NationStates Jolt Archive

This thread resulted from discussion in THIS (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=423017&page=1&pp=20) thread

Basically, we're going to do the exact same thing that the website being discussed in that thread did.

Create a 15 member panel, and make our own top ten lists of most "Harmful" books of the last two centuries. Then, average out the lists in the exact same manner to find an average for a final "Harmful" list.

We're still in need of 12 volunteers, although if we get a lot of people interested, we might expand our panel total.

This is where we can discuss things like "Should fiction be included?" and "Should we go back further than two centuries?" etc.

I think ficition should be included. Just consider Die Leiden des jungen Werther by J.W. Goethe, a book of fiction dating from the early 19th century, that initiated a wave of suicide among young men all over Europe...

But I don't think we should ge back more than two centuries. The number of books to be considered would be too large, and the further back in history you go the more difficult it is to determine the influence the book had, f. ex. was the bible good or bad?

Not that many volunteers so far, hm?

I'm with you on both fiction, and on not going past 1800 for the time frame.

No, it seems nobody around cares all that much...hopefully during the day, in my time zone anyways, we'll get some more volunteers.

Haemful from who's point of view?

We could start collecting titles, anyway.

I nominate "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" by Goethe for the promotion of suicide.

Haemful from who's point of view?

Harmful for society. And explain why you think it had harmful influence.

Haemful from who's point of view?

Your own, weighted along with the other panel members...

...the link in the original thread explains the process.

Each panelist nominates a number of titles and then votes on a ballot including all books nominated. A title receives a score of 10 points for being listed No. 1 by one of our panelists, 9 points for being listed No. 2, etc.

Harmful for society. And explain why you think it had harmful influence.

I think that the most harmful book ever was the copy of 'Diophantus's Arithmetica' in which Fermat stated his last theorem. It has caused more and blodier wars than the Bible and Qur'an put together.

O, i do hope you will include the Bible. It is after all the cause of the crusades, the inquisition, executions for heracy etc. The list goes on, and we arent even counting the people who were harmed defending it.

O, i do hope you will include the Bible. It is after all the cause of the crusades, the inquisition, executions for heracy etc. The list goes on, and we arent even counting the people who were harmed defending it.

Harmful book written in the last two centuries

I think that the most harmful book ever was the copy of 'Diophantus's Arithmetica' in which Fermat stated his last theorem. It has caused more and blodier wars than the Bible and Qur'an put together.

Works for me...

The Bible was succesfully published in the last two and a half centurys by the Guttenburg printers the Koran was published in the last 2 centurys

For a start, Fermat was in the 17th centuary, outside the stated timeframe. Alos I don't believe that any book by itself is bad. It can be interpreted as such, but only a fool would do exactly what any book told them to. Note that many obressive societies begin by burning book, which allow freedom in learning.

The Bible was succesfully published in the last two and a half centurys by the Guttenburg printers the Koran was published in the last 2 centurys

Written, not published. Most harmful books WRITTEN in the last two centuries.

For a start, Fermat was in the 17th centuary, outside the stated timeframe. Alos I don't believe that any book by itself is bad. It can be interpreted as such, but only a fool would do exactly what any book told them to. Note that many obressive societies begin by burning book, which allow freedom in learning.

Books aren't good or bad. But they can have harmful influence, as you yourself pointed out.
Now, we are looking for the books with the most harmful influence that were written within the last 200 years...

OK then All quiet on the western front unknown Author as Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, Islamic Nations and Scandinavia all banned it at one point or another.Leo Tolstoys, War and Peace because it makes me suicidal when i have to read it

There is no such thing as harmfull books, only stupid people. If you commit suicide because of a book, there must have been something wrong with your life before reading said book, and you probably would have ended up commiting suicide anyway. Same with blaming games for violence

Can we extend the timeline? Why 2 centuries? can't we make it ever? few books were really written before then, so it only really counts a few anyhow.

Can we extend the timeline? Why 2 centuries? can't we make it ever? few books were really written before then, so it only really counts a few anyhow.

A huge number of books was written before that...
Starting from the classical writers (and I really wouldn't want to see Cesar's De Bello Gallico on the list), through the theological books of the Middle Ages (Malleus Maleficorum had some pretty evil influence there), there's the Renaissance with Dante and Shakespeare, there's the baroque and the Enlightenment (Hobbes, Humes, Voltaire, Kant) etc...
But I think it is just to difficult to judge the exact influence of these books, as their ideas are so deeply rooted in our society by now.

OK i see your point in a way.
Allthough, there were PROBABLY more completely useless books written in the past 10 years (lets exclude anything you feel is good) than any books at all in the rest of earths history.

Actually, at the point of sounding like religious nut - maybe you should exclude the Holy Books as all they do is generate endless debate.

I'm not to worried about including religious books, since we're only going back 200 years. It's not like the Bible or the Koran were written in 1832 :p

Offhand I can't think of any books dealing with religion specifically that were written in the last two centuries, but then again, non-fiction literature is certainly not my strong point.

I'll volunteer, if there is any positions left

The complete works of Ayn Rand.

How about Proust's "Un amour the Swann" ? It has been very harmful for whole generations of 1A1 students... Or any Promi-biography.. they're extremly harmful for the brain :D

This thread resulted from discussion in THIS (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=423017&page=1&pp=20) thread

Basically, we're going to do the exact same thing that the website being discussed in that thread did.

Create a 15 member panel, and make our own top ten lists of most "Harmful" books of the last two centuries. Then, average out the lists in the exact same manner to find an average for a final "Harmful" list.

We're still in need of 12 volunteers, although if we get a lot of people interested, we might expand our panel total.

This is where we can discuss things like "Should fiction be included?" and "Should we go back further than two centuries?" etc.
I'll volunteer for this, if for no other reason than to counterbalance what I know is going to be a bit of un-saneness on the part of some. :D

We could start collecting titles, anyway.

I nominate "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" by Goethe for the promotion of suicide.

I don't believe it 'promoted' suicide at all. It was just a story about a young man who kills himself over a woman he can't have.

I nominate the "Da Vinci Code."

The amount of historical misinformation is has spread, a lot of which has been believed by a great many, is staggering and is (imo) very damaging to history in general.

It has also increased the book sales of other pseudo-historical works like "Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" and "The Templar Revelations."

If you still need someone, I will make my services available.

PM me with the information.

O, i do hope you will include the Bible. It is after all the cause of the crusades, the inquisition, executions for heracy etc. The list goes on, and we arent even counting the people who were harmed defending it.

I would say so too, but it is older than the timeframe specified.

The complete works of Ayn Rand.

I don't care much for Ayn Rand (truth be told I think she is a witch, her fiction boring, and her non-fiction disgusting). Though I fail to see how her writing has been harmful. But maybe I'm being naive.