So me and my best friend sat around tonight talking about our friend who used to be cool as can be. He sobered up (mostly) and found not religion, but the power of attraction.
He's now gone to the extreme of the secret, power of intention, yoga, spirtuality, new wave, etc..
So much that he's at this point lost most of his friends, no one can even handle a phone conversation with him.
Its akin to those we know who went through AA become supremely religious.
I guess its somehow better he's not messing with hardcore drugs, but then again, I can't even be in a room with him now.
There's a difference between using focus, visuilization, etc to strengthen your mind and believing that the universe will give you what you think about.
The first makes sense. Athletes visualize, meditation type stuff can calm emotions and facilitate introspection, etc. Nothing magical there.
The flaw in the secret is the basic idea that whatever happens to you is a result of the thoughts you send out. I would ask what kind of thouhts did the 8 year old girl who gets abducted, raped, killed, cut up and buried in a plastic bag send out??? Or the child who dies of starvation?
The premise is flawed.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
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Given the moral defects, the lack of scientific backing, and the various philosophical shortcomings, how is it that a significant number of people still believe there’s something to The Law of Attraction? Part of the reason must certainly be the powerful testimonials coming from celebrity figures such as Oprah Winfrey, a woman who attributes her success to her mighty powers of attraction, and not to the stupefyingly enormous Oprah industry which she, and many thousands of others have worked so hard to put in place.
The Law of Attraction cannot admit doubt or skepticism. If one begins to doubt the power, or even to harbor negative thoughts in one’s unconscious mind, one is assuredly on the road to ruin.27 The Law of Attraction requires uncritical acceptance of, and unwavering belief in, a doctrine that has been revealed by alleged authorities, which is interpreted literally, not metaphorically, and is at the extreme end of credulity. It is just another kind of magical thinking and, worse, another brand of fundamentalism.
I'm not going to advocate the secret here, but how exactly did your friend who began thinking positively and looking forward to the best stop being your friend? I would want to talk more to people like this as far as I can figure?
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So, to sum the thread up: Your friend was a druggie loser, you thought he was cool. He then realized he was a druggie loser and cleaned his life up and now you and the rest of your friends wont talk to him anymore. Nice. I guess that is just what it takes to stay cool these days.
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"Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find, as quickly as possible, someone to worship."
Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Last edited by kipperfan; 08-28-2009 at 09:27 AM.
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Mrs. Impaler believes in this stuff (being a woman and Oprah fan ). I don't, but whatever - if she thinks her success is due to power of attraction, good for her. Who am I to criticize, as long as the day when she financially supports me comes closer and closer...
There's a difference between using focus, visuilization, etc to strengthen your mind and believing that the universe will give you what you think about.
The first makes sense. Athletes visualize, meditation type stuff can calm emotions and facilitate introspection, etc. Nothing magical there.
The flaw in the secret is the basic idea that whatever happens to you is a result of the thoughts you send out. I would ask what kind of thouhts did the 8 year old girl who gets abducted, raped, killed, cut up and buried in a plastic bag send out??? Or the child who dies of starvation?
The premise is flawed.
I think a lot of the difficulty comes from the fact that there are many interpretations of the Law of Attraction; I think the distinction made above hints at that.
There are a lot of people who advocate for LoA/The Secret/etc. -- including many of those who popularized the current incarnation -- who maintain that it's not enough to just 'put the intention out there'. If you intend to have a great job, but don't ever go out an meet people, your intention doesn't match your action, and therefore, no dice.
In addition, many of the 'core teachers' (for lack of a better name) believe that reality is, in fact, subjective. So the little girl didn't create her circumstances -- you did. In fact, the little girl doesn't really exist, outside of your belief that she exists. This belief system is typically founded on the idea that there is a universal consciousness that is creative, and that what we perceive as real is only a projection of that consciousness. (The Conversations with God books are an example of this type of thinking, as is Steve Pavlina's Subjective Reality material). It's the same kind of idea as that which comes from asking 'how do you know you're actually awake, and not just in a very vivid dream?'
You can, of course, combine these (and many more possibilities) to come up with the many, many permutations of LoA/power of intention/The Secret/Intention-Manifestation models.
The difficulty is that many people don't go that far into creating a holistic belief system around this stuff. They simply stop at the intention side of things, sit around all day putting out 'positive thoughts', and never work to create a positive life for themselves -- exactly the opposite of what most of the teachers they respect would advocate.
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There's a difference between using focus, visuilization, etc to strengthen your mind and believing that the universe will give you what you think about.
The first makes sense. Athletes visualize, meditation type stuff can calm emotions and facilitate introspection, etc. Nothing magical there.
The flaw in the secret is the basic idea that whatever happens to you is a result of the thoughts you send out. I would ask what kind of thouhts did the 8 year old girl who gets abducted, raped, killed, cut up and buried in a plastic bag send out??? Or the child who dies of starvation?
The premise is flawed.
Children should not be expected to understand the laws of attraction.
Also, if you stretch anything far enough it will have holes.
Personally, I'll take "the law of attraction" over any organized religion.
So me and my best friend sat around tonight talking about our friend who used to be cool as can be. He sobered up (mostly) and found not religion, but the power of attraction.
He's now gone to the extreme of the secret, power of intention, yoga, spirtuality, new wave, etc..
So much that he's at this point lost most of his friends, no one can even handle a phone conversation with him.
Its akin to those we know who went through AA become supremely religious.
I guess its somehow better he's not messing with hardcore drugs, but then again, I can't even be in a room with him now.
Damn you Oprah!!!!
My girlfriend's sister and her husband are right into this too. A couple of years ago, we spent Christmas there and they made us watch the video on Christmas morning. I had to bit my tongue the whole way. They didn't know Oprah was promoting it though. The actually thought they discovered it themelves.
The went and got themselves into debt big time now with the assumption that they are going to fall into some serious money at some point because of the "Secret".
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
My girlfriend's sister and her husband are right into this too. A couple of years ago, we spent Christmas there and they made us watch the video on Christmas morning. I had to bit my tongue the whole way. They didn't know Oprah was promoting it though. The actually thought they discovered it themelves.
Then went and got themselves into debt big time now with the assumption that they are going to fall into some serious money at some point because of the "Secret".
Then I guess its no "secret" that your girlfriend's sister and her husband are complete morons.
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So far, this is the oldest I've been.
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Lost a good friend to "The Secret"
). I don't, but whatever - if she thinks her success is due to power of attraction, good for her. Who am I to criticize, as long as the day when she financially supports me comes closer and closer...
