I've been seeing a lot of the books for Dummies here lately and it really makes me wonder why someone would ever publish such a name. Even more curious is why someone would buy such a book that would downgrade them personally.
Think about it. Really. If you wouldn't call yourself stupid, why would you ever call yourself a dummy. Now I am sure there are those out there who wouldn't consider a book for dummies as downgrading yourself.. Plus there are those who just don't care one way or another... BUT, I for one am actually tired of seeing books labeling others in a downgrading manner. It's been really bugging me lately and the more I see those damn books, the more irritated I get. To me it's teaching our kids to say it's okay to teach someone that they're a dummy..that they're stupid. Maybe those who write such a book should take a good look at themselves and wonder who's the real dummy.
Okay, just me rambling and a pet peeve that I have. Sorry.
I can see where you're coming from but to my mind these books encourage, rather than discourage, people to learn. I look upon them as accessible text books. Many text books I've read have expected me to rise to the challenge and they can be off-putting, they use a language style that just makes me want to go to sleep. The For Dummies books describe things in plain English; they don’t assume I know things and they don’t waffle on. The one I used the most was Microsoft VBA for Dummies and it was an excellent teaching aid. It's not the only book I have on Visual Basic for Applications, I have some very heavy ones, but it's a great book for keeping it real. I'm far from being a dummy (I used to write databases for a living) but I'm a practical person too; a trimmed-down book like this saves me time.
ReplyDeleteSheesh, brag more. I just read the book, "Making Insane Writers Fall in Love with You: For Dummies", its a good read. <3
ReplyDeleteI was making the "brag more" comment to Mr database. by the way
ReplyDeleteHi Jim. Great point. I like the books information inside and you're right... They do simplify things. I guess it's just the title that gets to me. I am glad you are able to find them useful!
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