The Law Of Attraction is Snake-oil/Bunk/Crap/Bullshit

How would you like to be able to manifest whatever you want into your life? Sound good? Of course it does! Who could resist such god-like power?! It’s very seductive stuff, and that is exactly what the so-called “Law of Attraction” promises. Sometimes it‘s called other things, such as “Power of Intention”, but it‘s all basically the same thing and has been around in some form or another since the early 1900‘s. Usually packaged and marketed as something spiritual or even scientific, but it’s neither. It caters to our desires and wish to control, offering a seemingly easy solution to our frustration and disappointments in life, with no apparent downside. But there actually is a very serious downside, besides the fact it doesn‘t work.

The LOA theory says one can manipulate the universe with their thoughts, if done correctly. Basically you form a clear idea of what you want, ask the universe for it (or project it out into the universe), feel and behave as if it is being given (this basically is a trick to get you to not be in a state of wanting), and be open to receive it (meaning you have no negative thoughts, doubts, fears blocking it). Or as it’s sometimes put, “ask, believe, receive”. This seems harmless enough, but the theory also says that your negative thoughts bring negative things into your life. Follow the implications of that concept to it’s extreme and the individual can be blamed for all the bad things that come into their life. Sickness, rape, poverty, pimples, a shopping cart with a bum wheel, you name it. Though most believers in LOA will deny this, there is no way to limit the concept so it doesn’t enter into this ugly area. They want it to be all positive, feel-good and nice, but it just isn’t so. You can’t have fire without something getting burned.

There’s a similar problem with the so-called “law” of karma many believe in. It too can be used to blame the victim. But in one way karma is less insidious than LOA, because to falsely think you are suffering for something you did in the past, perhaps even in a previous life, is not as destructive as to falsely think your own thoughts are screwing up your life right now. That could drive you nuts!

Proving LOA true or false is a bit tricky. Simply trying it out and seeing if it works is hampered by the fact that just by pure chance it’s bound to sometimes appear to work. And when it fails, the purity of your thoughts could simply be blamed. One negative desire, doubt or fear might be enough to gum up the works. It’s rather difficult to not have any of those lurking about in you. Specially when you are someone just testing the method. How does one accomplish the “believe” part of “ask, believe, receive” before it’s been shown to work? For many that would be impossible.

Turns out the best way to test LOA is to look into your past for evidence. That way you don’t have to try to force yourself to believe, you just look for times you already did believe and naturally fulfilled, or broke, all of the LOA criteria. Don’t just look for positive evidence, it’s the evidence it didn’t work that’s the better proof. While positive results can always be written off as coincidence, a law can’t fail by coincidence. An actual law of the universe shouldn’t ever fail. But believers of LOA never claim it will work every time, not even if you do it perfectly. They usually say we are “co-creators”, which limits our power to manipulate this “law”. The universe, or God, can always override us. So even if you discover it failed to work more than it seemed to work, it’s impossible to absolutely prove it false. That loophole will always rescue it (and perhaps drive you nuts thinking the universe or God is thwarting you at every turn!). But I think a reasonable person doesn’t need absolute proof. Reasonable proof will do.

So, find times you were completely positive, believing, clear about what you wanted yet not in a state of want (believing it was in hand), and open to receiving what that was, but had it fail miserably. Or times you were completely negative, doubting and closed about something yet it came out great. How often did either of those happen? Speaking for myself from the evidence in my life and those around me, there is no way I can believe in the Law Of Attraction. I see no real positive correlation. Exceptions seem more the rule. So either the Universe and/or God are really messing with me, or LOA is bullshit.

Or just look at hypochondriacs. They are filled with fear and negative thoughts, projecting out into the universe a perfect LOA recipe for attracting or manifesting disease into their life. But do they get sick any more than the rest of us? While I have no study to prove it, from what I can gather they don’t. After all, shouldn’t Woody Allen have died in the 1960‘s or 70‘s?

Trying to manifest the reality you want through mind games is not just a waste of time, it also distracts you from appreciating the reality you are in. It’s a control trip, attempting to bend the universe to your will. A mindset of acquiring, where happiness is achieved through “manifesting” what you desire. This has the unfortunate effect of leading one astray from embracing what they have in the present moment, which is the more direct and sure path to happiness.

The underlying message of the Law of Attraction is that the way to happiness is though meeting your desires. Which is no more evolved, spiritual, profound or wise than a Wall Street ad for a car or toothpaste.

Our billions of unmet desires generate a vast ocean of suffering. Much of it easily remedied by simply accepting the substantial limits of our control and the fact we will not always get what we want. Of course the idea that we can simply manifest everything we desire is much more seductive, but it’s a siren’s song, leading one out onto the rocks. The good news is that happiness doesn’t depend on fulfilling desires but rather on appreciating what you have right in front of you in this moment.