The Secret, Oprah, and the idea of “magical thinking”

Somewaterytart at Shakespeare’s Sister tackles the subject of the new DVD/Book “The Secret” that Oprah’s been touting. I’m inclined to agree with much of what she says.
I first heard about the book from my mom, who works for Barnes and Noble, where the book is apparently flying off the shelves, so I resisted blurting out “That sounds nuts!” but that’s pretty much what crossed my mind when I heard it described. Then later Stephanie watched the DVD with some friends. She thought it was over the top, but an interesting exercise in positive-thinking.
I’m in favor of optimism, but as tart points out, there’s also quite a bit of blame that gets thrown at people who don’t come from privileged backgrounds for their less than desirable circumstances, and this book does seem to play into that – it outright says that if something bad happens to you, it’s because you attracted it into your life. That’s quite a case of blaming the victim, there.
And the anti-intellectualism/anti-science is pretty annoying, too:
“”I don’t know how electricity works, do you?” Uh, yes, I do, thanks. That’s what science fair was for.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. dayofwrath

    The true secret is revealed long time ago,you have to find it.Here I refer to the book the coin of the temple isbn 1425905773,the coin held a great secret that goes back to hundreds of years.Each one will find out the greatest and the most valuable secret for his life.Compared with the secret of Oprah,we will discover who is false and who is right.
    dayofwrath

  2. Steph

    Dayofwrath, (that’s an awesome name, BTW!) your secret sounds a lot more interesting that Oprah’s. At least in a “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” kind of way. Does the book start Nicholas Cage’s marvelous toupee as well?
    The Coin of the Temple

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