Scientific American: Is it fair to expect someone who has written a self-help book to have everything in their life under control?

Wilson: Self-help! I thought I simply wrote a book of popular philosophy. Who, down here on this globe, has everything in their life under control? Like everyone else, I am still experimenting and learning.

As one critic who disapproved of my whole approach pointed out, my only literally “self-help” suggestions are summarized in a few things, such as getting rid of all those plastic bottles you've collected in your bathroom... I am not at all the type who enjoys setting rules for life.

People love rules. If that weren't the case, we wouldn't even have language, nor manners, customs, or forms of art. And they enjoy reading articles and books with rules that promise success in this or that endeavor, such as careers or relationships.