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Comment by zemvpferreira | Hacker News Reader

I grew up in a family of bibliophiles. When my grandfather died, I helped move part of his collection of thirty nine thousand books from the three apartments where he kept them. Thankfully he had files on all of them so it was not a big process to select which to keep, which to give and which to auction. One of his two deathbed regrets on was not acquiring a certain first edition when he had a chance, I believe these days.

He was, as I am and my father is, a very well-read man. It hasn't made us better people but it's sure made it easy to spot silly pseudointellectual BS.

Books are just dead trees wrapped in dead cows. I keep maybe 20 in my house. No better or worse than trying to signal with a Rolex or an instagram following. No better to learn from than YouTube or HN or any number of street corner conversations. Get your head out of your ass.

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> No better or worse than trying to signal with.....

"Signalling" ?

Part of me has just died. Have you ever thought about not giving a toss what others think and just reading?

I have little idea of what «signalling» in the original post meant and asked clarification, but

> not giving a toss ... and just

Is not that (per se, I do not understand it in the context) simply against the whole workings of communication?

A poster diminished the importance of books: I observed that they represent an effort of transmit knowledge and wisdom - which is something "high". The poster mentioned one specific social network: I observed that books represent selection in comparison (to randomness and noise). If anybody is in for the communicational game, those are the proposals. Somebody misunderstood: that happens. If one "does not give a toss", why spending the time (unless one uses the expression "spending the time" for the same that I called "yelling at [running] cars").

And that «pseudointellectual BS» would be mine? If so, is not that contradictory with your statement that being «very well-read» gave you abilities for discrimination?

(Note: if the above is correct, and they are incomplete, then it's duly to roll the sleeves again, and be back to the "discrimination builders". Like for all of us.)

I am not sure about that «trying to signal»: it seems as if you interpret that somebody uses books to "show off". That would be completely nonfactual. They are there for you, why should one use them to display - that would be strongly inconsistent with their nature.

Now the core point:

books are explicitly the concretion of an effort towards development

as such, they are symbol and object "incarnating" something very high.

I do not understand the expression «Get your head out of your ass», but I consider it a friendly encouragement, for which I am sincerely grateful. To actually meet in communication, we would probably need more exchange though - I think we have probably not understood each other.

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