... (book review) Simple*ology

Mark Joyner. Simple*ology.

Easy Read for an Armchair Psychologist

The author claims to discover a “simple science of getting what you want”. The reality, unfortunately, is more than far from it. He does make a number of attempts to prove that there are existing alternatives to the ways we process information, but comes short of proposing a reliable system.

The writing style itself is somewhat of acquired taste – it is very conversational in nature. It may be quite annoying in the beginning, but eventually the reader will get used to it and even enjoy the unassuming tone.

There are a couple of interesting nuggets of serious psychological analysis coupled with assertions that most self-help books are nothing but pseudo-science.
All the way at the back the reader will find a four step action plan “to getting what you want”, but it is way too ordinary, perhaps even “simple”.
There were too many references to the website, which makes it almost undesirable to visit (to this day have not).

Overall, an interesting read with nice scientific references.
The value to the reader will greatly depend on the purpose of the purchase. If one intend to find out how do get what one wants – that would be a waste of money; if to spend an afternoon leafing through an easy book – go right ahead.

Btw, not sure why it was paired with The 4-Hour Workweek – the only thing that the two have in common is writing style.

No-Ad Publishing

We have always admired the quality of research of Consumer Reports. The magazine puts to test everything average consumer may come across. In some sense it is the bible of the intelligent consumer. Recently a friend recommended another magazine, Adbusters. This magazine is almost completely opposite to Consumer Reports. Anti-consumerism is the main theme of every publication. They also take on mainstream media in general, from Iraq war coverage to the lack of corporate governance.

One thing that these two publications have in common, though is complete absence of outside advertisement. They rely on subscriptions as the main revenue stream (Consumer Reports are also subsidized by their charity arm). That is an excellent Existing Alternative in today’s publishing world. How can a magazine deliver such a great quality of information without having to rely on, and potentially being affected by advertisers? Obviously, this blog has a long way to go.