April 15, 2020

Books I’ve Loved | Matt Mullenweg on the Tim Ferriss Show

Check out The Tim Ferriss Show Episode Page & Show Notes

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Key Takeaways

• https://bookshop.org/a/3029/9781481424363 Matt’s two favorite authors are:
  • Yuval Noah Harari 
    • Best known for Sapiens
  • Nassim Nicholas Taleb 
    • Best known for The Black Swan
• Fiction books:
  • The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
  • Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
  • Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• Books about life:
  • Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett
  • On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss  by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
  • When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
  • Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright
• Books for success:
  • Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
  • Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B. Rosenberg 
  • Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson 
  • On Writing Well by William Zinsser
  • Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff
  • The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts by Shane Parrish
• Books that expand your mind:
  • The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness by Joachim-Ernst Berendt
  • Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris

Intro

• Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt), founder of Automattic
• Host: Tim Ferriss (@tferriss) 

Fiction Books

• The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
  • “It’s just a huge variety of stories that really make your mind think differently” – Matt Mullenweg
• Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
  • “Each one of these stories is only two to three pages long and it starts off at the point of an afterlife beginning” – Matt Mullenweg
    • Matt loves to read one of these stories before he goes to bed because it resets his brain and sometimes gives him really cool dreams
• Foundation by Isaac Asimov
  • Matt has found that several CEOs of billion-dollar companies have been strongly influenced by this book 
  • He adds that the book is a great gift for kids

Books About Life

• Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett
  • Matt says that if you read only one book in this section, it should be this one
• On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss  by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
  • The author of this book created the 5 stages of grief model
  • Matt says this book helped him deal with his father’s passing
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
  • The book is a memoir about a neurosurgeon who’s diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and how he spends the last days of his life
    • “Beautifully, beautifully, beautifully written. Very, very special book” – Matt Mullenweg
• Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright
  • The book shows how the latest scientific findings prove certain ancient teaches, and how you can apply Buddhist lessons to improve your life

Books For Success

• Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
  • In the book, billionaire investor Ray Dalio spells out several important life lessons he’s learned
    • “It can be provocative and challenge you to think in different ways” – Matt Mullenweg
• Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B. Rosenberg 
  • This book helped Matt improve his communication with both romantic and business relationships
• Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson 
  • “This is probably the best guide available right now to working remotely” – Matt Mullenweg
• On Writing Well by William Zinsser
  • After reading dozens of books on writing, Matt says this is the best one he’s found
    • The book helped Matt become a better writer and thinker
• Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff
  • The book talks about the meaning behind everyday metaphors 
• The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts by Shane Parrish
  • Matt says that if you can learn from this book and build mental models, you’ll be able to approach all different kinds of situations more effectively

Books That Expand The Mind

• The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness by Joachim-Ernst Berendt
  • This book will open your mind to a lot of things that you haven’t thought about before
• Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris
  • The book attempts to solve the question, what is consciousness
  • It’s a short book that you can read in a couple of hours

Favorite Authors (Matt reads all of their work)

• Yuval Noah Harari 
  • He’s best known for writing Sapiens
  • Yuval skilfully synthesizes history, both ancient and modern, and presents it in a new way
• Nassim Nicholas Taleb 
  • Matt became a fan of his work after reading The Black Swan
  • Matt enjoys Nassim’s writing style and says this book will sharpen your mind