Do *you* know the Secret?

[Loredoctor]

It's been so long I don't even see the connection.

Spoiler

Everyone reads Sutter Kane's books, and reality shifts. The ending is very bleak.

[SoulQuest1970]

I saw it long before we got a copy of it. We didn't buy it. We thought about getting a copy and lo and behold... a copy appeared lol.

Go figure.

[iQuestor]

the harder you work, the luckier you get.

[balon!]

I had it in my hands from someone how let me borrow it. Read the back. Gave it back.

[Raen]

The secretary from work lent me the video and I could not watch past the first few minutes of it. I agree its for the Oprah crowd. Its small steps for those who have never had time to think about philosophy. Hollywood is apparently loving it. Making people think is better than nothing I guess. What a brilliant marketing tool though, using it as if a secret is out there no one knows about unless you pay money to watch the CD in order to learn what it is.

[The Laughing Man]

And I dunno...maybe if everybody believed you could, you'd be able to?

--A

If there's consensus to grow wings then there'll be flight. With consensus comes mass; with mass there will be movement.

[Avatar]

the harder you work, the luckier you get.

Damn straight.

I wouldn't put it quite in those terms Esmer, but I agree with the principle. Reality as a subconscious consensus.

--A

[Lord Mhoram]

I haven't read this whole thread, but my mom recently tried to read The Secret, but put it down after getting about halfway through it. She hated it. So I have a fair amount to say about it. I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but the basic principle of the secret (Good things happen to good people; bad things happen to people with deficient thought processes) is in my opinion extremely dangerous. If we were all to adopt this point of view, the mentally ill, for example, would be responsible for their fate. A ridiculously impoverished African boy with no means of economic betterment just simply doesn't want success enough. He doesn't have "enough gratitude." Jews killed in the Holocaust? "Their actions weren't in accordance with their thoughts." Tough luck, guys (the latter is an actual quote, though not in reference to Holocaust victims. I just applied the principle to something else. I don't see why it shouldn't work from the POV of the author). See what I mean? It's absurd.

It's one thing to preach positive thinking. I'm all for that. In fact there's a lot to be said about psychological mindset and healing, for example. But it's not an absolute by any means, and The Secret presents it as such.

It's also laughable pseudo-philosophy, with a lot of scientific "experts" thrown in as well.

This book is a joke.

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

I totally agree about how dangerous the core philosophy is, and also how ridiculous. But it would do damage to someone with a weak will, who'd never really thought about metaphysics before.

[Edge]

Ya, in many ways it's reminiscent of the 'christian' idea of a sort of gospel of wealth, which is that if you follow god you'll not only receive a place in heaven and stuff, but you'll get a nice car, a nice house, be provided for, etc...

...There's some other term for the above stuff, but I don't remember it.

I assume you're talking about the 'Name It and Claim It' crowd, and yeah, it's practically identical. Same dangers, too: If you don't get what you want/need, it's always your fault, because you don't have enough faith / positive thoughts.

Hey Jem, long time no see!