…and this is a 
I don't watch Oprah enough, so I haven't seen much open endorsement of the nonsense behind that unbelievable bestseller, The Secret. There must be a lot of closet believers, though, because that piece of well-whipped frothy BS sold 19 million copies. Now the author has cranked out another, similar excretion: The Power, nicely reviewed in Newsweek. Both have the same premise, that the Universe really, really loves you and wants to give you everything you wish for, if only you concentrate and ask.
The Power is a distillation of the central insight of The Secret: the "law of attraction." It's still true, apparently, that you can get anything you want, from parking spots to cures for obscure diseases, just by wishing for them and pretending they are already in your possession. But there are some new observations in The Power, such as the importance of being nice to your water. Researchers in several countries, she writes, "have discovered that when water is exposed to positive words and feelings such as love and gratitude, the energy level of the water not only increases, but the structure of the water changes, making it perfectly harmonious ... When water is exposed to negative emotions, such as hate, the energy level of the water decreases and chaotic changes occur." Since "the inside of your head is 80 percent water," you can see how important this is.
It sounds like it's been updated by tossing any ol' recent woo claim into the stewpot, like that magic water silliness. She's also added old stuff, like the patriarchs from the book of Genesis.
Death, like poverty, is subject to the law of attraction: "[P]eople once lived for hundreds and hundreds of years," she writes, citing "ancient texts" as her authority. "So what's happened? People changed what they believed."
You know, some of the smartest people in history have asked what the core principles of the universe are, and they've often been people with deep cultural roots and an entirely human predisposition to hope that the cosmos revolves around them. And in every case, they've failed to find evidence of the beneficent love and charity that they had hoped would come sleeting in to Earth from the farthest reaches of the firmament, and instead found only impersonal forces like gravity and electromagnetism and cosmic rays and deep forces that draw particles together or fling them apart. We live in an impersonal universe where hydrogen vastly outweighs our brains and where the dominant environment is an icy cold emptiness filled with unbreathably attenuated gases and pierced by scattered photons and fleeting subatomic particles.
The real secret is that the universe doesn't give a goddamn about us, doesn't dream, doesn't wish, doesn't hope. The real power is that science gives us the tools to wrench the pointless detritus of reality into the shape that we dream of, to impose our wishes on the substrate. We don't achieve that by lying abed and hoping really hard, though — we do it with work and real knowledge. The shortcuts of lotus eaters like Rhonda Byrne are entirely illusory.
Comments
Posted by: Kichae
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August 21, 2010 1:06 PM
But why would I bother being nice to my water, when New Agey scienticians have, through the use of ancient energitsu, bestowed upon the world their magic water posifiers?
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp
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August 21, 2010 1:12 PM
I wonder what the energy level of the water in my toilet does after I visit it post drinking session?
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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August 21, 2010 1:12 PM
I don't see how nice I can be to water...it's sort of a necessity that I disrespect it by turning it into pee.
Posted by: Dr. I. Needtob Athe
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August 21, 2010 1:13 PM
If you want to write a successful book, what better example to follow than the Bible? Don't worry about reality, just tell the people something that makes them happy.
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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August 21, 2010 1:14 PM
Did they not realize they just advocated that we need to start killing more babies?
Posted by: Pinkerton
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August 21, 2010 1:17 PM
I often joke about the power of positive thinking, and do feel that an optimistic outlook will help you to both identify and appreciate the good things that happen to you, while mitigating the bad. And I've led a very lucky, fruitful life! But in no way is the Universe bending to my whims to provide for me just because I expect it to.
I mean, if 'The Secret' were actually true, wouldn't it have been forcibly rendered untrue by now after all my hopeful, optimistic begging for crap like 'The Secret' to drawn in a shallow puddle, preferably taking most of its followers with it?
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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August 21, 2010 1:18 PM
I read the first quote describing The Power and realized I'd heard it before:
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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August 21, 2010 1:19 PM
We can put water in an NMR and see if there are any changes if it is talked to nicely. I would expect to see exactly what they do for homeopathic remedies...looks exactly like plain old water.
Posted by: Stonyground
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August 21, 2010 1:20 PM
While it is very annoying to rational people that there are enough fools around to make the writer of this tripe rich, we should not get too despondent. This kind of drivel comes and goes like playground crazes and this one will probably soon be forgotten.
Posted by: ema
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August 21, 2010 1:20 PM
...when water is exposed to positive words and feelings such as love and gratitude, the energy level of the water not only increases, but the structure of the water changes...
Facts and reality, who needs them?
Posted by: Fred The Hun
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August 21, 2010 1:22 PM
Umm, gives a whole new meaning tohot love...
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/phase.html
Posted by: derelicthat
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August 21, 2010 1:23 PM
But is this woman with the Light Side or the Dark Side?
Posted by: Disturbingly Openminded
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August 21, 2010 1:26 PM
I think this comes from an early Tom Robbins novel but don't recall for sure:
Human beings were invented by water as a means of transporting itself across land.
Posted by: Devil's Chord
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August 21, 2010 1:27 PM
I honestly wonder how people can read stuff like " you can get anything you want, from parking spots to cures for obscure diseases, just by wishing for them and pretending they are already in your possession." My eyes rolled so far back into my head when I read that, it took a few seconds before I could see again!
Posted by: Rubicon
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August 21, 2010 1:32 PM
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Posted by: Sastra
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August 21, 2010 1:33 PM
Stonyground #9 wrote:
Sure, this form of magical thinking will fall out of favor, but the substance will remain: our minds evolved to seek and find deep, meaningful connections between random events, and our lives.
"The Power of Positive Thinking" is similar to a lot of pseudoscientific, religious ideas in that there is a perfectly reasonable interpretation which is supposed to grant the entire concept an unearned credibility. Just as "alternative medicine" grabs up diet and exercise, and "spirituality" lays claim to art and ethics, "positive thinking" will talk about the importance of optimism and determination. Oh, yes, of course. And once you're nodding at the true but trivial aspect, they wham you with the woo about water responding to happy thoughts, or the universe rearranging itself to meet your desires. Bait and switch, and it captures the unwary, and those with sloppy thought processes.
Woo = secular supernaturalism. Though the term "secular" is probably misapplied, in that it indicates here not the natural world, but anything which is not explicitly claimed by a particular religion. All supernaturalism is religious, at heart and in essence. Including the supernaturalism of essentialism.
Posted by: spiderxray
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August 21, 2010 1:33 PM
As that lady with glasses at the Algonquin round table once said, "This book is not to be tossed lightly aside, but to be hurled with great force."
Posted by: skeptifem
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August 21, 2010 1:36 PM
I bet this succeeds because of confirmation bias. Jeez. I cannot believe people are going to be sweet talking their water. Jesus.
Posted by: Hirnlego
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August 21, 2010 1:39 PM
They're too late with this because 'I Have The Power!'
Posted by: Marco
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August 21, 2010 1:42 PM
According to the Newsweek review, and as others here have already mentioned, Byrne maintains that we must be "nice to water", because if we are not, then water turns nasty on us, or something like that.
Apparently, this is all the more urgent and necessary because “the inside of your head is 80 percent water”.
I understand the urgency of her concern, because, probably, the inside of her head and that of a majority of her readers is 100% water as well.
Posted by: Azkyroth
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August 21, 2010 1:43 PM
This is precisely backwards, damnit.
Posted by: Gregory Greenwood
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August 21, 2010 1:45 PM
What is the only way to drive the credibility of the Secret even further into the mire of psuedo-intellectual excrement that spoawned it? Add in the raw magic-thinking effluent that is homeopathy...
@Tis Himself, OM @ 7;
This is exactly what I thought when I first heard about this 'power of attraction' bunkum.
Still, it is said that Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak-minded, and the people who buy into this rubbish certainly qualify as that, so perhaps the Star Wars analogy is more aposite than we realise...
Posted by: Jason A.
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August 21, 2010 1:48 PM
The mindset revealed - it's still true, apparently. The criterion for 'true' has nothing to do with anything objective, but whether the author tells you it's true or not. 'Hey, they're talking about the 'law of attraction', that must still be true.'
Posted by: Jason A.
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August 21, 2010 1:50 PM
'Oh, they're not talking about the law of attraction anymore. That must not be true now. What's the new thing?'
Posted by: Kemist
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August 21, 2010 1:51 PM
Somebody has been reading too much Emoto water-woo crap. Calling such stuff "research" is especially insulting to those who sweat doing genuine research like I used to - before the market changed and my field became very bleak employment-wise.
The "law of attraction", the most recent manisfestation of "positive thinking" crappola is just a nice facade for victim-blaming.
"You attract everything that happens to you."
Yeah. I know a little girl of 3 with a retinoblastoma. Did she "attract" her cancer ? What "negative" or "toxic" thought can an happy three-year-old possibly have ?
"You're only depressed because you think you are depressed."
Of course. It's only a coincidence that when I am hypothyroid I cry all day, and when my synthroid is well adjusted I go back to normal. Or that you can be really cheerful with the help of a little Prozac.
I hate positive thinking. It comforts those whose have everything while blaming those who have nothing. It keeps people in dire situations from the feeling that might get them to team up, to get organized, to actually do something : anger.
Well I guess I am Dark Side.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 1:56 PM
Hirnlego,
So you're He-man?
Posted by: Andyo
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August 21, 2010 1:59 PM
Obligatory The Chaser video. Why the hell aren't they on the air anymore?
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/f9LRTJNqyuirK9NU8MpnjZn4a3d3WZ.Os3c1ke0OkYek3w--#5e803
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August 21, 2010 1:59 PM
Have you seen Ari Brouillette's review of "The Secret"? It was the best damn thing I'd ever seen on Amazon. Couldn't find it there anymore, but this meme must be replicated!
Text sourced from:
http://www.waterpup.com/ari-brouillette-reviews-the-secret/
Posted by: raven
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August 21, 2010 2:02 PM
Cheaper than the Mormons and Scientologists.
Both promise that you can become a god. Both also want a lot of money for it.
The author of The Power appears to be going for volume with a book that sells millions.
And the power of wishful thinking is.....
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 2:07 PM
That's being extremely cruel, not only to water, but also to mud, slime, and even BP(despite being uncertain about walruses and clearly engaged in magical wishing thinking).
Posted by: Ternon
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August 21, 2010 2:08 PM
Exactly.
I always thought that The Secret and a wide range of quantum quackery is a direct rip-off from Star Wars universe.
Posted by: Hirnlego
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August 21, 2010 2:10 PM
Posted by: Dhorvath
"Hirnlego,
So you're He-man?"
Yes. But only on weekends.
Posted by: lessofthedifferent
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August 21, 2010 2:10 PM
After you love the water enough, you can pour it into a toaster and play music for it, and the toaster will dance. With enough water and a copy of "Higher and Higher" playing over a loudspeaker, you can make the Statue of Liberty take a stroll.No, really. It's in a movie and everything.
Posted by: timgueguen
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August 21, 2010 2:11 PM
It's amazing the place that Law of Attraction nonsense turns up. I was thumbing through a book by a woman whose hobby is entereing contests, and she's been quite successful at it as you might imagine, her getting a book published and so on. But at some point she starts going on about the Law of Attraction helping her to win contests. Yeah, it wasn't the fact you spent lots of time filling out contests entries and so on, it was the Universe helping you win them because you wished hard enough.
Posted by: Gregory Greenwood
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August 21, 2010 2:11 PM
Kemist @ 25;
"Fulfill your destiny, and take your rightful place at my side!"
Honestly, though, the Jedi have credulous woo-woo enthusiasts written all over them. If the Sith really wanted to win, all they would have to do is get the Jedi to waste the Republic's GPD on homeopathic remedies and acupuncture.
When the Republic's economy implodes, come in with a structural adjustment package and hey presto, Sith Empire.
If the Jedi try to resist, well, you will have already repossessed their lightsabers...
Posted by: timgueguen
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August 21, 2010 2:13 PM
Meh, just thinking about that crap screwed up my grammar, showing a further danger of this "Law."
Posted by: Marco
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August 21, 2010 2:14 PM
blf wrote in post #30:
My apologies to water. I personally have a very loving relationship with it, and wouldn't want to jeopardize it with any innuendo or gossip. Dog forbid.
Posted by: awakeinthewest
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August 21, 2010 2:18 PM
So why am I not writing books like this to bilk the stupid and gullible to make millions of dollars for my own selfish purposes?
Oh, yeah, it's because I'm not a dick.
Posted by: Jimmy Juno
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August 21, 2010 2:22 PM
"... lying abed and hoping really hard ..."
That sums it up nicely. PZ, I love your style.
Posted by: Andyo
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August 21, 2010 2:25 PM
Holy shit apparently the idiot is also saying that people used to live "hundreds" of years, citing "ancient texts". I know some friends who read this bullshit. It's disconcerting to say the least. But then again, I also got a younger cousin who got conned into becoming a priest. Sigh.
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 2:26 PM
So were the people in Pakistan really really nice to their water (it's rather “energetic” there) or really really mean (massive floods (“chaotic changes”?)).
Posted by: Carlie of the lacy, gently wafting adjectives
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August 21, 2010 2:32 PM
Barbara Ehrenreich goes through the history of how this bizarre way of thinking took hold in Bright-Sided: How positive thinking is undermining America. link
She rips this stuff to shreds. It's a good mind cleanser.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 2:38 PM
Should we call it Braino?
Posted by: Enygma_6
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August 21, 2010 2:53 PM
Exactly, it's all psychological pandering to the statistically largest group out there: extroverts with gaps in their self esteem.
What better way to get people who need constant external reinforcement to think you're helping them, than telling them that the biggest, most powerful being/force in the universe (or the universe itself) approves of them and loves them?
This eternal need for external reinforcement to bolster the self esteem of 90% of the human population is unfortunately the reason why use of logic alone is not enough to combat the virulent effect of religiosity in this world.
I would be curious to see the results of a study breaking down a sample population of atheists and religious people into introvert / extrovert personality types.
It is my personal speculation that my own stance as a strong atheist stems from being a strong-willed introvert. I do not have a need to constantly seek the constant approval of those around me, let alone some invisible friend.
On the flip side, I also wonder how many religious people are there for the voodoo magic, and how many just for the community socializing aspect of being part of a group.
Posted by: Hairhead
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August 21, 2010 2:55 PM
Help, help Pharyngulans! A dear friend of mine who has had two strokes recently has fallen into the hands of a homeopath! She told me proudly of what she does now. Christ, listen to this.
"I get my prescription from the doctor and fill it at the pharmacy, then I take the pills to my homeopath. He has this wonderful machine which sits on his desk, and he touches the pill with probe, while I hold a pad attached to the machine. Then he tells me whether or not I should take the pill and what its side effects on me will be. It's wonderful."
To which I blurted out, "THAT'S CRAP!" And I added, look, if there was such a magic machine which could tell doctors what side effects drugs would have, EVERY INSURANCE COMPANY AND EVERY GOVERNMENT HEALTH AGENCY WOULD DEMAND IT BE IN EVERY DOCTOR'S OFFICE."
Followed by defensive whining, "But homeopathy is used by doctors in Europe!"
"It's magic!," I say. "Look, the next time you go, get the name and manufacturer of the machine and I'll research it, okay?"
Please, Pharygulans, has anybody heard of this particular machine? She had her strokes because she dumped her evil doctor-provided meds for her homeopath's crap, and she nearly died. Now that she's recovering, she back to the bastard again. Honestly, I can't ask her him name because I know that once I hear it I'll run to his office and punch him in the face.
What can I do?
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 3:03 PM
Enygma_6
Strong resonance for me there, although I might dip into liking the negative attention when I don't follow the herd.
Posted by: F
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August 21, 2010 3:05 PM
So, why was not The Secret the distillation of the central insight of The Secret? Oh, so we could sell further copies of the current BS Manual?
The secret is that the buyers are gullible fools, and the author is using it against them.
Posted by: Stushie
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August 21, 2010 3:13 PM
"We live in an impersonal universe where hydrogen vastly outweighs our brains and where the dominant environment is an icy cold emptiness filled with unbreathably attenuated gases and pierced by scattered photons and fleeting subatomic particles."
Wow! You know everything about the entire universe. That's amazing. And here was me thinking that we still had an almost infinite amount to experience and learn about it.
Posted by: F
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August 21, 2010 3:16 PM
Hairhead:
It could very likely be something the local homeopath whipped up himself. It sounds, more or less, like a diagnostic dowsing apparatus. Complete crap.
"Homeopathy is used by doctors in Europe."
No. It is used by homeopaths in Europe, and is generally much more tightly regulated than in the U.S., so that less people die due to abject stupidity.
Not sure what you want to do here. Does this person respond to actual evidence, and the lack thereof, when presented? If she is just a "believer", I'm not sure what you can do. Checj the anti-quack/homeopath sites.
http://www.quackometer.net/
http://www.1023.org.uk/what-is-homeopathy.php
etc.
Posted by: Mumon
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August 21, 2010 3:19 PM
Thanks for the heads-up; now I know the next thing that various "Buddhist" hucksters are going to throw out there.
Posted by: mrburdicksblog
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August 21, 2010 3:23 PM
I guess it was kind of silly for the borough I live in to spend millions of dollars on a new water treatment plant when instead we could wish ourselves clean water.
Posted by: Stonyground
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August 21, 2010 3:26 PM
Sastra, commented at #16 that my optimism about belief in this kind of rubbish was misplaced, I have to agree that this kind of thing is far from harmless and that My earlier comment has certainly been proved wrong. Hairhead, your story is saddening, and I don't know what can be done. As long as there are people willing to swallow this nonsense, there will be people willing to sell it to them, how do you educate those who are unwilling to learn?
Posted by: Kichae
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August 21, 2010 3:29 PM
Stushi@48
It's quite simple. We look out (and in) at the universe, and what we see is a cold, impersonal, undiscriminating, hazardous wasteland made up of a little bit of hydrogen and a whole lot of vacuum.
And until you or someone else can show what's wrong with that, it's the default position. The burden of proof lies on the shoulders who would claim otherwise. The ball's in your court.
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 3:35 PM
There do seem to be magic machines which someone who is credulous might describe like that; and/or the woo-woos may use like that. From the “explanation” What is Radionics (spelling &tc as in the original):
(The site is Mexican and it's obvious English is not the author's first language. Or the author has been imbibing a bit too much in thier
woofraud.) Anyways, that and some of the “descriptions” of the machines and what they do sound similar to what the above person said.There are videos at the site. I haven't watched any.
Or it could be something else. Orac may have a better idea.
Posted by: badgersdaughter
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August 21, 2010 3:36 PM
My woo-mistress best friend said, I quote, "If that's what you truly believe and expect, then that is what will be true for you."
She also does the water thing. She believes in "kabbalah" (the sort that charismatic, smooth-talking young guys push on divorced women in their early 50s). She is going to a crystal healer named Ananda and dating a guy who declares the Universe meant them to be together.
She recently found a lump in her breast. She is not worried about it. Ananda and her "intentions" will make it shrink and go away, she says. Her boyfriend is at least leaning on her to have a blood test and she is going to have it done just to shut him up. If the test comes back positive, she is still not going to the doctor. She is going to wishful-thinking it away and burn candles. She does not believe in doctors because all they do is pump you full of "toxins." She will blame the positive results on "bad thought energy" caused by her lover and her friends who are all frightened that she may have cancer (therefore we made it a reality).
My mom had a lump in her breast and she tried curing it by trusting in the Lord to send her a miracle. She felt it would be demonstrating a lack of faith and disrespect to the Lord's healing power and grace by seeing a doctor. She did eventually see one just when it was too late. But when I try to tell my friend about Mom, she says, "Well, I'm not religious like your mom. I'm just trusting the Universe to heal me in its own time and in its own way."
Grr. This shit kills.
Posted by: Sonja
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August 21, 2010 3:36 PM
The Secret to making great beer: it's the water.
The law of attraction: anyone who has consumed as many beers as you have.
So be nice to your water.
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 3:39 PM
You will like this: Storm by Tim Minchin.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 3:39 PM
@Stushie
Did you come to that position while wrestling in prayer?
Seriously, we may have a lot left to discover about the workings of the universe, but it is beyond dispute that
Virtually everywhere we look we see hydrogen, photons, and cold. Despite constant searching we do not see any evidence that this world we live in cares that we are in it. These things enliven my interest in the world that I live in. Woo makes people move into an alternate universe that may be warm and cozy, but it's the warmth of snow and the cozyness of the grave.
I am concerned with anyone who isn't living in the real world because they are missing out on the greatest thing that ever happened even while being a participant.
Posted by: McCthulhu is taking ∞ to eat all the pi
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August 21, 2010 3:46 PM
Black lotus - Stygian! The best!
You should believe in teh Secret and teh Power. I has anycdotle EVIDENCE that et is true. I wached Oprah and she said a story about how she seen a perfum bottul in a magazeen and wished she had one. Whwen she looked the VERY NEXT DyAY IT WAS THERE ONi, HER DEASK!!!!111!!!!!
or, as we say in the real world, if you're already a fucking billionaire, and you are extra-short-memoried enough and believe in the woo, of course you're going to find things you want, and forgot about, lying all over your fucking billionaire mansion. I actually did see that segment on Harpo and you should have heard the credulous gits in the audience with their sharp intake of breath at the supernatural wonder of 'teh story.' I always thought Chicagoans had more street smarts than that, given the history of the city.
Posted by: Q.E.D
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August 21, 2010 3:48 PM
Warning: explosive material for quote mining woomeisters carelessly tossed out ahead:
When I see people reading The Secret I am forced to rethink whether Francis Galton was wrong after all.
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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August 21, 2010 3:49 PM
Aim for the bridge of his nose.
Posted by: Cerberus, unnatural product of en-OMnomnom-ification
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August 21, 2010 3:53 PM
Man, shit like this just makes me despair that I have ethics.
I mean I could be so rich if I was just willing to fart out some poorly reasoned drivel about realigning quantum to positive space or the positivity of your guardian angels or was willing to go on the wingnut welfare circuit as "even this freakish she-male agrees that liberals are out of control and want to communize our children".
But no, I had to choose poverty instead.
Apparently all we can conclude from this is that I'm a Bobdamned moron.
Posted by: rippingrich
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August 21, 2010 3:58 PM
Okay I was working on my quad, at an inappropriate time, it was hot and a perfect beer day. I, in the process of repairing the carburetor dropped a screw and a pin which instantly upon dropping, were claimed by the sock gods and disappeared. Rummaging in the grass proved futile, getting out the metal detector revealed other misplaced items of no interest to the story, so I will skip over that part but, not those I had dropped. I ordered new parts knowing the sock gods do not often return items they have claimed.
However I continued to wish for their return. Today I decided to look at the skid shield to see if I was to be blessed and low and behold there were the parts, sitting right beside each other.
Now tell me that's not a miracle if there ever was one. The sock gods can be merciful if you wish it hard enough.
My evidence of the empirical love of the universe is complete. And it has nothing to due with the nature of gravity, quantity of alcohol, impaired vision, and dumb ass luck. It was all love.
Posted by: SheepdogB
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August 21, 2010 4:04 PM
@Kichae #53
What's wrong with it is the fact that it removes the wonderful ego-stroking capacity we have of re-engineering reality in our imaginations to make ourselves feel ultimately important and in control in the universe. Choosing reason and evidence-based reality is more honest but doesn't push the solipsist "warm/fuzzy" buttons nearly as well.
Posted by: eewolf
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August 21, 2010 4:07 PM
Ask her to take a sugar pill or vitamin C pill to him for "analysis".
Posted by: stevenduggan
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August 21, 2010 4:12 PM
The Irish Independent done a great review.
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/review-the-power-by-rhonda-byrne-2306363.html
Enjoy :)
Posted by: Cerberus, unnatural product of en-OMnomnom-ification
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August 21, 2010 4:14 PM
Also, seconding Carlie @42 recommendation of "Brightsided" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Good book detailing the history of the movement and how much bullshit it is.
And I think it's related to the desperate victim-blaming towards rape-victims, some panacea to convince yourself that bad things will never happen to you, because you are special and do everything right. Oh, you won't get raped because you wear long clothes and avoid being out at night. Oh, you won't get mugged, you avoid "bad parts" of town where there's lots of brown people. Oh, you won't fall into poverty, prosperity gospel will protect you. And yes, oh, you won't get cancer, etc... because you have a good attitude about it and everyone knows that optimists never have bad things happen to them...
...
Or at least optimists by their very nature minimize the bad things that happen to them, thus leading casual observers of strangers to conclude they must have more blessed lives because they don't know how much intense pain or suffering they must be in, because they are well-versed in bullshitting people and possibly themselves about the bad things that happen in one's life.
I mean, there's plenty of good advice in not letting yourself get swamped in the bad and to appreciate good things that happen to avoid getting burned out, but it's also good to acknowledge problems or the bad to understand what needs to change or what you should fight socially for.
Posted by: cousinavi
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August 21, 2010 4:18 PM
FUCK YOU, WATER! FUCK YOUUUUUU!
Die, you fucking liquid bitch! AAAAAHHHHH!
Fish FUCK in you!
H-2-Oh I FUCKING HATE WATER!!!!
Nobody DROWNS. WATER IS POISON!
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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August 21, 2010 4:21 PM
Aw, I know it feels that way sometimes Big Guy, but it is important that you learn the material. Make sure you go to your teachers if you're having trouble. It probably doesn't always seem that way, but trust me: they're there to help you.
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 4:22 PM
If you think water is nasty, then DHMO is not your friend.
Posted by: McCthulhu is taking ∞ to eat all the pi
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August 21, 2010 4:23 PM
Stushie "My head is filled with the matter from the inner circle of the center of the donut": PZ accurately described what you or I or anyone else see if we look out with a telescope and spectrometer (and other tools beyond your ken), in any direction, at the universe that hasn't already disappeared beyond light's capability of reaching us. Making a wish that it's filled with rainbows and god-farts doesn't change the fact that the very next day you will see "an impersonal universe where hydrogen vastly outweighs our brains and where the dominant environment is an icy cold emptiness filled with unbreathably attenuated gases and pierced by scattered photons and fleeting subatomic particles."
If you're at odds with this description why don't you sign up for an astronomy course and look and learn for yourself, rather than stuffing your head in a bible box and re-breathing the mental carbon dioxide of self-congratulatory non-knowledge.
Posted by: Cerberus, unnatural product of en-OMnomnom-ification
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August 21, 2010 4:26 PM
There was also some sociologist and I apologize for completely forgetting who that noted that middle class western lifestyles especially in hyper-capitalist countries like the US are completely built around "getting an edge on the competition", finding that extra-special something that no one else knows about that will make your children smarter and better able to compete in business, will make it easier to keep up with the Joneses, keep you from ever getting ill or having misfortune strike, etc...
As such, it's really easy to peddle various scams to this group by promising it'll give an edge that others won't have. Thus, SAT preparation companies peddling themselves to younger and younger kids, "special" test-prep classes, ways you'll prevent any crimes or rapes that are ineffective for most actual assault-based crimes, positivity and various types of new-age woo aimed at white-middle-class-suburbanites, and so on...
Probably also explains the seduction of conspiracy theories and other flavors of conservatism among the suburbanite set because they all promise either inherent specialness simply from who you are or that you alone are smart enough to figure out something that no one else knows about and that'll give you an edge against those who aren't prepared against the aliens in human suits come to pour fluoride in your drinking water and what not.
Which is rather darkly humorous if you think about it, considering that those of us who are aware of something not enough people know well enough often find it infuriating rather than stroking fragile egos and the like. Because it often leads to ignorant or bigoted comments and the constant need for educating others often repeatedly at the remedial level.
Such as why this woo crap is self-aggrandizing bullshit designed to alleviate symptoms of a highly stressful environment of trying to keep up with social messages in a system you can't win at and that promises happiness but is designed to deliver a less-satisfying, more soul-sucking existence.
Posted by: mmelliott01
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August 21, 2010 4:27 PM
Much more useful to the entirety of humankind is the following advice, which I offer free of charge and without assistance from Oprah:
Be nice to your waiter.
Posted by: No One
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August 21, 2010 4:29 PM
So this clown is practicing medicine without a license. Therein lies your answer.
Posted by: carpetbagger
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August 21, 2010 4:30 PM
Anyone read this serious look into dumb ass luck by Richard Wiseman?
Also, does water get lonely if I just ignore it? It definitely feels pissed off when I wee.
Posted by: Q.E.D
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August 21, 2010 4:34 PM
Capitalism
Cerberus @ 72[puts in swag bag and sneaks away]
Posted by: Cepheid Variable
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August 21, 2010 4:36 PM
My boss very much believes in this whole "Law of Attraction" bunk. A couple of days ago, she was missing a file and found it before an important meeting. She stated that this bit of luck was "the universe caring about her." If she wants something to happen, bad or good, she believes that "mentally putting it out to the universe" will bring results.
There is something very ugly and narcissistic about such magical thinking. The last thing the narcissists of the world need is a manual on how to do the whole self-involvement thing better.
Posted by: lykex
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August 21, 2010 4:37 PM
Well, the Dark Side is all about desire and power. The Secret is all about achieving the power to fulfill your desires.
Draw your own conclusions.
Posted by: RMSC
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August 21, 2010 4:39 PM
I am going to be real nice to my Dr Pepper and see if it has feelings too.
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 4:44 PM
With any luck, it will feel sorry for you and self-destruct, leaving behind suggestions on a healthier and tastier drinks.
Posted by: Hurin, Nattering Nabob of Negativism.
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August 21, 2010 4:45 PM
Rubicon@ 15
Excepting Alice.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 4:48 PM
No way, it's called Dr. for a reason. It has to be healthy. I won't even go into how tasty it is. (Liquid candy)
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 21, 2010 4:52 PM
Oh, the stupidity! I do not recommend reading this while trying to wake up.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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August 21, 2010 4:54 PM
This morning I had a staring contest with my oatmeal. It won.
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 5:03 PM
The woo-woo, unless he's completely out-to-lunch, mustn't know what the pill is. Except for the most outrageous fraudsters, I doubt they'd claim such a pill has dangerous side-effects.
That means the lady being defrauded also mustn't know what the pill is (to avoid her inadvertently giving the woo-woo any clews), and you must somehow convince the lady to not say she got the pill from you (or that you convinced her to get/bring such a pill). I suppose that could be done, or perhaps the lady is good actress or you can make her doubtful enough to avoid giving away clews, but whilst the idea seems good, the implementation is perhaps problematical?
Posted by: lykex
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August 21, 2010 5:08 PM
Well, oatmeal is notorious tough. Difficult opponent to start out with. I suggest you train yourself with something easier, like cornflakes and work your way up to oatmeal.
Good luck with your training and if you ever beat the oatmeal there's always the staring contest equivalent of the Himalayas: Eggs and Bacon.
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 5:10 PM
The woo-woo, unless he's completely out-to-lunch, mustn't know what the pill is. Except for the most outrageous fraudsters, I doubt they'd claim such a pill has dangerous side-effects.
That means the lady being defrauded also mustn't know what the pill is (to avoid her inadvertently giving the woo-woo any clews), and you must somehow convince the lady to not say she got the pill from you (or that you convinced her to get/bring such a pill). I suppose that could be done, or perhaps the lady is good actress or you can make her doubtful enough to avoid giving away clews, but whilst the idea seems good, the implementation is perhaps problematical?
Posted by: blf
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August 21, 2010 5:12 PM
Oops! Sorry for the double-post. I'm fairly certain it was my mistake, a gratuitous/accidental Back confusing me into thinking I hadn't done Submit. Sorry.
Posted by: RMSC
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August 21, 2010 5:21 PM
[blockquote]This morning I had a staring contest with my oatmeal. It won.[/blockquote]
Just remember to never stare at grits. You'll turn to a pillar of salt.
Posted by: Rubicon
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August 21, 2010 5:27 PM
Hurin @ #81
Exceptin' Alice.
Posted by: Q.E.D
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August 21, 2010 5:28 PM
Unholy Lizard Popes! This filthy excuse for a human being is making millions telling the downtrodden, poor and ill that it's their fault.
I also recommend the Indy review
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 5:29 PM
RMSC
That was oblique.
Posted by: eflask
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August 21, 2010 5:39 PM
i liked this when it came out:
http://web.archive.org/web/20080624220031/http://www.thescreed.info/index.html
i have to go be beastly to some water now.
Posted by: SirBedevere
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August 21, 2010 5:42 PM
P.Z., if you've watched Oprah once that's more than enough.
Posted by: David Marjanović
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August 21, 2010 5:45 PM
That's it. Byrne is lying.
I'm extremely cautious with accusing people of lying. The Dunning-Kruger effect is incredibly good at making people believe utter nonsense. But Byrne outright soars above this. She can't possibly be stupid enough to believe such hilarities about water. She's lying.
Posted by: skeptifem
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August 21, 2010 5:53 PM
People keep shit talking positive thinking in this thread as thought it means irrational thinking. thinking more positively without thinking irrationally, and it does have benefits (especially for people with mood disorders).
Posted by: grudgedk
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August 21, 2010 5:57 PM
Well you're half right. When the energy level of water increases it does change structure (to gaseous form). However no amount of sweet talk is going to make that happen. That's just crazy talk. How could people live for hundreds and hundreds of years if they coexisted with dinosaurs? Clearly someone is mistaken. Utahraptors lived forever, on a steady diet of Mormons, people (or dino-snacks as they were known back then) had a comparatively short life expectancy.On a more serious note. I "get" why The Secret was such a huge success in the country where a significant portion of people suffer from chronic depression, taking prescription pills like vitamins. It's how many Christian and other extremist groups recruit. They get you hooked while you're down, when your bullshit detector is out of order, and when you naturally recover, they take the credit. However I don't see how this could possibly work with self-help books. Either they make you better, and you don't need any more, or they don't, and you realize they're useless. There no peer pressure, no group identity, no sense of community. What is preventing you from breaking the cycle? I mean it's not like you're part of Scientology, the Teabaggers or Twilight Moms. Just fucking leave.
Posted by: Rincewind'smuse
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August 21, 2010 5:58 PM
Read it again. Then photocopy the thread and rub it against your forehead if need be; No where in the post did he say that anyone knows everything about it, only that you can't claim to know more about it than what he posted. Only a reading comprehension below the third grade or an intensely religious upbringing would lead anyone to butcher the meaning beyond its intent.Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 6:02 PM
So you've met Stushie before?
Posted by: Rincewind'smuse
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August 21, 2010 6:06 PM
So all Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia need are copies of her book.Groovy! Sounds like an excuse to not bother getting up and actually do anything since all blame resides in the afflicted.Posted by: Yubal
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August 21, 2010 6:16 PM
Nice to see PZ fail once in a while.
When has that ever worked out without creating a huge unforeseen side-effect?
...and then we fail none the less. There is no way to predict what we are creating with our "knowledge"...and sometime I think it would have been better if some people would have stayed in bed instead of trying to shape the world according to their dreams.
We are not outside the universe, consequences of our actions always come back to us in the one or other way. Global Warming, anyone?
Posted by: Rincewind'smuse
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August 21, 2010 6:17 PM
My daughter's friend has been into "The Secret" since it came out. her life is no better than the day before she began to read it AFAIK,but she clings to it like a religion. I've got nothing against positive thinking per se , but the extent of irrational b.s. in the book is mind boggling. No matter, she would attempt to try and make a convert of you in a minute despite the fact that her own life is a mess. It seems to fulfill a desire for magical thinking for her that she may find comforting, like religion-lite, who knows?Posted by: Cosmic Snark
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August 21, 2010 6:27 PM
I'm in the wrong line of work. There are so many stupid people out there, with wallets just ready to be fleeced...
Posted by: Cosmic Snark
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August 21, 2010 6:31 PM
It will be promptly replaced by another brand of tripe. The market for woo is insatiable. Sad.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 21, 2010 6:39 PM
Rincewind'smuse:
^In a nutshell. There's nothing wrong with trying to look on the positive side of situations, however, taking it to the point of denying reality and assigning blame is a whole 'nother game.
It helps no one to deny reality.
Posted by: F
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August 21, 2010 6:44 PM
Skeptifem:
That is because (the power of) Positive Thinking™ type of positive thinking is bunk.
I'm quite sure that you mean something more rational. Others are probably referring to the other brand of
positivemagical thinking. And sometimes a placebo is as good as magic for mind engineering, but has the logic/rationality fail downside.Posted by: Carlie of the lacy, gently wafting adjectives
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August 21, 2010 6:54 PM
skeptifem - as espoused in books like The Secret, positive thinking means that you get stuff. Positive thinking for mood disorders can also have problems, as it can add another layer of pressure on someone to feel a certain way because "only you can make yourself better", and another level of failure if they can't force themselves to put on a smile and think positively. There is a kernel of usefulness at the bottom of it all for specific issues, but there's so much crap over it all that it's difficult to see that little kernel any more.
Posted by: waynerobinson4
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August 21, 2010 7:06 PM
I think this comes from an early Tom Robbins novel but don't recall for sure:
Human beings were invented by water as a means of transporting itself across land. (comment #13)
According to a Google search it was apparently Ed Ford who said something similar "from place to place" instead of 'across land'.
If so, I don't have the slightest idea who Ed Ford was or when he wrote it.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 7:14 PM
@ Yubal
Seen any information on vaccines? Yes there are a lot of things that we have done with science that have had unforseen side-effects, but medical science has people living longer, healthier lives. This actually correlates well to a decrease in birthrate so it has the unforseen side-effect of decreasing population growth.
Posted by: MadScientist
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August 21, 2010 7:14 PM
Sadly, Wishful Thinking sells - just look at the myriad of religions.
Posted by: speedweasel
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August 21, 2010 7:16 PM
Sastra, you need to write a book already. Its been years of back-to-back, solid gold posts from you on this site and I'm sick of cutting and pasting them into my 'anti woo' folder. Please publish something.
Posted by: Cerberus, unnatural product of en-OMnomnom-ification
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August 21, 2010 7:22 PM
skeptifem @96
That's cause trying not to drown in shit by remembering that good happens =/= the Cult of Positivity.
There's nothing wrong with trying to focus on the good to get yourself out of a tough mental hole, but the white middle class abomination where all social and medical ills can be solved or alleviated by thinking happy thoughts is not only woo, but deadly woo that creates a culture of victim blaming in order to create a false sense of security for the True Believers TM.
Posted by: tresameht
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August 21, 2010 7:38 PM
It is really true, Cold spring water can be vastly changed by adding a little Wild Turkey. This about as nice as anyone can be to water.
Posted by: Yubal
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August 21, 2010 7:42 PM
Dhorvath #109
Correct. But please increase the timescale and you will see the problem. People living longer results in a higher population density, coupled with the demand for increasing wealth we get a exponential increase in demands of resources, such as land, water, minerals etc. And yes, most of these demands are competing with each other, e.g. the demand for farmland competes with the demand for housing and both dismiss the right of non-human life to flourish.
An exponential increase in human population may last forever? Biologist say no, but we still vaccinate, urbanize, legislate, develop, behave as if we could.
Take home message is: there is always another side on your medal. Your wealth are the stolen basic needs of African children, your freedom of mobility is payed for by the victims of a totalitarian Wahhabi Theocracy and the Rice Farmers in Bangladesh... and so on, and so on, you get the picture.
Shalom,
Y.
Posted by: Hairhead
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August 21, 2010 7:45 PM
To all who have advised me about the homeopath, thanks for every suggestion.
The "take him another pill" gambit won't work. This woo-meister is crafty; he has her bring only pills prescribed by her doctor, accompanied by the list of possible side-effects given her by her pharmacist. From these side-effects he then tells her which are most likely to affect her (after, of course, using his magic machine); only then does he sell her his water concoctions to ameliorate these side-effects. It's a very crafty thing -- by current definitions he's not practicing medicine, and he's protecting himself from tests. He's put a lot of thought into this -- to bad he hasn't put that time and energy into something positive for society.
And unfortunately I have severely affected my friendship with his victim, er, my friend, and I doubt that she'll bring up the subject again, as I clearly would share my opinion.
Final note: my father was a minister, and I was reciting scripture to the congregation by the time I was four. I had, and have, an excellent memory, and find public speaking easy; I could prattle on indefinitely in front of crowds. More than once in my life people have told me I could make a million bucks as a religious or secular (ie. motivational) preacher.
But, like everyone else on this thread, my basic level of human decency precludes this method of making a living, and I have to scratch every month to get by. Strange, isn't it, how my amoral atheism refuses to let me exploit the pain, fear, and credulity of my fellow persons, while the deluded, the self-deluding, and the obviously prevaricating woo-meisters make money hand over fist.
Which brings me back to face-punching.
Posted by: GMM
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August 21, 2010 8:01 PM
Rhonda Byrne is a scam artist of the worst kind. She sued the director of The Secret and the internet consultant whose made it such a huge success after they tried to get her to pay what she owed them. So much for postiviity:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-secret-of-rhondas-success/story-e6frg8h6-1111117271174
One of the "experts" she chose for The Secret will soon be going on trial for negligent homicide in the deaths of three people at one of his spiritual retreats (nineteen other people had to be hospitalized and are still suffering from health problems).
Another expert has been banned for life from providing financial services by the Australia Securities & Investment Commission, ASIC, which is the Oz equivalent of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Posted by: steve
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August 21, 2010 8:04 PM
No successes of your own so you live vicariously through other peoples failures ?
Posted by: Pikemann Urge
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August 21, 2010 8:10 PM
Positive thinking is better than self-pity, at least.
badgersdaughter #55
Too simplistic. A lot of people are made unhealthy or even killed by idiot doctors and sometimes medicines. Does that mean we shouldn't have those things?
If a person wishes to pray for their cancer, what business is it of mine? Good for them. I'd certainly discuss the issue with such a person. I mean, I think some of these people will listen to reason (e.g. why go to work to earn your living when God will provide?).
Some won't, but good luck to them.
As for 'The Secret', well, I don't know enough about it. But I do know this: some people in this world have things given to them on a consistent basis. I don't know how, but it happens. And yes, they do get up out of bed in the morning.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 8:46 PM
@Yubal
When we increase lifespan there is a corresponding drop in population growth due to a drop in birthrate. We diminish the rate of expansion of human population density, not increase it. Check out Hans Rosling for some details.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 21, 2010 9:06 PM
Sorry, my mistake, the correlation was between childhood mortality and birthrate.
Posted by: grudgedk
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August 21, 2010 10:04 PM
The Wheel? The Lever? The Printing Press? Almost every type of weapon ever developed? The Space Program? The Internet? You're just not thinking hard enough about it. Hrm. I suppose that if you have to be superstitious, the one that endorses positive thinking and talking politely to water, is preferable to ones that endorse stoning adulterers and burning witches.Posted by: Erulóra (formerly KOPD)
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August 21, 2010 11:01 PM
Wanna raise the energy level of your water? Use this.
Posted by: Ichthyic
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August 21, 2010 11:25 PM
If a person wishes to pray for their cancer, what business is it of mine?
so long as it's something they can entirely keep to themselves, and has ZERO impact on anyone else...
are you sure that's the case here?
What if your acceptance of this kind of irrational behavior encourages those who peddle placebos instead of actual medicine for others, and they are sincerely deceived by it?
Would you approve of actively deceiving people?
Posted by: Pikemann Urge
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August 22, 2010 12:16 AM
Ichthyic, good point. Firstly, treating cancer technologically can be in some rare cases very expensive (eventually it won't be, of course). Which is better, which is more compassionate: ruin your descendants' financial inheritance or make them sad that you've died?
My answer might be different from yours. I believe in quality of life over prolongation of same. I don't want a culture of life, as pro-lifers talk about. I want a culture of dignity.
When some people's lives are in the balance, you can sell them anything. Anything. Which is why it helps to sort these issues while you're healthy. That means taking the responsible action of listening to various POV. Which is partly why I read Pharyngula.
Freedom of speech, IMO, comes attached with the duty to listen carefully to diverse ideas. (And no, I don't approve of deception, I believe in facing facts).
Posted by: Brettster
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August 22, 2010 1:18 AM
Man, I sure love your work, PZ! What a satisfying evisceration of The Secret/Power.
I wish your blog existed 20 years ago, when I was tricked into believing a sufficiently unhealthy dose of this new age pap that it seriously affected my health.
That's what is most insidious about The Secret and its ilk. If you believe that you create your own reality, and bad things happen to you, well then, I guess you CHOSE those things. Or you didn't say your affirmations with enough conviction. It's your fault, and there's little reason anyone should feel any sympathy towards you, since you created your cancer, or depression, or layoff yourself!
Under its veneer of feel-good self-empowerment, The Secret (and the other philosophies in the same genre) is really terribly cruel, particularly to vulnerable people. When people suffer life's inevitable downturns, what the Secret really offers is a big, nasty guilt trip. It's a shame that Rhonda Byrne doesn't realize the harm that she creates in peddling her nonsense.
Thanks again for the review, PZ - you said it with great flair, as usual.
Posted by: McCthulhu is taking ∞ to eat all the pi
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August 22, 2010 1:43 AM
#79, #80:
Why does Dr. Pepper come in bottles?
Because his wife died.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 22, 2010 1:59 AM
Brettster:
Exactly. I'm sorry you got sucked into that mess; I'm glad you're out of it now. It really is terrible so many people get sucked into such nonsense, it does do harm.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 22, 2010 2:03 AM
OH great Vendor of all things Pudding like. That is awesome.
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/NGkxPioo0p9V4bKVPhi77osC_UM-#32ae9
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August 22, 2010 2:08 AM
There's a guy here in Los Angeles named Michael Beckwith (no relation to the creationist)who has built an entire mega-church around this law of attraction/Secret bullshit. He appeared in T.S. video and is a repeat visitor on Oprah. Every other person I meet these days goes to Agape Spiritual Center, which is located in a section of Los Angeles that represents one of the largest concentration of affluent African Americas in the country.
Ironically, I think mainstream Christianity is more reflective of actual human experience than this new age woo woo. Because even a Christian who has requisite faith and believes that he can receive from God what he wants, may still not get what he wants if it is not part of God's will or the Divine Plan. This new age woo has no such limitation, and in that dimension is even more intellectually dishonest
Posted by: Brettster
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August 22, 2010 2:30 AM
Thank you for your comments, Chris (Caine, Fleur du mal OM). All the best - I loved your photos (especially "Elevators"), and - most of all - appreciate your kindness.
Posted by: danielm
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August 22, 2010 2:43 AM
Right. that's it. I've had enough. I'm going to go get an atlas, throw darts at it until I've pinpointed far-off, interesting-sounding places that nobody knows enough about, pick random names to go with those places and then write an in-depth novel about travelling to said places and "finding myself".
Expect it at all good newagey bookshops within a year, I'm going to be a millionaire.
suggestions for woo to fill the pages with gratefully accepted and never acknowledged.
Posted by: KingUber
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August 22, 2010 4:14 AM
I don't think this guy actually believes what he's writing, he's just fleecing gullible people
Posted by: m0r_ri0ghain#75dc1
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August 22, 2010 8:19 AM
Carlie #107
I faintly recall a study into the effects of (non-magical) positive thinking in individuals with negative self-perception, in which they turned out to feel worse after positive thinking exercises. The moods of individuals with more positive self-perception on the other hand were boosted by the exercise.
A quick Google Scholar search turned up nothing relevant. Does anyone recall the study?
Posted by: desertfroglet
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August 22, 2010 9:04 AM
Danielm @ 131
You could follow the example of Mutant Message Down Under, an execrable work that netted millions for the author and continues to do so despite being revealed years ago as a big, fat badly-written pile of bollocks.
Pretend to go to Australia and be adopted into a clan of Aboriginal people who, despite living only three hours from the coast, have no contact with the 'outside world'. Write about their beliefs and culture, which are strangely identical to that of Native Americans. Self-publish the story as memoir. Make a pile. Get it picked up by a real publisher. Have the story revealed as a fraud. Apologise tearfully. Make an even bigger pile.
Posted by: pccdrski.myopenid.com
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August 22, 2010 10:27 AM
On the heels of my video post on Facebook comes news in NYT that Rhonda Byrne, the author of The Secret, has a new book on offer on August 17th called The Power.
According to her publisher Atria, the new work will "..show how perfect health, incredible relationships, ... and the money you need to be, do and have everything you want, all come from the power."
Her previous book has to date sold 19 million copies. Now... evidently The Secret didn't reveal all. There is more to learn and you will have to purchase her new work to find out.
Yeah, The Power alright! The power to get another 19 million suckers to lay down $24.95 so she can "have everything" she wants and needs.
But I suppose that it won't be another 19 million. The original 19 million will do just fine, thank you!
Posted by: Silič O'Nopolitanopoulos, Färschdbischuf Beesknees aus Ulm und Klein Elguth, Elector Pharynguline.
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August 22, 2010 2:29 PM
I don't know, but apparently apples really like it when you ignore them.Or so Rebecca Watson told me, when I finally recognised her.
Posted by: eviltwit
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August 22, 2010 9:12 PM
Several years ago, when "The Secret" came out, I stayed with a friend in Seattle for a few days who kept leaving the DVD out in suggestible places. I had no idea what it was about, so finally I asked her to explain it, since she wanted me to watch it so badly. What a bunch of bull@#$%. I had to keep the maniacal laughter in, because this is one of my best friends (but she's always been a sucker for stuff like this). Apparently incidents in her life proved that this stuff works for her. I did tell her in no uncertain terms that I would not watch the thing - each to his own. Wow.
And then I got home and my mother had sent me Deepak Chopra's "How to Know God: Knowing God is Knowing Yourself" DVD. Ugh. She's continually trying to de-atheist me (I'm now 37). I guess she figured that pseudo-"science" babble from an Indian guy would help. I tried to watch it out of curiosity (and so I wouldn't be lying when I told my mother that I did - I think Asian mothers can hear when you're lying over the phone), but the man is such a wishy-washy moron, I FF through the whole thing. Oh, the drivel!
I guess there's no end to all this unless people stop buying in to this crap. Doesn't seem like there'll be an end to that soon. *sigh*
Posted by: eviltwit
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August 22, 2010 9:19 PM
p.s. awesome story about the author - and how she's SO not "practicing" what she's peddling
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-secret-of-rhondas-success/story-e6frg8h6-1111117271174
Posted by: Simulation of Sapience
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August 22, 2010 10:02 PM
It's almost worth picking up a copy of that book just to be able to say "I have The Power...in a convenient, easy to carry paperback volume." Old He-Man comic books will never be featured on Oprah's Book Club. That's comething you can never take from it or The Secret! That doesn't make them any more realistic than He-Man, but there will still always be that!
Still,one cannot just buy The Power or any pan-handler on the street who collected enough coinage could correct his condition. One must seize The Power by force...or is it gain the power of The Force through The Power.Truly deep stuff beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.
Posted by: Markita Lynda: Healthcare is a damn right
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August 23, 2010 12:07 AM
One of the scariest cartoons ever (it may have been The Far Side or Bizarro) showed a big hand moving a lobster towards a pot of boiling water. The lobster is frantically chanting, "There's no place like home! There's no place like home!"
Wish all you like. It's free.
Posted by: chrissetti
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August 23, 2010 6:00 AM
Am I the only one reminded of the disturbing McCoy-era Doctor Who episode 'The Happiness Patrol'?
We wouldn't want you to be a Killjoy now, would we?
Posted by: KG
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August 23, 2010 6:29 AM
Just as well there isn't one, then. The proportional rate of global population increase has been declining since the 1960s and has approximately halved from about 2.4% at its peak. The absolute rate of increase - the arithmetic surplus of births over deaths - has declined somewhat since the mid-1990s. Thess decreases have coincided with large increases in life expectancy, particularly in poor countries, and with rapid urbanization (which is probably the most important cause of the fall in birthrate).
Posted by: MsAnnThrope
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August 23, 2010 10:00 AM
McCthulhu @ 126
I had to read that twice before I got it (and subsequently choked on my coke). I suppose the good news is that my mind isn't as deep in the gutter as I thought.
Posted by: MsAnnThrope
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August 23, 2010 10:15 AM
Typing "happy water" into google gets 141 millions hits. Among them is a story about lithium in swimming pools . LOL.
A lecturer of mine once made us read this gem by Masaru Emoto on happy water crystals (in a journal with IF 0.8 no less) to stimulate critical reading of journal articles.
Peer review my arse.
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmqD_mcUIrSfOTlK3iGVsnEDcZmI43srbI
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August 23, 2010 10:31 AM
@101
Yubal:...so you'd rather we live in mud huts?
How big is your carbon footprint? Big enough to be in a place with electricity, that's for sure.
Practice what you preach (science is bad) and give up EACH AND EVERY comfort owed science, or STFU. And by "science", I mean each and every human-invented technological advance over living in caves wearing animal pelts. Because even though we didn't call it science until recently, it most assuredly was science.
Seriously. That means your car, your bicycle, your house with its indoor plumbing, clean (treated) water, air conditioning, central heat, electricity, television, radio, computers, internet, books, Wii, PlayStation, iPod, refrigerated foods, processed foods, non-organically grown foods, organically grown foods not shipped to market in an ox cart (oh wait, the ox cart would be a technological advance; so make that organically grown foods you don't grow yourself using farming implements you make yourself), fabrics you don't grow/hunt/weave yourself (same with footwear), concrete, asphalt, medicines, glass...and on and on and on.
Have a nice life in Somalia...oh wait, you'd have to swim to get there.
Science already has the answer to global warming. Politics is the impediment. Not science.
Posted by: Ichthyic
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August 23, 2010 4:56 PM
Freedom of speech, IMO, comes attached with the duty to listen carefully to diverse ideas. (And no, I don't approve of deception, I believe in facing facts).
this is the same logic I've seen people use to justify teaching holocaust denial and creationism.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp
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August 23, 2010 5:02 PM
Listening to diverse ideas does not mean you have to agree with them or that you can't criticize them.
And at some point the repetition of the same ridiculous idea phrased in new ways isn't worth giving your time to.
Posted by: Vicki, Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief
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August 23, 2010 5:07 PM
A quote, I think from Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters (I may have a word or two wrong): Freedom of speech may give a man the right to talk about the psychology of an amoeba, but I don't have to listen.
Nor does it require me to listen to lies about how the poor and sick deserve their condition, whether it's dressed up as "the secret," "God's will," "social Darwinism," or "karma."
Posted by: Pikemann Urge
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August 24, 2010 5:46 AM
Rev. BigDumbChimp #147,
Your first point: I agree.
Your second point: fair enough.
Posted by: Ing: PhD Trollologist
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August 24, 2010 12:01 PM
@148
What about Reganism?
Posted by: brosen6700
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September 16, 2010 5:06 PM
Well said. The Secret, and now apparently The Power, still seems to leave the power outside ourselves in the universe. The truth is we are part of the universe and we can take action to effect it.
The key to manifestation is action. Your thoughts lead to how you feel about something (you really want it or you don't), which in turn leads to you acting on it, which then leads to results. No action, no results.
Thus, no matter how hard you wish things were different, you're wishing them won't make them different unless you take action. The moment you do, then you step into a field where like-minded actors play ball. - Thanks for the intelligent and honest Post. Love, light, wisdom and laughter, Beth Rosen. I'll check back on more posts from you in the future. http://www.enlightenmentishere.com
Posted by: brosen6700
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September 16, 2010 5:08 PM
It also sounds like they're riding on Dr. Emoto's coat-tails. Is he in the next book and video?
Posted by: Jan
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September 17, 2010 10:04 AM
I do totally agree. The Law of Attraction is the Universal Law and no one can change. From my own experiences I can say that the power of believe is the one that give us the comfort / discomfort in our lives. If you believe you will achieve. Yes we cannot lay down and expect cash flowing from the sky, but trough strong believing we can and will improve our lives.
Thank you
Love, Jan
http://allowbrainpowertoprosperity.com