The Secret

Imagine two scenarios. First, a basketball player is on the free throw line. In his mind, he sees the ball going into the basket, traveling in that perfect trajectory - he envisions himself making the shot, his hands performing the perfect movement. Maybe he even repeats in his mind a few times "I will make this shot". He focuses on his confidence. He releases. The ball goes in. Second scenario - now, imagine a kid who wants a red bike. He shuts his eyes, thinks hard of a ride bike with a basket in front. He does this religiously, in fact that's all he does for two straight days - just lays in bed and thinks hard of his bike. After two days, he opens the door and lo and behold the exact red bike with a basket is sitting in the front yard.

Now, come back to reality. Think about these two scenarios and ask yourself "Are these two the same?". Hopefully you answered "NO". Both demonstrate positive thinking - but there is a fine, but incredibly significant line that separates common sense from delirium. "The secret", while containing a few nuggets of truth, comes dangerously close to implying what the second scenario implies. And because of that, in the hands of the gullible and the desperate, this film may have a few positive benefits (hope) but could ultimately be dangerous (inaction, unreasonable expectations). Positive thinking has been proved to help - yes. Focus and concentration on your goals helps - yes. But, to use the basketball analogy, to make the shot you have to take it. "The Secret", with it's slick presentation, almost suggests that if you focus on the ball long enough some magical wind will carry it into the basket. To be fair, the film is not 100% of this - but believe me it comes dangerously close. It doesn't help that they allude to the book as if Thomas Jefferson and Einstein actually owned it and passed it along, that along with the titled people like John Doe, Physicist and John Doe, Author that they interviewed, they included John Doe, "Mystic" and John Doe, "Visionary" (what in god's name is a visionary anyway???). It's slick, over-produced, and will turn-off any sensible, intelligent person looking for an honest eye-opener. Look elsewhere for enlightenment and growth - there are a ton of books, old and new, that are better than this fluff masterpiece.

Reading the comments I'm surprised :D Most of the negative comments say "cannot I be a top NFL player just by visualising it?". No you cannot. If simple asking is all you can do, then no - you can not. You have to believe it. I'm not convinced in some outer world, but I do believe positive thinking brings success. I watched the movie yesterday, today is such a great day compared to 99% of last few months! I thought about "I want to make some money fast soon" and yes, suddenly i made 400 today almost out of nothing and got an offer on some future projects! But it's probably not connected to anything about the movie. What is important, that every time you think about something, you give more importance to it and your mind works much better to achieve it. It will not end a war, it will make you think how to survive the war better. It will not 100% cure bad diseases, but it will help you live better the rest of your life until you die. If you're pesimistic "oh, i got cancer, i will die, im loser, im dead", you better off shoot yourself already. YOU WILL NOT GET A 350Z ROADSTER JUST BECAUSE THE MOVIE SAYS SO! If you're passionate about cars and have a dream car, you will get it. If you don't get it, probably it's not that important for yourself - you don't really want it so much. I smiled and talked kindly to so many people today and I'm happy about it. I want to get closer with my friends. I chose different routes during lunch and suddenly met 2 good friends. Isn't happiness all that you want in your life? The movie said only once, but it must be articulated - positive attracts negative. You cannot have everything positive! If you believe in God, this sentence describes it somehow: "God always listens, but sometimes the answer is NO". As for the quality of the movie - its poor. Very poor. It starts as a story of some woman. What woman? What problem? No idea, suddenly it starts as a documentary and a Tel Sell advertisement. Just selling the movie for 1.3 hours. But it's worth it if you understand what it means. Most of the commenters don't. 9 for the worth of the movie, 4 for plot and cinematography. 7/10 total Recommended movie for everyone who is stressed in life (99% of us)

This little movie has three parts. Two are suicide-inducingly depressing.

But before we get to that, there's always at the beginning the adjustment; you have to know what you are entering.

I'm particularly fond of Christian movies. The very idea of them is so intriguing, quite apart from the fact that they are dreadful movies and full of repellent ideas. What makes them so seductive is that they usually depict some fight with the devil, and they are made with the intent of fighting the devil. Its my favorite narrative fold. Entering it is entering an adventure on perhaps the wrong side.

Documentaries are boring in this regard: they present, you receive. I like to stay away from them because a large part of the experience for me is the engagement with the weaver of the narrative. Fiction is where it is at. So there's a sort of intrigue with this because it is in a sense an engagement of wills, where they try to convince you that convincing isn't the way of the world.

The three threads of this are:

— Some business about "attraction" as the way the world works and how you can use it. More about this spread in future comments. Its a good notion if you ignore how it is presented.

— Some significantly worse, even smarmy business where they try to make this sound scientific. Its such a depressing enterprise. Its not just that they get the science all wrong, so twisted and goofy. Or that the peddlers of this are so soft you want to cry. But why? Why should it be important to take something that if it works, it works outside of the logical tools we have. Its a bit like explaining with a lawnmower why a house feels good. Quantum mechanics is the current bucket that hacks like to carry their notions in. And its so entirely inappropriate it makes one cry. Why? Why, try this?

— But the third part is perhaps the most discouraging. I think it is possible to build a notion that works; you'll have to do it by weaving in and around the knuckleheads of various stripes. Its fairly easy to filter out the pseudoscience. But then they pile on a conspiracy theory. You see: not only is there a simple law, and not only is it manifest science, but it has been known for thousands of years by a select few and kept secret!

Never mind that we've been told it isn't a zero sum game and people have to lose for others to win. And that selfishness fights the law. And that good results cannot be bounded. There is only one reason to have this notion here, and that is to create a more intriguing story, to make us more likely to buy the "law." But if the law works, they wouldn't need such tricks. Would they?

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Honestly, this makes the lowest grade of pornography look like Shakespeare. Just believe and the Universe will do exactly as you command! Hey positive thinking and belief are incredibly important, if they stopped there it would be fine. I'm all for a near-spiritual support for positive thinking. But don't believe you command the world! Believe what you like, and respect the beliefs of others. But here they make the case that your (subjective) beliefs drive the (objective) realities of the universe. They present it as though its a scientific fact. And they imply that this is the true secret of the ages, that all the greats possessed this precious knowledge, and that an evil conspiracy subdues it. That is patently false. It is truly a demented, grade school pseudoscience wrapped in an infomercial. At least Jerry Springer doesn't pretend his show is Cosmos!

Unsurprisingly many are those who can find this documentary as some attempt to brainwash or involve you in some kind of cult following so to speak. Meanwhile this documentary has changed many people's lives no doubt.

I do not usually comment on films I watch but I could not resist doing so on this one because I feel many are missing the point.

Personally I do not believe that simply by thinking positive you are having some 'magnetic' effect within the universe to attract exactly what you want in a spiritual or superstitious or scientific manner.

The underlying truth in my opinion is that negative thoughts will attract negative actions/reactions, whilst positive thoughts will enhance positive actions/reactions. Those of you out there complaining that you don't have enough opportunities to make your life or career any better should wipe out all these negative thoughts and should begin to think positive. Once you have a positive outlook you will then be able to 'see' all the opportunities out there that exist for you and which have not been noticing. And then you can grab those that fit your goal.

The documentary presents the above in a more sensational way by claiming that positive thoughts WILL, almost by some form of electromagnetic waves, attract positive things into your life. Well for those of you who are not superstitious or who are not into some scientology stuff, this is if anything stressing the importance of wiping out all negative thoughts and expectations which will hurt your ability to recognise positive opportunities and to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Of course this does not mean you should be so positive to the extent of not being cautious. You can't leave your bicycle unlocked on the street in Amsterdam simply because the documentary seems to suggests so. What the documentary is really trying to do is yes..brainwashing you..but not in a way to make you selfish, egocentric or start acting in a irresponsable manner as though crime did not exist around you, but in a way to ERADICATE those negative thoughts which inhibit your ability to recognize your opportunities or which are bad enough to effect your health.

The documentary is being truthful in suggesting that the mind controls the body and yes to a great extent the mind controls the healing of the body. It is all about the power of the sub-conscious.

Those of you who are very religious or who believe in faith-heeling will find this hard to believe of course!