# I put the author of "The Secret" and everyone who quotes it. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 8, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183 "2012-04-08T16:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/41 "2012-04-09T03:50:16Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I think it’s more often the case that people hate thinking that they ARE responsible for their lives, and they’d much rather blame things on fate, other people, bad luck, anything but themselves. > > So for all the downsides, I think taking responsibility for your life, however you do it, is probably a net good. As long as they shut the fuck up about anyone else’s lives, including how the Holocaust and cancer and the deaths of their family members are all their faults, they can knock themselves out. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/42 "2012-04-09T03:53:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Even the lottery?! To be fair, The Secret doesn’t preach “Go buy a lottery ticket and wish really hard.” Instead, what they do is take common sense and coat it in a shade of mysticism. An example they gave: Johny wants a fancy new sports car. Johny couldn’t afford new sports car. So johny used the secret and thought really realy hard about that sports car. Finally, Johny had this AMAZING revealation that he could start up his own part time business on top of his regular job. And wouldn’t ya’ know it, because of Johny’s [del] Hard work and determination[/del] _Super Magical Thinking Powers_, Johny was able to get that fancy sports car! It’s a miracle folks! A freaking miracle! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/43 "2012-04-09T04:02:04Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Mommy, the big meanie is saying things I don’t like! I’m special right? Bad things won’t happen to me because I’m a good person, right? No, darling, bad things won’t happen to you because you must be unblemished for the sacrifice. Oooh, oops, I let slip The Secret . . . ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/44 "2012-04-09T04:58:12Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > It’s unfortunate that this idea gets dumbed down to such a degree that it does appear to be so insensitive. But if you know the larger ideas behind it, you may still not buy it, but it isn’t quite so hideous. Thanks for being condescending while simultaneously refraining from explaining anything. The concept of dharma exists as a justification for the exploitation of the underclass by the upper class. It’s okay if those people have the job of removing our shit, working with leather, removing our trash and being so unclean they must be segregated from the rest of our society. They deserve it/are in the place where the universe has ordained them to spend their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/45 "2012-04-09T05:28:39Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Humans, as a whole, hate the idea that they are at the mercy of outside forces (more accurately, that they cannot completely control what happens to them). It’s a terrifying idea that can leave one feeling very vulnerable. But life’s a bitch, and one day she can randomly decide that you, yes, _you_ are the one she’s gonna take a dump on, no matter how hard you work, how positively you think or how intensely you try to determine the outcome. The mind is repelled by uncertainty. This is all to the good in many ways, as it forces decisions and encourages analytic thought. Of course many go too far by leaping to conclusions or by becoming too attached to their beliefs. The inclination is very old. If you deliver constant electrical shocks to lab rats, they eventually just lie down and take it. But if you deliver random shocks, they become stressed and will desperately experiment (fruitlessly) in order to stop the pain. (Source: old psych book). By analogy, humans prefer optimism or pessimism over statements that declare that outcomes are uncertain. Either one will do. I’ve wondered whether a background in probability can take the edge off some of the cognitive dissonance. Mesuspects that “50:50 chance” sounds better than “We don’t know.” ETA: > [@](#): > > The concept of dharma exists as a justification for the exploitation of the underclass by the upper class. Do you mean karma? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/46 "2012-04-09T05:38:47Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Thanks for being condescending :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > while simultaneously refraining from explaining anything. Caveat: I’m _ **explaining** _ it, not promoting or defending it. It’s very simplistic and silly to say that we “want” x thing or another and therefore we create it. Depending on how far one cares to go in examining it, it can go all the way back to pre-birth and decisions about who one will be in this life, and from THAT perspective what appears to be negative (disease, war, suffering of whatever kind) is just experience, no better or worse than any other experience, and all are chosen just for the purpose of having the experience. Or we can skip that degree of spiritual belief and just look at it closer to the way it’s promoted in something like the Secret- it’s still not a matter of getting what you _want_; it’s a matter of\* attracting what you focus on\*. Focus isn’t necessarily positive, it’s just focus. The law of attraction (which is the what the secret is talking about) responds to the most intense feeling. If your fear overrides everything else in terms of intensity, then you will get what you fear. The fundamental idea is that the law of attraction is always working, and you attract what you focus on, fear, believe, get excited about, genuinely expect. See it, feel it, believe it, and the universe will manifest it without judgment. So when people blame people who aare suffering from terrible things, it’s offbase even within the belief system that the Secret promotes. That belief system would say that people experiencing extreme negatives have done so either because of fear or because it’s an experience for the spirit. Neither of which would probably be received by the sufferer a whole lot better, but actually are not quite so flippantly dismissive of a person’s individual struggles. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/47 "2012-04-09T06:10:28Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Ugh. > > Having met some dumb bitch that cheerfully informed me that people only got what they wanted (explained to me while driving round a blind bend on a cliff edge without looking, but that’s ok, she didn’t _want_ to crash, and I didn’t think to ask ‘what if _I_ did’), who happily told me, amongst other things, that my Grandfather only got Alzheimers because ‘he wanted the attention’, and people only miscarried because they secretly ‘didn’t want the baby enough’, anyone telling me any of this shit must have really been _dreaming_ of getting my fist imbedded in their face. > [@Stoid](#): > > I think it’s more often the case that people hate thinking that they ARE responsible for their lives, and they’d much rather blame things on fate, other people, bad luck, anything but themselves. > > So for all the downsides, I think taking responsibility for your life, however you do it, is probably a net good. > [@Stoid](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Caveat: I’m _ **explaining** _ it, not promoting or defending it. > > [SNIP] > > The fundamental idea is that the law of attraction is always working, and you attract what you focus on, fear, believe, get excited about, genuinely expect. See it, feel it, believe it, and the universe will manifest it without judgment. So when people blame people who aare suffering from terrible things, it’s offbase even within the belief system that the Secret promotes. That belief system would say that people experiencing extreme negatives have done so either because of fear or because it’s an experience for the spirit. Neither of which would probably be received by the sufferer a whole lot better, but actually are not quite so flippantly dismissive of a person’s individual struggles. So, to clarify: how did my “fear” or desire for “experience for the spirit” lead to the three miscarriages I had? And how is that not saying that my fear, belief, or genuine expectation caused the losses; in other words, that it was my fault? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/48 "2012-04-09T06:38:14Z")
> [@iftheresaway](#): > > So, to clarify: how did my “fear” or desire for “experience for the spirit” lead to the three miscarriages I had? And how is that not saying that my fear, belief, or genuine expectation caused the losses; in other words, that it was my fault? “Fault” implies someone did something wrong, leading to something bad happening. That’s your assessment, but that’s _ **not** _ the way someone who believes in the law of attraction and the spiritual ideas I’m talking about would view it. It’s not about fault, or blame, or wrong, or bad. Your first question I’m not sure how to answer, other than the way I did. If one believes in the view that we come into this life to experience things, then one would believe that your spirit chose the experience of loss through miscarriage. If one believes simply in the law of attraction without some larger design of the spirit at work, then it would appear to someone outside your mind, who can only guess, that you manifested what you feared, that your fear was the most powerful emotional vibration, so the universe responded to that by manifesting it. The most fundamental idea underlying the law of attraction is the complete absence of judgment of any kind. There is no good or bad or right or wrong, especially from the perspective of the universe itself. So it’s not as though the universe delivered some horrible thing to you to punish you for your fear or whatever else might be in play that would lead to your having miscarriages. The universe doesn’t judge, it just delivers. Again, explaining, not promoting, not selling, not defending. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/49 "2012-04-09T12:09:36Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > It’s a miracle folks! A freaking miracle! Fucking Johnny, how does he work? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/50 "2012-04-09T13:40:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > There’s a certain amount of truth to that; self-fulfilling prophecies (both negative and positive) do exist. If you’re expecting something to not work, you won’t put a lot of effort into making it work, then it isn’t a big surprise when it doesn’t work. If you expect something to work and you put all your efforts into it, it has a better chance of actually working. There are self-fulfilling prophecies. The mistake of “The Secret” is to say that, therefore, _all_ prophecies are self-fulfilling. It’s like observing that there are female cats, therefore all cats are female. > [@Shakes](#): > > To be fair, The Secret doesn’t preach “Go buy a lottery ticket and wish really hard.” > > Instead, what they do is take common sense and coat it in a shade of mysticism. > > An example they gave: Johny wants a fancy new sports car. Johny couldn’t afford new sports car. So johny used the secret and thought really realy hard about that sports car. Finally, Johny had this AMAZING revealation that he could start up his own part time business on top of his regular job. > > And wouldn’t ya’ know it, because of Johny’s Hard work and determination Super Magical Thinking Powers, Johny was able to get that fancy sports car! That’s all well and good. But what happens if Johnny decides that he will, somehow, be able to afford that fancy sports car, and goes into debt to buy it, without making any other changes in his finances, just having faith that the universe will somehow provide a way for him to make the payments? That’s not so good. > [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Humans, as a whole, hate the idea that they are at the mercy of outside forces (more accurately, that they cannot completely control what happens to them). It’s a terrifying idea that can leave one feeling very vulnerable. But life’s a bitch, and one day she can randomly decide that you, yes, you are the one she’s gonna take a dump on, no matter how hard you work, how positively you think or how intensely you try to determine the outcome. > It’s crap like The Secret that furthers selfishness and indifference towards other people. Someone lost their job, is in danger of losing their house and on food stamps? “Wow, sucks to be them, but that won’t happen to me, since I’m hard working, responsible and plan ahead!” Fact of the matter is that you can be all of those things (and more!) and still get fucked over. But we like to pretend that’s not true, so we reach for that security blankie. And the problem with that idea as a security blanket, or one of the problems, anyway, is that, taken too far, it means you don’t have to try to help people who do fall on hard times, or even feel compassion for them. That’s a logical conclusion once you believe that everyone who falls on hard times has brought it on themselves. Another problem is that reality is what it is, and it doesn’t really care what you want to believe. Pretending it is some other way isn’t generally too helpful in dealing with reality. It’s like going on a diet by blacking out the last digit in the calorie counts on all the foods you buy, and thinking that actually means those foods have 1/10 the calories they did before. They don’t, and if you act as if they do, you’re not going to lose weight. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/51 "2012-04-09T15:17:50Z")
Oprah’s OWN network is failing. She must have forgot what she read in _The Secret_. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/52 "2012-04-09T15:43:49Z")
The power of focusing on the desire, will attract whatever you want, if you want something enough? I always picture the author of “The Secret” lecturing in a part of the world where people are starving, and saying: “Just keep focusing on the desire for food, and you will attract it to you. But, if you continue to send out all those negative thoughts, about vultures picking the flesh from your weak and bony bodies…” ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/53 "2012-04-09T17:20:04Z")
**Stoid** , if The Secret really is the answer to success in life, why did you lose your court case? Did you not actually want to win? Or you just wanted the attention? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/54 "2012-04-09T17:54:31Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > **Stoid** , if The Secret really is the answer to success in life I’m sorry you’re so confused. That must be frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/55 "2012-04-09T17:59:04Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I’m sorry you’re so confused. That must be frustrating. You’re welcome to explain it to me-- ideally with lots of text formatting so I can really get your point. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/56 "2012-04-09T18:07:21Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > You’re welcome to explain it to me As I said, it must be terribly frustrating to be as confused as you obviously are. Best of luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/57 "2012-04-09T18:08:57Z")
Stoid: Winning since 1999. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/58 "2012-04-09T18:13:24Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > As I said, it must be terribly frustrating to be as confused as you obviously are. Best of luck with that. So, you can’t explain it then? I mean, aren’t we supposed to be fighting ignorance here? Fight mine, my friend! ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/59 "2012-04-09T18:16:18Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Stoid: Winning since 1999. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183/60 "2012-04-09T18:20:50Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > **Stoid** , if The Secret really is the answer to success in life, why did you lose your court case? **Stoid** aside, I’m curious: what’s supposed to happen if, say, you sue me for a hundred thousand dollars – or you’re up against me for Olympic gold, or that big promotion at work, or whatever – and you’re of course wishing for victory with all your might, but I of course want to prevail and so wish for victory right back. Who wins? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-put-the-author-of-the-secret-and-everyone-who-quotes-it/618183.md?page=4)