Why the law of attraction is false: it's all about perception.

People like to think there is this great law in the Universe which everything will come to you if you just think long and hard about it. You don't make a million dollars by thinking positively and wanting good things to come to you... you don't get famous by simply making a blog post on a website... it's all about the power of perception.

Perception is how you view the world. You see the world and when you see information you take it in and you analyze it. This information helps form your thoughts and these thoughts form your view. Eventually you develop a system with dealing with the world, and, if you have more of a positive perception, better things will happen to you. It has nothing to do with the law of attraction, or synchronesity, it has to do with really your perception and how you view the world.

I welcome other views as well but that's what I believe and I believe the power of perception is more powerful than the laws of attraction. The power of perception is proven and you can do even more with perception than you can with the law of attraction.

Everyone is selecting their own experience from the source of stimuli that is reality. How?

No one can see 'reality', the concept of seeing reality itself is nonsensical.

What people believe to be reality is in fact their own experience of the stimulus they receive from reality (the source of all stimulus to our senses).

The source of the stimuli is the same for everyone, this source is the true 'reality'. The experience derived is individual.

Each tiny part of every past experience influences the how we make the next perception.

The cycle continues. This is life.

law of attraction is simply "rose colored glasses" or other wise know as ignorance. The entire idea is based on the one major flaw in humans, belief in unseen non evident force(s) that they use to explain there confusing world to themselves... so they feel better.

I wouldn't say it's completely rubbish. At least not when it comes to relationships. Studies have been done that show that people end up associating with people who are genetically similar to themselves. Although these were correlational studies and you can't really draw a definite conclusion from them the results are worth noting.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


Again, arguing from my perspective, I believe that perception is what causes success in relationship. If you have a positive perception good things will happen to you and vice-versa.

Just a minor example, not for or against what you're saying.

You tell yourself "I'm going to look for RED cars when I go out today." Suddenly you will see a million red cars. They were all out there before, but you weren't focusing in on them.

The same. If you properly utilize the so-called Law of Attraction principles, positive feeling, with positive images, and a Self-Image that isn't in conflict, your mind will help make you aware of, and bring to you "coincidences" that may help you. But you generally have to take action to realize the full mental image.

As far as LoA as perspective, I am very much on that boat myself. W Clement Stone calls it a "Positive Mental Attitude." I call it "Hope" whatever you call it, it's valid, and it's out there.

I can also vouch from personal experience that it is at least as not as simple as the OP makes it out to be. If you really put yourself in the goal frame of mind and stay there, you naturally and immediately begin to realize things that will help you to manifest that goal, because it becomes who you are from the inside out. The more ridiculous your goal is, the more you're going to have to work on it, and that's the case with anything. If money is your concern, Donald Trump loses fortunes and makes them back all the time. What makes him any more likely than any other American to become wealthy when he loses it all, is that he's still Donald Trump. If you could open yourself up to know the people that he does and get on the right terms with them, etc., then what would be the difference between him and you? A lot of your success at anything will be determined just by what's in your head, the attitude you show and how you engage particular people in a particular way, etc. Open up and be receptive.

I personally believe the LoA is real. Ive gotten alot of free things in life, so either im one lucky guy or just a bunch of coincidences. Ive gotten 9 things that i can count all for free. As well, ive gotten job promotions, as well as relationships.

And its not as simple as "I want to see a bunch of red cars"...
I wanted to go to new zealand, my neighbours sent me their first class when i was 18, I got givin a 1999 Pontiac Grand am when i was 16 by man that i met while waiting for my drivers test. I did ask for any of this stuff, just basically them asking me simple questions.

These are all things that I couldnt afford to buy, but wanted and got it givin to me. I dont blame anyone for not believing in it, but you have to give it a try, despite whether its perception or not, it still can put a smile on a guys face..

I'm not saying that nothing happens because you want it to. I'm saying that the science behind the law of attraction is false.

I believe it's all about perception.

I believe in perception for the same reasons you believe in the LOA. I think that on days when I've been extremely negative I felt like the worst things happened to me. On days when I felt more perceptive of the world and I felt more positive I felt like I imposed my positive perception on others and I felt like more positive things have happened.

I think that good things come with a positive attitude and a positive perception. Your mind processes billions of bits of information all the time... if you made the information you perceived more positive I think you could make your world a lot more positive. That is in my view much more effective than the LOA, just, waiting for things to happen.

Perception is how you view the world. You see the world and when you see information you take it in and you analyze it. This information helps form your thoughts and these thoughts form your view. Eventually you develop a system with dealing with the world, and, if you have more of a positive perception, better things will happen to you. It has nothing to do with the law of attraction, or synchronesity, it has to do with really your perception and how you view the world.

so basically your saying, if i percieve the world as a positive place, ready to give me what i want, i can attract better things to myself. im sorry, but how is this that different than the law of attraction.

got this from wiki

Know what you want and ask the universe for it.
Feel and behave as if the object of your desire is on its way.
Be open to receiving it.

sounds that all has to do with perception my friend. to visualize, sensualize, and act as if your desire is a reality, is purely perception. im just wondering how your perception theory, is vastly more different than the law of attraction. maybe im missing something.

People like to think there is this great law in the Universe which everything will come to you if you just think long and hard about it. You don't make a million dollars by thinking positively and wanting good things to come to you... you don't get famous by simply making a blog post on a website... it's all about the power of perception.

your info on the loa is half as#. its not about just sitting down and thinking about millions, and then they appear, its actually much deeper than what most people seem to get into. they try to keep it mostly surface level for people, as to not seem to want to get to deep into it, but it works the same way that, if you percieved a regular, healthy glass of water, as a murky green, chunky, hot liquid in your cup, your body is naturally going to reject it if you try to drink it, or do whatever it needs to do to have you not even attempt to drink it.

that involves completely changing your perception of it, its exactly how placebos work. this is elementary stuff.

law of attraction is simply "rose colored glasses" or other wise know as ignorance. The entire idea is based on the one major flaw in humans, belief in unseen non evident force(s) that they use to explain there confusing world to themselves... so they feel better.

thats it folks. einstein has figured it all out for us. shut it down

Again, arguing from my perspective, I believe that perception is what causes success in relationship. If you have a positive perception good things will happen to you and vice-versa.

same thing as loa. i just dont get it, please explain. i have to be missing something.

I'm not saying that nothing happens because you want it to. I'm saying that the science behind the law of attraction is false.

i just dont feel like you have taken the time to study the topic of loa, because i dont feel like you would have made such a comment. im no loa fan boy, but i employ the basics of most teachings like loa, which is just as you state, change your perception, change your world. to simplify it

[edit on 22-10-2008 by jimmy1200]

I'm down with Jimmy on this one. I think he is right on every point he is making and that due to your idea of semantics you are, ironically, actually imploying and explaining a fundamental aspect of LOA.

Perception is focus and LOA is all about focus and intent. The topic is much more vast and complex than 'The Secret' drivel. You should read Skyfloatings thread. And I mean really read it, as he opens with a clear explanation of the distinctions between "The Secret" oversimplification of 'wishing for stuff' and the real essence of LOA.

There is also a handful people contributing wonderful, complex insights into the process in the first 1/2 of it. It really is one of the better threads on the site for that reason alone, i.e. an ongoing, thoughtful, almost academic, conversation on a complicated topic.

Check it out.

reply to post by E-ville


So the way they view the world is wrong?

Here's a perception for you to consider:

All perception is infinite. Everything is contained within it. By this perception, LOA is true, false, and everything in between.

Ultimately, it is down to the individual to take whatever part or all of that infinite perception and make it their own. For me, I have put it into use many times in my life. That is all I need to know that it exists.

The Way is right about Skyfloating's thread. One of the best on ATS and you should check it out if you're looking to expand your perception.

Peace

The people who say attraction is not a law cite examples such as, "I know gravity works. When I drop a book off a skyscraper, it will hit the ground. That's proof of the law of gravity."

Agreed.

They then go on to say, "When I try to attract something, sometimes I get it and sometimes I don't. So it isn't a law."

Not agreed.

Here's why.

Saying you tried to attract something and failed is like saying you tried to drop a book from a skyscraper to hit a particular spot and you missed. Because you missed the spot, you say gravity doesn't exist.

Oh boy. Not agreed Joe vitale – not even close. Your argument is a false analogy. Newton’s Laws of Gravitation do not say that when you drop something (like a book, for example), it will land on a particular spot. What the Universal Law of Gravitation actually says is:

Every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

This force of gravitational attraction between the two bodies acts along the line joining their centres. This force is hence mutual.

And there are precise specific mathematical formulae that describe these relationships, for example:

Consider two bodies of masses m 1 & m 2 with their centers separated by r. let F be the force of gravitational attraction between two bodies. According to newton's law of gravitation,

[snip]

F = G Mm/R2

These formulae (and others I have omitted), describe gravitation, and they always work every time – that’s why they are Laws. As I wrote before, if you replicate Newton’s experiments, you will find that gravity accelerates objects at exactly the rate predicted by the Law. The so-called “Law of Attraction” simply does not work like this. Actually, it doesn’t work at all – simply wishing for something will not make it appear, and pretending that it does and that this is a Law like gravity, is naive childish gibberish.

Vitale is out of his coconut tree. The Law of Attraction is improperly stated. It should read,

"Whatever a person focuses their mind upon, they will find themselves attracted to that thoguht or thing"

Simply, we "see" what we pay attention to in our lives. The reality of wish fufillment is another extension of the "lose weight overnight" scam or any number of get rich quick schemes.

I keep expecting the publishers of the Secret to issue a correction, indicating that the book is missing a chapter. The one in which people take action to pursue their wishes!

Yarg!


Posted by: Citizen Deux | February 23, 2007 at 11:21 AM

This is philosophy, not physics. What the hell is wrong with these people? And that's a totally rhetorical question BTW.

Posted by: mouse | February 23, 2007 at 12:18 PM

Citizen Deux:

If you focus your mind upon the correction with the missing chapter on how you need to take action etc, perhaps the chapter will appear.

Or perhaps not.


I know the Law of Attraction is true and I can prove it. It is also scientifically sound in that it does make predictions, like:

I predict Joe Vitale will never fail to attract $97 from every sucker who is stupid enough to believe the drivel he puts forth in his book.

Now prove me wrong!

reply to post by Frankidealist35

Of course the law of attraction works.

The thread 'How the Law of Attration' works has attracted 1,016 replies. This one has 48.

Avast, ye unbelievers! Beggars can ride and tinkers will soon be out of a job.