B

Bryan Johnson

Entrepreneur & longevity investor

Founder of Braintree (sold to PayPal for $800M) and OS Fund. Now runs Project Blueprint, a radical experiment in reversing biological aging. His reading focuses on science, AI alignment, and philosophy of mind.

@bryan_johnson

35

Timeless books

5,713

Avg Lindy score

142 yrs old

Oldest book

Lindy Verified· 16 books

Stood the test of time — old, widely published, and repeatedly endorsed

Frankl's insight — that we can choose our response to any circumstance — is foundational to how I approach everything.

Essential for understanding the cognitive biases that prevent us from making rational decisions.

Zero to One changed how I think about what makes a company worth building. The question — are you going from 0 to 1, or 1 to n — applies to everything.

The Lord of the Rings shaped my sense of what it means to take on a mission larger than yourself, even when the odds are overwhelming.

Hesse's Siddhartha captures the essence of the spiritual search without being prescriptive. The ending reframes everything that came before it.

Why We Sleep completely transformed my understanding of the most important daily behavior for longevity and cognitive performance. Sleep is not optional.

On the other side of our cognitive biases is elite-level success. Ray Dalio’s financial firm, Bridgewater, has methodically and systematically worked to remove their cognitive shortcomings and their performance speaks for itself. Ray open sourced Bridgewater’s methods in Principles and the results were good evidence that collectives can operate at higher levels when they are open and honest about and can see past their cognitive flaws.

The most honest book about the psychological reality of building companies. Horowitz describes what no one else is willing to say out loud.

Let’s have a great week together. Powered by a quiet mind allowing for high quality sleep. Daily before bed, read Endurance for 30 min. No screens. No ruminations. Imagine yourself a member of Shackleton’s crew. pic.twitter.com/OuLB0wRrbk

Liu Cixin's trilogy is the most ambitious scientific fiction ever written. The Dark Forest hypothesis alone is worth the entire series.

I'd love to listen in to Tolkien's mind, to observe what he thought about that didn't end up in his books

Yes, have read both [Replying to: Hope the "Deviate" by @rbeaulotto and "How to change your mind" by @michaelpollan are on your list.]

loved this book. when I want to get my mind in a forward looking state, I'll listen to one of the final chapter and then do some work.

Congratulations to @PeterAttiaMD on his new book Outlive. A great read and clearly a labor of love. pic.twitter.com/HfJatHcKSb

Also Recommends

19 books · below Lindy threshold

17

Behave

Robert M. Sapolsky

2.9k

5) The End Of Science: Facing The Limits Of Knowledge In The Twilight Of The Scientific Age 6) Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 7) But What If We’re Wrong? 8) Behave

18

A Good Man

Mark Shriver

2.8k

Book rec: A Good Man by @Mark_Shriver Helped me rebuild my parent identity and my parent-child relationships when transitioning through a divorce. A short clip on what I found useful.https://youtu.be/KlBaHlZR16Q?t=1755

19

Zero

Charles Seife

2.8k

Here's the list 0) Number: The Language of Science 1) When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought 2) Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea 3) A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age 4) Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions https://twitter.com/bryan_johnson/status/1080502548446949378

20

The Alignment Problem

Brian Christian

2.8k

I'm a third of the way through this book. It's hard to understand why we're not obsessed with alignment and on the other hand it's entirely expected we humans wouldn't be.

21

How The War Was Won

Phillips Payson O'Brien

2.8k

Really value books/people who can reframe a popular narrative into an original thesis

22

Main Street Millionaire

Codie Sanchez

2.8k

Codie congratulations on the book launch, pre-ordered

23

Long Livers

Harcouet de Longeville

2.8k

1722 book cover pic.twitter.com/1tS5yvrXna

24

Number

Tobias Dantzig

2.8k

Here's the list 0) Number: The Language of Science 1) When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought 2) Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea 3) A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age 4) Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions https://twitter.com/bryan_johnson/status/1080502548446949378

25

A Mind at Play

Jimmy Soni

2.8k

Here's the list 0) Number: The Language of Science 1) When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought 2) Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea 3) A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age 4) Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions https://twitter.com/bryan_johnson/status/1080502548446949378

26

When Einstein Walked with Gödel

Jim Holt

2.8k

Here's the list 0) Number: The Language of Science 1) When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought 2) Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea 3) A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age 4) Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions https://twitter.com/bryan_johnson/status/1080502548446949378

27

The Annotated Flatland

Ian Stewart

2.8k

Here's the list 0) Number: The Language of Science 1) When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought 2) Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea 3) A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age 4) Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions https://twitter.com/bryan_johnson/status/1080502548446949378

28

But What If We're Wrong?

Chuck Klosterman

2.8k

5) The End Of Science: Facing The Limits Of Knowledge In The Twilight Of The Scientific Age 6) Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 7) But What If We’re Wrong? 8) Behave

29

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Robert M. Pirsig

2.8k

5) The End Of Science: Facing The Limits Of Knowledge In The Twilight Of The Scientific Age 6) Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 7) But What If We’re Wrong? 8) Behave

30

The End Of Science

John Horgan

2.8k

5) The End Of Science: Facing The Limits Of Knowledge In The Twilight Of The Scientific Age 6) Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 7) But What If We’re Wrong? 8) Behave

31

Deviate

Beau Lotto

2.8k

Yes, have read both [Replying to: Hope the "Deviate" by @rbeaulotto and "How to change your mind" by @michaelpollan are on your list.]

32

Architects of Intelligence

Martin Ford

2.8k

We'd be wise to embrace #AI as a tool for self-improvement, rather than regard it as a menacing threat. I spoke about this with @MFordFuture for his new book, #ArchitectsOfIntelligence. http://book.mfordfuture.com

33

WTF?

Tim O'Reilly

2.8k

Thank you @timoreilly. Means a lot coming from you. I loved your book https://www.amazon.com/WTF-Whats-Future-Why-Its/dp/0062565710/ especially your sections on algorithms and focusing on improving human ability for the future of jobs https://twitter.com/timoreilly/status/998015212304281602

34

Bend the Curve

Andrew Razeghi

2.8k

Congrats to my friend @andrewrazeghi on his new book Bend the Curve, a great read http://www.bendthecurve.co @techstars

35

The Coddling of the American Mind

Greg Lukianoff

2.7k

Excited to read this new book by my friends @glukianoff and @JonHaidt https://www.amazon.com/Coddling-American-Mind-Intentions-Generation/dp/0735224897/