While
organizing books in my thrift store, my mom and I were having a laugh
about self-help books:
Me: I swear, if The Secret shows up in here I refuse to sell it.
Mom: Isn't that a book about the power of positive thinking? That's not so bad.
Me: It's about the magical power of positive thinking.
Mom: . . . Oh.
Well, it showed up. And I'd written it off without reading it. In fact, I've never read a self-help book--usually I just skim the Wikipedia page. I had issues with The Secret before I ever cracked it open based on what I had read in the summaries.
I knew this much going into it:
1. Encouraging people to think positively and nurture a healthy self-esteem is a good thing, but
2. Telling them that doing so will make them masters of the Universe is bullshit and
3. I could not wait to see what nonsense she'd cook up about how quantum physics made it all make sense.
I knew this much going into it:
1. Encouraging people to think positively and nurture a healthy self-esteem is a good thing, but
2. Telling them that doing so will make them masters of the Universe is bullshit and
3. I could not wait to see what nonsense she'd cook up about how quantum physics made it all make sense.
I'm not quite finished as of this post, but I can say that I expected the quantum woo to be laid on a lot thicker than it was. Regardless, Rhonda Byrne says that thoughts have energies or frequencies and that similar frequencies are attracted to each other because quantum physics. That's all she says. She doesn't twist around the mechanisms of quantum physics in any great detail, she just mentions that quantum physics = The Secret. Okay then. Let's use the power of our positive thinking to imagine what Rhonda would say if we could ask her about her background in quantum physics:
" . . . . "
" . . . . "
Well, shit. But if her entire premise is supposedly based on quantum physics, she must at least know the basic concepts, right? Hey Rhonda: what's the wave function?
" . . . . "
Seems pretty solid to me.
Quantum woo can always elicit theatrical eye rolls from me, and maybe a biting remark if another person recommends The Tao of Physics or What the Bleep Do We Know to me specifically because they just know I'd like it. But there are more qualified people out there than me to tear apart her weak attempts at using real science to justify her claims. There are also more qualified people than me to outline the philosophical implications, psychological concepts, etc. that demonstrate the failure of this belief system. The only thing I'm really qualified to do is talk a lot of shit and make fun of Rhonda Byrne's tripe.
The idea that positive thinking will lead to a happier life is not exactly groundbreaking. It certainly doesn't sell books. I consider myself an optimist, but I don't subscribe to any beliefs about specific, clearly-defined metaphysical forces or beings in the universe. I knew before going into this that Rhonda Byrne's book tries--and fails--to play with the big dogs (not that I consider myself one of the "big dogs.") And I will take great pleasure in tearing it apart, with extra sarcasm on the side.
The idea that positive thinking will lead to a happier life is not exactly groundbreaking. It certainly doesn't sell books. I consider myself an optimist, but I don't subscribe to any beliefs about specific, clearly-defined metaphysical forces or beings in the universe. I knew before going into this that Rhonda Byrne's book tries--and fails--to play with the big dogs (not that I consider myself one of the "big dogs.") And I will take great pleasure in tearing it apart, with extra sarcasm on the side.
For those who like to laugh at pseudoscience and corny self-help, but can't actually stand subjecting yourself to more than five minutes of it at a time, I'm writing up a detailed response. Each chapter of The Secret contains Secret Summaries at the end, which I've . . . edited . . . to better reflect reality. I'll post, chapter by chapter, as I go along. Enjoy!
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