There are actually interesting implications of this stance that I didn't include in the piece, and that nobody has brought up so far.
Say: someone comes up to you and tells you that he believes in neuro-linguistic programming and it's helped him in his life. How do you react?
Conversation
NLP is scientifically dubious at best. But there are elements of cognitive behavioural therapy in it. So maybe we can give that a pass.
But what about homeopathy? Or tarot card reading?
There are some interesting edge cases here.
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I can see you frowning.
"That's bunk," you say to the tarot card reader.
"But it's helped me!" he replies. You start to argue with him, but he shrugs, hops into his Lambo, and drives off.
According to pragmatism, if it works for him, why not?
Replying to
My only point is that pragmatism has its limits, like any other theory of truth.
But — within sane limits — it's pretty damn effective if you're reading for self improvement.