It’s a common complaint that self-help books only give high-level advice and never explain specifically how to implement these changes.

But the whole thing with wisdom is that you can’t prescribe a one-size-fits-all method of application. Good wisdom applies to so many different situations, in so many ways, that going through every possibility would... See more

A good corollary here is that old self-help tends to be better, because

1. Wisdom tends to be stable over time


2. Pseudoknowledge is eventually exposed

The stuff in, say, Angela Duckworth’s Grit is wisdom. You can tell because

1. It’s incredibly easy to understand—e.g. “sticking with long-term goals improves life outcomes”


2. But very difficult to apply to real life