In the movie The Secret, the main message is that thoughts become things. So by thinking more positively, can you create a better life? Is this a marketing blunder or is it a real science?

The law of attraction has been around for some time. Napoleon Hill made the term popular in 1937 in his book Think and Grow Rich, but it also existed long before. Thought “leaders” used the term in successful essays and it is believed to be derived from the teachings of Phineas Quimby in the early 19th century:

“The problem is in the mind, because the body is only the house in which the mind can dwell, and we give it a value according to its value. Therefore, if your mind has been deceived by some invisible enemy in a belief, you have put it in the form of illness, with or without your knowledge. According to my theory or truth, I come into contact with your enemy and return you to your health and happiness. This I do partly mentally and partly speaking until I correct wrong impressions and establish Truth, and Truth is the cure. ” – Phineas Quimby.

So if truth is the cure for wrong thinking, as Quimby says, by correcting the false beliefs we have in our minds, we can correct our lives and make them better. Quimby was talking about his illness here since he had tuberculosis. He recovered despite medical treatment not working and attributed it to his thinking.

Science is also claimed to support the law of attraction and the double slit experiment is used to explain it. The double slit experiment shows that electrons act differently depending on whether they are being observed or not. So the mind that goes into something changes it at the atomic level. Without being observed, the electrons act like a wave. As they are observed, their behavior changes and they act like particles.

But does this explain the law of attraction and how it is portrayed in the movie The Secret? Maybe you’ve seen The Secret and spent the afternoon imagining all those dreams you gave up earlier. I know that when I first saw the secret, that is exactly what I did. Then after a while when nothing happened, I decided it was complete garbage. Only when I got back to the idea and started studying it did it start to make more sense.

The Secret is an overview of the Law of Attraction, and while many have seen it in low light, it is not an in-depth investigation of the idea. It can be said that it is a bit “fluffy”. All the presenters of the film have experienced The Secret from the perspective of success. But what about us mere mortals who struggle to survive? Why can’t we manifest those great things in our lives? We can?

Joe Vitale, (one of the hosts of The Secret), for example, was not always a success. He claims in his books that he was, in fact, struggling for many years and even homeless. He discusses the issue and also says that he “created” the struggle in his life because he believed that is what writers have to do.

So is the law of attraction false?

Here’s another perspective. There is something called confirmation bias that can explain many things in life. Confirmation bias is the natural inclination to look for evidence to support our existing beliefs. So if you are a fervent believer in something, you are unlikely to look for evidence to the contrary. Instead, look for evidence to support your existing beliefs.

The placebo pill can also explain the law of attraction. If you believe in a fake pill so much, you trick your mind into recovering. Placebo pills that are nothing but sugar have been shown to produce amazing effects in people simply because they believe so much in what a doctor tells them. Take a look at Derren Brown’s TV show “Fear and Faith” for an amazing insight into this.

If the law of attraction works, maybe it’s because we think it will. Certainly, if we don’t believe in it, we will never apply it in our lives.

There is also the depth of understanding of the law of attraction that matters most. On a superficial level, you can easily dismiss the movie’s secret as a marketing blunder. But on a deeper level, I think we all manifest our lives based on what we believe. The placebo pill proves it. So if this is already proven by an experiment as simple as a placebo, surely there must be something more to the law of attraction?

Another similar idea is to be lucky. In his book The Luck Factor, Richard Wiseman sheds some light on the subject of luck. Show that it is those who think they are lucky who create their own luck. Those who think they are ‘lucky’ tend to be more outgoing, take more opportunities to meet people and do things, and thus create more opportunities to find what they think is ‘lucky’. Therefore, they think they are lucky!

Those who think they are unlucky do the opposite. They associate the bad things that happen instead of the good things with increased interaction. So they avoid going out and meeting new people. They tend to take fewer risks and venture less. As a result, they encounter fewer experiences, encounter fewer opportunities, and thus create the feedback ‘loop’ that they are ‘unlucky’. The cycle continues and they are shown to be “correct.”

So is the law of attraction false? You choose. But given this evidence, be careful what you decide!