3 posts tagged “psychology”

This is from The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science's AAI 2007 conference. Andy Thomson goes over the motivations of those who engage in Suicidal Terrorism. An eye opening and powerful lecture on an issue that has shaped politics and international relations for the past couple decades.

 

Think you know what will make you happy? You may only know half the story. Dan Gilbert's presentation at TED explains how humans, thanks to the prefrontal cortex in the brain, have the ability to synthesize happiness.

Recently somebody suggested that I read the self-help book He's Just Not That In You. It was clearly intended to be an insult to myself, but that's not what this post is about. One of the authors is on Late Night right now, so this odd coincidence has inspired me to write my opinion of this book and self help books in general.

For those who are unfamiliar, He's Just Not That Into You is a book for women about how males pursue women in relationships. It was on the New York Times bestseller list and featured by Oprah. It is a very popular book. I have not read the book, so I cannot comment on it's contents. However, I do have some things to say.

He's Just Not That Into You is written by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Surely one of them has some sort of credentials that would justify their authorship of a book aimed to help women. Wrong. Greg Behrendt is a comedian. He was a "consultant" and a writer of Sex and the City, which, contrary to popular belief is a work of fiction (aka it's not real life). He does not have any training in psychology (that I could find) or any other science. Other than writing a popular sitcom that deals with relationship issues he is not qualified to tell others how relationships work or give them advice. This is akin to taking advice on sexual health from Adam Carrola. You may get some insight or find some humor, but it isn't anything more than you'd get from any other human being.

At least Dr. Drew has professional qualifications, though.
 
So that leaves us with Liz Tuccillo. Perhaps she has the qualifcations and Behrendt was just around to make things more interesting and entertaining. Wrong again. Tuccillo is a writer for Sex And The City as well, which I will remind you is still a piece of fictional television drama. Tuccillo is also an actress.

In my opinion, this does not give them the authority or the right to write a book about relationship matters. They have nothing to their name except their TV series and the same observations we all have. I think it's downright unethical for them to publish such a book when they don't have the proper authority beyond that bestowed upon them by popular culture.
 
Now onto self help books as a movement. Self help books give you the same sort of gratification that watching Dr. Phil does. In many cases, these are simplistic and general pointers for very complex, personal, and emotional problems that in many cases demand professional help.
 
Self help books are, however, huge money makers. People are looking for help to their complex issues. I don't blame them, I have my own issues. However, unless you're getting help from a professional who can assess the context of your problem you're getting nothing more than generalized advice that you could get from a family member or close friend. Those who feel they have benefited from such books are victims of the placebo effect, but in this case it's worse because the effect is being manipulated by authors and publishers who are out to make a buck.
 
What's worse is that self help books provide unresearched assessments of human behavior that may or may not lead to a miscalculated view of society. Society is complex. It is so because human beings are complex creatures and interact in complex ways. There is no silver bullet and never will be. So it is my conclusion that self help books are of little value to their readers. They are, many times, deceptive. But, after all, they sell.

That said, I will not say that you shouldn't seek advice and that perhaps there are some self help books that offer valuable, calculated advice from a researched perspective. He's Just Not That Into You is likely not in that category (again, I can say definitely because I have not read the book, nor do I intend to). These books must be looked at critically, just as any other book. Are the authors people you should be listening to? Do they have any qualifications that can be verified that give them the authority to write such a book? What kind of biases do the authors have?

In the end, though, we all have problems and we are all searching for solutions to those problems. Self Help books may have found their place in popular culture and even into the minds of those who profess their benefits. But there are many quacky remedies to all sorts of issues that don't provide a true solution. The benefit of self help books must be analyzed critically, on a case by case basis

By the way, I don't have any professional qualifications that allow me to be an authority on this subject, so this article should be taken as an opinion piece only. Hey, at least I admit it.