I don't think Tim Ferriss is the issue, nor is the 4 Hour Work Week. I think Tim Ferris chose the title for marketing purposes. I do however, agree that a lot of his followers are looking for too many shortcuts.
>> a lot of his followers are looking for too many shortcuts.
In the old days, people devoted their careers to a company and companies looked out for people. Continuous layoff cycles were rare and long-timers earned pensions. These days there are layoffs in good times and bad. Sometimes layoffs hit entire divisions and even top rated people are let go.
Why the heck would i trust some traditional system and not try to find shortcuts?
That was the impression here too, but I think the truth has been shrouded in nostalgia. I think the truth is that it was just a large growth period (reconstruction, expansion, and population boom after Wii), and there was a lot of demand for workers. When demand for workers is high, and work is prevalent, workers get a really good deal. It was good until the economy changed, but that's why romantacizing it isn't worthwhile. The companies weren't any better, they were just behaving in their own self interest.
"...nor is the 4 Hour Work Week. I think Tim Ferris chose the title for marketing purposes."
He tells this explicitly at the beginning of the book. He tried several names using dummy adverts to gauge click through rates and chose what generated most.
I think the book is honest and comes clean on it's intended goal. It's written in the classic marketing buff style of TV shops worldwide. If one takes it seriously in all of it's claims then that's not really the authors problem.
I agree the followers and not the source is the problem.
Who else was he going to sell to with marketing like that?
It was intentional as you note. Calling it the 25 hour work week, wouldn't have sold very well, and would have attracted less of the shortcut crowd. He deserves appropriate criticism for the pandering, intentionally seeking to sell to that audience, with a fraudulent setup premise; the shortcut followers are his created monster.
