Thursday, July 12, 2007

Still Skeptical of The Secret

"A new scientific revolution is new scientific knowledge that satisfies at least one of the following two criteria
1) It makes possible previously impossible, even unimaginable, technological capabilities.
2) It engenders a fundamental reconstruction of our philosophical outlook."

What to my wandering eyes doth appear but yet another article on The Secret. Side by side with an article called The End of Science Revisited in the latest issue of Skeptic magazine. (The premise of The End of Science irks me because it bespeaks a lack of faith in the power of the human intellect and the human spirit to see beyond the current 'boundaries' of science. How do you hold on to that idea for 10 - sorry, 11 - years?!?) I feel compelled to snark just a little bit... ;)

"[T]he first thing you need to know is that The Secret isn't a secret" (Applause.) I can honestly say that I had never heard of the 'Law of Attraction' until after I had developed the 5-dimensional model. And having The Secret as a reference point for trying to describe Smearland is a bit like having 'Cooking for Dummies' as the textbook for chef school.

"Like attracts like". Well, actually, no. 'Like' would be creating a replica of actually 1) seeing/hearing/etc. the outcome, 2) at a specific moment in time, 3) with the conviction that it has actually happened, and 4) the forward flow of information that enables a reaction to the experience. Alter any of these components of your 'fake' represenation, and you alter the results as they pertain to your actual observation. These are some of the details that The Secret hasn't revealed. As clever skeptics have already pointed out, when it comes to magnetic signals, like repels like.

The 'Law of Attraction' also fails to mention that where there is the ability to attract, there is also the ability to repel. (You would think that when the primary analogy used is that of a magnet, someone would have come to that conclusion.) That means that it should be possible to 1) attract a good outcome, 2) attract a bad outcome, 3) repel a good outcome, and 4) repel a bad outcome. The Secret/The Law of Attraction deals only with how something might be attracted.

"If you turn it over to the universe, you will be surprised and dazzled by what is delivered. This is where magic and miracles happen." A phenomenon also know as 'release of attention/effort' (#9). Talked about in psi research and in the practice of magick.

"When dealing with instances of extraordinary evil, ... The Law of Attraction break[s] down rather spectacularly." Perhaps that is because The Law of Attraction is only focused on part of the picture. What if attracting a good outcome is not the same as repelling a bad outcome? Why should it be? Think about it. Then read this again, and ask yourself why the dichotomous split between outcomes was important.

Postscript (8:40 PM) - I don't want to leave you with the impression that I think the above paragraph adequately accounts for the problem of evil. The answer to that problem lies, I believe, with a better understand of mutliple-observer dynamics.