It's a Secret.....

All seven of my regular readers know my attitude to Pseudoscience. Let me begin with a definition. A thorough understanding of what we are considering here is of prime importance for the following discourse: pseudoscience is a system of theories, assumptions, and methods erroneously regarded as scientific. The scales now fall from our eyes, giving us clarity and enlightenment.

The Secret, by Rhonda Byrnes, was published in 2006. The tome belongs to the Self-Help genre, a large and diverse selection of books devoted to edifying all who partake. Many of these books linger unread and unpurchased by the public, destined for a short publishing run and subsequent oblivion. However, this was not the case with The Secret, as the book struck a chord with the public and ultimately sold 35,000,000 copies. My reader will now be all agog. What is the 'Secret' that so many crave? Surely, there must be ancient wisdom therein. Perhaps arcane knowledge hidden for millennia only to be released to a select 35 million.

Dear Flaxen, I beseech you to release the genie of ultimate insight to the chosen elect burdened with the temerity to follow this blog. This principle should be available to this sacred band of folk so they may live their lives to the limit of their potential, fully encompassed by its esoteric doctrine. 

Well, gentle reader, you are in the right place, for I'm about to reveal the book's recondite and abstruse (this is not a spelling mistake) secrets.....

The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes: A precis by the astute Flaxen Saxon, sometime resident of Tipton and responsible ferret wobbler.

Stage 1 Inspiration

Rhonda was beset by life's tribulations. Her father had just died, and work was becoming intolerable. Just as life's travails reached a crescendo, she was handed a 100-year-old book resplendent with archaic lore containing fragments and hints of the Secret. Rhonda began a search for further insight. In a vision, she was inspired to move to the US, where the 52 teachers of the Secret lived. What followed was the book.

Stage 2 Book's Content

The Secret is The Law of Attraction. If you earnestly believe you are about to achieve a goal or need, it will manifest. There is mention of cosmic and biological frequencies aligning to facilitate your desires. Magnetic attractive resonances and vibrations must coincide for the technique to work. The Law of Attraction works best by visualising your wants and desires. Also, it is recommended that you act as though you have already received your gift. While waiting for your million dollars to arrive by 'vibration post', go forth and buy a new Porsche. The rest of the book is fluff wrapped within a narrative.

Commentary

Gentle reader, you are now the recipient of ultimate Ancient Wisdom. Use your newfound gift/grift wisely and for the good of mankind.

What are to make of this mixture? There is nothing new here. The concept underlying the Law of Attraction and Manifestation has been considered for millennia. Ancient Greek philosophers were undoubtedly aware of this principle. Plato's concept of Forms idealised the perfect blueprints for everything material, organic, and inorganic. This quasi-real mindscape could be visualised to influence conscious reality.

In proto-modern times (the 19th and early 20th centuries), there was an upsurge of interest in the supernatural and psychics, and their ilk flourished, akimbo. It was a fertile time for such speculation. Rhonda became enamoured by Wallace Wattles' 1910 book, The Science of Getting Rich. This book opened the sacred gate to true enlightenment and introduced Rhonda to the Law of Attraction. Clearly, Rhonda craved much gelt because she obtained sumptuous revenue from 35 million copies of The Secret.   

No doubt the general public has a taste for this sort of thing. Everyone wants health and wealth; however, the means to these ideals in life are difficult to achieve, if not impossible. If only there was a cheat code, a shortcut to obtain all this good stuff without putting forth effort. It is an attractive allure that defies reality. The world is simply not built that way. Sprinkle the 'mechanism' with pseudoscientific babble and add a pinch of lost ancient wisdom, lore, and Bobs, your mother's brother. A gossamer panacea for all that ails us. With all that said, the placebo effect is a verified phenomenon demonstrated numerous times in clinical trials and elsewhere. A positive mindset can have beneficial effects; conversely, a negative attitude can have a baleful impact on the body (nocebo effect- placebo's evil twin). However, the placebo effect will not bring wealth unless it acts as a motivator for action. Sitting in a chair straining and projecting a 'Positive Frequency' supposedly in tune with wealth acquisition will not generate riches; more likely, piles will descend in painful abundance. Nor will positive thoughts, as a sole remedy, cure cancer. 

The book was a roaring success. Indeed, if it worked once, it will work again. Thus, 'rinse and repeat'. In 2010, Rhonda authored 'The Power', 'The Magic' in 2012, 'Hero' in 2013, and so on... Undoubtedly, Rhonda has tapped into a rich vein. The fact that these books and similar are able to garner revenue is a doleful reflection on the current state of educational attainment, particularly the lack of critical analysis and thinking in the West. 

Yes, Rhonda has uncovered the Secret of abundant and sumptuous wealth, but only for herself and for her publisher.