10/28 Class notes

Posted on by
Reply

Discussion on ” The Secret ”

The secret is a self help book

Its a money making buisness

  • Being self efficient , self service , improvement , professional development .

self help positive psychology 

Example : life coaches – a guide to help you in life  ( self actualization)

ideas that were described in the beginning of the film

  • Positive minds = positive things
  • What you think is what you get
  • Law of attraction , thoughts become things

One to one correspondence

Limitations ?     wanting something but dont have the money

actions/efforts

  • having acceptance on the things that occur to you that are out of your control , instead use your thoughts to motivate you to take the steps needed to get to it
  • competing desires

ex : a woman wanting or desiring a married man , in reality she can not have him

Reality/ obstacles / limitations

using the secret to accomplish minor issues like ex: graduating school

success depends on the individual

Osmosis – getting absorbed

Explicit – blunt or direct

ad hominem – ( used in free write )  criticism directed at something about the person one is criticizing, rather than something independent of that person .

The films use experts such as authors , philosophers , and entreprenuers to help persuade the audience that the secret really exist and it in fact works.

Announcements :  Mid term grades are going to be given on thursday !!

 

Thinking Positive Can It Really Get You What You Want

Posted on by
Reply

Each website I visited mentioned there way of what people should do in order to really be happy. Instead of thinking happy and positive thoughts and imagine that by doing this you will get the things you desire like “The Secret” says people should actually do things where they can be happy. Things that would make people actually happy for instance, on the website “Happier” towards the bottom they explained things of what people should do like spend money on experiences and not things, do things for others and etc. These things can stimulate you and really make you happy and to this website they want you to follow these things because they believe that sharing with others and focusing on the positive aspects of your life will make you happier, productive, and healthier. Their point in everything is to get people to be happy. In another website I looked at called “Happify” the website uses various ways in which they will make people happy. They have daily activities that could correlate with people’s goals to make them more peaceful, productive, and motivated to do more in their life. Also, using apps in which they have activities or games that could change their life habits. They want to increase happiness in everyone people quoted that they feel more energized, changed their negative thoughts, given a different perspective and etc.

This next website I saw “Hedonometer” was made to show how people felt about different things such as their happiness towards a lot of topics in the world and it was shown that a lot of people are averaged about what they are happy and not happy about. The kind of words people said showed the difference of how much more happy they could be than a few days ago or how much sadder they could be. A lot is recorded and shows the kinds of things people say upon something that occurred to show how they feel. The last website I looked at was “World Well-Being Project” this website shows us different aspects which people decided to test on. They take many words from different social websites to see how people respond to different language and how happy they are and what makes them happy. And what kinds of things people could think more about depending on their environment.

All these websites made me think that maybe it is better to try and have good self esteem or try and do things that can make you happy. I know for instance with myself I can be a cranky person easily or get in a bad mood. I mostly always have negative energy because I think how bad I might do in a test or getting late to school. I rarely think positive about things. But I can agree on that doing things with other people can make you happy and be healthier because when I spend time with my family or boyfriend I can have a different mood and have a nice time and create memories I will remember. These websites didn’t make us think that by doing these things you will automatically be happy but if you want to be happier and energetic you should try these things. To try and see how it can change you and how you can become happier and more positive about your life. You actually have to try these activities and advice’s if you want to be happier.

Controlling the Unvierse with One Thought

Posted on by
Reply

In class we watched the first 20 minutes of “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne where mainly introduced the law of attraction. Rhonda Byrne starts of the video by saying that she researched history to find out about the secret. The video mentioned that applying the secret could bring an individual happiness, health, and wealth. There are many experts in the video such as philosopher, metaphysician, entrepreneur, visionary, and author that talk about their thoughts about the secret. They all agreed that the secret could change an individual’s life depending their thoughts. The video mentioned that no matter where you are or who you are the law of attraction follows you. The law of attraction is that whatever an individual thinks about that will happen. If there are negative thoughts then negative things will happen in their life. They described the law of attraction in three words which are thoughts become things.The film gave several examples of how the secret has affected people. For instance the lady that wanted the necklace she saw on display. As she looked at the necklace she concentrated on thinking positive and imagining herself wearing it. After time has passed by she receives the same necklace from a guy. With this example they wanted to show how thinking positive thoughts attract the things a person desires.

In class we also watched two parody films that in a way made fun of the film “The Secret”. One parody that we watched was SNL Oprah The Secret which is a mockery of Oprah’s talk show. In this video Rhonda Byrne was always smiling portraying that she was happy because she found the secret and applies it to her life. She also mentions that she was not a doctor or a scientist but yet she found this amazing and life changing secret. Pamela which is one of the people that believe in the secret said that the secret has changed her life for the better. She claims that the secret helped her when her husband left her for another woman. She started to have positive thoughts of her husband coming back which resulted her in getting a restriction order. Byrne asks her if her and her husband are back together, she answered no but then that was thinking negative. Pamela changed her answer and said they were together which is not true. Therefore, that proved that the secret is just a way of lying to yourself rather than being realistic about the problem.

In my opinion I don’t think that the law of attraction is true because it is impossible to control the universe just with thoughts. Of course that thinking positive is always a good thing it does change the way an individual sees things and changes the mood of a person. A person that thinks negative is going to feel sad rather than a person that thinks positive which will have a happy life because they are not bring themselves down. Thoughts have a strong affect in a person’s mood but has no effect in getting the things an individual wants. For instance, if an individual wants to become a chief they can’t just think about it and magically become a chief. They will have to work hard and learn the basic skills need to become a chief. The individual will have to practice and be dedicated in order to achieve their goal. It is impossible to just sit down and start thinking about becoming a chief and the next morning have all the knowledge needed. If that was the case why would people even bother to go to school or work, everyone will just think of what they want and get it. The universe obviously does not work like that because then everyone will have a perfect life.As humans there are emotions involved. A person can’t always be happy because it is normal not to be pleased by everything or to have a bad day. Negative emotions help an individual understand and appreciate the good things in life.

 

 

The Secret of Life: The Law of Attraction

Posted on by
Reply

Last week the class focused on a video based on a book called “The Secret”. The video was very intresting. It talked about “The Law of Attraction” wich in short words means that “thoughts become things”. The video tried explaining it scientifically sayinf “Every thought has frequency”. The video had people explaining their experience with the law of attraction and it was shown to be true. Throughout the video it is said that negative thoughts will show up over and over because people will focus more on the bad than on the good. It showed that people who believe in the law of attraction had this problem of focusing on the bad. With help it is shown that the individual had stopped focusing so much on the bad and focused more on the positive. This change in their thought had changed their life around. It went from bad to better and good. The people in the video seemed very happy with the outcomes.The video also says that if people focus on what they want they will get it. This does not necessarily mean think about what you want and it will automatically appear, no. This just means that keeping in mind ones goals is a goos way to achieve it because you never let it out sight. The video also saids that “time lets you rethink things carefully”. This is talking about the bad things we sometimes wish to happen when we are upset. This saids that since things dont happen as soon as we think of it, time lets you cool down and know that you really did not mean to wish or think about what you thought of.

After seeing the video, i related it to myself. Idont know if the law of attraction is real, but i do belive that focusing on what one wants and the positive things will help one to achieve that goal. Obviosly something bad  will always happen because it is life and thats how things is. But i do believe staying positve can help ones selfesteem and will help one strive for what we want.

The video kwpt saying that individuals are the “michle angelo of their lives”. I agree with this because i always thought we are the authours of our lives. in other words we have control in our lives. Ofcourse something bad may happen but it is up to people to let that bad thing ruin their day or keep walking and continue in a good mood. To me the book/video “The Secret” is more of a motivational video/book.

“The Secret” or Common Knowledge

Posted on by
Reply

In our last two classes we took a look at something called “ The secret”. Rhonda Byrnes is credited for revealing this secret or further developing it. She believes she has a discovery of her own. She creates a film to showcase this secret, with several people giving her support for this idea and theory. Some of these people include visionaries, who speak about how the law of attraction works. What the law believes is that if you think good things and have positive thoughts than good things will come to you, but if bad things happen to you it is because you have called them on upon yourself. In other words a good attitude can get you a long way, basically hours are spent speaking on this law trying to convince the audience that they are missing out on something and really need it in their life.
We also watched parodies of the secret. Although these were funny to watch there were some ideas brought to our attention. For example the fact that Rhonda Byrne isn’t a scientist, she didn’t really discover anything. These ideas are considered to be common knowledge for people. We know that good vibes and good attitudes lead to good things. If a person has a negative look on their life well than there only attracting bad things to themselves. They have the power to change their lives and make decisions on what to do.
I think it’s up to each person to choose what they believe in. The Secret can be compared to a religion. People believe in it because they choose to and based off of this they make certain decisions differently. Honestly When I first saw the secret I thought, this isn’t really a secret at all. Maybe the term was new, because it was to me I didn’t know what the Law of attraction was considered to be. But that’s basically it. Just a new title. Besides that I think we all kind of knew some of the information shared in the first 20 minutes of The Secret . Also I think it can be compared to seminars, where there’s a person telling you what you already know but since you paid money to hear it , it makes more sense to you now. I think that’s what the secret is. Something that is dolled up and made to look really intriguing and smart. Even in the actual video everything is set up carefully, the backgrounds the fonts, the titles of the professions. Or how about the whole whispering thing, its appealing to an audience because it sparks curiosity. It appeals to an audience egos, pathos, and logos, using peoples experiences with the secret. Having smart looking people talk about the secret , makes it more appealing to the brain, we think because they look a certain way or sound a certain way we believe it to be true and makes it easier for us to believe. The fact that they look the way they do alone establishes credibility.

Response to The Secret & Paradise Parodise

Posted on by
Reply

In class we watched the video “ The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne  and watched the parodies about the secret to our happiness and the law of attraction. I thought the film was interesting and engaging but I think it was based more on opinions then facts, because although she was having experts come in and tell us why we think and feel the way we do. We never had a chance for her to exactly say  why she feel that we attract what we think of most and she thinks we control our own happiness. She had more visionary, authors and more people helping her opinion  be more convincible but I didn’t  agree with her statement because I do think we can measure our happiness because if we don’t like how certain things are going whether it is with school, work, relationships you can fix it so we wont be unhappy or feel a certain way.

The parodies I thought didm’t make sense and they were trying to be funny rather than make it convincible for the watchers because I honestly was confused while watching them , but the “ The secret “ I understood it very well and the point they were trying to prove in the video because it reminded me of a philosophers I learned in high school who were ancient Greeks and Romans which was meant to make people happier by teaching them to control their negative emotions and stated “ dont get mad over things you can’t control “ which Byrne is saying that thoughts become things and when we have these thoughts we want certain things, but can’t get it for some reason, for example when it’s raining and you don’t want it to rain you cannot be mad because we can’t control the weather. Therefore this connects to what Byrne is saying because she thinks that what we think is in our future and our thoughts and feelings is what we attract because  its what we are thinking. Although  that can be somewhat true but not a fact because everyone thinks about different things.

Also the authors discuss that what we think now is creating our future, which I dont agree with because we think a lot and  we have a lot of thoughts going on in our mind that we can’t control, for example we can hate a person so much and wish not to think about them or have feelings for them, but we cant control what I mind thinks because in our hearts we care for the person.  However I understood Byrne point but it needs to be more accurate for viewers to agree then disagree because instead of having visionaries and authors make her point believable she should speak to readers to make it clear for viewers.

Response to film/parodies “The Secret”

Posted on by
Reply

This week we watched a film called “The Secret” and two parodies based on the film. The original film, “The Secret” was about the law of attraction. To sum it up it’s basically about how you become what you think about most. One attracts the things in their life whether they are good or bad. You become what you attract, if your happy good things will happen, if your angry or upset bad things will happen. Whatever someone is thinking or feeling today is planning their future. I don’t believe this to be true, but honestly when I watched the film I wanted it to be true. I wanted it to be true because it sounded so easy and simple. Think good thoughts and you will be happy. But no matter how good it sounds it’s not realistic. How can one think good thoughts all the time and just because we are putting good thoughts out there does not mean we are attracting those good things, whatever they may be. This film basically states if we think it we can have it.

We watched two parodies based on the film, the first was a SNL skit about an interview on the Oprah Winfrey show with Rhonda Bryne as the guest and someone who believes they have been helped by “The Secret”. First off everyone is being made fun of in this skit. Oprah is someone who can what she wants in the blink of an eye and in the skit she says how she thought of herself eating something in a hot air ballon and then she made a call and it happened and says how it was her thinking it that made it happen. Constantly in the skit the woman playing Oprah says “The Secret” really loud and every time she does everyone claps. It shows how “The Secret” was all hype and not really something that works.

The last parody we watched was 24 calamity parody about “The Secret”. In this parody they are making fun of the actual people in the original film. They show how the people were talking and doing things a certain way to make it seem like what they were saying is true. The people in the parody pretend as if they know what they’re talking about by the way their talking but it doesn’t make any sense at all. This parody even brings to life how in the original video they had quotes flashing and being whispered because they are important and in the parody they make fun of it and shows how that just tries to make it sound important or make it seem like it’s true because of that. Overall I believe the parodies to be on point and I do not believe “The Secret” to be true.

Response to , ” The Secret”

Posted on by
Reply

So during the week we watched a brief clip of the film , ” The Secret ” . Also watched two video parodies based on the film too . Honestly Im still confused as to what the secret is , the film makes it seem like the law of attraction is the secret but it still brings questions . The two videos make fun of the fact that the secret is just common sense to things we already know in life . What I would like to know is how the author , Rhonda Byrne , came about with this so call secret . I have to agree with the parodies , Rhonda Byrne seems like she just rewords certain common sense situations and making them sound like it’s a formula that has to be followed . For example , in the SNL parody the comedians joke on how a man is wealthy and has an expensive house because he has wealthy parents . As to what the film said the man was wealthy because he focused his energy and thoughts on it and the universe made it happen . Which in my opinion thats a little far fetched . Still the secret kinda gets to you and makes you rethink the decisions you’ve made .

The Secret and The Law Of Attraction

Posted on by
Reply

During the last two sessions last week we watched three videos one on “The Secret” and two parodies about the secret. From watching “The secret” 20 minute video a lot of questions aroused that i needed answers to. Various claims were made but there was no supportive evidence to back up these claims that were made.Rhonda Bryne not once was present in the video yet she had visionary people etc backing up the theory of the secret and the law of attraction. To persuade people into buying into her theory. The law of attraction will give you what you want every time. You become what you attract the most, you become what you think about the most. Whatever your thinking and feeling creates your future/ creates your life. Rhonda Bryne is stating that for example if you consistently think of a fancy car all day and night it will appear in your drive way in the morning which isn’t logical, very unlikely. If there’s something an individual desire or wants they have to take the steps  into making it a reality ( go and get it).I understand the message of the video ” the secret” but i do not necessarily agree with it. The parodies were against the message of the secret  making jokes of it the secret is one big joke. Society and Life isn’t based on thoughts not everyone gets what they want every time just because they thought of it life does work that way. Life is like the roll of dice you never know what your going to get .

It depends on what you believe.

Posted on by
Reply

The past week our class watched a video that explained the concept of “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. In this video, the idea that is being portrayed is the law of attraction. Meaning, that whatever your thinking is, no matter who you are, whether is positive or negative: it will happen and you will have it. We also watched two parodies about this video. The first parody suggests that the words, music and tone of the original video are exaggerated with sophistication. Moreover, the experts that are shown in the original video are replaced by the first parody with people who are irrelevant to the topic. The second parody is making fun of the ideas of Rhonda Byrne that were presented by her in an Oprah show. This parody brings up the fact that Byrne is just a normal person who is not a scientist. Therefore, there is no reason for her to have credibility in her claims. Moreover, the parody focuses in challenging the idea of the law of attraction by showing examples of personal and public issues in which the law may not work.

I think that the concept of the law of attraction is true, to a certain extent. Our thoughts definitely have an influence in our actions. Therefore, whether you have positive or negative thoughts: your actions will be the same according to it. I agree with the first parody that emphasizes in the fact that the video of the secret is exaggerated with the presentation of the content. However, that is just a strategy that is used to sell. Whether the audience believes its content or not, it is all up do them. It’s like buying Proactive (or anything else). The commercials show that the product is for everyone but in real life it may not necessarily be true. Also, let’s keep in mind that there is something called the “Placebo effect” which is when an individual has improved in his health after receiving a “treatment” that may not necessarily cure the disease he has. This improved health is because the individual was TOLD that the treatment will cure him. The brain of the individual used the idea of the “treatment” that will cure him, and it healed itself. So, why wouldn’t there be a possibility that our way of thinking influences what happens in our lives, if our brain is so powerful. Our brain is the one that responds to things that happen. Whether our responses are good or bad, it’s up to us.

In the second parody, Pamela who was left by her husband wants him back. However, he doesn’t want her and Pamela does things that she assumes will be effective to get her husband back. These are competing desires. I think that in this case a person must acknowledge and respect the desires of others, and work around them to look for a way we can still satisfy our wants but without disrespecting other’s desires. Pamela could have set her mind to look for a different husband and maybe she would have found one that made her as or more happy. Moreover, when they use the example of Olessi, it exposes that using the law of attraction may be difficult in this situation. Which is true. However, the way it may be applied might be different. The issue might have started with negative thoughts and actions of people. The solution to the issue may not only require positive thoughts to the solution but also positive actions. Which is the same as how the problem started, with thoughts and actions of people. The difference in these two cases is that in one the law of attraction is used individually and the other as a community.