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The Secret

H

HawaiianPunch

Member
I've been hearing about this thing for some time now. Everytime someone tells me about it they don't say much. But they got this look in their eye and they all say "YOU are going to love this" ...like right up my alley, I guess. Anyway, I finally got my hands on the thing. Is this just another What The Bleep Are We Anyway or some wierd metaphysical change how you think, change how you live things? Am I going to end up joining some strange underground cult? They all tell me it will change my life, but I am not sure I want change. Can anybody enlighten me, or is that the secret?
 
SuperConductor

SuperConductor

Active member
Veteran
So, what is the big Secret?

The Secret is what they call the Law Of Attraction – the idea that you become or attract what you think about the most. Or as one person expressed it:

“Thoughts become things.”

This is presented as a literal truth – a law just like the laws of gravitation. And it is stated that this:

“Always works every time”

Note: always. And every time. No exceptions. It’s a Law, you see.

Examples are given. A man is shown worrying about being late, and so he gets stuck in a traffic jam. Another man is shown locking up his bicycle, presumably because he is worried about it being stolen; he returns later to find it has been stolen. The absurdity of these examples should be obvious. Are we supposed to believe the traffic jam wouldn’t have happened if it were not for this one guy worrying about being late? And what about the other people in the traffic jam? Were they all thinking negative thoughts about being late? Were there no positive-minded people in the area, thinking about being on time? And if there were, doesn’t that debunk the “always works every time” mantra? And what about the guy getting his bike stolen? Are we to assume that if another guy had left an identical unlocked bike at the same location, the bike thief would still have stolen the locked bike of the person worried about theft? Has anyone done a controlled study on this? (Hey, these were the examples used in the film – don’t blame me if they make no sense.)

As with What The Bleep, it is implied that there is science behind these revelations. For example, there was this from the self-proclaimed "visionary" Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith:

"It has been proven scientifically now that an affirmative thought is hundreds of times more powerful than a negative thought."

Really? Proven by which scientists? And written up where? Because I couldn’t find it.
Not a Law

Of course, the basic flaw in all this is that the Law Of Attraction is not a Law like the Law Of Gravitation that they compare it to. Newton’s Law’s can be demonstrated by anyone – drop an object and its acceleration will be exactly as the Law predicts. And this really does “always work every time” – that’s why it’s a Law. The “Law Of Attraction” as they call it just doesn’t work that way. Although having a positive attitude, being confident, believing in your own success etc is a definite advantage, and should be encouraged, having positive thoughts will not send out magic brainwave frequencies that change reality around you. This brainwave “magnetic signature” as one person called it, never goes out, any time. Not in the real world.
Equivocation

As with What the Bleep, you should watch out for equivocation. Expect believers to point out that being positive, confident etc will make people react more positively towards you, will tend to make you more successful etc. And it will. But they are equivocating about a lesser version of The Secret – a lesser version that does not support the “thoughts become things” and “it always works every time” woo version.

The film featured some of the same luminaries as in What the Bleep. I noticed John Hagelin and Fred Alan Wolf. And the “you literally create your day with your thoughts” nonsense is pretty much the same as What The Bleep was trying to sell. It wasn’t in the first 20 minutes, but I’m sure that before the end, quantum mechanics would have been evoked to justify all the mystical conclusions. Unfortunately, Quantum Mechanics, and even the Copenhagen Interpretation, does not say this is the way the universe works.

And that’s no secret.
Click to expand...
http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2007/02/the_secret.html
 
S

Stevius

Member
Watched it.... agreed only in the very first part.....

the rest of it is..... "want-to-live-american-dream-shit"

Just threw it away!
 
Hash Zeppelin

Hash Zeppelin

Ski Bum Rodeo Clown
Premium user
ICMag Donor
Veteran
It is just a videa to help weak people be confident. It sounds like you are not in need of this punch. put it im the trash.
 
Feyd

Feyd

sunshine in a bag
Veteran
isn't this that shit that comes on those late night self motivation infomercials
 
U

ureapwhatusow

saw it at a friends

basically about the laws of attraction and being as if

most of the most succcesful ppl I hae met live that way by nature

its a bit hokey in its delivery

but as far as posative thinking and the benfits from it

it seems to works

could they have condensed it? made it a bit less twilight zone

yeah

people sense positivity and will react favorably to it
 
C

Chamba

I didn't watch it ..but I heard of something along those lines in the 80's

a friend said his brother was into this new type of thinking, it was a course, a new way of re-programming how you think ...he explained it to me like this...for example, when his bro is entering a busy supermarket carpark he has already visualized driving into an empty car parking space. His attitude is not " will i find a space?" or " I bet I won't find a space" or " I hope I find a parking space" etc.
i asked does it work?, my friend said "yeah" and smiled, "it works for my bro."
 
C

Chamba

ten thousand years ago we worshipped things or symbols, then later we worshipped the sun or the moon..then we humans became inspired by great men and years after their death they morphed from legend to became our gods..then later, 2500 ~ 1500 years ago we started believing not in gods, but a "God" or the "God"..now the trend is moving away from omnipresent one to something more tangible and personal for us modern humans, to way of thinking that revolves around the person or "Me".....eventually we will all think we are Gods and are in total control of our destiny...lol..and then won't they be silly, selfish, misguided wankers as well..

I hope they don't knock on my door becasue my feet really do stink and you know the rest of it!

i wonder what comes after a couple of hundred or thousand years of "Me"?

Gawd elp us!
 
iGro4Me

iGro4Me

The Hopeful Protagonist
Veteran
OP...This has been around for along time.....and when properly applied can be extremely useful.

Look up Earl Nightingale - "The Strangest Secret"

"We become what we think about"

LINK
 
S

Stevius

Member
Chamba said:
ten thousand years ago we worshipped things or symbols, then later we worshipped the sun or the moon..then we humans became inspired by great men and years after their death they morphed from legend to became our gods..then later, 2500 ~ 1500 years ago we started believing not in gods, but a "God" or the "God"..now the trend is moving away from omnipresent one to something more tangible and personal for us modern humans, to way of thinking that revolves around the person or "Me".....eventually we will all think we are Gods and are in total control of our destiny...lol..and then won't they be silly, selfish, misguided wankers as well..

I hope they don't knock on my door becasue my feet really do stink and you know the rest of it!

i wonder what comes after a couple of hundred or thousand years of "Me"?

Gawd elp us!
Click to expand...


Good one!
 
T

Trying-to-blend

Member
better off waching zeitgeist...

Now THAT is a life-changing(or affirming, in my case) movie.

I know people that walked out of my classroom crying, and went STRAIGHT to church to talk to their pastor, yet still to this day(a year and a half later) are actively questioning their beliefs and are on the brink of becoming atheists.
 
motaco

motaco

Old School Cottonmouth
Veteran
truly scary shit. Terrifies me how many people believe stuff like this.

I think my favorite part of that stupid movie. I still laugh when I think about it.

Is when the deaf girl is looking at the molecules of water and they have pictures up. Trying to convince you if you pray the thought of "love" over a jar of water and then look at it under a microscope the molecules of water turn into pretty little snowflakes. Neat huh? If you believe anything people tell you it is I guess.
 
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