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Monday, December 11, 2006 - 1:15pmSanction this postReply
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I borrowed this movie and watched four or five times. It's quite addictive. I felt inspired when I watched it, so that's why I went back. I had it for a couple weeks.

I was naturally troubled by their lack of scientific explanation in the movie. That is, they didn't provide any proof. There seemed to be an attitude that simply testing the theories would imply a lack of faith, etc.

Some stories were certainly believable and convincing. The best was the story of the guy who was in a plane crash and vowed to walk out of the hospital by the end of the year. He did walk out of the hospital, and I do think that kind of determination does make a difference.

But the secret takes this attitude a step further and tries to apply it to all of reality. It's almost like saying: "I am buying stock in Exxon and will make it go up 20% in six months. It's going to go up because I am determined to make it so."

While you can will your body's healing process, I don't think you can necessarily will all of reality. This pollyanna approach to life is what has always turned me off most self-help, including Nathaniel Branden.

(Edited by Chris Baker on 12/11, 1:23pm)


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Post 1

Monday, December 11, 2006 - 4:22pmSanction this postReply
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The secret is:




Post 2

Monday, December 11, 2006 - 5:37pmSanction this postReply
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Ah yes - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy......  of course, what was the question?

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Post 3

Monday, December 11, 2006 - 9:03pmSanction this postReply
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Luke, thanks for posting this. "The Secret" has been something I've been giving some thought to recently.

Adding to what Chris said:

I too got a lot out of "The Secret" but it's the "you create your own reality" stuff that is irksome.

(By the way, there was 1 1-letter word, 2 2-letter words, and 7 3-letter words in the last sentence.)

Unlike some who post here I find some good value in self-help. Of course, I take only what is of value to me from the material. For example just before viewing "The Secret", I recently finished reading Napoleon Hill's "Grow Rich With Peace of Mind", it gave me great insight into how I can limit the more irrational and regrettable aspects of my personality that creep up every now and again such as cynicism and a bad temperament.

But the big gain I get from picking up a self-help book from time to time is what Luke referred to as the Objectivist version of "The Secret". I don't label myself an Objectivist but I guess I use the Objectivist Secret when I am at my best in attaining my goals: I focus on my goal, which is long range in nature, while being rational in pursuit of it, allowing no obstacle to be too large.

The best thing I got out of "The Secret" is the reminder to visualize my goals with emotion and to act as though they have already been attained. I do not expect "the universe to rearrange itself" as they outlandishly claim in the movie, but by doing this your mind becomes much sharper and you "attract" (in self-help speak) or you "rationally orient yourself to more easily attain your goal." (Objectivist Secret speak) It's kind of like the definition of luck that goes something like: luck is where opportunity meets preparedness.

Let me close by saying that a great topic of discussion for those at RoR is what I think is a great point made in "The Secret", that nobody knows exactly how they are going reach a goal. In "The Secret" they claim that the universe rearranges itself to present you with the solution, but only if you are receptive to it. But here at RoR that means your rational mind works hard enough to uncover the solution through a respect and analysis of nature's laws. (Sorry if this paragraph was much like the previous one)

"The Secret" although flawed should be credited with helping thousands of people realize the great things that can be done by individuals through the creation of life-affirming goals, passionate mental focus on those goals, and persistent action towards their attainment.

Think big (and uh... rational)!

PS: A goal I set for myself after viewing "The Secret" is to go into space within 10 years. I close my eyes and visualize it as often as possible, it feels wonderful.

Thanks again Luke for posting this review.

[Sanction and exit stage left]

Tyson

(Edited by Tyson Russell
on 12/12, 9:06am)


Post 4

Monday, December 11, 2006 - 9:30pmSanction this postReply
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Let me add that taking a moment to close your eyes and think about the universe as nothing but energy, which it is, can bring calm and focus to a reality-oriented mind in temporary distress. This is A is A at the fundamental level of reality.

If that's not enough of an endorsement, I'll just say that Howard Roark does it 6 times a day to convince you. Good enough?

Tyson

Post 5

Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 8:26amSanction this postReply
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I should really put one of the theories in The Secret to the test. I am going to put up a tax return on my wall with an inflated income. Let's see what happens.


Post 6

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - 4:59amSanction this postReply
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One aspect of this video I liked addressed the supreme importance of self-love.  It emphasized that once you make that your highest emotional value, your relationships with others begin to fall into place.  Fights with friends and lovers dissipate because you no longer feel the need to seek their approval, a primary source of such fights in the first place.

Another part I liked addressed the diversity and uniqueness of individual values.  Because each person wants different values, no "scarcity" ever occurs.  An Objectivist would point to The Ultimate Resource 2 by Julian Simon to make a grounded argument for the same conclusion.

Yet another part I liked involved the idea that no "blackboard in the sky" exists upon which God has written one's life purpose.  Instead, one has to determine one's own purpose in life.  Ayn Rand would say the same, though in a different way.

The success of this video in part arises from its charismatic, photogenic, warm, inviting personalities.  Objectivism could use an outreach video like this to educate viewers on the benefits of following reason via the "Objectivist Style" Law of Attraction.  In the words of Francis Bacon, "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed."

I learned through Amazon that an earlier version of this film included footage of a "channeler" named Esther Hicks "channeling" various supernatural "teachers" collectively named "Abraham" to share their collected wisdom about "the secret" with us.  Oh, dear.  I can see why the creators would want to edit the film to axe this nonsense and so reach a much wider, more sensible audience.

(Edited by Luke Setzer on 12/13, 5:08am)


Post 7

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - 8:43amSanction this postReply
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They did pick out a wide range of people in the video. That made it interesting.

It also stresses the importance of putting things into positive terms and having positive goals. This was summarized best up when a guy told a story about Mother Teresa. She would not attend an "anti-war" rally, but would attend a peace rally.


Post 8

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - 9:32amSanction this postReply
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Luke:

You are correct that the success of "The Secret" is largely due to its warm, positive outlook on life; not to mention an ingenious marketing campaign probably spearheaded by Joe Vitale!

The Objectivists and all those who seek rational human values would benefit greatly from packaging their ideas in a similar manner.

For starters...

I haven't watched it all the way through yet, but I think I would point some who wants post-The Fountainhead/AS exposure to the ideas of Ayn Rand, to the Donahue interview before any of the non-fiction. People would be more receptive to her benevolent, yet often harshly phrased ideas, if they first saw that she too was a warm and benevolent person.

And yes, it is a good thing that the channeling was cut. I rolled my eyes at a similar passage in the Napoleon Hill book I mentioned previously.

Tyson



Post 9

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - 2:42pmSanction this postReply
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A video about Ayn Rand and the community here at RoR posted on YouTube could do lots to reduce the misconceptions about Rand and her benevolent perspective.

With the brains and ability of those here at RoR something great can be accomplished.

I have limited video editing skills, but I have some ideas for content.

Tyson

Post 10

Monday, December 18, 2006 - 8:55amSanction this postReply
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Do you have a link for this video?


Post 11

Monday, December 18, 2006 - 10:07amSanction this postReply
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Chris:

Did you mean the Donahue video or The Secret? Anyway, here's both.

The other chapters of each video can be found by searching "the secret llc" at Google Video and "donahue rand" at YouTube.

The Secret:



Donahue:



Tyson

Post 12

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 7:38amSanction this postReply
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I was reminded yesterday of another problem I have with this movie. Sometimes the complete reverse proves true.

Years ago, I made the observation: "People who are poor act like they are rich. People who are rich act like they are poor."

Proof of the first statement are the many Americans who go into debt to buy big screen televisions and cars that they don't need. Most Americans nowadays are poor, as most of them are basically broke and live paycheck to paycheck.

Back when I delivered newspapers, I remembered how difficult it often was to get paid by some of my most affluent customers. You learn a whole lot about people when you deliver their newspapers. The middle-class people were usually the best payers.

Consider someone like Warren Buffett. He's lived in the same house for 48 years and still drives his own car. Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, drives an old car and reportedly still flies coach. People who know Ross Perot have also said that he drives an old vehicle, too. And John Rockefeller still insisted that his kids wear hand-me-downs.

In these cases, the theories of the secret fall flat.


Post 13

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 7:20pmSanction this postReply
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Somehow, I like the secret for something because it somehow advocate individual as a highest value, like where the part stress all about you... I guess somehow they misinterpreted the idea of "law of attraction" into using minds to create realities. Anyone who doesn't understand the full context of this can mislead themselves into it. I guess it was kinda hard for them to explain and also because for marketing campaign purposes of "Warm Welcoming".

I agree that even though you can use your mind to overcome some obstacles in life, but you can't completely use your mind to change all realities.

If I'm correct, the Full Context of this should be explain as, "If you fully align your mind, body, together with the universe, you'll be like you're in harmony with the universe and everything you desires naturally drawn to you.(not because of "positive thinking, but because of your reasoning ability to integrate and align your mind, body, emotions together with the world surrounds you, and interlock them like a magnet) as in nature to be obey must be command. That's my definition for law of attraction.

and another thing I don't like about is the part they interpreted is that if you have negative emotions, just forget about it and focus on the positive emotions instead, I tend to somewhat agree and disagree with that, personally I believe that negative emotions are indicators of your body and minds are not properly aligning with each other.

In my opinion, "I would say that if you're feeling negative, like pain, sadness, stressed, used that as an indicator of dis-alignment of yourself and use it to motivate you or to remind you about the good things or feelings you want by turn it into re-aligning yourself to it.

I also have to give good credit to the part that where they emphasize that "there's no heaven or god or a piece of blackboard about your life, is you who determine the outcome of it!" Although this is another reason why this film is being attacked by so many religious cynics claiming the secret as "God" does not have a role in man's life.

Even though the secret may have some erroneous view philosophically, it somehow help thousands of them with the sense of value and individuality, it may somewhat mislead them into the "positive thinking" approach of life that leads to nothing but suicidal dramas. unless they fully understand the true context behind "the Secret"



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Post 14

Saturday, December 19, 2009 - 6:29amSanction this postReply
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"The Secret"? It is a kind of Kantism for the poor!

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