You know how they say that education is supposed to be an ongoing thing that lasts your entire life? Well, I have come to the realization that I have entered into an educational funk. Sure I have learned a decent bit as a programmer since I started my job in early January, but I have not read a single book since then that wasn't somehow related to programming. Tonight, I ordered a few books that were listed on Roci's reading list, two of which were Dune and Dune Messiah. The first one, I have already read and the second I got halfway through but got distracted long enough that I never got into it.
Tonight, before I go to bed, I am going to start reading some of Heinlein's For Us, the Living which has sat on my shelf for too long. From there, I plan to actually read some non-political philosophy. Probably go back and read more than just the few bits of Nietzsche that struck my fancy back when I was an agnostic with atheist tendencies.
The skewer in sleep patterns my current occupation as the happy herald of consumer price inflation nullifies much of my attention capacity.
Still, I've been chipping away at "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" by Karl Popper. It's actually very approachable and fun to read. He's slowly flushing out the difference between himself and the positivist of the A.J. Ayer bent, along with Wittgenstein, his pseudeo-nemesis. So far, A.J. has yet to be refuted, IMO.
I'm also slowly prodding through "process Philosophy" by Nicolas Reisher. Since there's no way in hell I'd ever manage to get through Alfred North Whitehead's "Process and Reality", I figure the topical treatment is good enough for government work.
Of course, "Plexus" still demands being finished. Because I'm really eager to get "Colossus of Maroussi". As Henry Miller's prose became more coherent as his libido settled down and got sublimated into his writing.
For all the useless drivel and Dewey indoctrination, I do miss having the stimulation of college sump-pumped into my brain.
Actually, if you dug Nietzsche, you should really get Fear and Trembling by superstar Soren Kierkergaard. He's easily my favorite theologian and perhaps more relevant to Christianity now than he ever could have been in his own time.
I have a few good books to read, starting with some Heinlein and a book on how to do embedded systems engineering. One of my goals in all of this is to go myself to the point where I can get into a graduate program like this. My undergrad didn't focus enough on the good stuff for my tastes and I want another stab at it while I am still young and free enough to give it a good shot.
You probably are already aware of this, Mike, but remember that Heinlein's "We, the Living" was his earliest work - back in his self-admitted socialist phase.
I still find much of value in "Time Enough For Love", even though I've long since rejected the atheist and anti-Biblical marriage parts...