Those of us who succumbed to short cuts have centuries' worth of company. Two and a half millennia ago, Plato saw our tendency to seek the easy way out. "He noted that people would use cosmetics to make themselves look better rather than improve themselves with the efforts of gymnastics," says Elizabeth Asmis, PhD, a classics professor at the University of Chicago.

Not much has changed since, except that our opinions have multiplied. We can trace the American penchant for self-improvement at least partly to our unique history. Our continent was settled by people in a rush to reinvent themselves, and as self-betterment became a national preoccupation, entrepreneurs made fortunes by guaranteeing instant enhancements—often at the expense of their customers' health. Well into the 1930s, patent medicines promised youthful pep and vigor without noting that they contained cocaine; and beauty preparations guaranteed whiter complexions without mentioning that the active ingredients were poisonous lead, sulfur, arsenic or mercury. Today, government regulations try to protect our well-being, but the seductive claims still thrive: A New Body in One Day! Flatter Abs in Five Minutes! Face Lift in a Jar! Fast!! Easy!! Convenient!!