# Profession by Isaac Asimov

17 Hacker News commenters recommended Profession by Isaac Asimov and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Praised for its take on regimented societies, education and knowledge, and Asimov's writing. Critics find its sexism and racism hard to ignore.

## Why people recommend it

- Asimov is a wonderful writer (3 comments): "Absolutely love that book and have even mentioned it on here before too lol." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46351999)) "Brilliant. Asimov was a wonderful writer." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46667403)) "one of my favorite's of his" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46997906))
- Ideas on education and downloaded knowledge (3 comments): "Worth reading for the argument about downloaded knowledge being unable to generate new knowledge." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49671660)) "A very nice story, and an interesting reflection on the education system." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46668946)) "a metaphor that continues to find relevance in my day to day existence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46665221))
- Regimented societies depend on outsiders (2 comments): "I really, really love the trope that a regimented society depends on outcasts and outsiders for any sort of innovation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46200119)) "mine too, because one of my favourite sff tropes is that the more you regiment society" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46666449))

## What people warn about

- Dated sexism and racism (2 comments): "The sexism and racism are hard to ignore." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46668447)) "their social norms are broadly those of 1960s America, conspicuously minus the racism" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46672325))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Profession+by+Isaac+Asimov&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Profession by Isaac Asimov", https://hackerapproved.com/p/profession/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).