Welcome to Hubski! Reads like you've got quite a life going for you that could bring an interesting synthesis of ideas to discussion. Look forward to seeing you around! Looks like Ben got you covered with the religion part as well. Tags/threads with relation to books and games and such aren't far from reach here either. I can relate here on multiple levels. This will sound like an odd plug/spin, but with regard to bouncing around with reading books (WORKING ON IT MYSELF!) I found graphic novels very easy to digest starting out. Oddly enough, it started with anime and ventured into manga. While I'm at it, did you know that the manga/anime series Ghost in the Shell was an influence on the creation of the Matrix? Guess my point being that manga/anime has some phenomenal explorations of 'big ideas' so to speak. May as well throw in a plug for the anime series Psycho-Pass as well. Great Sci-fi content and food for thought. Back on track, though, thank you for taking the time to share and welcome! :)I was actually tested for ADHD earlier this year, but don't meet the diagnostic criteria. I still have a lot of the relevant symptoms, though, particularly needing a lot of stimulation, bored easily, and difficulties with forming a self image (which is distinct from having poor self-esteem). I crave input (hence the name).
Psycho-Pass was really good. I like animes that make me think and question stuff. This one made me question the ideal world I thought about. While it did not involve centralized government (or in this case, Sybil system), I found their solution of a gathered consciousness of outcasts pretty interesting... Give me MOAR of this :D
Glad you enjoyed it! I don't really have a big a repertoire as I would like in that area. Good ones off the top of my head that are "intellectual" per se or at least make you think more than your average ones are already pretty popular for what they are. My list would be mainly sci-fi and a bit deviant from Psycho-Pass's theme. Also, I've yet to catch up on it, but season 2 of Psycho-Pass is out. I really loved their solution as well, and there aren't many that I know of yet that stood out as much, but I'll do what I can! - Ghost in the Shell, the original movie, oh baby. Closest thing to Psycho-Pass I could think of. It's a keeper. Explores the thoughts of what is considered a life-form once we can put human conscious being into cyborgs and once algorithms become self-aware. - Full-Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, You can hear about this anywhere. After finishing FMA, I'd opt to see this if you haven't already. Delves into subplots the worth of a human soul. Very action and plot oriented. - Darker Than Black One of the first anime's I ever watched. I can't really remember the plot so much but remember it was very good. - Gantz (the manga), An all time favorite for me. Delves into the thoughts of life-after death, terrestrials, cloning ethics, so many things. It's very long and can get graphic. Roughly 360 chapters with a fulfilling plot. - Spice and Wolf, dialogue heavy, slim to no action but interesting in terms of mercantilism and trade. Follows a merchant in medieval times and his companion, cute story with interesting comments on merchants and economy. - Eden of the East, The whole series is a sequence of movies. I can't say it was amazing, but a good watch. Kept the interest, but nothing to head-y per se - Mushi-shi, the last in a line of progressively deviating interesting animes (save Gantz). This is another traveling main character like spice and wolf, but with a vastly different plot focused on fictional animals. No REAL plot to drive it but a good one with interesting stories and beautiful art. Hope this keeps you satiated. :D Down the list it becomes interesting in a different light, not quite so much for questioning big ideas. None-the-less, pick and choose as you wish. Of course, enjoy!
Thanks! I have a harder time getting into graphic novels, only because I don't like having to keep up with issue after issue. So it's more a logistical thing than anything. That said I have found a couple that I quite enjoyed, namely The Preacher (will be interesting to see how the TV adaptation turns out) and Saga. I enjoyed GiTS, although the Stand-Alone Complex seemed a little too watered down for me. I like mostly the classics (e.g. Akira, and I read the manga too), but here too it's hard to keep up with new stuff. Oh, and I love One Punch Man.
Ah-ha! You and I both, for that very reason I limit myself and searches for complete novels or anime. Akira is on my list as well as quite a few more (as if the list seems to end, ha!). OPM is one of the few I would put on the list of worth keeping current. Agreed! Since I can gush a bit seeing as you're already into the genre, an epic - in the classical sense, not alluding to works like Naruto, Fairy Tail, etc. - that I cannot promote enough is Gantz the manga. It's about 384 chapters, very action packed, seinen for spotty romance, but an ABSOLUTELY amazing exhibition and plot progression of the Hero's Journey with an underlying stream of Sci-Fi engendered philosophy.I have a harder time getting into graphic novels, only because I don't like having to keep up with issue after issue. So it's more a logistical thing than anything.
Ah yes, I'm familiar with that one, but haven't gotten to it yet....