Chen Qiufan, also known as Stanley Chan, is an award-winning Chinese speculative fiction author. He is also a translator, creative producer, curator and the founder of Thema Mundi Studio. Qiufan is the honorary president of the Chinese Science Fiction Writers Association, and has a seat on the Xprize Foundation Science Fiction Advisory Council. His works include the novel Waste Tide and, co-authored with Kai-Fu Lee, the book AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future.
Which three books would you recommend?
Tao Te Jing Lao Zi
For those who feel trapped in the fixed mindset of dualism and Mechanistic Materialism, reading Tao Te Jing is the best way to detoxify. For Laozi's wisdom goes beyond all the binaries and straight forward to the symptoms of our civilisation: how human beings have been so arrogant that they ruined the world of coexistence. It's classic and timely.
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I quit my day job and became a full-time writer because of reading this book. I think it's a trigger and push for those who have been struggling for years between what they should do (on meeting the expectation externally) and who they are supposed to be (on finding the motivation internally). You will find hedging strategy is so important even when choosing your career paths.
Foundation seriesIsaac Asimov
I have read it since I was a teenager. It was so fascinating to me to imagine people can predict a thousand years ahead in the far future with the knowledge from the past and psychological study of individual and collective minds. I still highly doubt that. I'm also happy to see it was made into a TV series now. Everyone can enjoy the story in a different medium.