Self Help/Self Improvment

[Eilonnwy]

It depends. I think it's a sweeping generalization to say they're all crap. If you're talking about books like the Secret, I would definitely agree.

I think there may be some out there with some good advice, but I think that they're buried in the spiritual crap.

Books are a great way to communicate ideas, and say if you developed a method of organizing and restructuring your life and you want to share it, I think that it's good but whoever reads it should always take it with a grain of salt. They're not Bibles to a better life, they're not going to magically make things better because whatever advice is in there has to be followed through by you, the reader. Similarly, the advice may not be practical to your situation.

In the end, I think the self help community is so overwhelmed with people trying to make a buck, that legitimate ones are suffocated and what gets promoted is a watered down version of positive thinking.

Reminds me of the diet industry. Some products like Weight Watchers are legitimate weight loss plans, but most people get bombarded with crazy diets promoting the Acai berry or some magic weight loss pill. :/

[EggSpurt]

I remember the other part of the George Carlin skit on self help. He said something to the effect of if you're motivated enough to go to a store to buy a self help book on motivation, you didn't need the book in the first place.