Exposing the Biggest Self-Help Scam in History

The gist

1. Manson says Carnegie biographer David Nasaw found no record of Hill in Carnegie's papers, and Hill only claimed the meeting after Carnegie died in 1919.
2. Manson credits Hill's best ideas: specific written goals with deadlines, persistence, mastermind groups and specialized knowledge, citing research that specific goals improve performance by at least 16%.
3. He dismisses the chapters on sex transmutation, the brain as a thought broadcasting station, and the sixth sense as nonsense with no scientific basis.
4. Manson argues much self-help works like a placebo: believing you can succeed changes your expectations and behavior, which changes your outcomes.
5. Drawing on William James and Derek Sivers, Manson defends useful, not true beliefs, but says Hill crossed a line because the book's authority rests on his lies.