my thoughts on 'The Secret'

Hmmm. Actually I'm finding difficulty thinking of a diplomatic, nice, unprovocative way to say 'it's a load of crap'.

To anyone who is unaware of what 'The Secret' is, it is the "law of attraction", which states (more or less) that the universe responds to your thoughts and the things you dwell your mind on. If you dwell your mind on positive things, things you would like to have or would like to have happen to you, the universe reponds to that and gives you positive things. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csiAsbPxmmY if you want to see a video on it.

The first time I saw it was on TV, channel 9 (or 7, I forgot). I didn't watch all of it, but I watched enough to get the gist of what they were saying (after all the so-called 'law' of attraction is very simple).

It's rather interesting, because we've always had a law of attraction, called "Murphy's Law". When they showed the guy thinking "I'm going to be in late, I don't want to be late" and then getting stuck in a traffic jam, I thought: that's the Murphy's Law! They stole Murphy's Law!

Also, interestingly, the Chinese have also always had a similar theory, and they called the 'positive' and 'negative' things 'qi', meaning literally air, but more aptly translated as 'energy'. A chinese would hope to bring good 'energy' into their lives by saying auspicious things to each other at New Years, and avoiding topics like illness and death (especially at the start of the new year). When my brother says things like "don't crash", he always gets growled at by my mum. Neither of my parents wanted to listen when I wanted to discuss the possibility of organ donation with them.

Of course, although this is interesting, it doesn't make it true. (The Chinese also believed in dragons and gods and buddas and demons and ancestor-worship.) There are truthful elements and preposterous elements to this theory. Let me go through the truthful elements first.

The "law of attraction" (I really hate to call it that, though) promotes positive thinking, which is good. It is true that quite often, if we say, for example, "I'm too dumb to get into medicine", then we probably won't. But I believe it's not because the universe responds to your thoughts, I believe that when you say "I'm too dumb", you are confirming it in your own mind and therefore have less motivation and set yourself up to fail.

Have you ever surprised yourself, though? I know I have. Countless times, I think "crap, I'm going to miss the train, I don't wanna miss the train, I'm going to be late for work," but I catch the train, or I'm not very late at all. When I did my Gamsat the first time, I thought I was going to get around 64, and I was feeling quite good. I got 60. Second time, I was more realistic, and thought for sure that I will get no more than 3 above my first score. I was very worried that I'd done worse the second time, it was my main concern. By the grace of God, (and I mean it) I got 71. 2005 I was on the 60th percentile (I achieved higher or the same as 60% of candidates), and in 2006 I was on the 96th percentile. If the 'law of attraction' were true, I should have gotten lower. Despite my high score, I was worried that I wouldn't get in. I'd mentioned in the interview that I would work during my studies, that I was Christian, and that I had no community involvement worth talking about ( I shouldn't have worried but I did). But I still got in, with a Commonwealth-Supported-Place.

It is difficult for me to refute the 'law of attraction' using logic and reasoning, as I am not a philosopher and have no experience/training in logic. I can only use the above example. But consider if the universe really did 'respond' to our thoughts and notions, does that mean it's personified? How does a physical entity such as the universe, in which we live, become personified? If the universe (or indeed any super-human entity) 'responds' to our thoughts and desires in such a indiscrimminate, mechanical, constant manner, such that we can manipulate it (and our outcomes), what meaning does that give our lives? A predictable mechanism controls our fates, we control that mechanism, but to what end? Perhaps we will achieve material 'success', but that is no longer nessecarily due to our endevours, only that we manipulated the universe. Anyone can do it.

Interestingly, in the film clip, they recommend you write down what you want, but start off with "I'm thankful for..." but who do we thank? The universe? I'm always amused when non-religious people say they are thankful.

And of course I cannot end a commentary like this without discussing my religious view. God raised up many people that did not have positive attitudes. The most famous is Moses, who thought himself inarticulate and clumsy, and was concentrating on the negatives of God's commands (that the task was so big and himself so incapable). One of our youth groups is named after Gideon, who thought himself small and weak but was used by God to be a mighty warrior and defeated a great army. (It is a favourite story in our church, and "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." (Judges 6:12 NIV) is commonly heard in encouragement to young people. ) I do try to have confidence, and try to be positive (which, at times, is difficult), but not because of "The Secret", but because I believe that, ultimately, I am in God's hands. As much as I do complain, I do believe that God will take care of me. It's very unchristian of me to complain I guess. It's just that there is much to complain about sometimes...

This ends my commentary on 'The Secret'. I don't think I did a good job of explaining or rationalising a theory that I believe is illogical. But there it is. By the way, think_next, do I know you?