Letters to the Editor
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The ABRIDGED Secret
I didn't read or watch The Secret. I saved my time and energy by reading the much less cumbersome, not so self-congratulatory version, posted here, from dictionary.com.
vo·li·tion
[voh-lish-uhn, vuh-]
–noun 1. the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; exercise of willing: She left of her own volition.
2. a choice or decision made by the will.
3. the power of willing; will.
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No worse than religion
Yes this book is obviously rubbish and a ruse to make money for it's authors, but I can't see that it's any more silly or irrational than another widely read best-seller in the US. Oh what's it called.....Oh yes the bible! I'm not surprised it goes down a treat. These people are just the latest in a long line of prophets.
The real problem is that of all the major western and supposedly educated/civilised nations. The US is so hooked on religions/cults/mumbo jumbo of any kind. This book just taps into that tendency.
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Agreed, Sandra M...
>Not long ago I was looking at her magazine, under 'favorite things'. There was a cute purse - the store where it was sold is located in my area so I popped it. it was $1,394 - $1,394 for a handbag so small it could only hold a wallet, cell phone and maybe a lipstick. I'm not surprised that the cost of many of Oprah's favorite things are beyond the pale for the ordinary person - but I WAS surprised to see her list it blithely as if, you know, we all buy this stuff without thought all the time. Shouldn't a $1000+ bag be listed, I don't know, as "Indulgences" or something? It would seem to reflect the way the rest of us view money - even those who actually have some extra to spend on frivolities.<
Well, now, those are _her_ favorite things. And if you hope to be deserving enough to buy them, best hie out and get THE SECRET, no? :) It's hard to pinpoint exactly when and where Oprah started losing sight of the real world. But from the few issues of O I've seen, I'd say the signs were there a good two years ago in those "fav. thing/stuff to buy" features. (Come on--$500 jeans?) It seems to me that when O started it would give up a range of prices for items. But of late, it looks like that balance has been lost.
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"Only two things are infinite:
the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the former."
- Albert Einstein
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Have you noticed
All the letters defending The Secret have the same condescending, slightly above it tone of pity & barely disguised contempt -- why, I can almost see Adam West's Batman shaking his head slowly & sadly intoning, "Poor, deluded child..."
The comparisons to totalitarian thought are spot on. Here we have people who are clearly terrified of the idea that the universe & their lives are not 100% under their control, that random & unexpected events can happen despite their best plans, that there is no complete & ultimate security no matter how much you prepare for it. They literally cannot live with complexity, insecurity, anxiety, nuance, doubt -- everything must be clear-cut & have a simple, understandable explanation, even the most existential questions.
This is the most frightening aspect of any such philosophy: it dumbs down & reduces the incredible richness of human thought & experience to a few simple soundbites & talking points. No need to wrestle with Meaning & Doubt, no need to plumb the depths of Sorrow & Despair, no need to do any difficult & painful inner work -- all the answers have been provided for you. And not only the answers, but constant reassurance that you're morally & spiritually superior to all those benighted souls out there struggling to be whole human beings.
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Aggrevated with Secret Fans
Secret fans are so convinced that if everyone examines their lives they will see how they "attracted" an experience.
If you do NOT see that, they tell you that you want to be a victim and not take responsibility for intentionally or unintentionally attracting conditions.
It's not "LOA" or "VICTIMHOOD" - that is a false dichotomy set up by LOA fans. Every conversation I have ever had with proponents of LOA has devolved into the LOA-fan deciding I want to be a victim.
LOA fans will judge those that do not agree, then blame those that do not agree, then shut off other ideas because they don't want to "attract" the negativity of your ideas. Often, they are not nice about it.
No one argues with the power of positive thinking. But that is NOT what "The Secret" and the LOA is about.
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Well, that says it all right there...
>This is a glorious reflection I've created.<
And obviously it's all you want to see.
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Immortality for only $1 a day
Screw prosperity, I'm now selling immortality, and it only costs you a dollar a day.
How does it work? Glad you asked (sit back down now). For only $1 a day, I will beam my patented Good Thoughts No-Death Lifeforce Universal Energy towards you. To prove that this is working, you will respond by sending me $1 every night at midnight. This proves to both of us that my patented process is working and that you indeed did not die that day. As long as you keep doing this you will never die!
However, should you stop sending payments, I can guarantee that you will eventually die. Also, should you for some reason die before you can send the $1 for that day, this is an indication not that my process doesn't work, but rather than you attracted Posi-Nega-Death-Flux Antiforce Non-Energy into your life, which I cannot be responsible for counteracting. I mean, really, I can stop regular death, but no known process can stop PNDFANE (as we in business abbreviate it).
This system is 100% guaranteed, and while it is not backed by flawed earthly "empirical" science, it's is fully vetted by the New Theoscientifilogical Institute, experts in the Intuitive Psychodynamics of Fundafaithian Autodelusorianism.
Now accepting PayPal.
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too funny
Someone earlier posted a link to a youtube group which is trying out the Secret for 100 days. The latest video from the guru is filmed in a Mac dealership because her computer broke down. I wonder if she "willed" that?