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Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

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Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#161

Post by protocolture »

__alexander wrote: post #50

Personally, I see the self-help industry dying because people are starting to realize that it’s just a network of individuals selling products, promoting each other’s products, and creating new avenues to sell more products. I refer to it as the “self-help mafia.” Tim Ferriss kind of created it.

Yeah I got a free medical "coach" and the coaching was sub par, and mostly used to try and press me into non free services.

A lot of those non free services seemed to involve very poorly written and syndicated coaching apps.

Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#162

Post by epihelix »

shermantanktop wrote: post #114
yakshaving_jgt wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Luke… I am your father." "…You're absolutely right!"

c'mon, spoiler alert, jeez

Spoiler alert: Luke had a father. No cloning with this guy, just a bonafide byproduct of two bad actors and some awkward sand ...

Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#163

Post by breezybottom »

digitaltrees wrote: post #124
breezybottom wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well grifters can also be marks. It sounds like you're both.

Sounds like you need to learn some healthy communication. If this is how you show up in relation to others your network of collaborators will be small, keep you weak and limit your ability to effectuate your will in the world.

That's fine, but at least I don't sound like a Linkedin serial entrepreneur.

Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#164

Post by epihelix »

delichon wrote: post #32

Fiction books to follow soon? Will kids still sit down and read an assigned book when they can just prompt "generate a movie of Shelley's Frankenstein, faithful to the source, except as required by my_movie_preferences.md". Reading the text may become as rare as learning ancient Greek to read the Odyssey.

I'd like to think people will continue to read because reading is an inherently pleasurable activity, and because the medium captures nuance that can't be replicated in video.

However, the loss of reading self-help books surely will hurt no-one. It is an ill wind, etc ...

Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#167

Post by digitaltrees »

jasonfarnon wrote: post #128
digitaltrees wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard disagree. I have read lots of books, participated in events and training seminars and had profound results in my life. My marriage is better because of what I learned, I am a better father and leader because of what I learned. And the fact that people sell things as part of that growth journey is how they support their ability to share the lessons and techniques.

"because of what I learned." Do these books/seminars actually teach you something new about being married or a father, that you didn't know before? Like what? I always figured they were more about coaching, persuasion, convincing. To the extent I've scanned them, I never saw any kind of new fact, definitely not about something like being married.

Yes. I learned new techniques like: victim vs author perspective. wife and I did a training where she went first, learned the the technique (tell a story of a fight like you are the most sympathetic victim then tell it again like you were the author) and it immediately shifted both of our perspectives about a conflict we hadn’t been able to resolve for 6 months because she told both versions and immediately understood where I was coming from. I am personally grateful we both know that technique now.

Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#168

Post by ctoa »

MengerSponge wrote: post #84
curuinor wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the man leveraged the fact that his name was the same as Andrew Carnegie (having no relation) to launch a publishing empire. it was hacks from the beginning

Highly recommend "If Books Could Kill" https://bsky.app/profile/ifbookspod.bsky.social It really is all the same book.

The very first thing I did when coming to this thread was search for if someone had already mentioned "one book theory". My favorite episodes of IBCK are mostly the self-help trash.

Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#169

Post by digitaltrees »

JackFr wrote: post #140
digitaltrees wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you need to learn some healthy communication. If this is how you show up in relation to others your network of collaborators will be small, keep you weak and limit your ability to effectuate your will in the world.

> limit your availability to effectuate your will in the world. It might limit his ability to effect his will in the world, but I see his availability as unchanged.

What do you feel when you make a comment like that? Satisfied at your intellectual superiority? Confident in your status as someone able to see what’s right? Proud of yourself that you “tell it like it is”

Have you ever stopped to think about the prices you pay for that behavior?

Let’s game it out. You don’t know me. I could be Paul Graham for all you know. I could be the person in the world that would unlock the very door you need to open to get what you’re working towards. I could be someone totally vulnerable and insecure and end up cascading into despair based on your comment.

That being said. I thought it was a funny comment.

Re: Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

#170

Post by hamdingers »

vova_hn2 wrote: post #13

> How-to YouTube videos. Why scrub through a 24-minute video to find the 40 seconds you need, when an AI can watch it for you and hand you the steps? Why make a 24-minute Youtube video instead of an article with proper navigation? This is slightly off-topic, but this is a pet-peeve of mine. I believe that for most practical purposes hypertext beats video: - you can Ctrl-F through text (well, now you sort of can searc…

A lot of people are functionally illiterate. Those people are online now. We have image, video, and sound based social media for them. They send each other videos and voice messages instead of texts.

Not only that, they're creating content for each other. People who can barely compose an email run TikTok accounts and YouTube channels and podcasts with audiences in the millions.

I don't even know if I think this is a bad thing. Sure, their education system failed them, but they need to know how to do things, and they often have information worth sharing. Providing video tutorials almost becomes a question of accessibility (in the a11y sense) in some contexts.

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