History Literature / TheSecret

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Several historical figures, such as Napoleon, [[DanBrowned Leonardo da Vinci]], and Albert Einstein, are mentioned to have studied up on the Law of Attraction and mentioned it in their writings (along with some more modern, albeit obscure, names who contributed to the book), "shown" by {{quote mining}} their work.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: How the Law of Attraction supposedly works.
* DaydreamBeliever: What this book wants to turn you into.

* YourMindMakesItReal: Another contention of the film/book.

* BlatantLies: Quite a few. To name a major one the book claims "You cannot 'catch' anything unless you think you can". So how can animals and plants, which have no knowledge of disease, get sick? Similarly it claims food can't make you gain weight unless you believe it can. If that's the case, how can animals, who don't understand the concept of weight gain, get fat?

* LiteralGenie: A metaphor describes the universe as a genie that will [[strike: grant your every desire instantaneously]] consistently give you whatever you think about the most in your life, be it positive or negative. Although for some bizarre reason, it will give you the negative stuff if you so much as give it a passing thought, but you have to concentrate to get the good stuff.
* PlotHole: The book never answers a crucial problem with the who concept of The Secret (which is basically "Wishing for something strong enough will make it happen."): What if two or more people wish for something that only one person can get, such as getting a promotion at their job when they all work at the same place and there's only one space available? Does whichever person wants it strongest get it? Does whoever has a more "positive" outlook get it? Something else altogether? Some people have outright asked Byrne about this, but she's [[ShrugOfGod never explained it.]]

* QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything: A particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} offender.

* PlotHole: The book never answers a crucial problem with the who concept of The Secret (which is basically "Wishing for something strong enough will make it happen."): What if two or more people wish for something that only one person can get, such as getting a promotion at their job when they all work at the same place and there's only one space available? Does whichever person wants it strongest get it? Does whoever has a more "positive" outlook get it? Something else altogether?

There's also some {{Technobabble}} regarding Einstein, string theory, and quantum mechanics. Also, there are a lot of personal anecdotes from a bunch of people who are suspiciously privileged (i.e., mostly white men).

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Several historical figures, such as Napoleon, [[DanBrowned Leonardo da Vinci]], and Albert Einstein, are mentioned to have studied up on the Law of Attraction and mentioned it in their writings (along with more modern, albeit obscure, names who contributed to the book).

* BlatantLies: Quite a few. To name a major one the book claims "You cannot 'catch' anything unless you think you can" [[FridgeLogic then how can animals and plants, which have no knowledge of disease, get sick?]] Similarly it claims food can't make you gain weight unless you believe it can. If that's the case, how can animals, who don't understand the concept of weight gain, get fat?

* LiteralGenie: A metaphor describes the universe as a genie that will [[strike: grant your every desire instantaneously]] consistently give you whatever you think about the most in your life, be it positive or negative. Although for some bizarre reason, it will give you the negative stuff if you so much as give it a passing ponderance, but you have to concentrate to get the good stuff.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Obviously, it lies on the "idealism" end of the scale. At least theoretically. A cynical person could [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation speculate]] that the author is in fact a deeply cynical individual who wants to make money off of gullible people.

%% NOTE: ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything: A particularly {{egregious}} offender.

'''''The Secret''''' is a self-help book by Australian TV producer Rhonda Byrne that claims to be able to teach you how to get everything you ever wanted (yes, ''everything!'' Even that!) by simply keeping a positive attitude and performing some simple exercises such as meditation, visualization (basically, using your imagination), and writing about what you want. In the book, the [[TheEponymousShow eponymous]] secret is the "Law of Attraction," which states that a positive outlook on life and positive thoughts will attract positive things into your life, whereas negative thoughts will do just the opposite. A big part of this is [[DaydreamBeliever daydreaming about the things you want and believing they're already yours]].

There's also some {{Technobabble}} regarding Einstein, string theory, and quantum mechanics. Also, there are a lot of personal anecdotes from a bunch of people who are suspiciously privileged (ie, mostly white men).

Optical engineer and Sci-Fi author, Creator/TravisSTaylor, recently put out a book titled ''The Science Behind The Secret'' attempting to support The Secret with appeals to authority, noting a long history of similar beliefs, and a terribly butchered reading of quantum physics.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: No copy of the Emerald Tablet other than this book has ever featured the phrase "As within, so without" after "as above, so below". Furthermore, there is no evidence that it pre-dates the Abbasid Caliphate from around the 8th century.

* IWishItWereReal: Contends that doing so will actually ''make'' a desired object real.

* QuoteMining: Used to make it seem as if famous people from the past used "the secret."

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Obviously, lies on the "idealism" end of the scale. At least theoretically. A cynical person could [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation speculate]] that the author is in fact a deeply cynical individual who wants to make money off of gullible people.

* {{Plagiarism}}: Some commentators have suggested that the intellectual content of the work, such as it is, is lifted directly from Wallace D. Wattles' [[OlderThanTheyThink much older]] work ''The Science of Getting Rich'' (which, of course, contains no actual science). Since Wattles was long dead and his work was in the public domain, his heirs couldn't sue.

->''Smile, darn ya, smile! You know this old world is a great world after all!''
->''Smile, darn ya, smile! And right away watch Lady Luck pay you a call!''
->''Things are never black as they are painted!''
->''Time for you and joy to get acquainted!''
-->--'''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Foxy]]''', professional MickeyMouse rip-off.

----

* DocumentaryOfLies: A particularly insidious example.

Optical engineer and Sci-Fi author, TravisSTaylor, recently put out a book titled ''The Science Behind The Secret'' attempting to support The Secret with appeals to authority, noting a long history of similar beliefs, and a terribly butchered reading of quantum physics.

%%* IWishItWereReal

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Obviously, lies on the "idealism" end of the scale.

* IWishItWereReal

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre

->''Smile, darn ya, smile! Because this old world is a great world after all!''
->''Smile, darn ya, smile! And right away hear Lady Luck pay you a call!''

->''Time for you and love to get acquainted!''

* DidNotDoTheResearch: We do not advice that you use the book as a substitute for actually learning about quantum physics.

* FridgeLogic: Glacier Logic more like.

* LiteralGenie: A metaphor describes the universe as a genie that will [[strike: grant your every desire instantaneously]] consistently give you whatever you think about the most in your life, be it positive or negative.
** Although for some bizarre reason, it will give you the negative stuff if you so much as give it a passing ponderance, but you have to concentrate to get the good stuff.

'''''The Secret''''' is a self-help book by Australian TV producer Rhonda Byrne that claims to be able to teach you how to get everything you ever wanted (yes, ''everything!'' Even that!) by simply keeping a positive attitude and performing some simple exercises such as meditation, visualization (basically, using your imagination), and writing about what you want. In the book, the [[TheEponymousShow eponymous]] [[TheSecret Secret]] is the "Law of Attraction," which states that a positive outlook on life and positive thoughts will attract positive things into your life, whereas negative thoughts will do just the opposite. A big part of this is [[DaydreamBeliever daydreaming about the things you want and believing they're already yours]].

->''As above, so below.''
->''As within, so without.''

-->--'''[[LooneyTunes Foxy]]''', professional Mickey Mouse rip-off.