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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: The Anticult ()
Date: March 08, 2007 12:18AM

Paul Kurtz has tried to show how Critical Thinking can be exciting, powerful, and inspirational. It can.
[en.wikipedia.org]
[www.skeptic.com]

I think everyone needs to lean on the Skeptic organizations and publishers to go out there, find some Nobel quality Quantum Physicists, and then edit down a nice little book about QM and the Mind, and some of the issues, and what it says, and what is doesn't say.
Maybe they are doing it now.
But we need some real physicists to explain what is going on.



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skeptic
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The Anticult
We need a Nobel prize winning quantum physicist to write a simple book showing that these bogus quantum physics New Age people are all frauds, liars, and cranks. They are literally all full of it.

Refutations are badly needed!!!!!!!!!! Where are the voices of reason in this crazy time? This crazy thinking is spreading like cancer.

Maybe voices of reason can't be marketed the way that voices of lying & scamming can, nor do they appeal to the masses. Critical thinking's no fun.

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: The Anticult ()
Date: March 08, 2007 07:51AM

For those who missed it, there is an excellent Abraham-Hicks thread in the MLM forum, which relates to The Secret.

Abraham-Hicks
[board.culteducation.com]

that thread is the #1 Google result for...

Abraham-Hicks cult

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: Hope ()
Date: March 18, 2007 12:01PM

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!!! If you thought the Secret told you how to create your own reality, read how you can really mega create your own reality!

Dr. Joe Vitale will be selling the next best thing....


[www.mrfire.com]

Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.

However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho 'oponopono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more.

I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else does. The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility.

This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: "What were you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?"

"I was simply healing the part of me that created them," he said.

I didn't understand.

Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life - simply because it is in your life--is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life.

This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy--anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: Hope ()
Date: March 18, 2007 12:25PM

Same "science", different movie

[www.abc.net.au]


What the Bleep Do We Know draws heavily on the role of the observer in quantum physics. Unfortunately, it also completely misunderstands it.


The Bleep in a Nutshell:

Quantum physics tells us that reality isn't fixed - subatomic particles only come into existence when they are observed
and
Our mind has enormous potential, but we only use a small part of it for conscious thought, and we miss a lot of what's going on around us
so, in a leap of creatively edited logic
If your mind is the "observer" that quantum physics talks about, you should be able to choose which of the many possible realities around you comes into existence - you can create your own reality, and probably come off anti-anxiety medication to boot.



It sounds reasonable, and familiar. We're always being told we don't use our brain to its full capacity. And any Cognitive Behavioural Therapist can help us to change the way we see things by changing our thought patterns.

There's just this little matter of the science being a bit... bleep.

Where the Bleep they're Wrong about Quantum Physics & Reality
The quantum world is intriguing, but unless you're a particle physicist it's got very little to do with the world's reality.

The Effect of the Observer

"Quantum physics calculates only possibilities... Who/what chooses among these possibilities to bring the actual event of experience? Consciousness must be involved. The observer can’t be ignored." Amit Goswami (PhD) in What the Bleep Do We Know?

Not exactly, Amit. The observer effect of quantum physics isn't about people or reality. It comes from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and it's about the limitations of trying to measure the position and momentum of subatomic particles. Gripping stuff, but nothing to do with our daily lives.

Heisenberg basically says you can't get a really accurate fix on both the position and the momentum of a subatomic particle - say an electron - at the same time. You can be accurate in one or the other, but not in both. (It's all to do with photons of light from your measuring instrument hitting the poor electron and knocking it for six). It's actually the machine that's the observer, not the human who's jotting down results.

Particles Popping Into & Out of Existence

"Physical reality is absolutely rock solid, yet it only comes into existence when it bumps up against another piece of physical reality - like us, or a rock." Dr. Jeffrey Satinover (psychiatrist, PhD candidate in physics), in What the Bleep Do We Know?

The bits and pieces of matter that make up sub-atomic particles (protons, neutrons and electrons) don't exist in any handy, measurable way unless they're interacting with one another. Once they do bump into each other they form their regular little selves.

But this only applies to sub-atomic particles - a rock doesn't need you to bump into it to exist. It's there. The sub-atomic particles that make up the atoms that make up the rock are there too.

And it certainly doesn't depend on an observer to make this happen. As long as a sub-atomic particle is interacting with another sub-atomic particle, they'll both exist regardless of where you are or what you're doing. (Physicists should take part of the blame for this confusion. When they use the word 'observe', they actually mean 'interact with', not look at or think about.)

"Particles appear and disappear - where do they go when they're not here? One possible answer: they go to an alternative universe where people are asking the same question: 'where'd they go?'" Fred Alan Wolf, PhD in What the Bleep Do We Know?

They don't go anywhere, Fred. Quantum physics doesn't need them to. Particles are fluctuations - the rules of physics say it's perfectly fine for them to exist at some time and/or place and to be non-existent at another time and/or place.


Where The Bleep They're Wrong About Our Minds Perceiving Reality
"Your mind can't tell the difference between what it sees and what it remembers" Dr Joseph Dispenza (Chiropractor ) in What the Bleep Do We Know?



Dr Dispenza claims (correctly) in the movie that brain scans - PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and Functional MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) - show that the same part of your brain lights up whether you're looking at something or just remembering it. But it's quite a leap to say the brain doesn't know the difference between vision and memory.

The brain wasn't born yesterday. Given a few contextual clues, like whether the eyelids are open or shut, it can work out whether it's seeing something or remembering it. And there's the matter of scale - the brain lights up in scans much more brightly when you're seeing something than when you're reminiscing.




"Our brain receives 400 billion bits/second of information, but we're only aware of 2000 bits/second. Reality is happening in our brain all the time - we're receiving it but it's not being integrated." Andrew B Newberg, (MD, Radiologist), in What the Bleep Do We Know?

The figures are a bit rubbery, but the idea that we're only 'aware' of a fraction of our brain's activity is both correct and a huge relief.

What could be worse than being aware of every tiny detail that your brain handles - from phosphate levels to heart rate and hair growth. It'd be like being the CEO of a massive company and having to listen to what every single employee was doing every minute of every day. Staff meetings are tedious enough - give me a conscious mind with a decent filter device any day.

The only problem with Andrew Newberg's statement is that it suggests our subconscious brains are doing really interesting stuff and we're somehow missing out; if only we could harness that other zillion gigabits or so we'd be masters of our destinies. If it's true, no one's been able to measure it or see the effects.

"We only see what we believe is possible -Native American Indians on Caribbean Islands couldn't see Columbus's ships [sitting on the horizon] because they were beyond their knowledge" Dr. Candace Pert (former scientist, current new-age guru) in What the Bleep Do We Know?It's hard to say where Candace Pert got the low-down on what the Native American Indians did or didn't see when Columbus and the gang hit the horizon. Columbus certainly didn't speak the language, and the locals didn't keep written records. Only the Shaman knows, and we're about 500 years too late to ask him.

But she is right about us not seeing things in front of our eyes if we're not looking for them. A classic experiment on visual processing involves asking people to watch a video of 6 people passing a basketball, and press a button every time a particular team has possession. Invariably only about half the people tested ever notice a woman in a gorilla suit walking across the middle of the screen during the game. We're such a shallow people.

Where The Bleep They're Wrong About our Minds Affecting Reality:
The movie gives two examples of experiments which have shown the power of the mind affecting reality. Neither of them convincingly achieve this.

The Effect of Meditation on Violent Crime in Washington, DC.

John Hagelin, PhD, describes a study he did in Washington in 1992. 4000 volunteers regularly meditated to achieve a 25% drop in violent crime by the end of summer. He claims the drop was achieved.

But Hagelin's use of the term "achieved" for the drop in crime is a bit strong. He announced in 1994 (one year after the study) that violent crime had decreased 18%. You might think that meant there were 18% fewer violent crimes than in the previous year, but the decrease was actually relative to his predicted increase based on some fancy statistical footwork. Regular indicators of violent crime told a different story - the number of murders actually went up.

The meditation may not have helped the victims of violent crime, but it did win Hagelin the 1994 Ig Nobel Peace Prize.

The power of thoughts on water

"If thoughts can do that to water, imagine what our thoughts can do to us" observed a fan of Dr Masaru Emoto in the movie.

Dr Emoto takes photos of crystals formed in freezing water. According to his books, water exposed to loving words shows brilliant and attractive patterns, while water exposed to negative thoughts forms incomplete patterns. These photos may well be art - they're sure as hell not science.

If you wanted to study the impact of spoken, drawn or written sentiments on the formation of crystals in freezing water, you'd have to do a slightly more rigorous study. For starters you'd have to take a lot of samples from different parts of each ice specimen. And you'd do the study without knowing what had been 'said' to the water specimens, so your subjective opinions wouldn't colour the results.

Magician and skeptic James Randi, famous for debunking performers like Uri Geller, has offered his standard prize of $1 million cash money to Dr Emoto if he can get the same results when doing the water study this way. To date, Dr Emoto has not taken up the challenge. He has however just released his third book of pretty crystal pictures.

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: ON2 LF ()
Date: March 18, 2007 06:00PM

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This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy--anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

Who falls for this [b:c51a6fef39]tripe[/b:c51a6fef39]?! If this is so true why hasn't he collected a ransom on bin laden yet or [i:c51a6fef39]changed himself [/i:c51a6fef39]into a spot on Oprah to sell this comic?

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: Cosmic Connie ()
Date: March 24, 2007 12:28AM

First of all, I didn’t mean to post and run… I just got sidetracked. But I’m back.

Yes, Anticult, I’m the Cosmic Connie on blogspot, perpetrator of Whirled Musings, [cosmicconnie.blogspot.com].

I just had to join in the fun again when I saw Hope’s comment and the responses re that ancient Hawaiian secret. (Which invariably calls to mind the old "ancient Chinese secret, eh?" laundry detergent commercial.)

I first heard of the Ho’opo miracle when the story was spreading around the Net last August, and I’ve been having some good times with it ever since. For example, I was recently inspired to write some lyrics (an earlier and slightly rougher version of this appeared on Blair Warren’s blog a couple of weeks ago).

And who knows what I’ll be inspired to manifest next? (I know, I know, I’m too easily amused.) Anyway, I invite y’all to get out your “National Lampoon Christmas Vacation” soundtrack CD, relearn the tune, and sing along:
……

Ho'oponopono Healing
(to the tune of “Mele Kalikimaka” by Bing Crosby)

Ho'oponopono healing is the perfect shtick
When you want to make some money quick
Another New-Wage wonder to make spirits soar
And to make folks just want more

First you spread a story of a magic fix
Of how a wise man "cured" a ward of lunatics
Ho’po’nopono healing is the shrewd way
To bring endless riches to you

Ho'oponopono healing is the perfect hook
When you need to write another book
To pay for trips to Maui or a new sports car
To show off how rich you are

Once the book is finished you can then relax
As long as no one looks into the actual facts
Ho’po’nopono healing will mean good pay
If you keep real truth seekers at bay

Ho'oponopono healing is the thing to plug
Just another New-Wage wonder drug
Make your fans believe that they can heal the herds
Just by thinking a few words

Such delusions just might land them in the bin
Hopefully a Ho’opo expert will step in
And think about their cases till they’re all well
And ready to go out and SELL!

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: Cosmic Connie ()
Date: March 24, 2007 04:01AM

Oops. I typed my URL incorrectly in my previous post.
It's [cosmicconnie.blogspot.com]
Sorry!

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: skeptic ()
Date: March 25, 2007 02:42AM

Cosmic Connie!

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR SONG!!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!

skeptic!

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: Cosmic Connie ()
Date: March 25, 2007 02:51AM

"I LOVE YOUR SONG!"

Thanks, Skeptic! I just find these ancient Hawiian healing secrets sooo inspiring... no telling what I'll come up with next. :-)[i:814516118b][/i:814516118b]

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The Secret (a movie)
Posted by: skeptic ()
Date: March 25, 2007 11:48AM

Connie - I know that song very well (and now I know how to spell it :) ) and your lyrics fit perfectly. I didn't just read them, I sang them!

It's so well written, I'd like to see it recorded actually!

Humor's a great way to expose the scams & shams.

skeptic

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