So I bought “The power of your subconscious mind”, being one of the most popular self-help books I was expecting great things from it, anyway I read a few pages and I was instantly disappointed. First of all, the start of the book is very “magic-like”, the way the author talks about your subconscious mind sounds more like a fairy tale than actual science backed facts, and the stories mentioned later in the book make it sound like he actually believes that your subconscious mind is like a genie. For example he mentions a story about a woman that wanted a purse that she couldn’t afford, so she really believed that she would have it and believed in the power of her subconscious mind. Later she got a present from her friend and it turned out to be the purse she wished for, moral of the story: if you really believe in something miracles just might happen to you. Reading the author’s words on this it makes it seem that he believes she got the purse BECAUSE she believed in the power of her subconscious mind, and not because it was a coincidence or the person just somehow figured out what she wanted.
But this wasn’t that bad and I just skipped it thinking the translation was probably stupid (I’m reading the book in my native language) and he really meant to say that you should have a positive mindset because you never know what might happen. After reading a few more pages I came to the section in the second chapter that I assume was supposed to be scientific proof of his theories on the subconscious mind, which he proved with studies on hypnosis and claimed you can make people believe they are dogs or cats and make them play the part, which happens because of your subconscious mind.
To be fair I thought hypnosis wasn’t real in the first place, but after doing a quick google search I found out it is a real thing, however it is not nearly powerful enough to force you to do something you otherwise wouldn’t and you are just more open to suggestions, not full on doing anything you are told (my source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22676-hypnosis). Asking chatgpt real quick gives this result:
“Hypnosis does not possess the power to completely alter a person’s identity or core beliefs. When individuals participate in stage hypnosis shows, they are usually open to the idea of acting in amusing or unconventional ways, and they may go along with the suggestions given by the hypnotist because of the social context or their willingness to entertain.”
This really made me question whether this is a book about actual science backed methods to improve your life or just (and I’m sorry for the language) and old man who’s watched too many magic shows and actually believes in them.
So my question is this: Is the book actually worth reading and are the procedures described here actually effective despite (from my research) the pseudo-science approach.
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PS: If I am wrong and I actually just tried to act all smart-ass when this is all actually credible information then feel free to tell me that I am an idiot.
by Dofke2006