Where there's an open storefront, there will always be grifts running.

My sister almost got caught in this, because, bless her heart, she wants to get rich quick. That's mainly who they're targeting, not people willing to do the hard work.

Whether the course is worth the money or they live up to their promises entirely is one discussion ... but they're mainly just saying "create a publishing company" and trying to automate/outsource as much of that work as possible. If people want to do that, go for it, but I expect most will simply lose more money, and it's by no means a "passive" income, even if it works.

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It is commonly said that the subconscious mind takes everything literally.
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I also heard that. If you watch a movie where a character has cancer or other life-threatening disease your subconscious will believe it to be true and your body will respond accordingly. I'm now circumspect about what I watch and read. 

I can't write about a character being cruel to animals, or other things that might upset me.

I have fallen for the MC in one of my books, and visualised who would play him if it was a movie. 

Interesting article.
https://www.vox.com/culture/24128560/amazon-trash-ebooks-mikkelsen-twins-ai-publishing-academy-scam

When my research leans into darker topics like poisons or murder or other dark alley stuff, I use incognito mode so it won't affect my Google algorithms, which of course are pristine. (I once mentioned this to someone who told me I was kidding myself. Google knows all.)

I agree. I have very tender feelings for my characters. After writing multiple books in one series, I have trouble remembering that my favorite continuing character in those books is not a real person. And that the town I invented does not exist, either.

It is commonly said that the subconscious mind takes everything literally. I'm not sure how anyone can determine that, but it is at the very least a commonly held belief. Among other things, that means that the subconscious mind can't distinguish real life from fiction. The subconscious mind also works on an emotional basis. Whatever logic we have comes from the conscious mind.

This is one reason we can have strong emotional responses to literature and film. The subconscious believes what we read and what we see.

Of course, consciously, we can distinguish (or we'd be in a lot of trouble). But subconsciously we can't. I'll go a step further and say that creative people leverage the subconscious as part of our creative process.

What does all that mean? Good writers are emotionally connected to their characters. I'm not sure we can create very well without such a connection.