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/lit/ - Literature


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12577704 No.12577704 [Reply] [Original]

Who is the target audience for this kind of literature?

>> No.12577706

manchildren

>> No.12577722

>>12577706
also teen aged girls and middle aged women

>> No.12577731

>>12577704
Me

>> No.12577748

>>12577704
boomers who still believe in capitalism but lives miserably and are incapable of thinking too deeply or reading actual literature

>> No.12577751

women

>> No.12577755

>>12577748
male boomers, mostly

>> No.12577789
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12577789

>>12577704
people who think they are higher status then they really are

>> No.12577841

>>12577704
those self-help books are for empowered white women, who don't need no man. Like and share if you agree

b r a p
r
a
p

>> No.12577915

>>12577704
a response to weariness of oprah-tier new age spiritual self-help. the profane title indicates that the writer couldnt give a fig about social niceties and beating around the bush with things you probably know are bullshit (previous self-help), they're going to give you what's what and tell you things everyone else is too self-censored to

it's for people too smart for previous gen self-help

>> No.12577958

>>12577704
>do what you love
What if I don't love anything huh? Gotcha

>> No.12577972

>>12577704
losers

>> No.12577987

Question: am I not caring too much or giving too much of a fuck by reading books like this? It would be like writing a self-help book explaining how you don't need self-help books.

Maybe one has to initially care or give a fuck to know how to not do it, perhaps like reading a manual of how to learn independent of manuals.

>> No.12578001

>>12577704
The politically incorrect White males saving Western Civilization from woms, degenerates, cultural marxists and joos.

>> No.12578009

wish there was a comprehensive, systematic self-help book that wasn't a fucking meme. sometimes I feel like I've veered off the path and need to start all over with the basics.

>> No.12578022

>>12578009
the most effective things you need to hear likely obvious and known to you, you just implement it.

>> No.12578059

>>12578022
Not him, but a good self-help book would not only, or even primarily inform you of what you did not know, but motive you. I am speaking hypothetically, as I have not had this experience from reading self-help books, but some of the best books I have were telling me what I already knew, but impressing with a sublime style that inspires as much as it strikes.

>> No.12578151

>>12577704
Normalfags?

>> No.12578178

>>12578059
Self-help books are vulgar dumbed-down schlock because their purpose is to attract retards with promise of easy success. You should not expect anything even close to the sublime to come out of them.

>> No.12578190

>>12578178
Well, it wouldn't have to be sublime, I am only speaking as to how I have been motivated. If a person reads a self-help book and is informed and motivated to change their life for the better as a result, and actually does it, the book has served its literary purpose.

>> No.12578207

>>12577704
Instagram girls. No joke. They like to pretend they like reading and post stories with exactly these books. It's like wearing a brand of clothes for them, because it shows "attitude".

>> No.12578215

I read "Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World" by Brooke McAlary last month. I can confirm that it is for total normies, especially for women. Anyone who has practiced introspection at any point in their life, or who isn't an NPC will find the work boring and shallow. Working on "How to Win Friends and Influence People," now and I'm enjoying it. I hate how his examples are so recurrent--constantly focused on American presidents--but his ideas are solid and concise. I'm glad I didn't buy into the criticism that it's a book on "manipulation." He insists that one should be sincere in their dealings with others, and should just strive to be honestly nice.

>> No.12578218

as much as a meme he is 12R stands head and shoulders above the rest of that drivel

>> No.12578222

>>12577704
Why do they use swear words if they are going to censor it.
Fucking puritan American faggots, I hate you all.

>> No.12578229

>>12577704
Does the Kermit book actually say "an antidote to Chads?"

>> No.12578244

>>12577704
What do we call this? Asterisk-core?

>> No.12578260

>>12577704
17 year old feminists with BPD

>> No.12578352

>>12577915
this guy is an idiot

it's a marketing pivot of the self-help genre, from 'nicey-nice' bullshit to 'heres the real shit' bullshit. the latter is all to sell books to the same people who got tired of the former, under the guise that the author is a straight shooter. doesn't mean the bullshit in the books has actually changed.

>> No.12578513

>>12578229
Yes. Gamers rise up!

>> No.12578531

>Finnegan's Wake

>> No.12578548

a male boomer would definitely NOT buy a self help book written by a woman. there must be a market for womanchildren as well.

>> No.12578563

>>12577704
I think I’m gonna write one of these for the shekels, any tips

>> No.12578568

Sad/anxious people who aren't elitist about literature

>> No.12578589

>>12578568
I can confirm this.
I did look down on myself for buying a self-help book, but it helped me a bit on the long run.

>> No.12578735

So, the ones specifically about not giving a "sh*t", or "f*ck", or whatever, do those specifically address excessive conscientiousness? If I a self-help book purported, (regardless of its success theoretically or practically), that the way toward self-actualization was through not caring, as if apathy was really what people needed to motivate themselves, I would at least be curious about the plan.

Otherwise, who would be the audience? People who do care too much? I think it would be the sort of person who's attracted to the edginess of the title, (which, for a self-help book, is undeniably present), or those interested by the idea that we would succeed more by caring less, which includes me, but I am not so interested that I would actually purchase or read the book to learn about the method.

>> No.12578748

>>12577704
People who don't have everything alright in their lives and need help.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help_book

>> No.12579741

>>12578352
this an ergodicity error, to assume its the same people buying the same genre decade to decade.

>> No.12579782
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12579782

>>12577704
the mutts of america welcome to lowering of the general populaces iq

>> No.12579801

People who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. People who see things as they truly are. People who don't f*ck around. People who are actually getting laid.

Not my diary desu

>> No.12579804
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12579804

>>12577704
>all those YOUs
>all that unnecessary swearing

>> No.12579816

>>12577704
Tumblr.
It's a meme on tumblr (or at least it used to be, idk I haven't used it in years) to aggressively help people by swearing and also giving advice.
They have an app which is like called honest weather or something which is your phone saying ITS FUCKING COLD, THE SUN IS FUCKING OUT and shit like that that I used to use.

>> No.12579847

>>12577704
Women in their 30s who want the children they aborted 10 years ago.

>> No.12579850

>>12578735
Oh my sweet anon. You seem to be under the ridiculous impression that "not giving a fuck" actually means "not giving a fuck", as opposed to caring slightly less what people think some of the time. It's meant to help normalniggers feel as though they're some type of maverick who doesn't play by society's rules as opposed to the anxious, awkward and self-conscious person they likely are.

>> No.12580123
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12580123

retards

>> No.12580146

>>12577704
Self-help authors are the noblest of all, just reminding everyone of that.

>> No.12580177

>>12577704
(You)

>> No.12580189

>>12577704
Either fat sex-deprived women teachers who own quirky novelty mugs with swear words on them or those preening yuppie wannabe men who've convinced themselves one of these retarded books will make them the next Elon Musk

>> No.12581214

>>12577704
Every generation has it's share of shit-grade self help books, designed to separate the buyer from their money, without actually doing anything worthwhile, other than wasting ones time and money.
Today we have our bunch of foul mouthed zoomers and millennials. Before that we had Chopra, Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Carnegie, Peele, and all those damn spin-offs of "Chicken soup for the soul" books.
We will continue having know-it-all dipshits telling losers how to "improve" their pathetic lives. Most of them will never have a chance, they will only collect a shelf full of books that promised much, and delivered little.
The ugly truth is that life is not fair. Success is not guaranteed. 80-90% of the general population are destined to be lifelong losers. Suck it up, figure it out, deal with it and get on with living your life the best you can. You might get lucky. Most are not.

>> No.12581236

>>12581214
You should write a self-help book.

>> No.12581250

>>12577704
females

>> No.12581369

>>12578022
there's a shit ton of things that, if they were mentioned to me on an individual basis, would seem like common sense or would have been things that I have already known about. that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt to read a book where many such often-neglected ideas are packaged together into an effective, intuitive system, or where such ideas are built upon to reveal insights about common problem areas in life.

I don't care about shit being difficult. there's no journey harder than finding the right path to start, even if that path has you cross a fucking rift of lava. better to be struggling with a general sense of direction than to be totally lost.

>> No.12581391

Completely unrelated but I didn’t want to start a new thread. Do I need any prior knowledge of Sherlock Holmes, aquinas etc to read the name of the rose by umberto eco?

>> No.12581422

>>12577704
Anxious ridden normies

>> No.12581426

>>12581391
Go F*ck Yourself

>> No.12581427

>>12577704
To understand this sort of literature today and, to a larger extent, america writ large as it operates culturally and interpersonally (for the most part in the medium to large cities), we have to go back to Emerson, especially the essay "Self-Reliance." America is fucked today because of the way we collectively MISread Emerson. Quelle domage

>> No.12581437

>>12577704
people who actually get rattled reading Robert Greene.

>> No.12581439

>>12581426
Answer the question f*g

>> No.12581613

>>12581427
Self-reliance is great. Just read Prudence coincidentally.

>> No.12581826

>>12578009
There is and it's called reading scripture.

>> No.12581844

>>12577704
It's for badasses. Can't you read?

>> No.12581914

>>12577755
Biggest target of those books are women though

>> No.12581920

i read mark manson's models and it really did get me a gf. legitimately good advice for spergs

>> No.12581933

>>12577704
There are three:
40+ year old normie men
40+ year old normie women
20-25 year old virginal men

>> No.12581974

>>12581933
Other than 12 Rules, the only people I see reading these are millennial women

>> No.12581985
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12581985

>>12577704
Career women who need constant positive re-enforcement to maintain the delusion that working and being liberated is better that being a stay at home mom.

>> No.12582234

>>12577704
people who went to public school

>> No.12582282

>>12581985
go watch starwars, paglia

>> No.12582313

>>12581439
N*

>> No.12582365

>>12578229
Chaos

>> No.12582378

>>12577755
Nah female boomers read shit like this too, it is just that material itself is not as hostile or aggressive as OP's pic related

>> No.12582395

>>12577704
My mom.

>> No.12582402

>>12577704
People with Dunning-Kruger Effect

>> No.12582482

>>12577704
These are the kind of books my father gifts my older brother for Christmas and such. My brother has been depressed since he left school without a degree. My father was never able to acknowledge his role in the whole dilemma that played out. My brother necer ecen opens these scum books lol

>> No.12582707

>all written by women

>> No.12582888

>>12582395
post pics of you're moms feet plx

>> No.12582895

>>12577704
stoics

>> No.12582963

Majority of teens and young adults. The youth in developed countries is going insane. Have you guys not seen all these young adults falling for radical ideologies they don't even fully understand. You have radical leftists that expose themselves as hypocrites with no clear goals. You have radical right supporters that don't understand the implications of the shit they are pushing. Young people lack the sense of belonging, they are unsatisfied with life, misguided, and are desperately searching for a purpose to give them some kind of drive. I don't know the reason of this. Is it too much free time, is it self-hatred, is it past trauma, I don't know. I just know everyone is one step away from existential crisis and is desperately searching for a straw to hold on to. I know this is begging to sound like a "MUH SOCIETY" post, but it's just my observation.

>> No.12582992

>>12582963
>Abandon God and every actual moral compass.
>Literally everyone does what he feels like is good, the number of genders is tending to infinity.
Wow, this people seem like they're aimless, what a surprise.

>> No.12583023

>>12582963
>Majority of teens and young adults.
>implying they've ever read any book in their lifetime

>> No.12583030
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12583030

>>12579804
Does that mean this board is the target audience?

>> No.12583048

/sig/ and r/deadbedooms

>> No.12583063

>>12577704
You

>> No.12583083

Capitalism causes social and economic alienation which capital then profits off through the use of self help books which blame the individual for anxiety and not economic material conditions. And through the use of highly addictive pharmaceuticals.

If self help books actually worked they would stop selling them.

If you are tired of being in a rut, just read Nietzsches concept of eternal return

>> No.12583117

Just notice the trend of "I" "self".
Its a deep root of the neoliberal way of life.
"Dont care about the community or others. Only you matter."
"Dont have compassion unless you get rewarded"
"only what you want matters "fuck other people and fuck emotions""

>> No.12583129

The french really do not give a fuck and are pretty rude and arrogant overall. I would definitely trust a french author more than an american when it comes to not giving a fuck.

>> No.12583141

>>12577704
I don't get why people want to not care about their problems, if you don't care about the problems they don't get fixed

>> No.12583157
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12583157

>tfw mother has been writing a book for the last few weeks inspired by this kind of thing
>its called 'The HomeMakers Guide to not baking up a F*CK!: How to keep your home how YOU want it and IGNORE your family and friends'
>is supposed to be about how you can better your life as a housewife by making your home however you want
>has an entire chapter dedicated to facing down critiques of curtains with pictures of animals on them
>isn't a parody, she is serious because me and my dad kept making fun of her decor

>> No.12583190

>>12578735
Neurotics.

>> No.12583199

>>12583083
Eternal recurrence is scary though

>> No.12583217

>>12577704
I've seen it mostly read by people on the subway that don't seem to fit a demographic, but they all look like they care how they dress.

I don't think that has any imoort, but my only observation.

In all seriousness, because of our society being, more or less, a quais-meritocracy, and the scope of people that other people compare themselves to essentially expanding 1000 fold, insecurity is going to be rampant, as it's our mechanism to determine our social strata. Before, we would use time to guess how many people are above/below us, but with the web I can find 1,000s with better jobs, looks, intelligence, and a host of other things that would make me feel shitty. The reason we sneer at them is the same reason they read the book, hyperconnectivity is not good for us

>> No.12583219

>>12583157
lel

>> No.12583234

>>12583157
>she's more entitled to the house that she doesn't pay for
how do you put up with her

>> No.12583294

>>12577704
unhappy people (everyone)

>> No.12583299

>>12583294
12 years old attempt at being deep

>> No.12583302

Hyper-individualistic normalfags.

>> No.12583319

>>12583294
happiness is not something that can ever be attained.
Its a passing feeling that comes and goes.
You especially can not become happy by "you doing you".
*spits on ground

The only things these books seem to be teaching the cat ladies is that only they matter and to be selfish

>> No.12583332

>>12583294
Wow !

>> No.12583468

>>12578009
BAP book

>> No.12583471
File: 1.07 MB, 1080x2160, Screenshot_20190212-223806.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12583471

>>12577704
just saw this
grim

>> No.12583475

>>12578009
The Enchiridion and Meditations

>> No.12583480

>>12577987

The initial fuck investment. Once you've given that first fuck you can stop. Like activation energy in a chemical reaction

>> No.12583482

>>12583319
you can structure your life in a way that prolongs and encourages those happy moments though

>> No.12583487

>>12578352

Isn't that exactly what the guy you are responding to said? Did you not pick up on the tone of his post? He wasn't stating his own opinion; he was outlining the logic behind the books' marketing

>> No.12583503

>>12583471
>5 love languages
You just need one. (Italian)

>> No.12583632

>>12578009
Read Meditations and the Stoics, unironically

>> No.12583695

>>12583482
Yes, you can strive your whole life to attain moments of happiness by buying knick knaks on etsy and high fructose corn syrup from walmart.

Yes, we know about capitalism

>> No.12583706

fully grown adults who weigh less than 190lbs

>> No.12583732

>>12582402
Under rated post.

>> No.12583788 [DELETED] 

got some new shoes today boys

>> No.12583846

>>12583475
>>12583632
Unironically this

>> No.12584818

>>12577704
Usually adults, since kids and teenagers don't give a damn about anything unless their parents aren't providing for them. While the one in the middle on the upper shelf looks oriented for the female public, JP's 12 Rules is oriented to everybody. On the other hand, most of his followers happen to be males.

>> No.12584838 [DELETED] 

>>12577704
petersonfags

>> No.12584848 [DELETED] 

>>12584838
Kek
>12 rules of life

>> No.12584866

>>12582963
>radical leftists that expose themselves as hypocrites with no clear goals
Say what you will about leftists, but their goals are really clear, it is always the methods that are in dispute

>> No.12584872

>>12583732
Because it's implying OP has the effect on him?

>> No.12585164
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12585164

>>12578009

>> No.12585207

>>12584866
Your right about the Bernie supporters who want the government to baby everyone into a state of peace. But the Marxists don't often know Marx's life and communists never seem to pick a team, as if Leninism is the same as Maoism. If someone gives a definitive buzzword for their beliefs (e.g. communist, moderate conservatism) really easily and they're young they either haven't tested it (99%) or are incredibly invested in politics (1%). Educated adults usually say, "I lean towards [liberal/libertarian/labour]" and aren't so absolute.
Absolutists also tend to have controlling parents who push them into their political worldview like it's Islam.

>> No.12585254

>>12582963
I think this has to do with humans encountering a controlled industrial society that they did not evolve to be able to deal with, combined with modern information technology completely destroying any sense of social unity. So one can agree with anyone else or even themselves, because in a horribly Lovecraftian manner, we're too informed and forced by our own minds to take a doubt-poisoned postmodernist view on everything we believe or do. Youth nowadays are more mentally ill, isolated, and authoritarian that previous generations, and this is the explanation for that seems most reasonable to me. But maybe i just think that in order to excuse my own failure.

>> No.12585271

>>12583117
>>12583302
brewin the real tea

>> No.12585351

suppose I read Meditations and tackled the Stoics. then what? I'll probably be more emotionally resilient, sure, and that will indirectly improve outcomes in all areas of my life. but I'll still be pretty clueless when it comes to unconscious emotional regulation and understanding other people, which are my two weakest areas.

>> No.12585378

>>12585351

read literature.

>> No.12585509

>>12577704
It's just stoicism stripped down and rebranded for ease of consumption by the average.

>> No.12585564

>>12583503
Ma, dio cane.

>> No.12585652

>>12585351
The Bible

>> No.12585870

>>12578735
I did read "the subtle art of not giving a fuck" and it was alright. Someone that hasn't looked much into philosophy would find it pretty groundbreaking. He critiques self help in quite valid ways and in turn actually gives some guidance in what truly makes us happy (at least your everyday man). It just kinda is a little more edgy self help cause it shits on the way society is at the moment and how pathetic we've become. It's an alright book for normies looking to straighten themselves out.

>> No.12586157

>>12577704
Self help books are not bad per say. Most people read them and assume it will automatically change their lives.

>> No.12586662

>>12578009
P L A T O

>> No.12586703

>>12583475
>>12583632
These, they're probably as sincere as you're gonna get considering Letters From a Stoic wasn't intended for monetization (but possibly public eye) and Meditations was literally private. The Enchiridion is also nice

>> No.12587026

>>12582963
>2019
still being a centrist cuck enjoy bowing down to whoever wins

>> No.12587148

>>12585207
What you described aren't really goals but means to an end.

>as if Leninism is the same as Maoism
You do realize that the latter is inspired from the former right? Maybe not identical but they are pretty similar, enough to not sweat the details.

>> No.12587152
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12587152

>>12577704
>The Subtle art of not giving a fuck
Wouldnt it be better to simply read Stirner and understand his philosophy to some degree? I feel like even stoicism might be better than whatever that book tries to say.
I also hate the necessity of placing BIG swear words in the title just to attract public. Jesus crist it looks like jornal internet clickbait titles.

>> No.12587267
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12587267

>>12583471
>Ego is the enemy
Just from reading the wiki entry i can already tell that the book is one massive spook
"...explains how finding early successes led him to the realization that ego can cloud ambition and hinder personal and professional growth, particularly when accomplishments are tied to self-worth."
"...our problems stem from our own attitude, selfishness and self-absorption. In other words, introducing ego into a situation often prevents us from being rational, objective and clear headed."
Truly brainlet tier.

>> No.12587362

>>12587152
If you're not really smart you can't understand Stirner, you have to have at least an IQ of 140 to understand him or his philosophy. Normal people need self-help.

>> No.12587470

>>12587362
>If you're not really smart you can't understand Stirner, you have to have at least an IQ of 140 to understand him or his philosophy.
140 IQ? Are we even in the same universe? Most medics have and surgeons with top grades have general IQs of 110-120. Understanding Stirner is not that hard, he is pretty straight forward and doesnt even require you to have much prior back understanding of philosophy. Something "hard" would probably be philosophers in the same reach of Hegel, that in fact require a lot more of previous back study.

>> No.12587567
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12587567

>>12577704
I know several of them. They fall for pyramid schemes, listen to Joe Rogan, and buy whatever supplement David Asprey tell them to.

>> No.12587794

jen sincero, what an ironic name

>> No.12587872

>>12577704
People with extremely low self-esteem who have been beaten down by life, their families, and their sociological """"superiors""""

It's a band-aid for a problem that people think is natural, and blame on themselves, but in reality shouldn't fucking exist, and is completely externally imposed.

>> No.12587877

>>12587872
Oh and anyone who's one of those "hurrdurr it's for narcissists" fags has been militarized against their own peers instead of the cause of global suffering. Enjoy being the state's bitch, I guess.

>> No.12588302

>>12578009
all books are in certain degree self-help books

>> No.12588409

>>12578735
Apathy and tolerance are the last virtues of a dying society.

>> No.12588633

>>12578009
"How to be Miserable" is really good. I'm taking notes as I read it and try to take steps to be better.

>> No.12588648

>>12583471
Power of habit is actually decent