3 ms·

Did you know, the brain is hard-wired to be suckered by self-help books? One trick that I personally find very liberating and enlightening is to make a big pile

Did you know, the brain is hard-wired to be suckered by self-help books? One trick that I personally find very liberating and enlightening is to make a big pile of such material and burn it. It gives me a sense of warmth and inner joy.

noufalibrahim 3y ago
Isn't the combustion external? Why would the warmth be internal?
- ufocia 3y ago
  Semantics dear Watson: it's the inner joy that's internal.
  - noufalibrahim 3y ago
    Never let an explanation ruin a terrible pun.
- gumby 3y ago
  “Burn” is a commonplace synonym for oxidization, that is, adding an electron. Likely the GP is “eating the books, and thus is warmed as a consequence of the Krebs cycle. We can be glad for GP that these days it is uncommon to encounter a book with a CD or DVD attached. I’m not sure those are safe to eat.
dumpsterlid 3y ago
[dead]
jrm4 3y ago
I so believe the opposite of this IF you come at the right ones the right way? Which is to say, once you read (or skimmed) enough of them, it's easy to get a sixth sense of the "intelligence" and "motivation" of the writer, and the sincere ones, even if not smart, are still pretty enjoyable if taken with many salt grains, and I'm a sucker for them (again, not in terms of following exactly what they say to do, but appreciating the motivation and good-intent of the author and possibly picking up something along the way.) They'll have names like PSYCHO-CYBERNETICS and just be like "try to be nice to people and sit down and be quite a few times a day." A sort of perfect example would be the fictional "The You You Are" from the TV Show Severance. I hope they actually write it, I know I'd LOVE it. https://severance.wiki/the_you_you_are_book https://severance.wiki/the_you_you_are_book
nefrix 3y ago
Your advice is superb. You can start writing self help books learning people how to make the fire in order for them to achieve the inner joy.
knallfrosch 3y ago
I enjoy reading them, thinking I'll change myself. Then I'm done, I don't apply anything and put the book on the shelf. It's its own kind of horror for these books.
- maxverse 3y ago
  This is an interesting topic of its own, but there have been a few books/ideas that have made a significant difference on how I operate day-to-day. There are many more books and ideas I nod along to and never implement.
  - benoitmalige 3y ago
    You’ve touched on something profound here—our interaction with knowledge is dynamic, not static. A book that speaks to us today might whisper different wisdom 5 years from now, as we grow and our perspectives shift.
- haswell 3y ago
  Transitioning to "I know these are good ideas" to things you're doing in practice is much harder than reading, but can happen. Over time, I've come to look at reading these kinds of books like planting seeds. They give my brain ideas and concepts to chew on. Options to apply to situations. I did wake up one day to the realization that I had up to this point not been willing to take the next steps and put insight into action. And when I realized that, it was like opening floodgates. I started doing the things I had learned about, and they started to change my life. But there is a pretty important and major milestone to make this transition. I don't think it's necessary or helpful to frame this as a kind of horror. I think it's more helpful to just change how you see the act of reading books. True change still has to start from within. Books in this context are just toolboxes. Toolboxes don't build anything by themselves either.

noufalibrahim 3y ago

Isn't the combustion external? Why would the warmth be internal?

ufocia 3y ago
Semantics dear Watson: it's the inner joy that's internal.
- noufalibrahim 3y ago
  Never let an explanation ruin a terrible pun.
gumby 3y ago
“Burn” is a commonplace synonym for oxidization, that is, adding an electron. Likely the GP is “eating the books, and thus is warmed as a consequence of the Krebs cycle. We can be glad for GP that these days it is uncommon to encounter a book with a CD or DVD attached. I’m not sure those are safe to eat.

dumpsterlid 3y ago

[dead]

jrm4 3y ago

I so believe the opposite of this IF you come at the right ones the right way? Which is to say, once you read (or skimmed) enough of them, it's easy to get a sixth sense of the "intelligence" and "motivation" of the writer, and the sincere ones, even if not smart, are still pretty enjoyable if taken with many salt grains, and I'm a sucker for them (again, not in terms of following exactly what they say to do, but appreciating the motivation and good-intent of the author and possibly picking up something along the way.) They'll have names like PSYCHO-CYBERNETICS and just be like "try to be nice to people and sit down and be quite a few times a day." A sort of perfect example would be the fictional "The You You Are" from the TV Show Severance. I hope they actually write it, I know I'd LOVE it. https://severance.wiki/the_you_you_are_book https://severance.wiki/the_you_you_are_book

nefrix 3y ago

Your advice is superb. You can start writing self help books learning people how to make the fire in order for them to achieve the inner joy.

knallfrosch 3y ago

I enjoy reading them, thinking I'll change myself. Then I'm done, I don't apply anything and put the book on the shelf. It's its own kind of horror for these books.

maxverse 3y ago
This is an interesting topic of its own, but there have been a few books/ideas that have made a significant difference on how I operate day-to-day. There are many more books and ideas I nod along to and never implement.
- benoitmalige 3y ago
  You’ve touched on something profound here—our interaction with knowledge is dynamic, not static. A book that speaks to us today might whisper different wisdom 5 years from now, as we grow and our perspectives shift.
haswell 3y ago
Transitioning to "I know these are good ideas" to things you're doing in practice is much harder than reading, but can happen. Over time, I've come to look at reading these kinds of books like planting seeds. They give my brain ideas and concepts to chew on. Options to apply to situations. I did wake up one day to the realization that I had up to this point not been willing to take the next steps and put insight into action. And when I realized that, it was like opening floodgates. I started doing the things I had learned about, and they started to change my life. But there is a pretty important and major milestone to make this transition. I don't think it's necessary or helpful to frame this as a kind of horror. I think it's more helpful to just change how you see the act of reading books. True change still has to start from within. Books in this context are just toolboxes. Toolboxes don't build anything by themselves either.