MJ DeMarco
I followed the science; all I found was money.
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Not a fan of Chomsky, but he once said this...
The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.
That said, if your entire worldview is only shaped by curated best-seller lists that every Tom, Dick, and Harry recommends, you're not receiving a broad spectrum of intelligence or experience, moreover, you're not getting a diverse viewpoint -- you're kept contained in what that big-media gatekeeper's deem as acceptable reading material.
I say this because none of my books have EVER reached any best-seller list. Yet, they have sold more than most books found on best-seller lists. I've had ZERO media help (or I should say, "hype").
In other words, if you only read curated best-sellers, you would have NEVER come across my work. You're likely missing out of other authors who have some valuable things to say, but such things don't meet the media muster to enjoy billions in free publicity. Such books won't be featured on Yahoo Finance or Money Magazine, simply because they fall outside of the "spectrum of acceptable opinion."
I say this because recently within the Unscripted Text Network I asked people to share their most impactful books that ARE NOT best-sellers.
I asked for books that NO ONE recommends, but should be.
I asked for books that aren't hyped on the NY Times' Best Seller lists, on popular finance websites, or other mainstream media outlets.
Sadly few people could respond with any books that met this requirement.
In other words, they don't read ANYTHING except what has been pre-approved by a mainstream consensus.
Instead, many folks responded with the typical blend of books that EVERYONE has heard of, EVERYONE has already recommended, and EVERYONE has seen "advertised" on popular media outlets. If your response to this question is "Think and Grow Rich," "Greenlights," "Atomic Habits," or "Can't Hurt Me" (or any other book with TENS of THOUSANDS of reviews)-- sorry, you've been BOXED into a "spectrum of acceptable opinion". It was both shocking and sad to see.
I'm not suggesting that you stop reading books that appear on the big best-seller lists.
I'm suggesting you need to broaden your horizons and start reading different viewpoints, viewpoints that aren't publicized on the front page of Marketwatch, or recommended by your friend who last recommended Rich Dad Poor Dad and Principles by Ray Dalio.
That said, to many of the people who DID respond with some great underexposed, underground books, I will post the results of survey before the end of the month. Really had some great responses and I will likely need to live to 120 to read them all.
The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.
That said, if your entire worldview is only shaped by curated best-seller lists that every Tom, Dick, and Harry recommends, you're not receiving a broad spectrum of intelligence or experience, moreover, you're not getting a diverse viewpoint -- you're kept contained in what that big-media gatekeeper's deem as acceptable reading material.
I say this because none of my books have EVER reached any best-seller list. Yet, they have sold more than most books found on best-seller lists. I've had ZERO media help (or I should say, "hype").
In other words, if you only read curated best-sellers, you would have NEVER come across my work. You're likely missing out of other authors who have some valuable things to say, but such things don't meet the media muster to enjoy billions in free publicity. Such books won't be featured on Yahoo Finance or Money Magazine, simply because they fall outside of the "spectrum of acceptable opinion."
I say this because recently within the Unscripted Text Network I asked people to share their most impactful books that ARE NOT best-sellers.
I asked for books that NO ONE recommends, but should be.
I asked for books that aren't hyped on the NY Times' Best Seller lists, on popular finance websites, or other mainstream media outlets.
Sadly few people could respond with any books that met this requirement.
In other words, they don't read ANYTHING except what has been pre-approved by a mainstream consensus.
Instead, many folks responded with the typical blend of books that EVERYONE has heard of, EVERYONE has already recommended, and EVERYONE has seen "advertised" on popular media outlets. If your response to this question is "Think and Grow Rich," "Greenlights," "Atomic Habits," or "Can't Hurt Me" (or any other book with TENS of THOUSANDS of reviews)-- sorry, you've been BOXED into a "spectrum of acceptable opinion". It was both shocking and sad to see.
I'm not suggesting that you stop reading books that appear on the big best-seller lists.
I'm suggesting you need to broaden your horizons and start reading different viewpoints, viewpoints that aren't publicized on the front page of Marketwatch, or recommended by your friend who last recommended Rich Dad Poor Dad and Principles by Ray Dalio.
That said, to many of the people who DID respond with some great underexposed, underground books, I will post the results of survey before the end of the month. Really had some great responses and I will likely need to live to 120 to read them all.
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