Will You Pay $23.95 for The Secret?

Rhonda Byrne has written what could arguably be the fastest-selling book of its kind in the history of publishing. Titled "The Secret", this self-help book has been available both in print and on DVD for about three months now, with the book priced at $23.95, and the DVD priced at $29.95. The main premise of the book, which is artistically and cinematically marketed to evoke images of ancient wisdom and hidden conspiracy, is that the universe works by the "law of attraction"- in essence, good attracts good, money attracts money, and so on. Therefore, we, being part of the universe at large, can "attract" money, weight loss, a vacation in Aruba, to ourselves, simply by thinking about it.

The formula is rather simple: Ask, Believe, Receive. Ask for the object of your desire (a BMW, for example), believe that you will receive it by envisioning the item (you imagine that the BMW is standing in your driveway), and pretty soon that object will materialize (you'll win/receive/inherit a BMW). The idea is not new, and even Rhonda Byrne admits that her initial source of inspiration was a long-forgotten 1910 book titled "The Science of Getting Rich." This book, written by Wallace D. Wattles, explores the idea of positive visualization, wherein the reader is asked to envision his/her ideal future, and then believe it, in order to successfully progress into that future.

Other authors have also explored this idea, most notably Scott Adams of Dilbert fame. In his book "The Dilbert Future", Adams brought up what he calls "affirmations", the process of visualizing your goal, writing your goal down fifteen times a day, and then watching that goal become reality. Providing the reader with a discussion of quantum physics and personal metaphysical phenomena in his own life, Adams succinctly argued (in only one chapter of his book) for the possibility of actively choosing your own destiny. In "The Dilbert Future", Adams also credited a lesser-known book for influencing his thoughts, a book called "The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want", authored by Mike Hernacki.