8mo ago

Law of Attraction is just a modern-day religion

The universe kinda becomes like a god. All that energy and vibe stuff is like a way of praying. It's all about faith, not really backed by evidence.

It's like how I see thunder, so there must be a god of thunder. In this case, seeing vibration and energy (like in String Theory, which still hasn't been proven) makes me think there's gotta be some deeper meaning and that it can make my wishes come true.

And of course, there are people out there selling books, spreading fake news, and posing as manifesting professors just to cash in on others' ignorance.

But hey, for a lot of people, it's just a way to find hope and relax a bit through positive thinking, focusing on their goals and planning things out. So I'm not trying to bash "believers", just sharing a shower thought.

30 comments

To all the people downvoting: "Law of Attraction" is not a lay person's way of saying "Law of Gravity".
It's the belief online that "if I give off good vibes, good vibes will be attracted back to me. You know, because everything is, like, made up of vibrating strings, and stuff" (that last bit is just the connection to String theory OP mentioned)
OP is not endorsing these beliefs, just observing them.
- Thank you for pointing this out! Now I see why people keep downvoting. Imagine listening to a dude talking like that about gravity 😂
  At least it's good to know that most of us haven't heard of the "Law of Attraction" I was talking about.
- It’s the belief online that [...]
  Well, the idea of the "Law of Attraction" is far older than the internet; I recall reading about it in a book on old timey "magick" teachings many years ago. If I recall correctly, the idea was that the only real "magick" in this world is our attention/willpower. So the things we're attracted to, or the things that we use our willpower toward or spend our time on, are the things we are "magicking" into existence, so to speak.
  So if one uses their willpower toward helping others and being a positive person, that's using the law of attraction to the benefit of others and yourself.
  If one uses their willpower to be a total jerk and only look out for themselves, that's using the law of attraction purely for your own benefit, and maybe to the detriment of others.
  One could also use their willpower to, say, stop smoking cigarettes. That would be using the law of attraction for self improvement.
  That was my understanding of the idea, anyway. Haven't read about it since then. I liked the book because it was very clear from the beginning that "magick" is no shortcut to real results because "magick" is just human willpower manifested through actions, and anyone who was offering quick solutions via "magick" was a scam artist.
  
  Bide the Wiccan Law Ye Must In Perfect love and Perfect Trust
  Eight Words the Wiccan Rede Fulfill "An It Harm None, Do What You Will"
  What ye's sends forth, comes back to Thee So Ever mind the Law of Three
  Follow This with Mind and heart Merry Ye Meet and Merry Ye Part
  
  I've been thinking it's just a rebranding of the idea of karma, which is old as dirt. "The Law of Attraction" is just the way I've seen it discussed online in its most recent manifestation (pun intended)

~~Well, that's bullcrap. Science is about finding the truth, religion is about shifting the blame to someone else (and about controlling masses, depends on which side you view this from).~~
Sure, some people believe in string theory. But the moment it's proven wrong, they're gonna stop. Another important difference is that no one thinks it has any meaningful impact on you as a moral human being, while religiots base all their morality on what their fake god has told various goat herders and child rapists centuries and millennia ago.
Edit: I was not aware that "Law of Attraction" had some weird bullshit meaning. The fact that attraction basically means gravity in my mother language didn't help matters. And the mention of string theory also made it plausible that the OP was a weird rant about science.
- Law of Attraction is a spiritual belief that thinking positively/negatively will affect your life in the same way. It is based on a pseudoscientific explanation that people are made out of energy, and that energy attracts similar energy.
  It is not science.
  
  Never heard of that so I assumed it meant something like gravity, I was very confused.
- religion is about shifting the blame to someone else
  I agree, in this case, the Law of Attraction blames the believers, but somehow people fail to see this and instead think they deserve the misfortune because they haven't 'put in enough energy'.
  
  Sorry for my rant, I thought this was about physics, not some pseudo bullshit, I haven't heard about that thing ever before.

Christian Science you mean
- Yeah... I tried to not mention Christian explicitly 😂
  
  What is your definition of 'religion'?

I don't get all the downvotes...genuinely I don't. Explain ?
- I didn't think this would get this much downvotes. Maybe I wasn't clear enough, leading to people misunderstand my post and think that I was trying to prove law of attraction is true.
  
  Your post is incoherent

I think there's a semi-reasonable way to engage with the idea. If you have some specific goal and you continually think about it/focus on it, of COURSE that will make it more likely/make you better at it. At that level, it's sort of just tricking yourself into actually getting shit done. Like faking it until you make it--act confident and soon you're actually confident, etc.
But I understand that most people take it further than that. I just think it's harmless at its most basic, even as I also think it's Oprahesque bullshit.
- That's part of it, but not all. The world is a vast and complex place, you cannot possibly engage with, or even notice, the majority of the information available to your senses.
  Your subconscious mind filters out information which isn't significant to you, and draws attention to information which is. This is why when you get a car, it suddenly seems like everyone got that same make and model. That model didn't become more popular, you just now have a reason to notice what was already there.
  The Law of Attraction is one incarnation of the intentional exploitation of this psychological phenomenon. By attaching significance to some goal, and reinforcing that significance, you train your subconscious mind to notice opportunities in service of that goal.
  
  Nice explanation. I could still get behind that. I know there are woo-ey versions of it, but I find the fundamental idea of "visualization" to be pretty solid, regardless of whether the mechanism is internal, external, or purely imagined.
- I totally agree with you! I think it works but not in the way people think it is.
  It can be frustrating when authors and others attempt to market the concept as scientifically grounded, kinda like a cult at times.
  I feel bad for people who persist in the wrong direction and repeatedly fail to achieve their goals. It's even worse when, after all that, they blame themselves for "not communicating well with the universe".

The universe kinda becomes like a god.
If anything is going to be qualified as a god, the literal embodiment of everything, everywhere, all at once seems to fit the bill. Call it what you want—the universe is our everything as far as we know it, and that has traditionally been an interpretation of what god is as well.
- I see, I think describing the whole universe as a god in a symbolic way can make sense.
  Anyway, the trouble starts when people go beyond symbolism and start asking for help, making wishes, and sometimes blaming this "deity" for undesirable events. Relying on an entity whose existence remains uncertain, let alone he/she cares about you, is like gamble, which sounds unsettling.

People need to stop calling everything "fake news". First, the shit you see online may be fake, but it's not news. And second, perpetuating that stupid-ass phrase just gives the morons who coined it more excuses to keep using it.
If you think something is a lie, say so in plain English.

Never heard of it before this. Don't care.

30 comments