Philosophy Now Forum

One of my favorite critics is Anthony Lane, film critic for the New Yorker. Here he skewers a new self improvement book, co-authored by a Harvard professor and Saint Oprah. I hope the link is available to non-subscribers, and I'm posting mainly because the critque is so funny.

In addition, what do people think of the self-improvement industry, the quest for happiness, and the means of measuring satisfaction? Are Finland and Denmark really the world's happiest countries, despite high suicide rates? Haven't social scientists ever read Hamlet?

The critque is highly recommended.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023 ... ook-review

The self improvement industry, is first of all an Industry (as you astutely pointed out). And as such seeks profit. Therefore high numbers of customers, thus they're more interested in the sizzle than the steak. Having said that there's usually a a nugget of valuable insight somewhere in there. Consumers just need to shop around to see if this or that particular "product" contains the nugget that will be useful to them, specifically.

Not inherently bad, just statistically not likely to be the solution to your problem. Caveat emptor.