When comparing The Art of Computer Programming vs Rationality: From AI to Zombies, the Slant community recommends The Art of Computer Programming for most people. In the question“What are the most influential books every programmer should read?” The Art of Computer Programming is ranked 11th while Rationality: From AI to Zombies is ranked 22nd.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Essential to be able to talk to more experienced programmers
Pro Will make you smarter
Your intelligence is being used to defeat itself. Learn how to stop that.
Pro Mindblowing ideas
From (friendly) AI to (philosophical) zombies. Also Pebblesorters. And why humans are insane.
Pro Fictional interludes
These are quality science fiction short stories in their own right.
Pro Funny
Pro Engaging
Cons
Con Very dense, quite time-consuming
To actually get any benefit out of this series, you actually have to read it and work through the examples. This takes serious effort, far more than most programmers will put into a not-directly-practical book.
Con Not enough citations
Just Google it.
Con Has some highly technical references in places
Things like physics (relativity, quantum mechanics), mathematics and computer programming. Scared? Didn't think so.
Con Long
The chapters are relatively short and digestible essays and short stories. The problem: there are 333 of them. On paper, this would take volumes, but this is an ebook. You'll get a lot out of it long before you finish though.