Law of attraction
The Law of Attraction is a belief system proposing that individuals can manifest their desires through focused thoughts and intentions. The central premise is that positive thinking attracts positive outcomes, while negative thinking can lead to adverse events. This concept has ancient roots, with some linking it to Buddhist teachings about the power of thought. Its modern popularity surged in the early 20th century, especially with the publication of books like William Walker Atkinson's *Thought Vibration* and more recently, Rhonda Byrne's *The Secret*. Advocates of the law align it with scientific principles such as quantum physics, suggesting that everything vibrates and similar frequencies attract each other. Many practitioners utilize techniques like vision boards to visualize their goals. However, the Law of Attraction has faced significant criticism, particularly concerning its implications that individuals are responsible for all events in their lives, including negative experiences. Critics argue that this perspective can lead to unfair blame, especially in cases of illness or tragedy, and highlight a lack of scientific validation for the claims made by proponents. Despite the contention, many supporters report personal successes attributed to the application of the Law of Attraction in their lives.
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Subject Terms
Law of attraction
The law of attraction is a belief that people will draw whatever is the focus of their thoughts into their lives. People who dwell on positive thoughts will attract positive happenings, while people who concentrate on negative thoughts will attract negative events. The law of attraction has existed for centuries but enjoyed renewed popularity at the beginning of both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with the release of books explaining its principles. Supporters claim that by following the principles, they experience great success, attracting everything from money to love to better jobs. Critics claim that the law of attraction lacks any scientific merit and that any "results" are pure coincidence or the result of a person's efforts toward achieving their goals.
Background
The origin of the law of attraction is unclear. Many attribute it to Buddha, the teacher credited with founding Buddhism somewhere between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Buddha promoted a belief that people become what they think about. Buddhism and some other faith practices also include the concept of karma, a belief that events that occur in people's lives result from the way those people acted in the past. Proponents have found mention of the main concept of the law of attraction—that what people think determines what happens in their lives—in many sources throughout the ages.
In the 1890s, an American occultist, author, lawyer, and merchant named William Walker Atkinson became interested in Hindu beliefs, yoga, and other Eastern traditions. During the last thirty years of his life, Atkinson wrote more than a hundred books on the law of attraction and related topics. Some of them are believed to have been written under pseudonyms, including Yogi Ramacharaka and Theron Q. Dumont. One book, published in 1906, was Thought Vibration, or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World. The book reignited interest in the idea that people could have whatever they desired in life if they simply thought about it.
A century later, another book renewed interest in the law of attraction. The Secret (2006), by Rhonda Byrne, was released along with a movie by the same name, and celebrities and many others took note. Byrne was inspired to write her book after reading The Science of Getting Rich (1910), by Wallace D. Wattles.
Overview
Proponents of the law of attraction state that it is based in science. They state that everything in the world vibrates, and that like things vibrate on the same frequency and are drawn together. According to quantum physics, everything—from subatomic particles to much larger objects—does vibrate; this aspect of the law is based in science. The law of attraction extends this idea to human thought. According to the law, if a person trains their mind to vibrate on the same frequency as whatever they desire, those desires will manifest themselves in the person's life.
Because the brain thinks in images, proponents of the law of attraction often create vision boards containing pictures of the hopes, goals, or desires they want to manifest in their lives. Sometimes these things may not manifest themselves or may manifest themselves in unexpected ways. Supporters believe that this occurs when people attempt to manifest things that conflict with their core being. For instance, a person who prefers a simple lifestyle but tries to manifest wealth will not get wealth because wealth conflicts with their true heart. On the other hand, a person who seeks courage and fearlessness may find that they manifest challenges in life as a way of developing these desired attributes.
Law of attraction proponents say that the vibration principle works whether the person thinks positively or negatively. Dwelling on negative thoughts will send out vibrations that attract negative events. For instance, a person who worries about getting sick will likely get sick because they attract sickness with those thoughts. In other words, anything bad that happens in a person's life is their own fault. Proponents of the law believe that people actually "think" negative events—illness, accidents, financial downturns, abuse, physical attacks—into their lives. Some people find this aspect of the law troubling. For instance, if a young child becomes seriously ill, is it because that child "thought" sickness into their life? Did one of the child's parents, fearing that the child would become sick, cause the illness to manifest? If so, how is that fair to the child? These questions can be pursued further. For instance, does the law of attraction pertain to the losses people suffer during natural disasters, wars, and other cataclysmic events?
Those who do not accept the validity of the law of attraction point to some other holes in the theory as well. For instance, the law states that because a person can manifest whatever they desire with thoughts, then a person who desires something should act as if it already has been acquired. Someone who wants a good grade on a test, for example, should act as if they already earned it; however, if that person studies for the test, it seems as if they are not acting like the good grade already has been acquired.
Another criticism of the law comes from the writings of Wattles, the man whose book inspired the writing of The Secret. Wattles said that people following the law of attraction should avoid all negativity, such as sickness and poverty. He stated that surrounding oneself with such negativity would draw it into one's life. Wattles urged people following the law of attraction to avoid any profession—medicine, the clergy, charitable work, and so on—that dealt with the sick or people experiencing poverty. Opponents of the law find this approach to be uncharitable and selfish.
People who believe in the law of attraction are adamant that it achieves results. They cite stories of times when they acquired or achieved something they desired. Skeptics note that such success stories may be the result of chance or selective recall (i.e., the person implementing the principles of the law of attraction may focus on the times when it works and overlook the times when it does not).
Bibliography
Atkinson, William Walker. Mind Power: The Secret of Mental Magic. CreateSpace Publishing, 2016.
Farber, Neil. "The Truth about the Law of Attraction." Psychology Today, 15 May 2024, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-blame-game/201609/the-truth-about-the-law-attraction. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
Groth, Aimee, and Ashley Lutz. "12 Ways the 'Law of Attraction' Can Improve Your Life." Business Insider, 31 July 2012, www.businessinsider.com/how-the-law-of-attraction-will-improve-your-life-2012-7#/#you-attract-good-or-bad-experiences-based-on-your-thoughts-1. Accessed 5 Dec. 2017.
Lincoln, Don. "The Good Vibrations of Quantum Field Theories." PBS, 5 Aug. 2013, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/physics/2013/08/the-good-vibrations-of-quantum-field-theories/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2017.
Schesser, Carla. "The Law of Attraction Explained in Simple Terms." HuffPost, 6 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/carla-schesser/the-law-of-attraction-exp‗b‗8430270.html. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
"What Is the Law of Attraction?" The Law of Attraction Centre, www.lawofattractioncentre.com/what-is-the-law-of-attraction/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
"What Is the Law of Attraction and How Does It Work?" The Law of Attraction, www.thelawofattraction.com/what-is-the-law-of-attraction/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.