Books in or close to the self-help domain seem reliably to be horribly padded, excessively anecdote-laden, and generally somewhat mawkish.
Just want to say I strongly disagree with this. Narrative and emotional arc are in general useful for most books, but Especially self help books which are trying to make immediate change to your actions.
I think there’s a skill to reading with your system 1 such that you can update your aliefs from anecdotes and sentimentality, and would recommend learning that skill rather than skipping those vital parts of the books.
(It may be that there’s an even greater skill of just reading a bare bones summary then updating your aliefs, but I haven’t seen it)
Seconded. In my view, the anecdotes are there such that the idea is more salient and hangs around longer in your head.
Sure, you can read 10 self-help summaries in an hour, but I don’t think that gives you 10x the same amount of benefit as reading about one concept for an hour. (If anything, I don’t even think you get 1x the same amount of benefit, as you have to factor in potential confusion sorting everything out, etc.)
The padding can also be useful if you’re trying to learn via example, or learn what the stereotype of The Concept looks like.
Just want to say I strongly disagree with this. Narrative and emotional arc are in general useful for most books, but Especially self help books which are trying to make immediate change to your actions.
I think there’s a skill to reading with your system 1 such that you can update your aliefs from anecdotes and sentimentality, and would recommend learning that skill rather than skipping those vital parts of the books.
(It may be that there’s an even greater skill of just reading a bare bones summary then updating your aliefs, but I haven’t seen it)
Seconded. In my view, the anecdotes are there such that the idea is more salient and hangs around longer in your head.
Sure, you can read 10 self-help summaries in an hour, but I don’t think that gives you 10x the same amount of benefit as reading about one concept for an hour. (If anything, I don’t even think you get 1x the same amount of benefit, as you have to factor in potential confusion sorting everything out, etc.)
The padding can also be useful if you’re trying to learn via example, or learn what the stereotype of The Concept looks like.