Humorous debunking of "The Secret" by The Chaser's War on Everything

[Ladewig]

From some Australian skeptics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usbNJMUZSwo

Good for a chuckle.

[JonWhite]

1) I ask for "The Secret" to be humourously debunked.

2) I visualise "The Secret" being humourously debunked.

3) I receive via Ladewig & YouTube "The Secret" being humourously debunked!

Cool. Thanks for this. :D

[Senex]

From some Australian skeptics:

Good for a chuckle.

I have a cat as a pet and didn't find the the suffocated cat as something funny.

[JimBenArm]

I have a cat as a pet and didn't find the the suffocated cat as something funny.
We desperately need closed captioning for the humor-impaired...

[Ed Baehr]

I have a cat as a pet and didn't find the the suffocated cat as something funny.

I have two shirts and I thought the part where they take shirts disturbing.

[Safe-Keeper]

I'm 99% sure they did not really kill a cat. We're talking a pet - viewers would be up in arms. We're not talking disrespect of a pitiful human here, remember.

As for the movie, it wasn't a debunking as much as mudslinging. But hey, it was hilarious. I like the nuke-shock-wave-thingie effect at 3:55. And finally, as for the method, doesn't sound different from prayer to me. Except it's plain wishing without detouring around folding your hands and getting down on your knees. The three-step program for bicycles sounds a bit complex, though, and seems to contradict the 'just believe' portions earlier.

I hope those last scenes were staged. Those poor people:)...

[Fnord]

HEY! Now I know who wrecked my car!

"Hit-And-Run" they said ... that's the last time I trust a coupla smirking ozzies...

[Ladewig]

As for the movie, it wasn't a debunking as much as mudslinging.

I cosider it to be debunking. The claim was that "The Secret" works 100% of the time. They showed that it did not work 100% of the time, so they proved it to be false.

. . . . . .

Also liked the idea that to increase your ability to concentrate, you should place your fingers on your temples.

[logical muse]

Download whole episodes from the official site:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/chaser/war/vodcast/

[Zyzzyvas]

It raised a chuckle here, thanks for posting.

I suppose now would be a bad time to tell the joke about the cat and the elephant.....?

On the subject of things being taken the wrong way sometimes, I hope the producers of 'The Secret' have put a comprehensive disclaimer on their DVD. It seems to me that the inevitable idiot will be knocked over whilst visualising a gap in the traffic....

[blobru]

Those clips from "The Secret" video, where they break it down into three simple steps, utterly amazing! I'd always assumed life was so much more complicated than that; for comparison, I've tacked on my own [limited, foolish] assumptions to "The Secret" plan:

1) Ask (for something -- make it a goal!)
2) Believe (it will happen, so long as...)
3) it's realistic;
4) you have a bit of luck;
and of course
5) YOU WORK VERY VERY VERY HARD!!! (you *&^%$#@! morons, oprah_noids; I mean --- sweet jesus, mary, and joseph with three mouthsful of molasses cookies do you really think that all you have to do is wish for whatever junk you want like jewelry, parking spaces, cat toys, bicycles, and you get it?!? That you can transmit your petty desires by some bullshiite "law of attraction" that bypasses every other known law of nature, society, and logic and like pebble ripples in a pond magically alters the universe to make you happy?!? That's what you believe!?! That is insane!!! Are you insane??? Honestly.)
6) Receive (the reward -- your goal accomplished).

When all this time, I could've skipped right from step 2 to step 6. Damn. :(

[CurtC]

I have two shirts and I thought the part where they take shirts disturbing.
Yes, it's a potential multi-million dollar lawsuit.

[wombatwal]

[quote=blobru;2737736]Those clips from "The Secret" video, where they break it down into three simple steps, utterly amazing! I'd always assumed life was so much more complicated than that; for comparison, I've tacked on my own [limited, foolish] assumptions to "The Secret" plan:

1) Ask (for something -- make it a goal!)
2) Believe (it will happen, so long as...)
3) it's realistic;
4) you have a bit of luck;
and of course
5) YOU WORK VERY VERY VERY HARD!!! (you *&^%$#@! morons, oprah_noids; I mean --- sweet jesus, mary, and joseph with three mouthsful of molasses cookies do you really think that all you have to do is wish for whatever junk you want like jewelry, parking spaces, cat toys, bicycles, and you get it?!? That you can transmit your petty desires by some bullshiite "law of attraction" that bypasses every other known law of nature, society, and logic and like pebble ripples in a pond magically alters the universe to make you happy?!? That's what you believe!?!

Uuh, uuh, yes.
Is there something wrong:confused: :):)

[JonWhite]

5) YOU WORK VERY VERY VERY HARD!!!




It'll never catch on.

[Baron Samedi]

Ha ha, funny video. I passed it around to some people in the office. These guys made me cry with the parking spot. :D

On a bit of a swerve... I decided to watch more of their videos on youtube.... holy sweet jeebus, did Bill O'Reilly really and truly say that Shawn Hornbeck -liked- his past 4 years of not being in school???? Or was that comment taken out of context????

[petra10]

Brilliant that was sooo funny.The secret is just praying its the same thing.I cant believe people buy this crap.But then again some people will buy into anything

[c4ts]

Turns out The Secret just another combination of wishful thinking and magical thinking with very little actual doing. The real Secret is how to repackage the same old crap and make a lot of money with relatively little thought or effort.

[fishbait]

The video is a hoot and close to the way these nutball "Secret" devotees view their version of reality. The Secret webpage forum (http://thesecret.powerfulintentions.com/forum/thesecret/message-view/13848252)is a motherlode of wackiness where you can find gems like this:

I wanted to "test" LOA by asking for, believing in, and visualizing myself finding a $5 bill while walking into work. All last week I visualized the path I would take, what it would look like, where it would be, etc. It didn't happen and Friday afternoon I was walking back to my car and thinking about it and I passed a rock on the ground, I smiled, looked at it and kept walking -- then I stopped and looked back down at the rock. I'm in the middle of the 3rd floor of a parking garage in the city and here's this big round rock (size of my palm) and it's really smooth. Why was there such a rock in this parking garage? I smiled again and leaned over to pick it up because it made me realize it was my new gratitude rock. I am taking it that I didn't need $5 but I needed more gratitude for what I already have.

I also picked up two pennies while out shopping this weekend.
The Universe came up $4.98 short, but he did get a very nice rock out of the deal.

How much more proof do we need that The Secret is for real!:boggled:

[fishbait]

Here's another one from the Secret forum:I keep putting out into the Universe that I am receiving checks in the mail but it hasn't worked yet. But I am now wondering if I need to, because I have created a money machine! In the last week I have pulled $24.30 out of my clothes dryer. And in the past I never get money out of there. I've decided that now I just need to invision a $100 bill coming out of it.Why go through the hassle of cashing a check from the mailbox when you can get hard cash from a household appliance!:cool:

[HarryKeogh]

Here's another one from the Secret forum:Why go through the hassle of cashing a check from the mailbox when you can get hard cash from a household appliance!:cool:

Don't be so quick to dismiss the magical power of household appliances. I wanted toast the other day but just had bread. So I put the bread in a metal box in the kitchen and thought real hard. I visualized having toast. After concentrating for two minutes the box transmutated the bread into toast. It's like alchemy...but real!

Ladewig, great clip. Thanks for putting it up. Hysterical.

[fishbait]

Don't be so quick to dismiss the magical power of household appliances. I wanted toast the other day but just had bread. So I put the bread in a metal box in the kitchen and thought real hard. I visualized having toast. After concentrating for two minutes the box transmutated the bread into toast. It's like alchemy...but real!

Transmutated? Ha! That's amateur stuff. This woman's dryer manifests the cash from the Universe!

[zombiebex]

Terrific clip, thanks so much! I don't think the woos would consider it debunked, however. They'd simply say that they weren't concentrating hard enough.

On a bit of a swerve... I decided to watch more of their videos on youtube.... holy sweet jeebus, did Bill O'Reilly really and truly say that Shawn Hornbeck -liked- his past 4 years of not being in school???? Or was that comment taken out of context????

Yes, he really did say that. I think (hope) the point that O'Reilly was making with this comment was that Hornbeck didn't escape because he had Stockholm syndrome. Of course, because he's an a**hole, it came out like that. Me, I'd rather go to school than... go through what he had to go through while missing school.

[sophia8]

The video is a hoot and close to the way these nutball "Secret" devotees view their version of reality. The Secret webpage forum (http://thesecret.powerfulintentions.com/forum/thesecret/message-view/13848252)is a motherlode of wackiness :boggled:Oh my - all those people finding coins and notes manifesting in their dryers and their cars! When we threw our old sofa a couple of years back, we ripped out the cushions and found about five or six quid in loose change. Proof that the LoA works, even when you've never even heard of it!

[Baron Samedi]

Terrific clip, thanks so much! I don't think the woos would consider it debunked, however. They'd simply say that they weren't concentrating hard enough.



Yes, he really did say that. I think (hope) the point that O'Reilly was making with this comment was that Hornbeck didn't escape because he had Stockholm syndrome. Of course, because he's an a**hole, it came out like that. Me, I'd rather go to school than... go through what he had to go through while missing school.

*blinks* Okay, thanks for confirming this. I knew BO'R was an a'hol, but never could image it was that bad. I just wanted to make absolutely sure this wasn't out of context. Thanks

(And again, very very very sorry for the derail...)

[GT/CS]

Terrific clip, thanks so much! I don't think the woos would consider it debunked, however. They'd simply say that they weren't concentrating hard enough.



Yes, he really did say that. I think (hope) the point that O'Reilly was making with this comment was that Hornbeck didn't escape because he had Stockholm syndrome. Of course, because he's an a**hole, it came out like that. Me, I'd rather go to school than... go through what he had to go through while missing school.

I guess I'm a little more cynical and believe he meant exactly what he said. Watch the clip. There doesn't seem to be any hint he meant anything else, and he had the chance to use a big word like, "Stockhold syndrome" he would have taken the opportunity.