# Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology by Valentino Braitenberg

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology by Valentino Braitenberg and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A short, classic book showing how simple wiring of sensors and motors can produce complex-seeming behavior, recommended by readers as a favorite.

## Why people recommend it

- Recommended as a favorite book (2 comments): "One of my favorite books is Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49701956)) "It's one of my favourite books ever." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50316613))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-escher-bach.md): 47 recommend
- [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-fast-and-slow.md): 17 recommend
- [Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-in-systems.md): 17 recommend
- [The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfish-gene.md): 14 recommend
- [Cosmos by Carl Sagan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmos.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262022087?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780262022088) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology by Valentino Braitenberg", https://hackerapproved.com/p/vehicles-experiments-in-synthetic-psychology/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).