Modules and Wholes

Here is a brilliant observation from John Maeda:

I do admit that I read a whole bunch of these sort of self-help books. Is there anything inside them worth reading? Certainly. Although the number of nuggets you can get from these books is definitely not proportional to how many pages there are.

Self-help is a classic taboo topic. Admitting to reading self-help can potentially call into question

• Your intelligence. Many self-help books are thin on big ideas, so what does it say about you that you read them?
• Your social skills. Indeed, the more successful (or the more presumed successful) one is, the more perfect one is imagined, so any admission one needs "help" is potentially brand-busting.
• Your class, if you live in a country that believes people are bred like horses instead of aspire to realize their own ambition.

I admit to data mining self-help literature. I wish there was a more efficient way to transfer the knowledge. But repetition of theme is at least a partial substitute for the more difficult act of doing, which is where the benefit is realized.