4 ms·

Even worse- it won't work if you don't believe it won't. It's a clear placebo effect type of situation. I'm one of those weird people that thinks medications-

by araneae 16y ago

Even worse- it won't work if you don't believe it won't. It's a clear placebo effect type of situation. I'm one of those weird people that thinks medications- even ones given to me by a doctor- won't work. As a consequence, even biologically active drugs often fail to do anything for me. It's called the nocebo effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocebo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocebo Anyway, for me, I'm so skeptical about things that self-help books are as helpful to me as being hit on the head with a frying pan. I actually did get the 4-hour work week out of the library but my eyes spent so much time rolling out of my head they started to hurt, so I threw it across the room.

rapind 16y ago
You should totally download my eBook which covers all of the intricacies of properly selecting self-help reading material. Free for an unlimited time: http://rapin.com/self-help.html http://rapin.com/self-help.html
- eru 16y ago
  More subtlety would have helped.
araneae 16y ago
Wow, apparently Hacker News is filled with people who believe in stupid shit created by Indian mystics! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra If you believe this, perhaps you'll also believe I have psychic link with my cat... I swear, I know what she's thinking. It involves mice, so I know it's true.
- alexophile 16y ago
  The practice of Mantra recitation is only one application of a trait of the human brain and how it functions. Namely, that reciting something aloud speeds up the process of internalization. Have you ever had a music instructor that made you sing your part instead of playing it? Same concept. If you associate certain ideas with each other over and over again by force, your brain will start to perceive the association as correct. "Mantra" has sort of become a linguistic shortcut for referring to this effect and its application.

by araneae 16y ago

rapind 16y ago

You should totally download my eBook which covers all of the intricacies of properly selecting self-help reading material. Free for an unlimited time: http://rapin.com/self-help.html http://rapin.com/self-help.html

eru 16y ago
More subtlety would have helped.

araneae 16y ago

Wow, apparently Hacker News is filled with people who believe in stupid shit created by Indian mystics! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra If you believe this, perhaps you'll also believe I have psychic link with my cat... I swear, I know what she's thinking. It involves mice, so I know it's true.

alexophile 16y ago
The practice of Mantra recitation is only one application of a trait of the human brain and how it functions. Namely, that reciting something aloud speeds up the process of internalization. Have you ever had a music instructor that made you sing your part instead of playing it? Same concept. If you associate certain ideas with each other over and over again by force, your brain will start to perceive the association as correct. "Mantra" has sort of become a linguistic shortcut for referring to this effect and its application.