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> Without that we suffer when we get advice like "be yourself", "read Dale Carnegie", etc.

I've grown to appreciate such useless advice. It is useless in answering the question you wanted help with but it is a strong signal that you can prune the person who gave such advice out of your social graph without any negative repercussions.

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Couldn't you argue the person you would be pruning is a person that is most likely to appreciate you just as you are?

It seems reasonable to argue that if they are indeed in your social graph and they give you that advice, perhaps they like you for who you are and thus the advice at least from their perspective is good.

Making an absolute was overstating my case. In the good faith scenario, the other person does appreciate you as you are. Not so worth it to burn that relationship. Probably wise to make a mental note not to ask them for advice, assuming your goal was for more than being accepted by the person you just asked for advice.

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