The part about self help books is absolutely true-- I find much more useful "advice" and guidance from narrative nonfiction (e.g. memoirs, biographies, etc.) and great fiction than I ever did with conventional "motivation" books.
"No one with a feeling for literature and poetry can read the typical best-selling business or self-help book with a straight face, because their six rules or nine plans or 12 formulas are so manifestly idiotic, and couched in prose of such insulting simplicity."
The reason self-help books are written the way they are written, is because that's all there's to it. They have a formula that's pretty logical and people find it "idiotic" because in the inside, they already know what they have to do, yet for some reason they resort to these books.
I mean, for example, any given how to startup book: - Find a problem - Develop an idea to solve a problem - Get your hands dirty
Abstractly, that's pretty much it. There may be some other insights, but in general, that's what you get. Again, most people, by common sense already know that, but they keep reading self-help books. I have yet to find the reason.
Oh the horror of someone trying to better themselves with a 0 side-effect $10 book that in some instances can be more effective than antidepressants.
https://aeon.co/essays/can-self-help-books-be-better-than-me...