File this one under, if I made this up you wouldn’t believe it.
I was reading “The Secret” promoter Joe Vitale’s recent blog post What To Do When the Law of Attraction Doesn’t Work, and it struck me how his blog posts all seem to have the same format:
Short sentences.
All starting on a new line.
Have you noticed that many are questions?
That he then answers.
When you read his answers, are they in the form of rhetorical questions?
When he writes these rhetorical questions, why are they in blockquotes when he’s not actually quoting someone?
He repeats mantras, such as:
LOA is always working.
LOA is a law like gravity.
- that have been debunked before.
And makes grandiose claims, such as:
I’m a neurometaphysician. I created the field of neurometaphysics. This goes beyond neuroscience, which is the study of how your nervous system affects your life. Neurometaphysics is the science of how your thoughts create your life.
It struck me that his posts are all so similar in both style and content, they could have been written by a computer. Of course, that would be ridiculous. Except it’s not. Announcing: Dr. Joe Vitale's Hypnotic Writing Wizard!:
This amazing breakthrough new software almost magically helps you write sales letters, ads, news releases, articles, speeches and entire books easily, effortlessly and even hypnotically - Guaranteed!
[All bold in original.]
So now you know. That’s how he does it. A computer writes his copy. And you can write just like Joe for a mere $99 ($277 with “Swipe File”). Or I guess you could just want it really badly and it would appear for free (your mileage may vary).
Hey Joe, I don’t need a “writing wizard” to write my posts - with this kind of classic comedy from you, my posts just write themselves.
Hat tip to Cosmic Connie for emailing me the two Joe Vitale links.
Now that's the type of gumption I like: providing an endorsement by yourself of your own product mixed in with all the other endorsements. Outrageous marketing, indeed!
Posted by: Stephen Moore | March 08, 2009 at 11:46 PM
Amazing, I was quite sure that Hypnotic Writing Wizard site was a spoof, but no, it's serious: I looked up the Whois info, and it does indeed list Joe Vitale. Kinda sad if that's what's needed to tell if your stuff is satire or serious.
I can't help but wonder if this Vitale guy takes himself seriously, or whether he knows he's bullshitting people.
Posted by: Beowulff | March 09, 2009 at 03:33 AM
There must be something weird going on you and Steven Novella have blogged on the same subject.
Posted by: Wrysmile | March 09, 2009 at 06:38 AM
wrysmile,
from Neurologica,
lol, not much of a mystery. :)
Posted by: TechSkeptic | March 09, 2009 at 07:09 AM
Skeptico: I found this post fascinating. Not to mention riveting. Inspiring. Utterly hypnotic.
Beowulff: I've often asked myself the same question regarding whether Joe's stuff is satirical or serious. But it's apparently all "serious."
Even this one:
http://www.psychicdemand.com/
And he is apparently making some serious money doing what he does. But never fear; you too can learn how to make the big bucks. If you have $5,000.00 to spare you can participate in a rolling (or Rolls-ing) MasterMind session with Joe, a special guest and another paying customer in his Rolls-Royce Phantom. If you want Joe and his special guest all to yourself in the Rolls, sans that annoying other paying customer, it's only $7,500.
http://www.mrfire.com/phantom/
Heck of a deal!
Posted by: Cosmic Connie | March 09, 2009 at 09:48 AM
And here we have, in his own words, Joe Vitale's admission that the victim is to blame:
Been raped? Stop thinking about it. If you had not been thinking about it, then it wouldn't have happened. It's your fault.
This guy is more than an idiot, he's scum.
Posted by: Jimmy_Blue | March 09, 2009 at 12:38 PM
Tech: Yes Novella thanked me for the story. Didn’t give me a link though did he?
Connie: For me to agree to join Joe for that “MasterMind session, I would actually have to be hypnotized first.
Posted by: Skeptico | March 09, 2009 at 09:20 PM
Jimmy, good point, of course. And the reason Vitale & Co will never back down on their "blame the victim" philosophy, is because that would mean admitting the Law of Attraction isn't a Law - and that would make it much harder to sell. The paying public want security and certainty, and something easier enough to understand so they can tell their friends about it.
The LoA is a product and Vitale couldn't care less about anything beyond shifting as many units of it as possible. It even has planned obsolescence built into it, so he can then update it, explaing why it didn't seem to work for some people.
Posted by: yakaru | March 10, 2009 at 04:40 AM
that evil bastard.
Posted by: TechSkeptic | March 10, 2009 at 11:50 AM
"The Secret" is the dumbest piece of BS I have ever heard. First of all-if you can manifest money out of thin air, why do the authors write these books and sell us this junk. If the Secret was really powerful-what incentive would the authors have in sharing this BS with us? Hmm-that's right, so they can make money. Notice, the brilliance of marketing-the teachings of the LOA are tailored towards the attraction of money, money, and money. It destroys morality. It destroys the need for hard work. Since when has something been achieved simply by wishing for it. Do monks praying all day in a monastary "Create" food-no, they get fed by the local civilins.
It is funny how some people reject the idea of God but accept the idea of LOA. New age isn't anymore different from "classical" thought-both are based on LACK OF EVIDENCE. The ONlY reason the LOA "works" is due to confirmation bias-and that's a solid pscyhological concept. Nothing spirtiual there. Moreover, there is the placebo affect. The more you believe in this junk, the higher the placebo effect and the confirmation bias.
Proponents of the LOA defend their aguments by saying ACTION must be taken to make the LOA work. Wait-are they fucking contradicting themselves? The whole premise behind the LOA is that "thoughts" create things. Well, if "Thoughts" create "Things", why the fuck do you have to take any action? The argument that Action is required in order for the LOA to work is a co-op. What works is plain-old hard-work and discipline.
Posted by: billiardsguy2006 | March 13, 2009 at 02:57 AM
Notice that proponents commonly talk about manifesting money, attracting a relationship, or feeling healthier. But they bypass things such as (A) prevention of death (B) elimination of gravity, (C) Flying. If the LOA was real, you would be able to do A, B, and C. But apparently, you can only attract "ordinary" circumstances like relationships and health. Hmm...what's ridiculous. Have you seen a person fly yet? And nobody has proof that Jesus flied. Joe vitale is a dumbass. Clearly, if he's such an expert-he should teach us how to fly to the moon, create aliens out of thin air, get a diploma without going to school, or obtain 100 billion dollars by sitting in a room and praying all day.
Posted by: billiardsguy2006 | March 13, 2009 at 03:02 AM
Hmmm. One moment "Mr. Fire" is embracing science -- using it to 'splain LOA, and actually inventing a new branch of "science" (that would be neurometaphysics, of course). The next moment he’s shouting out on Twitter about a book that strongly criticizes science (or, rather, it criticizes the author’s imagined view of "scientism"). Joe Tweeted: "Reading 'Science's Blind Spot' by Hunter. Skeptics need to read this."
http://twitter.com/mrfire/status/1333075210
Here’s the book in question, for those who aren’t familiar with it:
http://tinyurl.com/cw9tdb
Most of the New-Wage gurus seem to treat science like a part-time lover; they embrace it (or their own garbled version of it) when it suits them, and turn their backs on it when it doesn’t.
Posted by: Cosmic Connie | March 16, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Science's Blind Spot is a book skeptics need to read? Here's what one reviewer - Guillermo Gonzalez, (whose name might ring a few bells) - said about it:
Hunter convincingly argues that scientists who oppose intelligent design do so for theological reasons, not empirically based arguments.
I guess what appealed to Vitale about it was the shifting of the debate from evidence to "motives".
Posted by: yakaru | March 16, 2009 at 01:56 PM
So what if I wanna stay home, depressed, thinking negative thoughts? I kept being in a funk for so long that my family and friends had an intervention and sent me to a hospital where a handsome rich smart doctor fell madly in love with me. Then, a big studio bought the rights to turn my life into a movie as the saddest girl in the history of EVER.
If I had watched Oprah and used the Secret and thought happy sunshine-filled thoughts I might have stepped outside and slipped on that check for $1000000 that I new-age-magic sent myself and cracked my head open on the front porch! THEN I'D BE DEAD!
Posted by: Sara E.M. | March 17, 2009 at 05:05 PM
Yes, but it'd have been your own fault for attracting your death with your thoughts.
Posted by: Skemono | March 17, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Thank you for this site. My boyfriend has been driving me crazy playing dvd's, etc on "The Secret" and "The Law of Attraction" all day long. Not to mention videos about them on YouTube. He really believes all that jibberish. I looked up the reviews at Amazon.com and it seems everyone that reviewed the books and dvd's believed in them 100%. I was beginning to wonder if I was the only person who was not crazy.
Posted by: Sue | April 27, 2009 at 04:55 PM
Sadly, if you define "crazy" as believing things that other people just made up without supporting evidence.... most of the world is crazy.
Posted by: TechSkeptic | April 28, 2009 at 06:39 AM
BTW, this is not one of Skeptico's best articles on The Secret. Do yourself a favor, search for the other ones, and have your boyfriend respond to accusation that he is promoting the idea that rape victims bring it on themselves.
Posted by: TechSkeptic | April 28, 2009 at 06:41 AM
With a little help from google ads, a ray of truth shines through: The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Secret. It's all there.
Posted by: Martin | April 28, 2009 at 07:42 AM
Sue,
You have my sympathies! I was swamped with friends and acquaintances sending me links to the 20 minute trailer when it was first released. Four years on, I don't see any of them driving around in Rolls Royces. They pissed me off so much that I kept tabs for a while on what kind of reality the stars of the film have created for themselves. Here's a brief run down.
Dan Hollings, the guy who organised the "viral marketing" for the Secret (this is the advertising trick that manipulates your boyfriend into telling everyone about it), is suing Rhonda Byrne to get his pay. He also refers to himself as "Mr Universe", as a joke about where Rhonda's wealth really came from (ie, his work).
Scriptwriter Drew Herriot
, is also suing her. He wrote the film and she wrote the book based on his work, but claimed complete authorship. He is suing her for about $150 million.
Other authors are also suing Byrne for plagiarism. There are numerous other squabbles over the money. Rhonda's 74 year old mother hasn't seen any of it either and is living on a government pension.
Now on to the stars of the film.
Of the more well known stars, it should be noted that Albert Einstein did not believe, think or write anything even remotely similar to The Secret. Nor did Plato, Newton, Victor Hugo, Beethoven or Snoopy or whoever else they listed at the start. Claiming otherwise is a flat out lie.
Of the other stars, David Schirmer is being investigated by the fraud squad in Australia. He took the life savings of many people, promising to invest it for them. Instead, he seems to have spent it one way or another. There used to be a very funny video of him on you tube, locking himself in the toilet for 40 minutes to hide from a reporter asking him where the money is. Schirmer has got all such videos of him taken down. Videos titled "David Schirmer Exposed" are still up, but they are all made by him.
He seems to come from a difficult family background. His brother is also on the records.
"Scientist", "Dr" Bob Procter sued Schirmer to stop him claiming an association with him. He now claims The Secret doesn't work unless you buy his updates.
Mary Manin Morrissey and her husband got busted for stealing $10 million from their private church. The husband went to prison.
There's probably a whole lot of dirt about Reverend Michael Beckwith in the internet, but he's such a creep I can't bring myself to look.
Cosmic Connie's encyclopedic blog has a lot of details and dirt on all these slimers. The point is, all these people were either rich to start with, or they shoe-horned their way to riches by telling other people they'll make them rich if they pay them. Their wealth is not proof that the Secret works, just proof that their customers believe it.
This blog is also running an interesting competition with a prize of a beer (or beverage of your choice up to a $20 limit) to the winner. Scroll down to where he quotes Jack Canfield from the film, and challenges anyone to find a stupider statement than it. Might sound easy, but....read the quote....
He also explains, in poignant terms how the plot of the 1973 movie Deliverance disproves The Secret, in one of the funniest knock downs I've come across.
Posted by: yakaru | April 28, 2009 at 11:06 AM
I had googled The Secret and all I got was sites of of a bunch of true believers. I always heard if it sounded too good to be true, it probably wasn't. Finally, I googled "The Secret" debunked and found Skeptico's blog. Ah, at last, a voice of reason. Thank you, Martin, for giving me another lead.
As of yet my boyfriend hasn't attracted money, car or prestige although he is a 'true beliver.' When (If) he does, I'll let you know. LOL
Posted by: Sue | April 28, 2009 at 04:21 PM
I did ask him if he believes rape victims bring it on themself and he says he
believes we choose our own path before we come into this life. I think he gets that from listening to Esther (Abraham) Hicks.
Yeah, sure. A 'spirit?' was out there floating in 'space?' and said, "Wow, I think I will be born to be raped by some pervert. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
Great reasoning, huh."
Posted by: Sue | April 28, 2009 at 04:38 PM
I keep trying to post this but it disappears.
Sue,
You have my sympathies! I was swamped with friends and acquaintances sending me links to the 20 minute trailer when it was first released. Four years on, I don't see any of them driving around in Rolls Royces. They pissed me off so much that I kept tabs for a while on what kind of reality the stars of the film have created for themselves. Here's a brief run down.
Dan Hollings, the guy who organised the "viral marketing" for the Secret (this is the advertising trick that manipulates your boyfriend into telling everyone about it), is suing Rhonda Byrne to get his pay. He also refers to himself as "Mr Universe", as a joke about where Rhonda's wealth really came from (ie, his work).
Scriptwriter Drew Herriot
, is also suing her. He wrote the film and she wrote the book based on his work, but claimed complete authorship. He is suing her for about $150 million.
Other authors are also suing Byrne for plagiarism. There are numerous other squabbles over the money. Rhonda's 74 year old mother hasn't seen any of it either and is living on a government pension.
(continued below)
Posted by: yakaru | April 28, 2009 at 05:04 PM
(cont.)
Now on to the stars of the film.
Of the more well known stars, it should be noted that Albert Einstein did not believe, think or write anything even remotely similar to The Secret. Nor did Plato, Newton, Victor Hugo, Beethoven or Snoopy or whoever else they listed at the start. Claiming otherwise is a flat out lie.
Of the other stars, David Schirmer is being investigated by the fraud squad in Australia. He took the life savings of many people, promising to invest it for them. Instead, he seems to have spent it one way or another. There used to be a very funny video of him on you tube, locking himself in the toilet for 40 minutes to hide from a reporter asking him where the money is. Schirmer has got all such videos of him taken down. Videos titled "David Schirmer Exposed" are still up, but they are all made by him.
He seems to come from a difficult family background. His brother is also on the records.
"Scientist", "Dr" Bob Procter sued Schirmer to stop him claiming an association with him. He now claims The Secret doesn't work unless you buy his updates.
Mary Manin Morrissey and her husband got busted for stealing $10 million from their private church. The husband went to prison.
There's probably a whole lot of dirt about Reverend Michael Beckwith in the internet, but he's such a creep I can't bring myself to look.
Cosmic Connie's encyclopedic blog has a lot of details and dirt on all these slimers. The point is, all these people were either rich to start with, or they shoe-horned their way to riches by telling other people they'll make them rich if they pay them. Their wealth is not proof that the Secret works, just proof that their customers believe it.
This blog is also running an interesting competition with a prize of a beer (or beverage of your choice up to a $20 limit) to the winner. Scroll down to where he quotes Jack Canfield from the film, and challenges anyone to find a stupider statement than it. Might sound easy, but....read the quote....
Posted by: yakaru | April 28, 2009 at 05:05 PM
(cont.)
Now on to the stars of the film.
Of the more well known stars, it should be noted that Albert Einstein did not believe, think or write anything even remotely similar to The Secret. Nor did Plato, Newton, Victor Hugo, Beethoven or Snoopy or whoever else they listed at the start. Claiming otherwise is a flat out lie.
Of the other stars, David Schirmer is being investigated by the fraud squad in Australia. He took the life savings of many people, promising to invest it for them. Instead, he seems to have spent it one way or another. There used to be a very funny video of him on you tube, locking himself in the toilet for 40 minutes to hide from a reporter asking him where the money is. Schirmer has got all such videos of him taken down. Videos titled "David Schirmer Exposed" are still up, but they are all made by him.
He seems to come from a difficult family background. His brother is also on the records.
(continued below)
Posted by: yakaru | April 28, 2009 at 05:07 PM
(cont.)
"Scientist", "Dr" Bob Procter sued Schirmer to stop him claiming an association with him. He now claims The Secret doesn't work unless you buy his updates.
Mary Manin Morrissey and her husband got busted for stealing $10 million from their private church. The husband went to prison.
There's probably a whole lot of dirt about Reverend Michael Beckwith in the internet, but he's such a creep I can't bring myself to look.
Cosmic Connie's encyclopedic blog has a lot of details and dirt on all these slimers. The point is, all these people were either rich to start with, or they shoe-horned their way to riches by telling other people they'll make them rich if they pay them. Their wealth is not proof that the Secret works, just proof that their customers believe it.
This blog is also running an interesting competition with a prize of a beer (or beverage of your choice up to a $20 limit) to the winner. Scroll down to where he quotes Jack Canfield from the film, and challenges anyone to find a stupider statement than it. Might sound easy, but....read the quote....
He also explains, in poignant terms how the plot of the 1973 movie Deliverance disproves The Secret, in one of the funniest knock downs I've come across.
Posted by: yakaru | April 28, 2009 at 05:08 PM
Sorry for this being the fourth post in a row. My last comment was too long for typepad, it seems. Now I see it didn't read all the links I put in, although the preview showed them as links. So in order for this not to have been a complete and utter waste of time, I'll put them in as text.
Dan Hollings - the unpaid marketer marketer
">http://know-more-secrets.com/">
Drew Herriot - the unpaid scriptwriter
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/150-million-battle-to-keep-the-secret/2008/05/17/1210765254572.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Plagiarism accusation
a href="http://www.shekinahtherapy.com.au/13.html
Bob Procter saying only his version of The Secret works
http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-reposition-your-boner-and-other.html
nice article with wonderful graphic by Connie
http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2007/05/secret-may-fade-but-stupid-is-forever.html
Funny blog about The Secret with the stupidity challenge
http://mikesweeklyskepticrant.blogspot.com/2007/02/heres-secret-blame-victim.html
Posted by: yakaru | April 29, 2009 at 03:04 AM