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I think this is in part caused by the fact that we're really poor at remembering and learning anything without actually applying in practice first, analogously

I think this is in part caused by the fact that we're really poor at remembering and learning anything without actually applying in practice first, analogously to how explaining a concept to someone actually helps you learn it considerably better. What this means is that self-help books are useful, but also that each hour of self-help learning must be followed by 10 hours (or whatever ratio works for you) of practicing and gaining experience. I think most people who are burned by self-help are simply not turning into action what they read about, and hence not deriving whatever important lessons or conclusions they could be making based on what's in those books. At the end of the day you don't have to agree with what any self-help text teaches you, but by trying it out in practice you'll at least figure out if it works for you or not.

kiba 15y ago
It's not about the application of self-help advice, but the fact that most self-help advice don't have any scientific basis and is mostly bullshit. Anybody can sound authoritative and true. Anybody can invent ad-hoc reasons for why their advice will work. That doesn't mean that what they're saying is true. Just because the advice seems to work for you, doesn't mean it's actually causing the progress. You are a human being. You have cognitive bias. You have selective memory. You are fallible. This is why we need to conduct psychological research on self-help advice. There are books that draws on the research done by psychologists over several decades. Use them. Don't simply listen to self-help gurus that got rich simply by writing self-help books. Yes, application of self-help advice is going to be a problem, but it does you no good if you're applying BS self-help advice.
- BadassFractal 15y ago
  Isn't it irrelevant if it is scientifically proven or not, as long as it actually works for you?

kiba 15y ago

It's not about the application of self-help advice, but the fact that most self-help advice don't have any scientific basis and is mostly bullshit. Anybody can sound authoritative and true. Anybody can invent ad-hoc reasons for why their advice will work. That doesn't mean that what they're saying is true. Just because the advice seems to work for you, doesn't mean it's actually causing the progress. You are a human being. You have cognitive bias. You have selective memory. You are fallible. This is why we need to conduct psychological research on self-help advice. There are books that draws on the research done by psychologists over several decades. Use them. Don't simply listen to self-help gurus that got rich simply by writing self-help books. Yes, application of self-help advice is going to be a problem, but it does you no good if you're applying BS self-help advice.

BadassFractal 15y ago
Isn't it irrelevant if it is scientifically proven or not, as long as it actually works for you?