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The Secret

andycal

Critical Thinker
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I'm sure I've seen discussed somewhere before, heck I might have even started the thread, but has anyone come across "The Secret"?

Looks a lot like 'What the bleep...'
 
It sounds like the book of this film - it spouts the same "you can create anything you desire" hogwash, even has the same list of famous people who have possessed "TEH SECRET".
The film site lists profiles of the "teachers" who feature in it - "entrepreneur", "visionary", "philosopher", "The Miracle Man", "Investment Trainer", "Financial Strategist", "Fen Shui consultant" etc (along with Bleep favourite John Hagelin). Viewing this list of self-satisfied, wealthy Western New Agers, all repeating some variation of the idea that their mind-training methods will make you rich, gives you a good idea of what the film/book is about.
Which is: Buy this film/book and make us rich.
 
Yep, the networking forum I'm on is advertising the movie with all the same new age claptrap. What really makes my blood boil is that people who are struggling in business are turning up in their droves to watch this nonsense and wasting their money.
 
Well, on even closer investigation it appears that a woman called 'Rhonda Byrne' is involved with it. Looks to be a new-age type, anyone heard of her?
 
I'll save you a ton of money...

Find "Illusions" by Richard Bach in a used bookstore... coupla bucks and the same idea.
 
I watched it online (free at the time, or maybe someone was inappropriately posting codewords). It's about the Law of Attraction. The idea is that you draw to you whatever you are thinking about. If you worry about bad things happening, you are drawing those things to you. If you visualize good things happening, you draw those things to you. Don't just wish for a new car. Imagine all the happy emotions of having the car. Pretend you're driving your new car. Make a bulletin board and stick on it pictures of everything you want in life. Don't think small; it is just as easy for the universe to provide you with a mansion as with a three bedroom house.

If only it were that easy to have what you wanted. And the flip side is, how dire to believe that all bad things happen to people because they have attracted those things to them by their thoughts. Repulsive.
 
Yeah, it seems many people in the network have seen it and they just keep spouting this "it's all about thought" crap.

There's also some guy blessing stones.

It's a bit weird.
 
The strangest thing about all of these is that they are right next door to being correct!

It's certainly true that the way you think about a problem can affect your approach.

Feeling -> Conceptualization -> Approach -> Execution -> Degree of Success

It's not 100% certain that positively imagining riches is a direct road to being rich, but in a general sense, your thoughts can influence your actions.

They seem to step over a line, though, by implying that thought can physically affect the universe by means other than the use of your hands. :boggled: It's too bad that an important message gets overwhelmed by brainless (or perhaps malicious) material that implies the unreal (perhaps in order to generate revenue).
 
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."

Looking again through that list of "Teachers", it's striking how many of them got rich - and stay rich - by telling other people how to get rich. Presumably their most successful students then go on to teach other people the "secret" of getting rich.....
 
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flume said:
I watched it online (free at the time, or maybe someone was inappropriately posting codewords). It's about the Law of Attraction. The idea is that you draw to you whatever you are thinking about. If you worry about bad things happening, you are drawing those things to you. If you visualize good things happening, you draw those things to you. Don't just wish for a new car. Imagine all the happy emotions of having the car. Pretend you're driving your new car. Make a bulletin board and stick on it pictures of everything you want in life. Don't think small; it is just as easy for the universe to provide you with a mansion as with a three bedroom house.

If only it were that easy to have what you wanted. And the flip side is, how dire to believe that all bad things happen to people because they have attracted those things to them by their thoughts. Repulsive.
Click to expand...

It's the same old hits and misses game psychics play. Good and bad things are happening to us all the time. If you worry about bad things happening, you notice the bad things and dismiss the good things. If you focus on positive things, the reverse is true. Our lives aren't changed, just our perceptions of them.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...
 
I could see possible emotional benefits for some people by trying the technique. If you think very specifically about your goals and the steps that need to happen (or in visualizing positively, WILL happen) on the path to success, you may be helping yourself to take those steps. If you are feeling like a winner, you may be happier and more confident with people which may help you succeed. Or at least you will be happier in your current life even with no mansion.

As a nonbeliever, I sometimes feel cheated that the religious people get to feel the comfort of eternal life, not being alone, not losing their loved ones. I don't believe those things actually will happen/are happening for them. But they get the joy of the belief. At that level it's a psychological boost. When I watched the Secret video, it suggested that you try to feel the emotions you would have if you actually had the things you wanted. The goal of the technique was to make those things actually happen. But the side benefit may be that psychological boost.
 
I think a lot of this has a grounding in common sense. I for one write down and visualise my goals. I'm a very goal-oriented person. However, I couple this with working 70 hours a week.

What is dangerous in these sort of films, books, seminars etc. is that they offer a quick fix. "Watch the movie and everything will be fine".
 
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