@RickiTarr If you would connect your braincells with the braincells of another person, you would realise, that everyone secretly wants to be loved the same way, you do. 😩 Current science says, that a special part of the human heart will change into peace modus, if you mirror peace to another persons brain cells neutron. This is especially true for women. - See? I could do it. 😉
@IcooIey It's just like Think positive thoughts and put your dreams into the Universe and it will come true, which on It's face sounds pretty innocuous. But they were telling people stuff like illness was just in their heads, so people were stopping cancer treatments and stuff like that.
@RickiTarr You know, I really do think that the best buffer against this woowoo nonsense is having caring relationships with people not afraid to support you in tough times, and tell you that yes, sometimes life is unfair and sucks. Together we will go on, bumbling our way through it, trying to make things better. That’s it. That’s all there is.
@RickiTarr@idoubtit Yeah, it is terrible. I recently listened to all episodes of ‘If Books could Kill’, and that did it. Now I’m suspicious of any book that claims to tell some truth or ancient wisdom. :)
@RickiTarr I HATE when authors spend 80% of the book convincing you they know what they're talking about. Bruh, I am already reading your book. Stop trying to sell this same book to me.
I've always assumed self-help books were written by people who helped one friend decide on something ridiculous, like which new berry to incorporate into their morning toast regimen. And it went so smoothly they convinced themselves they could change the world next, one sticky jam at a time.
And publishers know people buy any-goddamn-thing with promises of promises.
I will say that anything that helps a person feel better and live in themselves better, I don't mean to shit on.
I have a seriously hard time with the concept of religion, and all of these ways of honest healing for profit tend to upset me.
Granted, I've never read one, flipped through only to deride what was inside.
Though there seems like a healthy amount of rewriting of the 12 steps in any given one.
@GGMcBG I agree, my main issue with these kinds of books about mental health and success is that they rarely address the actual issues, and oversimplify serious problems like long term clinical depression or privilege.
@RickiTarr@stephanie@Chigaze I think it's easy to sell powerless people on the idea that they have some control. It's at the root of a lot of things, like certain eating disorders, and I think just the existence of OCD* points to our brains having a predilection for taking or needing control.
@RickiTarr@stephanie With The Secret I think a lot would be people's desire for easy solutions that don't take a lot of work. I would guess reading it made them feel better despite it not actually working.
@Chigaze I feel bad about recommending Twilight so much while I worked there... I was the in the targeted readership and really liked it when it came out 😆 @dan613@RickiTarr
@stephanie@dan613@RickiTarr That's fair. I mostly tease about Twilight. It had it's demographic and lots of people enjoyed it. Interestingly my kids were in that demographic but never took to it. They didn't really like Hunger Games either.
@Chigaze I'm always up for series and books that encourage people to read more! We had a lot of teenagers come back to get other similar books after, or francophone kids getting the English version of the latest book in the series, not yet translated :)
(Like I did with Harry Potter at their age; which also has problems)
Hunger Games though.. Read the first one in one night (... I don't think I slept haha) @dan613@RickiTarr
@RickiTarr@Chigaze That's the crux of these grifts; they take a grain of truth then make promises that little factoid can't possibly fulfill.
It's true that we tend to notice what we're expecting, so if we expect condemnation, we'll notice when people condemn, and if we expect opportunity, we'll be more prepared to grab one when it comes by. That's just basic confirmation bias though and no you cannot actually make opportunities 'manifest' if there are none available to you at all.
@RickiTarr@RevXenoFact Some parts of aging are so wonderful. Like fully coming to terms with the fact that if someone says “it works for everyone if they do it right” means “it” is pure snake oil.
@RickiTarr i used to get paid for supporting the network of James Ray.
Everyone who worked there was a true believer.
My last onsite was the Thursday afternoon of the day before his final retreat ended in deaths
@ArnimRanthoron Well, I have read a few books, that would count as maybe self help that did seem to have some real advice, but they are usually heavily prefaced by telling people to seek out a professional and they are usually way more dense reads and not easily digestible pop psychology.
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