2008
05.21

It’s no Secret

Category: Media / Tags: no tag / Add Comment

About a year ago, someone that I trust and admire recommended a movie to me. I ordered the DVD from Amazon and watched it. More accurately, I watched the first twenty minutes before I needed to pause it and take a break. It was just too frustrating to continue. The movie was The Secret, based on the unbelievably popular book of the same title. I later finished the movie after multiple, short sessions.

I’ve wanted to post a blog about The Secret for quite a while, but I hesitated. Two things recently prompted me to follow through: 1) a friend of mine was forced to watch it as part of a massage class, and 2) one of my favorite podcasts covered the topic, and I wanted to share it with both of my readers. In Skeptoid #96, Brian Dunning does a good job covering the high-points (low-points?) of The Secret. The audio file is mirrored here, so you can listen to it easily.


There were some parts of the movie that I found acceptable. I like the idea that a person takes accountability and ownership of their life. I don’t mean that they are to blame for anything, or that they have the power over everything. Rather, that a person is committed to an outcome, and events occur that move a person closer to, or further away from achieving the outcome. Making a commitment to a goal may cause a person to see solutions where none had been before.

Sitting through the The Secret was excruciating. The gross mischaracterization of quantum physics is laughable. The irrational belief and faith in a mysterious, external force is childish. There is no such thing as a miracle; you cannot attribute success to magic. The universe does not care if you succeed or fail. Beyond all of that, I am disgusted at the horribly irresponsible suggestion that disease can be cured with positive thinking.

Update:
A friend (the one that wishes me dead in the blog comments) sent me a YouTube link for The Secret Exposed. Bunnies + sarcasm = hilarity

2 comments so far

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  1. Jenifer said: 2009.03.15 22:06

    I wished for a pony and all I got was horseshit.

  2. Sara said: 2009.03.15 22:07

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