| HN Mirror

The Planiverse: Computer contact with a two-dimensional world - by A.K. Dewdney

> A mind-bending, paradigm shifting visit with Yedred, a denizen of the 2 dimensional Universe. It is written so that the physics comes through very easily for those without science training. A university student discovers that this being Yendred is communicating with him through his computer. There begins a lively dialog as both the 2D Yendred and the 3D author struggle to explain and understand each others worlds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planiverse

---

The Glass Bead Game - by Hermann Hesse

> The Glass Bead Game takes place at an unspecified date centuries in the future. Hesse suggested that he imagined the book's narrator writing around the start of the 25th century.

> The setting is a fictional province of central Europe called Castalia, which was reserved by political decision for the life of the mind.. Castalia is home to an austere order of intellectuals with a twofold mission: to run boarding schools, and to cultivate and play the Glass Bead Game, whose exact nature remains elusive and whose devotees occupy a special school in Castalia known as Waldzell.

> The rules of the game are only alluded to — they are so sophisticated that they are not easy to imagine. Playing the game well requires years of hard study of music, mathematics, and cultural history. The game is essentially an abstract synthesis of all arts and sciences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Bead_Game

---

The World as Will and Representation - by Arthur Schopenhauer

> The phrase "Tat Tvam Asi" ('thou art that'), one of the Mahāvākyas of the Upanishads, displayed on an Indian temple. Schopenhauer uses this Sanskrit phrase to express a foundational tenet of his ethics: 'the will is the in-itself of every appearance, and as such is itself free from the form of appearance, and thus from all multiplicity'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_as_Will_and_Represen...

---

The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies - by Thomas McEvilley

> Spanning thirty years of intensive research, this book proves what many scholars could not explain: that today’s Western world must be considered the product of both Greek and Indian thought — Western and Eastern philosophies.

> Thomas McEvilley explores how trade, imperialism, and migration currents allowed cultural philosophies to intermingle freely throughout India, Egypt, Greece, and the ancient Near East. This groundbreaking reference will stir relentless debate among philosophers, art historians, and students.

---

Temporary Autonomous Zone - by Hakim Bey

    1. Pirate Utopias
    2. Waiting for the Revolution
    3. The Psychotopology of Everyday Life
    4. The Net and the Web
    5. Gone to Croatan
    6. Music as an Organizational Principle
    7. The Will To Power as Disappearance
    8. Ratholes in the Babylon of Information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_Autonomous_Zone

---

Nature of Code - by Daniel Shiffman

https://natureofcode.com/

> How can we capture the unpredictable evolutionary and emergent properties of nature in software? How can understanding the mathematical principles behind our physical world help us to create digital worlds?

> This book focuses on a range of programming strategies and techniques behind computer simulations of natural systems, from elementary concepts in mathematics and physics to more advanced algorithms that enable sophisticated visual results.

> Readers will progress from building a basic physics engine to creating intelligent moving objects and complex systems, setting the foundation for further experiments in generative design. Subjects covered include forces, trigonometry, fractals, cellular automata, self-organization, and genetic algorithms.