4 ms·
I would suggest not reading too much in these self-help books. NYT, WSJ etc have great "relationship" with high-end publishers who propel several poorly researc
by sytelus 7y ago
I would suggest not reading too much in these self-help books. NYT, WSJ etc have great "relationship" with high-end publishers who propel several poorly researched myths but written in very appealing way. Self-help books are amazing amazing business netting 10s of millions of dollars in book sells per book. These publishers also know what sells: bottle a simple advise that is rather naive but has lots of anecdots and make claims to have found magic formula to make anyone insanely successful at everything. Entire self-help industry is disgusting because they take advantage of human vulnerability to the maximum extent with full knowledge of what they are doing. To some, it serves purpose of getting inspired for a week or month for $20 and that's their best outcome.
The main topic discussed in this book, i.e. breadth vs depth is perenial delima also recasted in multiple forms such as exploitation vs exploration. There is no magic bullet in one side or another. The art of getting somewhere is very delicate balance between two. The best approach that has worked for people is either get lucky or find people who have made mistakes, analyze their mistake and, of course, get little bit less lucky.
- rramadass 7y agoAbsolutely spot on w.r.t. "Self-Help" movement. It has become a scam similar to all the Leadership/Marketing/Sales BS. Store bookshelves are full of these sort of books with claims that beggars belief. A little thought will show that there are so many interacting factors in any endeavour that there can be no quick, easy, ready-made and always-true solutions. And yet everybody is sold this juvenile crap and it is further propagated without appeal to skepticism. Any real progress due to actual research is further obscured by turning everything into "sound-bites" because the average person is considered "dumb" and cannot grasp nuanced ideas with assumptions and limitations. This toxic mindset has pervaded our entire society and does not forebode well for our future.
- cylinder 7y agoYep and anyone reading with a bit of critical thinking skills will quickly discover they have one or two simple premises / theses and then 500 pages of fluff repeating it over and over.