st night CNN's Larry King Live - March 8th, 2007aired another segment on The Secret. This time, the show focused on
critics of The Secret.
Where were they? The critics that is.
90% of the show was just another infomercial for The Secret. Talk about skewing the debate.
Grant it, there were a few tough questions from callers, but....
Where were the REAL scientists?
Where was the quantum research?
Where was the head-to-head, sparks-are-flying, in-your-face-debate between The Secret teachers and the so called "negative" non-believers?
Where were they I ask?
Besides the 5 minutes they gave Dr. Robi Ludwig, Psy. D, last night's show was a major disappointment. But then again, I'm not surprised. I've come to expect this type of one-sided reporting from CNN.
The fact is, The Secret teachers are starting to change their tune. Aside from Joe Vitale's silly remarks about attracting murder and accidental death, I don't believe I heard the words "without exception" any other time in the whole show.
Instead, I heard a lot of: "Hey, sometimes shit happens."
Duh....really?
James Arthur Ray is beginning to look and sound a lot like Tom Cruise's character, Frank T.J. Mackey from the movie Magnolia:
Repeat after me...
"Respect The Secret. And tame the critics."
"Respect The Secret. And tame the critics."
"Respect The Secret. And tame the critics."
"Tame them! Take it on headfirst with the skills that I will teach you at work and say no! You will not control me! No! You will not take my soul! No! You will not win this game! Because it's a game. You want to think it's not, huh? You want to think it's not? Respect The Secret. You are embedding this thought. I am the one who's in charge. I am the one who says yes! No! Now! Here! Because it's universal, man. It is evolutional. It is anthropological. It is biological. We...are...The Secret!"
(To see the mantra that Frank T.J. Mackey really said in Magnolia, go here. WARNING: If you are insulted by foul language, don't go.)
In all honesty, I actually really enjoyed the segments with Lisa Nichols and Bob Proctor. They at least came across as sincere.
Then, there's Joe Vitale who dropped the bomb of the night:
Quote:
"I'll tell you this. I'm attracting a sequel. So we're going to have a sequel one way or another."
The Secret sequel. What a shock Joe ...not.
Of course, The Secret 2 will include all of the things The Secret Classic missed; you know, things like GOAL SETTING, MENTORING, EDUCATION, and my personal favorite: TAKING ACTION.
By the time we get to the The Secret Trilogy Boxed DVD Set, The Secret Classic will have evolved into nothing more than a new age, re-packaged version of Anthony Robbins' Personal Power program.
But don't count on any US Presidents, professional athletes, or Fortune 500 CEO's giving The Secret Trilogy a raving endorsement.
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"If drudgery is not found somewhere in a book or course, it isn't worth reading. Of all great works nine tenths must be drudgery."
-- Russell Conwell
Calista McKnight
The Secret Lie
http://www.thesecretlie.com/
7 comments:
Calista,
Are you sure we are talking about the same show? I heard nothing but criticism of the Secret. And I think the guests did a pretty good job of answering the tough questions.
James Ray is the only one who was talking about taking action way before The Secret ever came out. And he's more grounded than all the rest. And you know it.
Why the dagger?
That show was a poor example of fairness in journalism.
Why don't they bring in REAL scientists and give them EQUAL air time.
I don't care what they "think", I care what's REAL.
If The Secret can be proven to work then we will all apologize and move on.
The James Arthur Ray bit is a gag. He's a good guy, but he just reminded me of Frank Mackey as he was standing there with the crowd as his backdrop.
Never mind the criticism of me, where's YOUR blog post?
I've been involved in numerous discussions, both public and private, about media coverage of "The Secret." As well, I've been poking fun of "The Secret" on my blog for seven months now.
As I remarked in a private discussion with one of my new friends, I think a reasonably fair debate on TV would have to include as many non-Secret fans as folks who had an obvious financial stake in the success of "The Secret."
The "other side" could perhaps include:
1. At least one scientist who actually UNDERSTANDS quantum physics and quantum mechanics (since "Secret" and "What The Bleep" fans alike are always citing "science"). And by "scientist," I am not referring to Bruce Lipton or Gregg Braden or any of the other "quantum mystics" who have also co-opted science to sell their mystical, or rather, "scientystical," books, DVDs and workshops. I'm also not talking about JZ Knight, whose infomercial "What The Bleep" was such a great hit, even though she was one of the folks Larry King fawned over last November. Oh, I know Ramtha is probably really qualified to tell us the secrets of the Universe, but we need someone with REAL credentials, and preferably someone who hasn't been dead...oops, I mean "ascended"...for 35,000 years or so.
2. A journalist such as Steve Salerno (author of SHAM: How The Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless). Steve has researched and reported on the deleterious effects of self-help on our culture, and he's been blogging about "The Secret" since January of last year. He has tried repeatedly to get Larry King, John Stossel and others interested in doing an expose on self-help stuff...to no avail so far.
3. A "regular person" or two who's been through the self-help grind, particularly the LOA culture, and has seen firsthand the damage it can cause.
4. Rick Ross, weighing in on the cultish aspects of "The Secret" and LOA
5. A comedian who can point out the silliness of it all (if none of the other folks above had anything to say about the channeling origins of The Secret, the comedian could.) If not a comedian...then Penn and Teller. Penn definitely has something to say about channeling; he calls it "bad ventriloquism, because you can see the person's lips moving." And lest we forget, channeling has played a big part in the LOA craze (via Esther and Jerry Hicks).
That would be a start. At least there would be someone to counter the hustledorks. I realize that such a large panel would not fit into Larry King's regular format, but perhaps, in the interests of fairness and cutting-edge journalism, he could do a two-hour special or something.
Hi Connie!
Thank you for stopping by.
I agree with you 100%. Your suggestions for a SERIOUS debate about The Secret are spot on.
Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be seeing anything like that anytime soon. I really hope I'm wrong.
Why the producers of Larry King didn't have at least have one credible scientist on that show is beyond me. Even a two minute scientific opinion would have been far more convincing that having John Assaraf say:
"I was retired for the last six years and I did my own research on books that were published, reports published, white papers that were published to understand what was happening in my life, what was happening in the lives of our clients and how we were able to achieve the success we were achieving. I studied other people's works. I read voraciously, I research voraciously other people's works. And there is more than enough evidence, scientific evidence at a quantum physics level or physics level and neuroscience level to suggest this is true."
This logic is like me saying, "I'm a Harvard graduate because I once drove by Harvard University."
I'm also amused at how Joe Vitale's having an orgasm over how great he thinks he did on Larry King. I certainly didn't see it that way, and neither did a friend of mine who lost an 18 year old son in a freak car accident.
By the way, I absolutely LOVE your blog! You're a fabulous writer.
I've been trying to catch up on your posts about The Secret over the last week and I've learned (and laughed) quite a bit. Keep up the great work.
I'm fascinated by your "proximity" to Joe Vitale and I'd love to hear the 'rest of the story' sometime.
I've been intrigued by Joe for the last four or five years and I must admit that I used to be quite the Vitale fan. But lately, the more I read and learn about him, the more I question his authenticity.
Thank you. Thank you guys!
I'm a scientist, and there is only one good thing about the secret: pay attention to what you want, instead of what you don't want.
It isn't magic. It's simply that with your eyes open, the RANDOMNESS of the world out there will eventually send RANDOM opportunities our way, and our eyes will be open to take them. That's all. It may happen this year or the next that a great deal on a BMW comes along and you happened to work hard (or inherit) enough money to buy it.
A friend of mine calls this all THE SLURPEE PRINCIPLE. wonderful. He says "watch me manifest a SLURPEE." Hours pass. Days even. And at some point he encounters a 7-11 (which sells SLURPEES) walks in, and voila! He has manifested a SLURPEE! WOW!
This book has set back public education in science by about thirty years, and teaches infantile, magical thinking as a meritorious goal.
Thank you. The reason more scientists aren't weighing in is that they are a.) busy making real technologies that do contribute to real betterment of out lives, and b.) they often are unfortunately boring, unappealing in the media, and complex in their use of language and jargon.
If only some marketeers would teach the scientists how to market real science to the public, and that the only similar and valid body of knowledge to the Secret or any of Tony Robbins material (which the Secret is yet another CLONE of, is ordinary Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, available for peanuts from your local degreed counselor actually trained at an academic center/university, not the Ramibalooba School of Esoteric "Mastery" two-day course.
I will do my part and jump into the ring with real facts on this, and a hopeful message that DOES cure problems, with standard therapy.
Thank you again.
anonymous said:
"This book has set back public education in science by about thirty years, and teaches infantile, magical thinking as a meritorious goal."
I couldn't agree with you more.
And you are 100% right, the REAL scientists aren't weighing in because they're too busy trying to find REAL solutions.
Thank you for your comments.
I have watched The Secret a few times. I think for the most part it is pretty harmless. Positive thinking is always a good idea. People are always looking for new ways to cope with life and wrap their heads around reality. Whether its "God's plan", taking drugs or whatever gets you through. I think it should be treated the same way as established religious teachings. Not too seriously. Take the good parts leave the bad.
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