How can anyone be stupid enough to believe the Secret

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2007-07-14 08:22am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_%282006_film%29

Ok I first heard about this crap after reading a financial column. Essentially the author was lambasting the secret. Article found here

To cut a long story short, the secret is a self help book / dvd which utilises new age mysticism as its marketing angle. It advocates the "Law of attraction", ie you think of something and it becomes yours if you think hard enough. Now people might wonder why we don't just think of a million bucks and it lands on our laps, while you see, you clearly don't want it enough. Yes its really our fault.

Now the film has teachers who include "professionals" including physicists , because quantum mechanics really supports the laws of attraction, oh yes it does.

Of course some of these professionals, were taken out of context (I advise reading the whole article).

Now I am seeing the Secret books in widely in multiple book shops and it irks me that a man who was broke only 12 years ago with lots of debt can suddenly become a millionaire by becoming one of the "secret teachers" by perpetrating this fraud.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-07-14 08:25am

It's really just those 'pay me to tell you that the quick way to get rich is to get people to pay you to tell them the quick way to get rich' guys, but with a da Vinci code spin. I love the marketing: it's a thousand-year old secret - so secret, in fact, that they advertise! The whole thing emphasises the personalisation: you're not looking at an ad, you're being selected!

Post by **Surlethe** » 2007-07-14 08:42am

mr friendly guy wrote:Now people might wonder why we don't just think of a million bucks and it lands on our laps, while you see, you clearly don't want it enough. Yes its really our fault.

Hey, looks like this absorbed a tenet of Christian doctrine! It's the age-old tenet of marketing: create a need, and then sell your product.

So is this what the American Dream has become? "Seek, Believe, Receive?" What happened to elbow grease, discipline, and perserverence?

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2007-07-14 08:51am

Surlethe wrote:So is this what the American Dream has become? "Seek, Believe, Receive?" What happened to elbow grease, discipline, and perserverence?

[full on whine]But those are hard to do. Why should we have to do all that when we can just get what we want nooowwww....[/whine]

Walsh · Post by **Walsh** » 2007-07-14 09:10am

I first saw it in a Chaser segment. We really are a retarded species.

Twoyboy · Post by **Twoyboy** » 2007-07-14 09:29am

Walsh wrote:I first saw it in a Chaser segment. We really are a retarded species.

That was absolute gold! Just as good was when Oprah had to rescind some of her support. After giving an entire prime-time special on The Secret, the next week a lady said (on the show I think) that she was not going to proceed with her chemotherapy as she could just will herself better. Oprah had to talk pretty fast.

But I can't seem to find a clip of it.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-07-14 09:32am

I think it's brilliant. More than that, The Secret is a work of pure genius. Someone has actually managed to sell precisely *nothing*. He's peddling thin air. I mean, I've seen my share of psychic crystals and magic herbs on midnight infomercials, but they don't even come close to the elegant simplicity of The Secret.

It's perfectly tailored to it's public, I don't think it could have been done any better. Find a group of people who want everything for nothing, a group that has been indoctrinated by their society and media to want everything now at zero cost, then confirm to them what they've always known deep inside: you are entitled to have everything you desire, you only need to want it; failing to get it is caused by not wanting it enough; doubting the Secret will drive what you desire away; and you're not even allowed to think about why you don't have whatever you want, because those bad thoughts are counter-productive...and may make you question The Secret.

It's the 21st century cousin of alchemy, but without the effort. It's wishing upon a star, rubbing a lamp and breaking a chicken bone all rolled into one neat, profitable package, powered by undiluted gullibility. The conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo are just icing on the cake. I almost wish I'd come up with it...

Lord of the Abyss · Post by **Lord of the Abyss** » 2007-07-14 09:37am

Sounds like a New Age version of propsperity theology; just have enough faith and you'll get rich. You don't get rich; you didn't pray hard enough, or send enough money to the Church.

Lord of the Abyss · Post by **Lord of the Abyss** » 2007-07-14 09:38am

Ghetto edit : prosperity theology.

Twoyboy · Post by **Twoyboy** » 2007-07-14 09:43am

Bounty wrote:I almost wish I'd come up with it...

Yes, I've often thought of joining the dark side and coming up with an idea to fleece idiots. The only thing stopping me (other than morals) is my maniacal laughter.

"Yes, you can have everything you want for nothing. Bwahahahaha... I mean, er..."

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-07-14 09:50am

Lord of the Abyss wrote:Sounds like a New Age version of propsperity theology; just have enough faith and you'll get rich. You don't get rich; you didn't pray hard enough, or send enough money to the Church.

As stated by the minister in the second OP article:

Thomas says Byrne takes New Testament theology out of context and morphs it into what he calls "prosperity theology". "She is not the first to do this; it's been all over TV for years. Lots of Christian televangelists have built empires on this line of thinking," he says. "When we ask God to do something it is consistent with what God wants to occur on Earth; it is not a personal indulgence. He is not a cosmic Santa Claus."

TithonusSyndrome · Post by **TithonusSyndrome** » 2007-07-14 12:28pm

I often wonder where the line between huckster and full-on moron who really, genuinely believes in this bullshit lies. I'm not convinced it's entirely one or the other; obviously a woman like Momma Teresa is a little more towards the fucked-in-the-head end of the spectrum, but allowed that to feed into the con-woman end of things, which I'm sure she acknowledged periodically, if only in a fleeting way that her "faith" swiftly washed out of her mind.

Zixinus · Post by **Zixinus** » 2007-07-14 12:36pm

Am I the only one not surprised by this? What's the worst, is that the guy actually became a millionaire.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2007-07-14 01:48pm

My brother often follows that line of thinking--that if you wish for something hard enough it becomes reality without doing any work.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » 2007-07-14 01:59pm

Earlier generations had the Pet Rock, and it was good.

We have this style over substance fallacy called "The Secret." And there was wincing.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2007-07-14 08:21pm

rhoenix wrote:Earlier generations had the Pet Rock, and it was good.

We have this style over substance fallacy called "The Secret." And there was wincing.

Say what you want about the pet rock, but I can guarantee you that in the history of the multi-verse, the pet rock never got pissed off and took a crap in their masters shoe.

Plus, the pet rock is useful. You can throw it at the heads of people who try to get you to buy 'The Secret'.

B5B7 · Post by **B5B7** » 2007-07-14 11:01pm

The Sunday newspaper here has an article about "The Secret" today. The introduction says Rhonda Byrne (the Australian author/"founder" of "The Secret") has been named one of Time magazine's "most influential people of 2007". This is very retarded - what do they consider influential?

The article mentions also that David Schirmer, a motivational speaker mentioned in the book, is under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Apparently the author was inspired to write her book after her daughter Hailey gave her a copy of Wallace D. Wattles' "The Science of Getting Rich".
This is typical of how these books feed off each other.
It's 'pop psychology', and there is a huge industry in 'motivational training' which covers a broad spectrum from 'legitimate' to outride con.

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2007-07-14 11:03pm

Stark wrote:It's really just those 'pay me to tell you that the quick way to get rich is to get people to pay you to tell them the quick way to get rich' guys, but with a da Vinci code spin. I love the marketing: it's a thousand-year old secret - so secret, in fact, that they advertise! The whole thing emphasises the personalisation: you're not looking at an ad, you're being selected!

Not to mention that if had a method to make my dreams come true as great as the Secret, I wouldn't be selling it to the public for a mere $16.95.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2007-07-15 01:53am

Definitely. In fact, if you had a secret that good, why would you even need to sell it? Couldn't you simply will the money you wanted all to yourself, without having to market the idea?

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2007-07-15 01:59am

People are stupid enough to believe anything, especially if you wrap it up into religion.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2007-07-15 03:00am

I wish I was enough of a sociopath to write a bunch of bullshit and sell it to the uneducated masses as a way of improving their lives... Well, not really.

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2007-07-15 03:19am

Well I can write something about how to achieve your desires. Usually something along the lines of

a) you need money
b) to get the money spend less than you earn
c) compound interest and invest excess cash

But that sounds like too much hard work. Its much easier to simply ask, believe and magically receive it. People want things but aren't willing to actually work for it, so they settle for just believing really, really hard for it instead.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2007-07-15 03:29am

mr friendly guy wrote:Well I can write something about how to achieve your desires. Usually something along the lines of

a) you need money
b) to get the money spend less than you earn
c) compound interest and invest excess cash

But that sounds like too much hard work. Its much easier to simply ask, believe and magically receive it. People want things but aren't willing to actually work for it, so they settle for just believing really, really hard for it instead.

It's more insidious than that, though. Because when they believe and believe with all their hearts and still don't get what they want, well then, they must not have believed hard enough...

Sam Or I · Post by **Sam Or I** » 2007-07-15 04:11am

I am sure it slightly works, basic human psychology of setting goals. If you keep your goal in mind more often, the more you pay attention to what needs to be done to obtain it.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-07-15 04:42am

Sam Or I wrote:I am sure it slightly works, basic human psychology of setting goals. If you keep your goal in mind more often, the more you pay attention to what needs to be done to obtain it.

The Secret really doesn't do anything other than take older pop psychology lessons (which kinda worked because they are so bloody obvious) and leave out the second-to-last step, the only one that requires effort.

It goes from

- Know what you want
- Visualise that achievement
- Use that positive energy to attain it
- Get it

To

- Know what you want
- Visualise that achievement
- Get it

Simple, no?