Reading

The Discourse (1637) is the exposition of the famous 'Method' by which he attempted to apply mathematical methods to--and thus to find mathematical certainties in--all fields of human inquiry.

I still haven't finished reading this yet, but it seems to be one of those books where you read a few pages and then spend a week pondering what you've read. I guess I'll finish it eventually then probably end up reading the whole thing again.

Many thanks to Subway for recommending I read Descartes.

Human beings, graded from intellectuals to manual workers, hatched from incubators and brought up in communal nurseries, learn by conditioning to accept their social destiny. The story develops around an unorthodox AlphaPlus, who visits a New Mexican Reservation and brings a savage back to London.

Still reading this one but so far (about half way through) it seems to reveal a number of prophetic themes (quite impressive considering the date this work was created). A must read in these times of genetic engineering and experimentation, psycho active crowd control drugs and widespread antidepressant usage.

A Critique of authoritarian, herd-mentality religion, acknowledging the existence of God but encouraging people to discover the divine within themselves and the world around them.

This book presents Thomas Paine's response to unfolding events in which he was a key player and witness - the American Declaration of Independence and the French Revolution. Paine brings together savage attacks on hereditary systems of government, an insider's account of the American Constitution and practical proposals for an English "welfare state".

I guess many people nowadays think big brother is just some TV show, but for those who don't know, the show has its origins in this book.

Despite being nearly half a century old, this book is still a powerful and relevant work (perhaps even more relevant in these days of widespread CCTV, camera equipped policemen and helicopters, echelon computerised data spy systems, consumer profiling databases and radar capable mobile telephone masts, not to mention the popularity of the big brother TV show itself).

This Book was George Orwells warning to us all, about the dangers of a totalitarian state's complete control over history, information and the minds of its subjects.

The lasting and disturbing feeling you're left with after reading this book is that it may prophesise the path down which society could possibly be being led.

This is my second reading. Highly recommended.

This work is an investigation of the state of mind called 'sanity' and its social and intellectual consequences.

Questioning the notion of sanity, this book explores the ways that the 'sane' personality attempts to avert its attention from questioning its existence and the true nature of reality, the reasons behind this aversion and the resultant (often negative) consequences of such behaviour.

I've read this through once already and although there were a few things that I found myself questioning that the book didn't answer, and a good deal I had already considered, there were still a lot of interesting ideas to be found here. I'm going to read this again as soon as I have time.

Many thanks to Rob at digitalburn and his friend for recommending this text.