Guru Ratings
Richard Bandler
Bad.
Remember my ratings criteria. I’m not judging these gurus on “global” or moral values, but very specific criteria. Many of my favorite books would be rated “bad” by my criteria for self-help (probably, because they are not self-help books). My ratings don’t reflect how well an author met his own goals, but how well they met my criteria for useful, accurate self-help.
Bandler invented neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). It’s a set of techniques to program one’s brain for success.
For 40 years, NLP has failed to find scientific support. Bandler makes huge, unfulfilled claims.
The National Academy of Sciences investigated NLP. They wrote:
. . .studies fail to provide an empirical base of support for NLP assumptions . . . or NLP effectiveness . . . the proprietors, purveyors, and practitioners of NLP are not experimentalists and are not interested in conducting such studies . . .
See NLP and Science.
Bandler wrote a few layman’s books on NLP. They were never as popular as Tony Robbins’ NLP charades.