How to be a person - Dale Carnegie and The Game

http://stuckk.net/post/113903314/how-to-be-a-person-dale-carnegie-and-the-game

by jhust • 17 years ago

20 12 17 years ago

gaius• 17 years ago

This reminds me of vegetarians. There's nothing inherently healthier about the vegetarian diet; you could be a vegetarian and live on nothing but pizza and ice cream. Any health benefits there are come from having to stop and think "can I eat this?" all the time. But anyone can do that on any diet, so long as they form the habit.

grandalf2• 17 years ago

most "vegetarians" are fat, as are most people who eat mostly health food (since it's usually 50% of calories from fat).

The only healthy way to eat is vegan with no more than 10% of calories from fat.

PieSquared• 17 years ago

most "vegetarians" are fat, as are most people who eat mostly health food

As one on a lesser news site might say, pics or it didn't happen.

Or, paraphrased the HN way: Cite sources, please.

ZeroGravitas• 17 years ago

I'm fairly sure I've read research claiming that this effect is a big part of the effectiveness of fad diets i.e. not having two different coloured foods touching or only having carbs if the day of the month is even may be stupid rules but by observing them you have your focus brought to what you're eating.

jhust2• 17 years ago

i agree w/ gaius that this principle extends to other aspects of living. i'm not sure many of the lifehacks are as universally effective/valuable as they are claimed... i think a lot of the benefit gained from reading productivity porn like lifehacker comes from being forced to actually evaluate how you spend your time and energy...

brl2• 17 years ago

> Everyone knows that you should “Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.”

Not everybody knows this. I learned it by reading the book.

jhust2• 17 years ago

point taken. it's possible the issue is more nuanced: some of the benefit comes just from forcing people to be conscientious about how they interact w/ people, and some comes from the specific tips he provides.

brl2• 17 years ago

Yes I would agree as most of the advice in the book is more common sense than groundbreaking. When I got to the part about not telling people "You're wrong" and directly criticizing mistakes I didn't need to be convinced. Rather I immediately realized that I do tend to do this often and I should probably make an effort to do it less.

Before reading the book though, I had never once examined that aspect of my personality and how I interact with others.

citizenparker• 17 years ago

I don't see how the book is "mostly unoriginal" or "the way it helps isn't what you'd expect." I REALLY don't see how this correlates to "The Game" at all, other than they are both self-help books of some kind. Everything you said about The Game could just as easily apply to any other book written about personal interaction.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but if there are connections between these things, I want to see them truly explored with claims that are substantiated (or at least explained).

ahoyhere• 17 years ago

A number of psychological studies have shown that any kind of change in behavior/attention direction - e.g. self-helpy type things - will promote change for the better... for a little while.

The self-attention that all those processes require, the mindfulness, is key. Most of them can work because all of them require attention.

It just doesn't last without dedication is all.

How to be a person - Dale Carnegie and The Game

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