The opponents of the principles described in the movie The Secret have been out in force ever since the Oprah shows. I have to tell you–it is so entertaining! The most fun part of reading, listening, and watching the ‘naysayers’ is that with most of the arguments, they’re actually showing that the Law of Attraction, or intention/manifestation, or whatever you want to call it, is working!
For instance, in this CBS News video clip with James Arthur Ray and Scranton University psychology professor John Norcross, Harry Smith, the moderator, directs this at Norcross:”This just sounds a lot like the little engine that could: ‘I think I can, I think I can…’ Is there any harm in that?”
“Sure there is,” Dr. says. “Let me count the ways. First, if you’re reading The Secret, you’re being led away from other demonstrably effective treatments and self-help resources. Second, when it doesn’t work, people start to blame themselves and become demoralized. So when your cancer doesn’t remit [sic], schizophrenia doesn’t disappear, and you continue to be blind, you say, ‘It must be something in me’. This is just outlandish claims.”
My first reaction to hearing that was, “Oh boy. Here we go again. ‘There, there,’ he says. ‘It’s not your fault’.” He was trying to tell me, “Listen–do you not understand that you have something wrong with you? It’s not your mind that causes this condition you have, it’s not your fault, and it’s not your mind that will cure it, it’s not you that can cure it. It’s not your job to cure it. It’s mine. Only I can. The great and powerful Oz. medical doctor.”
Oops. Sorry.
The funniest statement the good professor made was this: “There is always spontaneous remission, there is always the placebo effect. We need to show The Secret does more than that. There is no reliable scientific evidence to show that the Law of Attraction or the secret works.”
Can science explain spontaneous remission or the placebo effect? Not that I know of. I suppose it didn’t even occur to him that the mind could actually be causing the remission, or causing the body to act as if it had received a drug. Nope. We can’t prove scientifically that the mind has any effect, so we can’t even entertain it as a viable cause. All we have are questions and observations. That’s evidently not enough.
Ray relates the case of a person that he’s worked with that made major changes in her life. Smith says to Norcross, “…There are instances like that where these things happen where folks sort of get their lives together from looking at a DVD or reading a book like this.”
The professor’s response? “Well, of course, but we don’t know that’s causedly the case. You know, Mr. Ray and other proponents of The Secret keep talking about ‘cases’. ‘Cases’ are not science. We need randomized clinical trials, the same thing we do in medication studies, to show this is due to it.”
Here’s another gem from another interview, again from a psychology professor: “It’s just old hot air in a new balloon.”
Scientist types can be so idiotic. Scientist types can be so blind to what’s in front of them sometimes. Reminds me of a race horse with blinders on.
Have a wonderful deliberate day!
Steve,
I just got done watching the interview that you talk about in this post, and I had to give James Ray credit for not sitting there shaking his head like I was when I was watching Norcross. He basically said that since we can’t scientifically prove something, it must not have an explanation.
Well! That sums up your education for today, class. Please go home and tell your parents that your professor has no idea, so he just blew off the entire concept.
Sheesh!
If anything, I think that Norcross helped to point out that since science can’t document these things (at least not in the way HE thinks is necessary) that there MUST be another explanation. Of course, that explanation being the LOA or any other conscious creation efforts I’m sure never crossed his mind…
Ahhh…it is good to be “in the know”. Personally, I’ll put my faith in the power of the human mind and human spirit over a lack of scientific evidence any day of the week.
AMEN BROTHER POTTS! 🙂
That the mind has so much power and potential is, I think, overlooked or pooh-poohed by too many in the scientific community. You hit it right on the head:
Thanks for the visit and the comment!
Norcross’ argument seems to be that, because science hasn’t yet advanced to understand something, that ‘something’ must not exist. That mindset absolutely contradicts that science is an art of discovery.
Well, here it is, almost two years later, and The Secret is still being tauted by skeptics: it doesn’t work, it isn’t science, it’s fakery, quakery, and only puts cash into the hands of the book, tape, CD, and course sellers. True enough, they make a little money on the deal but that’s the name of the game. They should. They have created an attraction mechanism. True intention + mechanism = results, as Brian Klemmer asserts. Your true intentions will always manifest. Those who use the starving millions as proof that a thought can’t change the world have never heard the interviews conducted by charitable institutions with their “victims.” Many say they can never escape; they can’t catch up with the rest of the world; they hate the rich nations; they resent needing to be assisted by the “guilt ridden” Western nations and religions. Have they set up a barrier to their own prosperity? Is their true intention showing? You decide. . .