The book placed at eye level receives an advantage that its author did not earn.

Visibility and quality get confused constantly, because from where you stand they look identical. Whatever is at the height your eyes naturally rest gets picked up more, sells more, is recommended more, and then the sales become the reason it is placed there next time. Nothing about the writing caused any of that. The same loop runs in hiring, in feeds, in whose ideas get repeated in meetings.

Go deliberately to the bottom shelf this week, literally or otherwise. Read the thing nobody put in front of you, and notice how much of what you consume was simply well positioned.