The Top Seven Signs a Marketer Is Trying To Sell You Self-Help Snake Oil

[dor]

Of course, this guy's trying to sell a self-help book too but for those of us who are naturally skeptical, this might be a nice doorway to expanding our minds to the possiblities of Visualization and other PD techniques and might help quell that 'hmmphhh, where did he get that' thought that comes from listening to more fluffy stuff like the Secret - i think there are great truths in the Secret but the presentation turns me off and the credibility of some of the people - well it just doesn't gel with me.

“Psychological Foundations of Success”: Scientific Self-Help Book
The Top Seven Signs a Marketer Is Trying To Sell You Self-Help Snake Oil



by Dr. Stephen Kraus, Success Scientist



Concerned that someone is trying to sell you self-help snake oil? Try checking their claims against this David Letterman-style Top Seven list…

7. They refer to studies or statistics without documenting their sources. Nobody enjoys footnotes, but they play a vital role in science. Footnotes are like studies proving the effectiveness and safety of prescription drugs – you don’t necessarily need to read them yourself, but you should be sure they exist.



6. They promise instant change. Although the decision to change can happen in an instant, lasting change is a process with ups and downs, and almost always involves setbacks to be overcome.



5. They promise effortless change. Lasting change requires thought and effort. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.



4. They tell you about the Yale Study of Goals. It’s a great story. The 1953 graduating class at Yale was interviewed. Only 3% had written specific written goals for their futures. Twenty years later, that 3% was found to be worth more financially than the other 97% combined. There’s only one problem. This study was never conducted. Get more on the fictitious Yale Study of Goals here.



3. They promise to “tap the power of the subconscious mind.” That’s how marketers of success snake oil talk, not psychologists. Get more on the self-help snake oil of subliminal self-help tapes here.



2. They promise to eliminate fear forever. This isn’t possible. And even if it were possible, you wouldn’t want to. Fear is an important call to action. If you’re about to be run over by a bus, fear is a good thing.



1. They tell you people only use 10% of their brains. This is one of the oldest urban legends in psychology, and is patently false. Trust me – if someone removed 90% of your brain, you’d notice the difference. Well, actually, you wouldn’t notice the difference, because you’d be dead. But those around you hopefully would. They would say things like, "Jim is being really quiet today," or "Sally isn't really moving or breathing anymore." :-)

[Angela]

#1 -- You try it, and your experience is that it works for you.

[Velvet]

Peppering your sales pitch with the phrase "quantum physics."

[JHL]

1. ... "Jim is being really quiet today," or "Sally isn't really moving or breathing anymore."

Ha ha, my favorite one. Thanks, an entertaining read.

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Peppering your sales pitch with the phrase "quantum physics."

Don't be too quick to dismiss these references. Look up "Observer Effect".

I also suggest that you go to NPR and listen to the recent interview with physicist Michio Kaku. Instead of a universe, there maybe millions of multiverses in simultaneous existence, each of which has version of you living out a million different lives.

Brace yourself for some major breakthroughs over the next few years on the universe or multiverse we find ourselves in.

[Antiventurecapital]

Michio Kaku on Parallel Worlds

Great stuff!

[renie408]

Originally Posted by Antiventurecapital

Don't be too quick to dismiss these references. Look up "Observer Effect".

I also suggest that you go to NPR and listen to the recent interview with physicist Michio Kaku. Instead of a universe, there maybe millions of multiverses in simultaneous existence, each of which has version of you living out a million different lives.

Brace yourself for some major breakthroughs over the next few years on the universe or multiverse we find ourselves in.

Oh my gosh! I was just watching and reading about this yesterday! All this stuff about M Theory and the multiverse and how gravity is either leaking from here to there or from there to here. And how they are theorizing that the Big Bang occurred when two universes collided. I then tried to look it up and read about it, but it made my brain fry. Anyway, these were not 'fake' physicists, these were the real deal and the stuff they were saying makes the LOA look mundane.

[renie408]

Another thing that I hate to say is very squishy scientifically are the water things. You know, where they tape words to water bottles and the water changes? I was all about that until I did some reading. Google really is your friend.

[dor]

Originally Posted by renie408

Oh my gosh! I was just watching and reading about this yesterday! All this stuff about M Theory and the multiverse and how gravity is either leaking from here to there or from there to here. And how they are theorizing that the Big Bang occurred when two universes collided. I then tried to look it up and read about it, but it made my brain fry. Anyway, these were not 'fake' physicists, these were the real deal and the stuff they were saying makes the LOA look mundane.

I think the original poster was referring to people who don't understand quantum theory (and I don't pretend to know anything beyond reading popular science books about it) misusing or just tossing in the word 'quantom' without really knowing what they are talking about, simply because its a buzzword. And like the fictitious Yale study, they start referencing one another.

no one, even the author in my post, discounts mental attitude, visualization, goals, ect...we're talking about people who are making claims and not backing them up - snake oil salesmen.

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by renie408

Another thing that I hate to say is very squishy scientifically are the water things. You know, where they tape words to water bottles and the water changes? I was all about that until I did some reading. Google really is your friend.

That stuff is BS.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Antiventurecapital

Don't be too quick to dismiss these references. Look up "Observer Effect".

I also suggest that you go to NPR and listen to the recent interview with physicist Michio Kaku. Instead of a universe, there maybe millions of multiverses in simultaneous existence, each of which has version of you living out a million different lives.

Brace yourself for some major breakthroughs over the next few years on the universe or multiverse we find ourselves in.

I don't disbelieve quantum physics--and I also find it useful as a metaphor--but when people who throw it around as a term without understanding what it means, it's a red flag to me. It often comes off as hocus-pocus double-talk to dazzle the folks in Podunk. "Ohh! quantum physics!"

My best friend has a doctorate in physics from Johns Hopkins and the mis-use of the term, and misappropriation of the concepts, by layfolk and new age gurus really drives him nuts.

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I don't disbelieve quantum physics--and I also find it useful as a metaphor--but when people who throw it around as a term without understanding what it means, it's a red flag to me. It often comes off as hocus-pocus double-talk to dazzle the folks in Podunk. "Ohh! quantum physics!"

My best friend has a doctorate in physics from Johns Hopkins and the mis-use of the term, and misappropriation of the concepts, by layfolk and new age gurus really drives him nuts.

This is why I avoid talking about it. I have no training in the field. However, the two Kaku interviews I link to above are well worth listening to. I would suggest beginning with the shorter BBC one. Then if you want more after listening to both, read his latest book Parallel Worlds, as I'm currently doing.

[dor]

Originally Posted by renie408

Another thing that I hate to say is very squishy scientifically are the water things. You know, where they tape words to water bottles and the water changes? I was all about that until I did some reading. Google really is your friend.

That's why I always say - I believe in God, but my faith doesn't rest on crying saint statues- I believed before, will believe after - its not a condition of my faith. Regarding the power of visualization - we may not know how all of it works, but I believe it does and my belief doesn't rest on the some water molecule art project by some "Dr" who got his 'doctrate' at a diploma mill.

ANYTHING that requires faith is potential for charaltons and hustlers - I don't care if a new age guru makes claims without backing them up unless they start talking about studies or science....then they have crossed the line between religion /spirituality and science....then they must back up their claims if they do not or make false claims like the water molecule guy then its bad for your belief...

[renie408]

Originally Posted by dor

I think the original poster was referring to people who don't understand quantum theory (and I don't pretend to know anything beyond reading popular science books about it) misusing or just tossing in the word 'quantom' without really knowing what they are talking about, simply because its a buzzword. And like the fictitious Yale study, they start referencing one another.

no one, even the author in my post, discounts mental attitude, visualization, goals, ect...we're talking about people who are making claims and not backing them up - snake oil salesmen.

Oh, sorry, I know what you are saying. I threw this in because I was startled to see a reference to something I had just heard about for the first time yesterday and was reading about last night. I didn't mean to sound like I was commenting on your post. Sorry.

[renie408]

Originally Posted by dor

That's why I always say - I believe in God, but my faith doesn't rest on crying saint statues- I believed before, will believe after - its not a condition of my faith. Regarding the power of visualization - we may not know how all of it works, but I believe it does and my belief doesn't rest on the some water molecule art project by some "Dr" who got his 'doctrate' at a diploma mill.

ANYTHING that requires faith is potential for charaltons and hustlers - I don't care if a new age guru makes claims without backing them up unless they start talking about studies or science....then they have crossed the line between religion /spirituality and science....then they must back up their claims if they do not or make false claims like the water molecule guy then its bad for your belief...

Amen. I am used to posting on boards where you had better not say it is Wednesday without five citations to back it up and if one of them was Wikipedia, you would be laughed off the board. It is kind of refreshing to be here where you do not constantly have somebody saying, "Can you cite that??" all the time. But it does allow for some pretty iffy stuff to get thrown around. Though I believe in the LOA, I also get put off by obviously 'fake' science that isn't backed up.

[dor]

Originally Posted by renie408

Oh, sorry, I know what you are saying. I threw this in because I was startled to see a reference to something I had just heard about for the first time yesterday and was reading about last night. I didn't mean to sound like I was commenting on your post. Sorry.

no problem I didn't think you were -
As i said, there are some truths in all of this.... what my post and the comment about quantum physics refers to is people misusing terms and well, selling snake oil
I am not at all saying there isn't /aren't some incredible theries about the universe coming from people who actually have done some research and actually thought about it. its when some one like James Ray tosses the phrase around.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by dor

no one, even the author in my post, discounts mental attitude, visualization, goals, ect...we're talking about people who are making claims and not backing them up - snake oil salesmen.

Well, strictly speaking, a snake oil salesman and some entities that Dor might have in mind list DO back up their claims, it's just that it's up to the buyer to believe, disbelieve, or disregard that back-up.

Thank you, Dor and Velvet, for your concern that the rest of us avoid being duped by charlatans.

[dor]

Here is an example:

4. They tell you about the Yale Study of Goals. It’s a great story. The 1953 graduating class at Yale was interviewed. Only 3% had written specific written goals for their futures. Twenty years later, that 3% was found to be worth more financially than the other 97% combined. There’s only one problem. This study was never conducted. Get more on the fictitious Yale Study of Goals here.

If Your Goal Is Success, Don't Consult These Gurus | Printer-friendly version
The repertoire of consultants, trainers, and motivational speakers, nothing comes before the power of setting personal goals. And in the annals of personal goal-setting, no story outranks the Yale University Class of 1953.

The story, as told by consultants, goes like this: In 1953, researchers surveyed Yale's graduating seniors to determine how many of them had specific, written goals for their future. The answer: 3%. Twenty years later, researchers polled the surviving members of the Class of 1953 -- and found that the 3% with goals had accumulated more personal financial wealth than the other 97% of the class combined!

It's a consultant's dream anecdote: a vivid Ivy League success story that documents the cause-and-effect relationship between goals and personal success. It's powerful! It's compelling! It's also completely untrue -- as the Fast Company Consultant Debunking Unit (CDU) found out.

......

First stop: consultant Jay Rifenbary's 1995 book, No Excuse!, in which he cites the famous Yale story. Rifenbary couldn't document the study, but his researchers happily confirmed its proliferation across the consultant landscape: "We've attended hundreds of motivational seminars and heard it many times," say Mike and Marjie Markowski.

The CDU turned next to the reigning guru of personal achievement, chisel-jawed infomercial king Anthony Robbins. There, on page 200 of the 34th printing of his best-seller, Unlimited Power, Robbins writes, "The difference in people's abilities to fully tap their personal resources is directly affected by their goals. A study of the 1953 graduates of Yale University ... "

To find Robbins's source, the CDU contacted Robbins Research International (RRI) in La Jolla, California -- only to learn that the files concerning Unlimited Power had "met a disastrous end." RRI referred the CDU to personal effectiveness consultant Brian Tracy, who directed the CDU to the dean of motivational speakers, Zig Ziglar.

Sure enough, in the middle of his best-selling video, Goals, Setting and Achieving Them on Schedule, the evangelical Ziglar drops to his knees and cites -- you guessed it -- the study of the Class of 1953. "Those 3%," preaches Ziglar, "accomplished more than the 97% combined who had not set those goals."

But where had Ziglar found the study? It would be hard to pin down, explained a spokesperson from Ziglar's Dallas headquarters: "Mr. Ziglar is always reading. He reads more than two hours a day!" One possible source -- "Try Tony Robbins."

The study never existed:
Finally the CDU went to Yale for the last word on the Class of 1953. Research Associate Beverly Waters reports that a recent outbreak of articles citing the study in publications as diverse as Dental Economics and Success magazines prompted her to undertake an exhaustive search of Yale alumni archives -- where she found no evidence that such a study had ever been conducted. Says Waters, "We are quite confident that the 'study' did not take place. We suspect it is a myth."

[renie408]

Originally Posted by dor

no problem I didn't think you were -
As i said, there are some truths in all of this.... what my post and the comment about quantum physics refers to is people misusing terms and well, selling snake oil
I am not at all saying there isn't /aren't some incredible theries about the universe coming from people who actually have done some research and actually thought about it. its when some one like James Ray tosses the phrase around.

To play Devil's Advocate here, I don't think you have to BE a physicist or even have an in depth working knowledge of quantam physics or the physics behind the multiverse theory to know that they have applications beyond...What are the applications for this stuff again??? Anyway, Ray isn't a physicist and he isn't dealing with physicists. He only needs a bare bones knowledge to be able to grasp that quantam physics, as it is being promoted by many noted physicists, has implications for the LOA and the world he inhabits. And after all, it is probably pretty heady stuff for some of these guys to FINALLY have ANY kind of scientific basis for the LOA.

[dor]

Originally Posted by renie408

To play Devil's Advocate here, I don't think you have to BE a physicist or even have an in depth working knowledge of quantam physics or the physics behind the multiverse theory to know that they have applications beyond...What are the applications for this stuff again??? Anyway, Ray isn't a physicist and he isn't dealing with physicists. He only needs a bare bones knowledge to be able to grasp that quantam physics, as it is being promoted by many noted physicists, has implications for the LOA and the world he inhabits. And after all, it is probably pretty heady stuff for some of these guys to FINALLY have ANY kind of scientific basis for the LOA.

Yeah, but it appears Ray hasn't even done that. Or studied mythology enough to back up "when you trace the aladdin story to its roots' (or even read a book about mythology)...or his pseudo-spirtual "Jesus the Christ". ...

In the example i gave above of the Yale study, he's just pinching little bits he heard here and there its ciicular referencing "well beckwith said quantom theory proves the LOA" then beckwith says 'Ray said so in his book"

I would take him more seriously if he stuck to what he knew or did some real research. I don't pretend to understand quantom physics beyond popular science books i have read, but if i were to write about it, or speak about it I would use real first hand research and/or say it applies here so it could apply here. I wouldn't make it sound like quatom physicists belief in the LOA.

When I listen to these guys speak and they make references things that I know about and i Know they are off base, how can I take the rest of what they say seriously?

[renie408]

dor, I am not quoting your entire article, but if it bothers you in the PD world, how do you feel about the same thing in 'real life'?? The main stream media does the exact same thing. One runs a story on Nancy Pelosi wanting to use military transport from California to Washington, which is well within her rights and was also offered to her predecessor. By time it wanders from media outlet to media outlet, you have FOX News announcing that Nancy Pelosi wants the biggest army plane available and wants her entire staff and family to have access to it. And the whole thing started with a single misinformed news report which other news outlets referenced without anybody doing any research. It happens all the time, every day.

[dor]

Originally Posted by renie408

dor, I am not quoting your entire article, but if it bothers you in the PD world, how do you feel about the same thing in 'real life'?? .

the same way. that's why we have so many problems - fake WMD , 'they hate our freedom' claims lead to a real war.

[renie408]

Originally Posted by dor

the same way. that's why we have so many problems - fake WMD , 'they hate our freedom' claims lead to a real war.

You traitor.

[dor]

Originally Posted by renie408

You traitor.

The real traitors are the Neocons who lied us into this war. One down:
A Corrupt Endeavor- by Justin Raimondo

many to go.

[renie408]

Originally Posted by dor

The real traitors are the Neocons who lied us into this war. One down:
A Corrupt Endeavor- by Justin Raimondo

many to go.

You are SO preaching to the choir on that one.

[dor]

Originally Posted by renie408

You are SO preaching to the choir on that one.

Let's hope our song is heard from coast to coast

back to the original link
"Positive Psychology": The Science of Success vs. Self-Help Snake Oil

I looked around on this guy's site he has a lot of good free articles and again what i like is that when he cites a study, its a real study

[ÜberDan]

lmao at this one too... had to leave the office

They would say things like, "Jim is being really quiet today," or "Sally isn't really moving or breathing anymore."

[Zombie]

Straight up - a very reliable litmus test of whether someone is trying to sell you snake-oil is if they use what direct marketers call "long copy".

You've all seen it a million times by now, the ultra-long web page that just goes on and on with promises of success beyond your wildest dreams with lots of links the "get me started on the path to riches right now!!!!!" and testomonials from people like "Mike H." and "Sally J.". *cough* If you click the image at the top left of your browser you'll see the the type of page I'm talking about *cough*

Long copy is specifically designed by marketers to snag as many rubes as possible. There are whole libraries of resources on how the write the stuff and it's all written with a "this is the way to best sucker them" attitude. Avoid at all costs.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Zombie

Straight up - a very reliable litmus test of whether someone is trying to sell you snake-oil is if they use what direct marketers call "long copy".

You've all seen it a million times by now, the ultra-long web page that just goes on and on with promises of success beyond your wildest dreams with lots of links the "get me started on the path to riches right now!!!!!" and testomonials from people like "Mike H." and "Sally J.". *cough* If you click the image at the top left of your browser you'll see the the type of page I'm talking about *cough*

Long copy is specifically designed by marketers to snag as many rubes as possible. There are whole libraries of resources on how the write the stuff and it's all written with a "this is the way to best sucker them" attitude. Avoid at all costs.

that *cough* *cough* certain person struck me as having a very very superficial knowledge (and sometimes not even that) when speaking on Oprah and the Secret.