Thread: The Law Of Attraction

Bah, you know what I mean. People with money to burn who will gladly throw it at some gimmick (e.g. horoscopes). I wish I had thought of mass-marketing horoscopes .

Originally Posted by Replicon

Bah, you know what I mean. People with money to burn who will gladly throw it at some gimmick (e.g. horoscopes). I wish I had thought of mass-marketing horoscopes .

Yeah a lot of horoscopes are not the same even for the same time of week. However, I do believe they can be better refined and not passed over like something so random and yet generic.

Like I said in my above post, all this stuff can serve as a great self-discovery tool, but let's face it... horoscopes == $$$$ Especially those "rolled-up paper" kinds...

Judging from all the descriptions of "the law of attraction," it sounds like something less than it claims to be. At the heart it's just a glorified restatement of the idea that thinking positively and taking intiative in your life tends to bring good fortune to your doorstep. It's an age-old school of thought packaged as a "law" to bedazzle folks into thinking that here's their chance to tap into some greater power. In reality all you're doing, if you follow through, is restructuring yourself from the inside out.

So you want to lose weight. If you conjure up the motivation to put down the TV remote and get outside, you're on track to a slim body. If you won't bring yourself to carry through with your weight loss goal, that fat isn't going anywhere. If you spend the effort, things happen; if you don't, things don't happen. Go figure.

Filling your head with nothing but positively directed wishes teaches your subconscious to guide you toward those ends. There's no magic here. You influence elements within your own circle of control, which in turn changes forces in the external environment. That's why a key ingredient in the law of attraction is your own effort. Every book like "The Secret" stresses the necessity of your genuine participation in contrast to being just an armchair optimist.

I'm not challenging the effectiveness of this positive mentality. I believe it's extremely helpful. But all this "law of attraction" business makes it out to seem gloriously mystical, when really it has a very simple and firm basis in human psychology. This particular line of books with "The Secret" and "Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting" is just another flavor of your usual self-help, positive-thinking books, but presented in a way that's more widely accessible.

In my opinion, of course. Having not read any of the books myself or even much about the law of attraction, I may be toying with too many assumptions. Still, the sudden flurry of interest surrounding the topic is a late reaction to a philosophy that was always there.

Originally Posted by Replicon

Like I said in my above post, all this stuff can serve as a great self-discovery tool, but let's face it... horoscopes == $$$$ Especially those "rolled-up paper" kinds...

I know, I was agreeing with you.

Originally Posted by Penter

Judging from all the descriptions of "the law of attraction," it sounds like something less than it claims to be.

If you spend the effort, things happen; if you don't, things don't happen. Go figure.

You're right to some extent, but there's something important you're missing.

I expect to see a lot of disagreement and skepticism about this topic. Did I have to make people post it? I expected it, and I'm not surprised. I didn't have to make it happen.

I rarely think about being fat. I've thought about being fat so infrequently in my life, that I could count the amount I have. I'm skinny. Most of the time I hear people worrying are actually becoming fat.

A lot of people judge things too early, and lose belief in something. Later they will learn there is always a reason. If they judge far too often, they may not learn much.

Originally Posted by really

You're right to some extent, but there's something important you're missing.

I expect to see a lot of disagreement and skepticism about this topic. Did I have to make people post it? I expected it, and I'm not surprised. I didn't have to make it happen.

I rarely think about being fat. I've thought about being fat so infrequently in my life, that I could count the amount I have. I'm skinny. Most of the time I hear people worrying are actually becoming fat.

A lot of people judge things too early, and lose belief in something. Later they will learn there is always a reason. If they judge far too often, they may not learn much.

I can't say I'm getting your point. Are you telling me that I chose to whip up a bit of disagreement unkowingly on account of your own private expectations? And you're not fat because you never envision yourself as a fat person?

If I'm interpreting that correctly, you appear to be mixing up cause and effect. You expected disagreement to emerge because of past experience with discussions on unconventional ideas. There's disagreement because that's the norm, regardless of your expectations.

As for being fat, you haven't allowed yourself to relapse into the bad habits that lead to being overweight, so you don't think about being fat. Fat people, on the other hand, are reminded of their weight every single day, so yeah they think about it more than you do. Once again, it's the circumstances that prompt the thoughts, not the other way around.

Tell me if I've completely botched your meaning in that post.

Originally Posted by Replicon

Bah, you know what I mean. People with money to burn who will gladly throw it at some gimmick (e.g. horoscopes). I wish I had thought of mass-marketing horoscopes .

haahaha