The Secret

Recently we were visiting with a friend who was telling us about this Oprah phenomenon - "The Secret". I say Oprah phenomenon because no one would have cared about it if Oprah hadn't mentioned it on her show. But since she did, we all have to live with people who actually believe in it.

So in case you didn't know, "The Secret" is that if you think and focus long enough on things that you will become some sort of powerful psychic energy beacon to the universe. The more of this energy to the universe, the more the universe will do to give you the very thing you are obsessing over, whether it be good or bad. So if you obsess over, say, a necklace from Tiffany's, then eventually that's exactly what you'll get. Or if you obsess over having bad health, then bad health you will have. Because the universe will give it to you for thinking about it.

I have a few observations about this so called secret. First, and foremost, I plan to make an official un-official psychic energy wave transmitting beacon; which will strengthen and amplify the signal your psychic brain waves give off. Here is a picture of them being modeled by two children.

Pretty soon everyone's going to be wearing them so you might as well just buy one now. After all, you are going to get tons of free stuff from the universe if you wear it. I mean even way more free stuff than people who don't.

Second, this phenomenon reminds me of the mindset of people that just drives me crazy. Entitlement. Getting something for nothing. Of course being in medical school, that means that there is more than one person I encounter regularly that just rubs me the wrong way. I digress. So the whole root of this philosophy is that you get stuff for just thinking about it. And it is well spelled out that it is not because you make any sort of plans because you obsessively are thinking about. The universe just magically gives you stuff because you think about it. I must be broken because there's lots of stuff that I've thought about that never happens. And I would never want the universe to grant my every thought.

However, sometimes you just have to wonder if maybe there is something to it. For example: this article. You'll have to excuse my callousness, but her name was "Debree" (pronounced the same as the word "debris"??). A sad story, but ironic nonetheless.