Are you saying that painters become proficient (even great?) from copying from life? I don't understand what you mean here. I don't believe there has ever been an artist that hasn't been influenced by art, discussed art, and personally known other artists.
To me at least, being human-focused and sensitive enough to be a novelist is contrary to being a web personality selling questionable financial advice... If the research is actually valuable, shouldn't your advice to the novelist be to exploit it directly?