"The Secret" (book)

[Pringle]

OK, so my wife and all of her work buddies all went out and bought "The Secret," which she sheepishly showed me because I had railed about what a sham its pseudo-mysticism was, etc., etc., etc. We got into a little row about it - a playful one, but nonetheless our stances were staked out. But apparently all her work gal pals were giving the whole, "It'll change your life" spiel.

I started flipping through it and was like, "Oh, this sounds real scientific - 'If you send out positive energy, positive energy will find its way back to you.' " And the wife says, "I believe in that! I believe in energy!"

To which I said, "I believe in science."

To me, this latest self-help phenomenon is just someone selling a shortcut that people want to hear rather than, "Work hard and life may or may not work out the way you hope, you never know," which is what they absolutely do not want to hear.

Am I wrong here? This thing is a total scam, right? Sucker born every minute, etc., etc.

And why do people fall for it?

 

[Pastor]

If you think positive and act positive then your outlook on life will be better. You won't be beaten down by the failures that will always come. However, there is no mystic force that will produce good will in return. That is just a bunch of hooy.

 

[21]

'If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid, or because you're not getting laid, or because you wear women's underwear, then you ARE! And you should know that!'

 

[Pringle]

Here's a part I found offensive:

"Often when people first hear this part of the Secret they recall events in history where masses of lives were lost, and they find it incomprehensible that so many people could have attracted themselves to the event. By the law of attraction, they had to be on the same frequency as the event. It doesn't necessarily mean they thought of that exact event, but the frequency of their thoughts matched the frequency of the event. If peeople believe they can be in the wrong places at the wrong time, and they have no control over outside circumstances, those thoughts of fear, separation, and powerlessness, if persistent, can attract them to being in th ewrong places at the wrong time."

Taken to its logical conclusion, and correct me if I'm misreading this ... but this is saying that Columbine, Virginia Tech ... hell, the Holocaust and Rwanda ... were somehow in the hands of the victims? Is this what I'm reading???

There's also a pleasant section that explains that food doesn't make you fat. Your belief that something is fattening makes you fat.

Sickening.

 

[Xsportschick]

People who buy books like these are large consumers of lottery tickets, imho.

My sister bought it -- and a slew of others, mostly hardcover, for her loved ones. She loves me. I'm reading it only so I can explain why, when she first brought up the title, I burst out with, "HOOEY!"

 

[Ace]

What's with the negative energy, Pringle?

Seriously, I don't know about all that, but I do think having a positive outlook helps in a lot of ways.

Also, I always find women who positive about themselves and their looks attractive even if them may not fit the standard of what most guys would find hot.

 

[MartinEnigmatica]

If you really want a fun time, go to Amazon.com and read the reviews for this book. Not only do the defenders of the book sound ridiculous, the people who realize they've wasted money write the most hilarious things. And there's also about 500,939,202 pages of comments.