Really interesting perspective, and the sentence above captures the essence of human endeavor. You are correct that so many millions ( billions?) of people are unable to control their environment, but the one thing that humans as a species have done is manipulate the environment. The desire for control is paramount, and that leads us to try to control the people in our lives as well as our environment. The cruel truth is that the illusion of control is just that, and our efforts to control our situation inevitably backfires. Perhaps self help advice is the same, and why the gurus come and go like the wind.