Should you believe the Law of Attraction?
The good, bad and the ugly.
Part 1 — Does the LOA exist?
A. What is the LOA?
“Through the Law of Attraction like attracts like. What you think about, you bring about.” (Source: The Secret)
The theory behind this is that your thoughts essentially have frequencies, which attract similar stuff from the real world. For example, if I were to think about getting a PlayStation for long enough, I would “manifest” a PlayStation into my life. By the same logic, If I were to think of something negative, like a flood, then I’d manifest a flood into my life.
If you don’t believe in the Law — then this seems quite extreme. If you do, however, it seems perfectly logical — though in reality the Law is anything but logical, as I will explain.
B. Endorsement by celebrities
Many celebrities, like Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Jim Carrey, Lady Gaga and Arnold Schwarzenegger believe in the law of attraction. These are successful people: who have succeeded (at least in part) due to the Law of Attraction. Surely, they cannot be wrong, you might ask — after all, that’s why they’re successful: they were able to use the Law to become as successful as they are.
Before we get to the crux of the matter, let me give you some food for thought: Does there exist a universe where celebrities could ever be wrong?
Yes. Good to hear.
Of course, just because they can be wrong does not mean that they are wrong. Therefore, I will now proceed to explain why they are, indeed, wrong, and why the Law of Attraction (abbreviated to LOA for short) is untrue.
C. Baader-Meinhof phenomenon
“…According to the law of attraction, it’s your thoughts that hold the power, that do all the attracting. For example, have you ever had a thought about a song? Then, before you know it, you’re thinking about that song all day until the song is totally stuck in your head. And eventually you’ll be hearing the song played everywhere you go because now you’re fully obsessing. Now you’re attracting the song — in the mall, at school, on TV — wherever you are, your thoughts are attracting that song.” — Paul Harrington
This seeming attraction of the song that’s stuck in your head is not proof of the law of attraction, instead it is merely the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon in action. Basically, the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon states that when your awareness of something increases, which you are led to believe that it is happening more often, even though the frequency with which the event occurs does not change. For example, if I were to become obsessed with glasses, I would start to notice them on people more often, but this would not mean, as the law of attraction suggests, that I would have somehow conjured up more glasses for people to wear. Of course not! Just because I notice something more doesn’t mean that there is more of it: it could simply be that your brain is drawn to a particular occurrence and starts to notice it more often.
D. Pseudoscience
The Law of Attraction claims to have a basis in fact and in science (e.g, The website, The Secret, claims — “Under laboratory conditions, cutting edge science has confirmed that every thought is made up of energy and has its own unique frequency”).
However, despite the pretence of being scientifically correct, the LOA does not have a basis in any fact, as is evident by the many flaws in the explanation of the theory. For example, one scientific basis for the LOA is claimed to be that your thoughts have frequencies: and like frequencies (emitted by your thoughts) attract like frequencies (from the real world).
However, generally likes repel and unlikes attract (in magnets and electric fields, for example) — so the idea that “like attracts like” seems a bit unlikely, to say the least.
Furthermore, the very idea that your thoughts have frequencies that can cause stuff to be conjured out of nowhere is utterly ridiculous.
E. Playing the blame game
Suppose ten people were to try the law of attraction themselves. Let’s say that two of them succeed, and the other eight of them don’t. Now, proponents of the LOA would say that the reason that the eight people failed was because they didn’t try enough, or due to “mental resistance” or that they didn’t “manifest their desires properly” etc — which is why it did not work. Basically, the blame is put on the people who tried their best, rather than on the law itself. When the LOA works however, all success is attributed to the law itself — never any other factors like perseverance, or hard work put in by an individual. This means that the LOA is essentially unfalsifiable: every failure is chalked up to the individual’s failure, and success is always credited to the LOA.
F. “Then how do you explain the times where it seemingly worked?”
If you believe in the LOA, chances are, it has (seemed to) work a couple of times for you. Even if it has never worked for you, however, you can argue that it has worked for all the celebrities that endorse it. After all, that is the reason that they succeeded, right?
Yes but actually no. Positive thinking, optimism and hope are all helpful when it comes to achieving one’s goals, and are indeed a part of the LOA, but the LOA just takes it a step too far. Let me explain: These celebrities didn’t succeed just because of the LOA, but rather due to multiple factors, such as hard work, talent and luck. The LOA might have seemingly worked for them, but what about the thousands of others for whom it did not work? Here, a believer might point out that the reason why many people fail is due their own fault, not the Law’s — which essentially brings me back to the point that the LOA is unfalsifiable.
And what about your own experiences? Chances are, if you gave it a try yourself, you may succeed twice out of a hundred in “manifesting what you desire.” Maybe less, maybe more. That’s not the point. The point is — if it did work twice, would you be inclined to think that the LOA is real? If you would, then you, dear reader, have just practiced confirmation bias, which is when you favour information that matches with your existing beliefs, and discard the rest. You did not look at the 98 failed attempts and conclude that the LOA does not exist, but the 2 positive results were enough to confirm its existence.
Part 2 — Why the LOA is a Problematic belief
A. Blaming the victim
“Whenever anything happens — whether it’s good or bad, happy or sad, you’re the one attracting it.” — Paul Harrington
This suggests that people are always responsible for whatever may happen to them, which is a ridiculous notion. As Dr. Neil Farber, who is a Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, explains — “If someone rear-ends you in a car — 100% your fault. If you get breast cancer — 100% your fault (not genetics). Children getting killed by terrorists, sick babies in the intensive care unit, victims of floods, hurricanes, natural disasters, the Holocaust — yes, their fault. We all know deep inside that this is ridiculous to even suggest. However, it is a basic, fundamental premise of the LOA. You NEVER attract something you are not thinking about.” This whole attitude is immensely dangerous — it effectively shifts blame from a perpetrator of a crime to the victim. Why did you get robbed? Because you manifested it into your life. It wasn’t the robber’s fault, was it?
Also, think of how awful it may make people who believe in it feel. Imagine feeling responsible for a loved one’s death and how truly depressing the thought is.
B. Discourages action, encourages daydreaming
“You did not come into this environment to create through action.” — Esther Hicks
The LOA encourages adopting an attitude of just sitting back and waiting for things to happen, and believing as if you have already achieved or accomplished something before you even work towards it.
“Act as if you already have whatever it is you want. So pretend like your desires are already yours, like: there is a totally cool car in my garage.” — Paul Harrington
This is an awful mindset to have. It really undermines the value of effort and hard work in achieving one’s dreams and fulfilling one’s aspirations.
C. Suppressing emotions & toxic positivity
Another problem with the LOA is that it encourages people to suppress negative emotions, because of the idea that if they think negative thoughts, bad things will happen to them or their loved ones. In other words, the LOA promotes toxic positivity, which is a truly pointless, and sometimes even damaging exercise, for one should learn to live with one’s emotions, no matter what they may be. You won’t always feel good. And that’s okay. You don’t need to hide it.
Part 3 — What the LOA gets right
In spite of how ridiculous much of the LOA is, there are still a few things that one can take away from the LOA:
- Be positive. Positivity leads to happiness and ultimately, success.
- Visualising desires increases motivation and is an important step into turning them into a reality. Of course, unlike the LOA suggests — simply believing is not enough. You must compliment belief with action.
Sources
Farber, Neil. “The Truth about the Law of Attraction.” Psychology Today, 18 Sept. 2016, www.psychologytoday.com/sg/blog/the-blame-game/201609/the-truth-about-the-law-attraction.
Harrington, Paul. The Secret to Teen Power. London, Simon & Schuster, 2009.
Hurst, Katherine. “Celebrities and the Law of Attraction Success Stories.” The Law of Attraction, 23 Apr. 2018, www.thelawofattraction.com/celebrities-law-attraction/.
Jani, James. “The Law of Attraction: Fact or Fiction?” YouTube, 21 Dec. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHz4slbIRyE.
Noor, Iqra. “Confirmation Bias.” Simply Psychology, 10 June 2020, www.simplypsychology.org/confirmation-bias.html.
Pietrangelo, Ann. “What the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon Is and Why You May See It Again… And Again.” Healthline, 17 Dec. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.
Stokes, Victoria. “How to Attract the Positive without Pushing Away Negative Feelings.” Healthline, 27 Aug. 2021, www.healthline.com/health/how-to-use-the-law-of-attraction-without-suppressing-your-emotions.
The Secret. “Law of Attraction.” The Secret, 2018, www.thesecret.tv/law-of-attraction/.
