The Secret promises we can ‘manifest’ what we want. But if that’s true, why aren’t we all rich and famous?
- Written by Peter Strelan, Professor, School of Psychology, University of Adelaide
Imagine you really wanted something and all you had to do was ask the universe and you would get it. That’d be awesome, right?!
I present this to my students in my first-year Research Methods in Psychology course, in the first session of the semester. Then I ask them what they think.
The first respondent is usually bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They say something like: “Absolutely! You can achieve anything you want if you put your mind to it!” Emboldened, a handful of others express similar sentiments. Naturally, there are also sceptical students, but at this point it doesn’t suit my agenda to give them much oxygen.
Next, I tell the students I presume they’d all love to achieve High Distinctions in my course. I tell them it is, in fact, possible, and I’m going to share how it can be done. At this point, even the most sceptical students are intrigued.
I tell them all they need to know is … The Secret.
A self-help megaseller
The Secret[1] is a 2006 feature-length film and then book created by Australian Rhonda Byrne, who was a television executive when she came up with it.
