few  are the products of considered thought and debate; others are no more than walking slogans , folks who insist on using their mouths more than their heads. Intellect doesnt  mean being willing to listen to others but  it does  mean you have to consider all arguments seriously and not have the knee jerk reaction of people weighted down with dogma or cliche . Reason means being reasonable, intellect means the ability to constantly evaluate information and the skills needed in how to think are those of looking at an argument from all its sides.If you use the mind simply as a storehouse for delivering redundant ideas or cliches then you are not thinking.You are not learning how to think.I came from a very basic background but very rich in intellectual argument . The first thing my Father said to me was "Don't buy newspapers". He was not talking about the crap ones but all of them including the high brow lefty ones like The Guardian. "The only difference between the Guardian crap and the Sun crap is the language" He said. And of course all of this was true. Today more true than ever. He told me to read books and these are the first books I read about 15 years old. Read them, change your mind.

Henry Miller Sexus

Charles Bukowski  Post Room

Hermann Hesse Steppenwolf

Nina Hamnett Naked Torso

Blaise Cendrars Lice

Charles Dickens  Hard Times