The meta advice is often very useful, but human brain probably needs to be given a few specific examples first, and only then it can appreciate the meta aspect.
As a simplified example, if you tell me to think about my diet, my brain will probably not generate very good ideas, if I have never considered the problem before. If you describe me one specific diet, I can follow it blindly, or I can follow it partially, so I have a few options, but they are all in the same direction. If you describe me a few specific diets, I start seeing the whole space that I can navigate. Now I see that it’s not just about “how much?” but also about “how specifically?”; I start understanding how other people generated their solutions, I see there is a model of the human metabolism and that people generate hypotheses about this model. Now I am able to construct my own diet, based on my beliefs, but also on my specific needs and preferences. -- In theory I should be able to think about this even without the specific examples (which how the first specific examples ever were generated), but it’s hundred times easier this way.
The point is there is a mental jump from “no solution” to “a solution”, and then another jump from “a solution” to “a solution-space”. To make the second jump it is good to have more than one specific example. So it would probably be even better to give your friends three different books on the same topic, to show them it is possible to make different opinions about the subject, and they are not limited only to accept or reject one specific advice.
The meta advice is often very useful, but human brain probably needs to be given a few specific examples first, and only then it can appreciate the meta aspect.
As a simplified example, if you tell me to think about my diet, my brain will probably not generate very good ideas, if I have never considered the problem before. If you describe me one specific diet, I can follow it blindly, or I can follow it partially, so I have a few options, but they are all in the same direction. If you describe me a few specific diets, I start seeing the whole space that I can navigate. Now I see that it’s not just about “how much?” but also about “how specifically?”; I start understanding how other people generated their solutions, I see there is a model of the human metabolism and that people generate hypotheses about this model. Now I am able to construct my own diet, based on my beliefs, but also on my specific needs and preferences. -- In theory I should be able to think about this even without the specific examples (which how the first specific examples ever were generated), but it’s hundred times easier this way.
The point is there is a mental jump from “no solution” to “a solution”, and then another jump from “a solution” to “a solution-space”. To make the second jump it is good to have more than one specific example. So it would probably be even better to give your friends three different books on the same topic, to show them it is possible to make different opinions about the subject, and they are not limited only to accept or reject one specific advice.