A Balanced Approach
editAdam O. Kirwan, J.D., LL.M., attorney and author of The Science of Getting Rich Revisited, points out that many of the ideas and practices expressed by the proponents of the Law of Attraction have validity and can be used to attain various types of personal success, however, the science used by many of these individuals to support their claims tends to be more pseudoscientific in nature. This is both a shame and counter productive given the fact that there is a significant amount of real science in the form of studies in the areas psychology and neuroscience that go much farther in both explaining why the Law of Attraction works and how to best implement it. Instead of taking an all or nothing approach where one either believes or rejects the Law of Attraction, people should consider taking a balanced, three pronged approach to understanding and using the Law of Attraction. First, people need to start by acknowledging that human knowledge runs along a continuum and that, in the grand scheme of things, we actually know very little about the universe we live in. That being the case, we need to foster both curiosity and intellectual honesty which requires us to both keep an open mind but not keep it so open that garbage can get in. In the preface to Steven Pinker's book, How the Mind Works, Pinker cites linguist Noam Chomsky's suggestion that our ignorance can be divided into problems and mysteries. Pinker explains, “when we face a problem, we may not know its solution, but we have insight, increasing knowledge, and an inkling of what we are looking for. When we face a mystery, however, we can only stare in wonder and bewilderment, not knowing what an explanation would even look like.” As things stand today, some of the mysteries associated with the Law of Attraction are becoming problems but many more remain mysteries. As philosopher and scientist, Alfred Korzybski once said “There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.” Understanding that we are still a ways off in revealing the underlying “truth” of how the Law of Attraction may produce positive results but maintaining our curiosity and intellectual honesty is the course to stay.
Second, there are two types of knowledge, objective knowledge and subjective knowledge, that need to be addressed if an intelligent discussion of the Law of Attraction is to be had. Objective knowledge concerns itself with facts, mathematics, and those things in life that can be measured and replicated by using the tools of science. Subjective knowledge (which may seem to many at first glance to be an oxymoron) concerns itself with the way people perceive themselves, others, and the world around them as the raw data of their environment is filtered through their system of reason and personal beliefs. Put another way, science provides us with the raw data of knowledge; reason and belief give it meaning and purpose. Science is a wonderful tool for understanding our world, but it has its limits. In his book, The Universe in a Single Atom, the Dali Lama explains:
“For me, science is first and foremost an empirical discipline that provides humanity with a powerful access to understanding the nature of the physical and living world. It is essentially a mode of inquiry that gives us fantastically detailed knowledge of the empirical world and the underlying laws of nature, which we infer from the empirical data. Science proceeds by means of a very specific method that involves measurement, quantification, and intersubjective verification through repeatable experiments. This, at least, is the nature of scientific method as it exists within the current paradigm. Within this model, many aspects of human existence, including values, creativity, and spirituality, as well as deeper metaphysical questions, lie outside the scope of scientific inquiry.”
Unless the Law of Attraction is examined from both these perspectives, a real understanding of how to best use it will be elusive. From a subjective perspective, many of the practices recommended by the Law of Attraction proponents (e.g., gratitude, the use of positive affirmations, visualization, and various forms of belief) have been shown through scientific studies to increase happiness and well-being (see the works of psychology professor, Robert Emmons, from the University of California-Davis relating to gratitude and Sonja Lyubomirsky's research on happiness and well-being). These in turn have been shown to produce a range of benefits from increased cognitive performance, to better job performance, to better relationships. Søren Kierkegaard argued that subjective knowledge (e.g., whether something of my consciousness will survive my death) is more important than objective facts (e.g., 2 + 2 = 4) because the former has a more profound effect on how we both subjectively feel and conduct ourselves during our lives. People seek feelings and subjective states of mind. When someone wishes for things like wealth, fame, a spouse, etc., they do not want those things, per se, they want the emotional states of mind those things will create. Therefore, even if the manner in which the Law of Attraction is not understood using the scientific method, that in itself, does not render it meaningless or unimportant. The key is to balance the insights provided by rigorous scientific research with our subjective experience and belief.
Finally, while a Law of Attraction practice can be greatly beneficial, it needs to be built upon a base of understanding and action. As Wallace D. Wattles states in The Science of Getting Rich Revisited:
"By thought you can cause the gold in the hearts of the mountains to be impelled toward you; but it will not mine itself, refine itself, coin itself into double eagles, and come rolling along the roads seeking its way into your pocket. . . . You are not to take it as charity, nor to steal it; you must give every man more in use value than he gives you in cash value."
The Science of Getting Rich Revisited addresses the claims made by both the sceptics and the believer, discusses the findings of psychology and neuroscience that support the benefits to be gained by following the Law of Attraction, explains why many of the explanations based on quantum physics are most likely wrong, and provides instructions on how to implement the Law of Attraction in your life in the most efficacious manner.