site banner

Why does advice work so poorly?

greyenlightenment.com
3
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Because fuck you, that's why.

I'm serious. Too much "advice" is given as a command. The link between "advice" and "order" is increasingly blurred. Especially in our current media environment of public/private partnerships to craft information narratives that change behavior society wide. Psyops about having less kids because of the climate crisis, eating less meat because of the climate crisis, not lifting weights because toxic masculinity, I could keep going. And probably the most toxic form of "advice" every young man receives is the state approved messaging about how to date women. They'll probably fail with that for about 10 years at the most before they wake up to the fact that these mother fuckers are lying to them, possibly on purpose.

It hasn't been uncommon in my life for people to give me "advice" and then get really annoyed to angry with me when I proceed to not do it. Usually doesn't help when I tell them "The best part of free advice is I'm free to ignore it". Half the time these people are giving advice that is counter to my goals, but they don't even realize it.

I can't help but be suspect of "advice" anymore. All I see is a demon wearing layers of masks going "...would you kindly..."

Psyops about having less kids because of the climate crisis

This is just propaganda. It's often said in a condescending and accusatory tone, along the line of "do X or you're a bad person". You can recognize this sort of thing by its use of manipulation methods like guilt tripping, instilling fear or insecurity, or making you feel like the world will be against you if refuse. Advice should benefit you and want nothing in return. I find older self-help books (pre-2000) to be rather enjoyable