Recently, someone made a comment about the book, \u201cThe Secret\u201d on my friend\u2019s facebook page. The claim was that \u201cThe Secret\u201d really works, and that everyone should try it. When people make claims about reality, they really need to be able to back up those claims with some sort of evidence. As a point of fact, there is no evidence supporting the claim that \u201cThe Secret\u201d works except for Oprah\u2019s word. For the record, Oprah also claims that vaccines cause autism despite study after study disproving that myth.<\/p>\n
Of course when I posted a comment stating that \u201cThe Secret\u201d as a point of fact does not work, I got criticized for \u201cputting down\u201d other people\u2019s religious beliefs. I\u2019m sorry that people believe in things which have no basis in reality and even contradict reality. I am also sorry that these people consider it some sort of personal attack when someone of reason points that out how ridiculous those beliefs are.<\/p>\n
I will admit that I was a little more satirical in my comment than perhaps I should have been. I think I talked about my prayers to milk jugs and how they are always answered either with a yes, no, or wait answer. I hate to be the one who always says this, but yes there is a reality out there and we can\u2019t just claim to know what it is without any evidence to support those claims. Most religions claim to have \u201cThe Truth\u201d without feeling the need justify that \u201cTruth\u201d with evidence.<\/p>\n
The fact is that no one has the \u201call seeing eye\u201d of Absolute Truth. We have the light of science to help us see in the dark of the unknown. What is in the dark we cannot know with certainty, but we can use the light of science and reason to give us a better idea. Over time, humanity has made brighter lights which have enabled us to see more of the world and to allow us to take some pretty well informed guesses on what we cannot see. Humans have observed certain things in the world which seem to always hold true to our knowledge and so we use that to help us understand the known and the unknown.<\/p>\n
So while I cannot say with absolute certainty that \u201cThe Secret\u201d is bullshit, I can say with reasonable certainty that \u201cThe Secret\u201d is bullshit.<\/p>\n
If someone were to make the claim that people can fly and then encouraged others to jump out a window and try it, I would call bullshit on that \u201cdeeply held\u201d spiritual belief too.<\/p>\n