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February 27, 2007
'The Secret' is that fools read books, too
They say you can't fool all of the people all of the time, but you can still take advantage of enough to make a buck.
"The Secret," a new self-help book by Rhonda Byrne, has been pumped up by none other than Oprah, and an article in Newsweek gives those of us who smelled a rat from the beginning the low-down.
Apparenlty the book espouses the "law of attraction" philosophy that your mind can control physical objects and cause circumstances to play out as you wish. Want to loose weight? Stop thinking "fat thoughts" and envision yourself as thin.
Want to recover from cancer? Think about being healthy. Fancy a gold-plated Ferrari? Just put the thought out there and it's as good as yours.
Of course, anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows this is hogwash. Plenty of us wish for health and happiness, and most of the time the universe responds with total indifference. Leaving aside God and miracles, why would the forces of the universe care one bit whether we slim down enough to fit inside an Italian sportscar?
While the book may be full of pseudoscience, it does reveal one thing: some people are willing to give anything a shot, especially if there's little work or determination needed. This is the reason my self-help book, "Get a Job and Stop Buying Shoes," was such a miserable failure. OK, the last part is a joke.
And wasn't Oprah the one who went ballistic on the author of "A Million Little Pieces" for taking creative liberties with his story? At least that book could have been true.
Folks, if you're going to go to the bookstore for something like this, you might as well stay home and watch television. Anyhow, if you will yourself the book, it ought to show up on its own.
Posted by Greg Sidor at February 27, 2007 12:45 AM