Guru Ratings
Paul Pearsall
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.
A few of Pearsall’s books are just wordy rants of common sense, like Super Marital Sex and Toxic Success.
But most of his books are outrageous nonsense.
I sometimes wonder if self-help gurus play poker in a private Vegas room every other Tuesday, joking about what suckers their readers are.
Here’s what I imagine. One of them announces, “I’m going to sell them the idea that they can, with enough concentration, choose which outcomes manifest from quantum probability fields, and thereby create their own emotional and physiological health.”
Rounds of laughter. “Oh, I can top that,” says another. “I’m publishing a book next month based on Michael Talbot’s The Holographic Universe. I’ll tell them that recent scientific findings suggest our universe is actually a simulation created by someone in a higher dimension, and that they can improve their luck by appealing to the likely biases of such a creature.” More laughter.
(Deepak Chopra already wrote the first example. I expect the second to be written any time now.)
Superimmunity (1988)
Yes, our thoughts affect our health, and vice-versa. Superimmunity goes way beyond that, into nonsense. Pearsall wants you to think you can build a nearly invincible immune system against disease (including cancer!) by thinking happy thoughts and having a good sex life.
Super Marital Sex (1988)
Pearsall says you need an intimate, connected relationship, not sexual techniques. For once, he’s writing common sense, not nonsense. Super Marital Sex is too long, but this might be his least terrible book.
Super Joy (1990)
Super Joy follows a classic formula for self-help bullshit:
- Plant discontent. Pearsall says we shouldn’t be happy with joy, but should chase something he calls “Super Joy.” (Research, actually, recommends the opposite.)
- Offer “scientific” solutions. Pearsall gives 12 principles of “Joyology.” He hints at scientific foundations, but never shows any link between science and his assumptions.
- Offer steps for improvement. Pearsall has 6 vague steps to a remedy: Ineffability, Noesis, Amazement, Joined, Open, and Youth. Did you catch the acronym? Neither did I. It’s “IN A JOY.”
- Self-test. Find your own Joy Quotient! “Score these questions from 1–5, from strongly agree to strongly disagree.” Has Pearsall tested his inventory for validity and reliability? Hell no!
- Offer a program. Pearsall details the application of his Super Joy program to learning, work, love, faith, etc.
I’m not making this up. Super Joy really is that bad.
Making Miracles (1993)
Making Miracles claims “we can all [make miracles happen] because we are at the center of the universe where science and spirit meet.”
Pearsall explains the “science” behind “levitation, traveling through time . . . altering the past, remote viewing, sharing consciousness with animals and plants . . .” etc. An astonishingly dishonest book.
The Pleasure Prescription (1996)
The Pleasure Prescription tries to connect ancient Polynesian models for pleasure with unrelated studies in “psychonueroimmunology” and “psychoneurocardiology.” (Both of those terms have fewer than 150 Google search results.)
It’s an odd mix of science, pseudoscience, and feel-good hype.
The Heart’s Code (1999)
Pearsall says there is wisdom outside the brain, within your soul. Strangely, he says your soul is identical to the blood-pumping muscle we call the heart.
He says memories can be stored within tissue cells, and understanding how all this works is the key to happiness and success. Pearsall actually advances this as a scientific theory, of course without presenting any scientific data. Cellular memory is bullshit.
Toxic Success (2004)
Pearsall spends 300 pages of anecdotes, studies, philosophizing, and preching to say, “Don’t be distracted and strive for more. Mindfully enjoy the good you have already.”
The Last Self-Help Book You’ll Ever Need (2005)
Pearsall attacks “the McMorals of Self Help” as unscientific and dangerous. Pearsall’s slash and burn denial of self-help’s unthinking doctrines may help you to think more critically about them.
But he’s supposed to give advice, too. He spends little time arguing why his ideas are better than “the McMorals of Self Help”, and even less time explaining how they actually work.