In the New Thought philosophy, the law of attraction is the belief that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts a person brings positive or negative experiences into their life. The teaching is based upon the idea that people and their thoughts are both made from "pure energy", and that through the process of "like energy attracting like energy" a person can improve their own health, wealth and personal relationships.
Contents
- History
- Descriptions
- Health
- Financial
- Relationships
- Ambitions
- Philosophical and religious basis
- Criticism
- Prominent supporters
- References
The concept of law of attraction received criticism in skeptical essays, such as Robert Todd Carroll's The Skeptic's Dictionary.
History
The New Thought movement grew out of the teachings of Phineas Quimby in the early 19th century. Although he never used the words 'law of attraction' his basic premise was similar, although restricted only to the field of health:
the trouble is in the mind, for the body is only the house for the mind to dwell in, and we put a value on it according to its worth. Therefore if your mind has been deceived by some invisible enemy into a belief, you have put it into the form of a disease, with or without your knowledge. By my theory or truth I come in contact with your enemy, and restore you to your health and happiness. This I do partly mentally and partly by talking till I correct the wrong impressions and establish the Truth, and the Truth is the cure.
In 1877, the term 'law of attraction' appeared in print for the first time in a book written by the Russian occultist Helena Blavatsky. By the end of the 19th century the term was being used by New Thought authors such as Prentice Mulford and Ralph Waldo Trine, but for them the law of attraction not only affected health but every other aspect of our lives.
The 20th century saw a surge in interest in the subject with many books being written about it, amongst which are two of the best-selling books of all time; Think and Grow Rich (1937) by Napoleon Hill and You Can Heal Your Life (1984) by Louise Hay.
Even if the New Age movement adopted many New Thought ideas, including that of the law of attraction, the law of attraction remains a new thought philosophical concept.
In 2006, the concept of the law of attraction gained a lot of renewed exposure with the release of the film The Secret (2006) which was then developed into a book of the same title in 2007. The movie and book gained widespread attention in the media.
Descriptions
New Thought authors believe that the law of attraction is always in operation and that it brings to each person the conditions and experiences that they predominantly think about, or which they desire or expect.
Charles Haanel wrote in The Master Key System (1912):
The law of attraction will certainly and unerringly bring to you the conditions, environment and experiences in life, corresponding with your habitual, characteristic, predominant mental attitude.
Ralph Trine wrote in In Tune With The Infinite (1897):
The law of attraction works universally on every plane of action, and we attract whatever we desire or expect. If we desire one thing and expect another, we become like houses divided against themselves, which are quickly brought to desolation. Determine resolutely to expect only what you desire, then you will attract only what you wish for.
Rhonda Byrne published in 2006 the film The Secret wherein she emphasized not only the fact of thinking about what each person wants to obtain, but also to infuse the thought with the maximum possible amount of emotion associated with that wish. It is the combination of thought and feeling, seeing it as already manifested that attracts the desire.
A key point of Ms. Byrne's theory is to start with creating positive feelings by recognizing that one needs to be in a state of abundance to attract any more of the desired abundance. This is done by being grateful even for the smallest of things to vibrationally align to the attraction frequency.
Health
A core claim by New Thought authors is that our thoughts directly influence our health, and that this is due to the law of attraction. They believe that worry, fear, stress or other negative thoughts make people sick, while positive thoughts of wellness or love can keep people healthy and even cure illnesses. This can be seen in scientific studies where the placebo effect takes place. Those who receive fake sugar pills tend to become healthier due to the mere fact that they think they are getting treatment when they aren't. Proponents also claim that an important part of maintaining health and of curing illness is to be able to visualize yourself as being healthy.
Financial
It is claimed that if someone consistently thinks prosperous thoughts then irrespective of their actual situation they will experience prosperity in the future because 'like attracts like'. Conversely if a person consistently thinks that they are poor then that will be their future experience. One example used by Lisa Nichols in the film The Secret is as follows: "Every time you look inside your mail expecting to see a bill, guess what? It'll be there. Each day you go out dreading the bill, you're never expecting anything great, you're thinking about debt, you're expecting debt. So debt must show up.....it showed up, because the law of attraction is always being obedient to your thoughts". Feeling happy and grateful for the money you already have, is claimed to be the fastest way to bring more money into your life.
Relationships
Law of attraction proponents claim that it affects our relationships because whatever we focus on we experience more of. So if an individual focuses on another person's good qualities then they experience more of those, where as if they focus on what they dislike about that person then those will be the characteristics of that person that they experience. They also claim that if you can visualize that a certain person is being nice to you, then you will be attracting experiences that match those thoughts. It also claims that a person can attract a romantic relationship with a person who has the characteristics wished for, by creating a mental image of the ideal person and by visualizing the imagined scenes as being real.
Ambitions
It is claimed that when someone visualizes clearly and in detail what they want to achieve, and focuses upon that image, that they set in motion through the law of attraction a chain of events that eventually culminates in the materialization of that vision. Charles Haanel says in The Master Key System, "You must see the picture more and more complete, see the detail, and, as the details begin to unfold the ways and means for bringing it into manifestation will develop. One thing will lead to another. Thought will lead to action, action will develop methods, methods will develop friends, and friends will bring about circumstances, and, finally, the third step, or Materialization, will have been accomplished."
Philosophical and religious basis
The New Thought concept of the law of attraction is rooted in ideas that come from various philosophical and religious traditions. In particular it has been inspired by Hermeticism, New England transcendentalism, specific verses from the Bible, and Hinduism,
Hermeticism influenced the development of European thought in the renaissance. Its ideas were transmitted partly through alchemy. In the 18th century Franz Mesmer studied the works of alchemists such as Paracelsus and van Helmont. Van Helmont was a 17th-century Flemish physician who proclaimed the curative powers of the imagination. This lead Mesmer to develop his ideas about Animal magnetism which Phineas Quimby, the founder of New Thought, studied.
The Transcendentalist movement developed in the United States immediately before the emergence of New Thought and is thought to have had a great influence on it. George Ripley, an important figure in that movement, stated that its leading idea was "the supremacy of mind over matter".
New Thought authors often quote certain verses from the Bible in the context of the law of attraction. An example is Mark 11:24: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
In the late 19th century Swami Vivekananda travelled to the United States and gave lectures on Hinduism. These talks greatly influenced the New Thought movement, and in particular William Walker Atkinson who was one of New Thought's pioneers.
Criticism
Skeptical Inquirer magazine criticized the lack of falsifiability and testability of these claims. Critics have asserted that the evidence provided is usually anecdotal and that, because of the self-selecting nature of the positive reports, as well as the subjective nature of any results, these reports are susceptible to confirmation bias and selection bias. Physicist Ali Alousi, for instance, criticized it as unmeasurable and questioned the likelihood that thoughts can affect anything outside the head.
The Law of Attraction has been popularized in the early 21st century by books and films such as The Secret. This 2006 film and the subsequent book use interviews with New Thought authors and speakers to explain the principles of the proposed metaphysical law that one can attract anything that one thinks about consistently. Writing for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Mary Carmichael and Ben Radford wrote that "neither the film nor the book has any basis in scientific reality", and that its premise contains "an ugly flipside: if you have an accident or disease, it's your fault".
Others have questioned the references to modern scientific theory, and have maintained, for example, that the law of attraction misrepresents the electrical activity of brainwaves. Victor Stenger and Leon Lederman are critical of attempts to use quantum mysticism to bridge any unexplained or seemingly implausible effects, believing these to be traits of modern pseudoscience.
On a basic logic level, the rejection of negative thoughts inherent in positive thinking creates a dissonance in one's metacognition. The rejection itself highlights and amplifies the negative thoughts drawing further attention to them. If the law of attraction were indeed real, the very rejection of negative thoughts would lead to their manifestation.