Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?

Post by digitaltrees » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 4:07 AM UTC

seizethecheese wrote: post #215

digitaltrees wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Fact vs interpretation. Many things we think of as facts are really our narrative interpretations that are incomplete. A few self help books talk about the story of 4 blind men that are asked to interact with an object: one says it’s a snake, one says it’s a tree, one says it’s a wall, one says it’s a flag. Their interpretations are all wrong, it’s an elephant trunk, leg, body and ear. So when someone says my boss…

Kudos for delivering. #1 sounds a lot like stoicism.

Post by nfcampos » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 4:08 AM UTC

raziel2701 wrote: post #92

In my corner of the internet people started to recommend reading fiction rather than self-help. Books like the count of montecristo for example, where the characters overcome through perseverance, patience and planning. The criticism of self-help books in my little internet bubble is that if you've read one you've read them all. So why not go for works of fiction that are time-tested and are greatly entertaining and…

Post by lanamo » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 4:16 AM UTC

curuinor wrote: post #53

__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.

Dale Carnegie created it, Tim Ferriss is a century too late to point as origin.

Post by JimsonYang » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 4:18 AM UTC

kdheiwns wrote: post #206

__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.

Every time someone has said some goofy thing will go away because people are getting smarter or realizing something, it's absolutely not the case. A large number of people will always want someone to tell them that they have everything figured out and others just don't see how great they are, that they'll wake up rich and famous one day, that they're powerful, that they're beautiful, etc. Many will pay to be told thi…

Post by Daz912 » Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 4:20 AM UTC

raziel2701 wrote: post #92

In my corner of the internet people started to recommend reading fiction rather than self-help. Books like the count of montecristo for example, where the characters overcome through perseverance, patience and planning. The criticism of self-help books in my little internet bubble is that if you've read one you've read them all. So why not go for works of fiction that are time-tested and are greatly entertaining and…