Each series has over one hundred titles. Some of the titles could appeal only to idiots and dummies, such as The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Perfect Marriage or The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Titanic.

Some titles would seem to be actually helpful to idiots and dummies: The Complete Idiot’s Guide (TCIG) to Managing Your Money, TCIG to Breaking Bad Habits, TCIG to Eating Smart, TCIG to Getting Along With Difficult People, TCIG to Organizing Your Life and Everyday Math For Dummies (FD), Success FD, Sex FD, and Cool Careers FD. Some of these titles seem beyond the scope of mere mortals, not to mention idiots and dummies: TCIG to Creating an Html 4 Web Page, TCIG to Great Customer Service, and KDE For Linux® FD, or Object-Oriented Programming FD.

Would you want to study under someone whose qualifications were having read Coaching & Mentoring For Dummies or TCIG to Yoga? Well, be prepared. It is just possible that you are getting a psychic reading or a metaphysical consultation from someone who has studied The Complete Idiot's Guide to Astrology, Astrology for Dummies, TCIG to Dream Interpretation, or TCIG to Tarot and Fortune Telling. You may be receiving healing from someone whose training text was Alternative Healing FD, Aromatherapy FD, Herbal Remedies FD,. or Massage FD. Soon you will be able to help your child with TCIG to Spirituality for Teenagers.

These latter titles should suggest that topics within the "New Age" genre have mainstream appeal, at least to the dummies and idiots in the crowd. But what is especially surprising is that these books are of generally good quality, often written by recognized experts in the field. They actually do make good texts. In fact, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Tarot and Fortune Telling is one of the textbooks used in the Edgar Cayce Insitute of Intuitive Studies home study course, "Divination: Intuition and Synchronicity." The book, Meditation for Dummies, would be a useful text for a course on that subject. Idiots and Dummies are getting a good education on these topics.

To take one example in a bit more depth, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Near-Death Experiences, by P.M.H. Atwater is an excellent book. Written by one of the leading experts in the field, someone who has written articles on the subject for Venture Inward, her Idiot’s Guide is considered by reviewers to be perhaps the best and certainly most exhaustive text on the subject of near-death experiences (NDE). It’s certainly not what you’d expect from a book for idiots.

Atwater’s book, readable for sure, and with the usual cartoons and graphics that are a trademark of the Idiot’s Guide series, contains the type of information you’d expect: a history of NDE, research on NDE, interpretations of NDE and the after-effects of NDE. But her book goes beyond the expected. She has presented a survey of what the religions of the world have to say about NDE and the afterlife. She also gives helpful advice on how to deal with your own NDE or that of a loved one or friend. She also includes material that you would not expect in a guidebook for idiots or dummies: She confronts the stereotypes about NDEs, such as the presumption that they are all alike; for example, that not everyone experiences going through a tunnel. She talks about the controversies surrounding the research on NDE and presents arguments on both sides of the fence regarding various interpretations of the meaning of NDE. She reveals the less discussed aspect of NDE, namely that they are not always positive and some people are worse off for having had them. She even discusses the intellectually challenging ideas from philosophy of science about objective versus subjective reality. Many of the ideas she presents challenges us to be comfortable with ambiguity, to explore details and complexities, and to withhold judgment. These are not the attributes of a book aimed at idiots and dummies. About the only thing Atwater does not present in the book, something that real idiots and dummies would probably want to know, is how to go about having a near death experience. You’d expect a book on NDE for dummies would discuss bungee jumping, self-asphyxiation, and flat-lining, but she intelligently stays away from these topics.

Such books raise the consciousness of idiots and dummies everywhere. The rest of us would profit from such an education ourselves.