Why I feel the Law Of Attraction is a load of B.S. -- my response
There is no arguing with the with the psychology of The Law Of Attraction. In fact, that's exactly what it is: psychology, specifically Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Don't know what that is? Here's how one website describes it:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events. The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel / act better even if the situation does not change.
source: http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm
Sounds an awful lot like the law of attraction, doesn't it? Obviously, there is nothing wrong with this notion. It's like when you're trying to do something and your inner fears hold you back, that voice in your head telling you that it can't be done... but you ignore it and persevere. You think positively and you accomplish your goal. That's awesome.
But there are other aspects to the law of attraction, the idea that we're responsible for all of the bad things in our lives. A friend of a friend of mine was once gang-raped by five guys. She's now living with herpes. According to this ridiculous notion of the law of attraction, she was responsible for attracting that. In fact, that would be true of everything that's ever happened in history, whether it was massive tsunami a few years ago, the Holocaust, the Slave Trade, the Holodomor, Hiroshima, Dresden, children getting raped, honor killings, the fact that 46,000 people starve to death every day... you could go on and on down the line.
Here are extremely bloody, gruesome, and horrifically graphic pictures of victims of America's war in Iraq. http://mindprod.com/politics/iraqwarpix.html#IRAQWARPIX Those who believe in the law of attraction would no doubt say they attracted these atrocities unto themselves, and yet I don't expect anyone who believes in the law of attraction to actually click on that link, because one can only be concerned only with positive feelings and happy vibrations, and seeing reminders of what is actually going on in this world would no doubt bring them down. What a bummer.
I know what the argument is: that our thoughts are energy. EVERYTHING is energy. That's all well and good, but what exactly does that mean? This is where quantum physics comes into play, since the entire universe and everything in it is made up of sub-atomic particles. Here's the problem: if you're going to use science to justify your claims, you have to be prepared to use all of science and not just cherry-pick things to fit into your argument. I tried to look up if there was any proof that our thoughts could do anything outside of our brains and found about the inverse square law. This states that "the intensity of an energy wave radiating from a source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from that source." In other words, if there were two people standing near me and one was twice as far from me as the other person, the person who is farthest would only feel 1/4th of the energy that I'm transmitting, which isn't very much to begin with as this energy is affected by all magnetic fields, including the Earth's, which overpowers it by ten orders of magnitude.
This is why I don't believe in the law of attraction. This is why I feel it does a disservice to have the "raw food movement" associated with this New Age nonsense. There's simply no scientific validity to it and it blames the victim for their problems. What we think has a lot to do with how our life turns out, but sometimes "shit happens." That's just a sad fact of life.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events. The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel / act better even if the situation does not change.
source: http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm
Sounds an awful lot like the law of attraction, doesn't it? Obviously, there is nothing wrong with this notion. It's like when you're trying to do something and your inner fears hold you back, that voice in your head telling you that it can't be done... but you ignore it and persevere. You think positively and you accomplish your goal. That's awesome.
But there are other aspects to the law of attraction, the idea that we're responsible for all of the bad things in our lives. A friend of a friend of mine was once gang-raped by five guys. She's now living with herpes. According to this ridiculous notion of the law of attraction, she was responsible for attracting that. In fact, that would be true of everything that's ever happened in history, whether it was massive tsunami a few years ago, the Holocaust, the Slave Trade, the Holodomor, Hiroshima, Dresden, children getting raped, honor killings, the fact that 46,000 people starve to death every day... you could go on and on down the line.
Here are extremely bloody, gruesome, and horrifically graphic pictures of victims of America's war in Iraq. http://mindprod.com/politics/iraqwarpix.html#IRAQWARPIX Those who believe in the law of attraction would no doubt say they attracted these atrocities unto themselves, and yet I don't expect anyone who believes in the law of attraction to actually click on that link, because one can only be concerned only with positive feelings and happy vibrations, and seeing reminders of what is actually going on in this world would no doubt bring them down. What a bummer.
I know what the argument is: that our thoughts are energy. EVERYTHING is energy. That's all well and good, but what exactly does that mean? This is where quantum physics comes into play, since the entire universe and everything in it is made up of sub-atomic particles. Here's the problem: if you're going to use science to justify your claims, you have to be prepared to use all of science and not just cherry-pick things to fit into your argument. I tried to look up if there was any proof that our thoughts could do anything outside of our brains and found about the inverse square law. This states that "the intensity of an energy wave radiating from a source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from that source." In other words, if there were two people standing near me and one was twice as far from me as the other person, the person who is farthest would only feel 1/4th of the energy that I'm transmitting, which isn't very much to begin with as this energy is affected by all magnetic fields, including the Earth's, which overpowers it by ten orders of magnitude.
This is why I don't believe in the law of attraction. This is why I feel it does a disservice to have the "raw food movement" associated with this New Age nonsense. There's simply no scientific validity to it and it blames the victim for their problems. What we think has a lot to do with how our life turns out, but sometimes "shit happens." That's just a sad fact of life.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by alex anthony on -
I wonder if ants think the same thing about us? that we're conspiring to their benefit? what about wasps or fruit flies or aphids?
I just don't have enough information about the universe to speculate about celestial personalities (if they exist) and their intentions. I can barely figure out human beings and their intentions half the time. really like 80% of the time.
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Permalink Reply by alex anthony on
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I can verify only parts of your assertion.
I know ants. I know humans. I don't know angels.
understand what i'm saying?
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Permalink Reply by Charles on -
I agree with you that the universe is not truly random. Evolution, for example, is not a random process. I was referring more to the idea of serendipity or coincidence as it relates to human beings.
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Permalink Reply by alex anthony on
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I agree with you totally. the human brain is a pattern recognition filter - it's how we make sense of the world. side effect: we see patterns where there are none.
Also, humans are strongly anthropomorphic. That's another conversation in itself.
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Permalink Reply by jodykwik on -
no....and there are some elements that conspire for me and some against. only even the ones that seem to conspire against me probably are really for me in the end.
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Permalink Reply by RAW is the LAW on -
random has no real meaning - to prove something is random you have to show it doesnt fit a pattern - and that would take forever, literally. I know this - I study it lots at university. So what is random - its a nonesense word created by no sense scientists, to confuse you. everyting is connected (gravity), everyting has a rhyme and a reason.
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Permalink Reply by alex anthony on
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I think you said it exactly. random has NO REAL MEANING. so in that sense random isn't a nonsense word - IT'S A WORD USED TO DESCRIBE WHAT WE CURRENTLY PERCEIVE AS NONSENSE. It isn't used to confuse us, it's used because the scientists are confused.
I agree everything is connected. however, the Law of Attraction adds a measure of determinism to the universe that doesn't exist IMO. I don't think the universe is concerned with your survival and is not inclined to be more so because you think positively.
humans are in the business of making exacting decisions with inexact information. Stuff like the Law Of Attraction at the very minimum has the placebo effect on those who believe and live accordingly, which means that it has merit and is worthy of continued existence.
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Permalink Reply by AwesomeUniverse!!! on -
There are so many things that aren't random- good point. Humans are what have put chaos into the equation.
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Permalink Reply by RAW is the LAW on
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Ive not read the law of attraction, but I understand the principles. Ask and it shall be given ( if your worthy ! ) . Basically it is like praying - you ask God - The All - for something, if your worthy - its yours. The thing is - watch what you ask for, you may change your mind, you'll get what you asked for and find it doesnt fill the gap, it doesnt satisfy you, its what you wanted but not what you needed. I say get right with the Almighty and let him/her decide, be happy with your lot. He/she knows whats best for us, dont petition the almighty with petty desires, get right with God and all shall be added unto you =)
I shall not want..
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Permalink Reply by Bunny Berry on -
I think the word "believe" is the key factor in the Law of Attraction. It's just like Aliens or Jesus Christ. You can watch a documentary on aliens, and at the end you are asked the question, "Do you believe that aliens exist?". You can go to church and read the bible, and then be asked "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" The Law of Attraction is a faith based theory.
As a good old Southern Baptist, I can pray for what I would like to happen, and if it doesn't happen, then I can say, "Some of the best things that have happened in my life have been unanswered prayers."
I believe in the belief of the Law of Attraction. But that doesn't mean it exists.
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Permalink Reply by Ice Goddess on -
who's the Fu?
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