"Lies My Teacher Told Me" - James Lowen
"Demon Haunted World" - Carl Sagan
"The Selfish Gene" - Richard Dawkins
"On Civil Disobedience" - Henry David Thoreau
"On the Road" - Jack Kerouac

If you ask this same question tomorrow a couple may change.

I also think that poignant fiction would be even more useful. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a good example; as is "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

Cosmos - 12 Years a Slave - The Story of My Life - Helen Keller - Silent Spring - In Cold Blood

I demand Six.

Because - Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee

And I will not cut another of those

A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russel, The Believing Brain by MIchael Shermer, Sapiens by Yuval Harari, Waking Up and The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris.

Richard Carrier: Sense and Goodness without God
Gene Wilder: Kiss me like a Stranger a memoir (He did the Audio book, so that's even Better)

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens

Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher by Richard Feynman

I have too many books to list only 5 that have helped to shape me into what I hope is "well rounded" and "enlightened" so I'll just mention the latest book in my collection, just came out within the last month. (I now listen to books rather than read them for several reasons.)

I'm currently listening to the audio version of "Enlightenment Now" by Steven Pinker. It's nearly 20 hours long, but what I've listened to so far is very interesting and enlightening of course, uplifting and hopeful for some of us who are worried about the state of our current social values. Available on Amazon and Audible.

I heard about it from the latest FFRF podcast, which featured Steven Pinker's talk at the FFRF convention, which I didn't attend. (Freedom From Religion Foundation)

Aristotole's ethics and politics.
The Mahatbaratha, rather than the Bible.
Herodotius's Historys
Confucius's Analycts
Lau Tsu's I Ching
Sun Tsu's, The Art of War
Machievelli's, The Prince
De Touqueville's Democracy in America

Write your own five books...that would be my suggestion.

Bertrand Russell, "A History of Western Philosophy"
Richard Dawkins, "The Blind Watchmaker"
Bill Bryson, "A Short History of Nearly Everything"
Jared Diamond, "Guns, Germs and Steel"
Doris Kearns Goodwin, "The Bully Pulpit"

I love social economics, things like Freakonomics and More Sex is Safer Sex. Really anthing by Steve Landsburg. Also Shermer and almost anything by Dawkins or Sagan.

One in particular comes to mind - I read it myself last year and it's made me look at things quite a bit differently when I interact with people now.

Alan Alda wrote a book titled: "If I understood you, would I have this look on my face?" that's mostly about his experiences in attempting to help scientists and engineers relate to and communicate with non-scientists who lack their technical backgrounds. It's a good cover of how training in some of the methods and techniques used in acting/improv can help people (in general) communicate better.

There is no single set of 5 that I can recommend. What I can recommend is that each person read as much as they can in the areas of science, cognitive psychology, social psychology, history, analytical thinking, organizational excellence, anthropology. The more well grounded thought that we read and internalize, the wiser and more ethical we are.

Good post! Thank you for all the suggestions!

War is a Racket, Rights of Man, Descent into Chaos, Cosmos, and Switch.

Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan
Faith Healer - James Randi
Sense and Goodness without God - Richard Carrier
Walden - Henry David Thoreau
End of Faith - Sam Harris

I need about 20 more slots

Well rounded - aware of the social, economic, political forces - and can draw numerical conclusions
enlightened - able to view history from both the viewpoint of the past - and the morality of today

books --
"1491" and " 1493" both by Mann -- how we got up to our necks in slavery
"the Killer Angels" - sharra(sp) -- the evolution of warfare as demonstrated at Gettysburg (kinda fakey - but historically correct, but the conversations are "estimated" )
"Guns, Germs and Steel" -- forgot whom -- how the Europeans came to rule the world
"the 9 nations of North America" - garreau -- yep, how we are (circa 1980 - but still holds true today. 9 separate nations that don't really understand each other. brilliant work.

f

Flim Flam! by James Randi, Resentment Against Achievement by Robert Sheaffer, The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan, Christianity Before Christ by John Jackson, The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstyn

The Female Eunoch Germaine Greer
Das Kapital- Karl Marx
Silent Spring Rachel Carson
The Iliad- Homer
Life - Keith Richard

'The History of White People' by Painter, 'The Politics of Reality' by Frye, 'A People's History of the United States' by Zinn, 'Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences' by Gardner, 'Pumping Iron' by Butler and Gaines, anything by James Baldwin or Audre Lorde.

After reading all of these awesome suggestions, I realized that I recommended what shaped me. That may betrue of many of the other lists here. I agree, let's all meet somewhere in the middle of the country and discuss this subject in more detail. And thanks, gentlemen, for reminding me of Bill Bryson. I have read all of his books."A Walk in the Woods" still makes tears of mirth well up in my eyes. In honor of Bill's book, here I am three steps on the Appalachian Trail at Mount Greylock in MA. That's New York in the background, by the way.

Book of five rings, how to win friends and influence people, maverick - Ricardo Semler and The Boy who was raised as a dog ... - Dr Bruce Perry
I owe you one