How Does the Law of Attraction Compare with Other Subliminal Programs

As the power of positive thinking has grown there have been many which

have attempted to make a profit from this incredible discovery. This has spawned

a new era of “subliminal products”, which retailers then proceed to sell on the

market for a ridiculous price and reap the profits.

The difference between other subliminal messaging products and the law

of attraction is the profit margin. Quite simply, there isn’t one. You don’t need to

have any special equipment to maximize the power of the law of attraction; it is

all there in your own mind. Neither do you need a teacher to teach you how to

use it; once you have mastered the fundamentals upon which the law of

attraction is built you are ready to put it into practice.

These same sentiments cannot be expressed with regards to many of the

other subliminal programs on the market. These programs claim to be able to

help their users lose weight, stop smoking, become smarter, get a new job, move

past their shyness, improve their relationships, etc. Do they work? Not always.

The law of attraction is the only subconscious means by which to ensure success

in whatever endeavor you choose to undertake.

Various Other Subliminal Programs

It is only fair that if you are studying the law of attraction you learn a little

bit about the various other subliminal programs available on the market. This will

allow you to compare them all and understand why the law of attraction is the

only one which has been proven time and time again (regardless of what the

researchers would have you hear).

1) Subliminal Messaging

Subliminal messaging is one of the oldest forms of subliminal

manipulation, and has been the one to face the greatest amount of

controversy. The belief held by the believers in subliminal messaging is

that since memories can often be pulled forth from the subconscious to

the conscious mind, the subconscious must continue to have some effect

on the conscious, whether the owner of said consciousness is aware of it

or not.

Those who use subliminal messaging attempt to use various methods to

introduce an idea to the subconscious, which will then transmit that idea to

the conscious when the occasion arises. This is done through the

introduction of a brief message (often a thousandth of a second) to the

audio and/or visual senses. This message will be so short that the

conscious mind will immediately disregard it as being unimportant, while

the subconscious will take the information and store it away.

Subliminal messaging was first introduced in the

late 19th century and was introduced in the 1950s

as a possible marketing tool. Mr. James Vicary

claimed that during a film shown in his New Jersey

theater he had used a tachistoscope to broadcast

the words “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Hungry? Eat

popcorn” for 1/3000 of a second at five second

intervals, and that during the time of these

broadcasts sales of both increased dramatically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_cola

This sparked a huge debate among the people of the United States, who

were afraid that the government would now use subliminal messaging to

attempt to control the things they thought and did; they would not be able

to do anything about it because they would never know. This controversy

led to the banning of subliminal messaging for any type of marketing

purpose.

Although Mr. Vicary later admitted that the experiment had been a fraud

the concept of subliminal messaging had been brought out into the open,

and its possible benefits were explored at length; however, to date, no

study has definitively shown subliminal messaging to be an effective way

to control behavior.

2) Affirmation

Affirmation is the firm declaration of something to be true, and is intended

to convince the mind that what it wants to happen will. For example,

stating over and over again, “I can get any job I want” is intended to instill

in the mind the confidence to go out and get any job that it wants. This

resembles the law of attraction, but is not sufficient to sway the

subconscious until other methods are employed as well.

Wikipedia describes affirmation as so (this was interesting, showing how

affirmation and the law of attraction are joined together, and would not

have been the same if it was altered in any way).

“In spirituality and personal development, an affirmation is a form of

autosuggestion in which a statement of a desirable intention or condition

of the world or the mind is deliberately meditated on and/or repeated in

order to implant it in the mind. Many believers recommend accompanying

recitations with mental visualization of a desired outcome. Affirmation

could be viewed positively as a mobilization of one's inner resources, or

negatively as a kind of self-induced brainwashing, depending on the

psychological depth and wisdom of the affirmation. For example, believers

would consider "I am making more room in my life for success every day"

a much wiser affirmation than "I will win the lottery today!" Affirmations are

always phrased in the first person and usually in a present tense ("I am")

rather than a future tense ("I will") in order to increase the realization of the

statement for the affirmee.

Affirmations are believed to be a very powerful means of reprogramming

the unconscious mind. They appear to be most effective when repeated in

a quiet and restful state of mind and body, and when the desired outcome

is vividly experienced in one's mind and resulting emotions are felt. They

are an intrinsic part of many New Age groups including I AM Activity and

the Church Universal and Triumphant of Elizabeth Clare Prophet.

However, in these groups affirmations are generally recited in flat,

mechanical voices at top speed and volume, in order to elevate

particpants' "vibratory levels".

Perhaps the most often used and well-known affirmation is the word "Amen,"

which can be translated simply as "so be it" or "and so it is," affirming the truth

of whatever was written or said immediately prior. While often used to

conclude prayer, the word itself is neutral as to its context and exemplifies a

logical affirmation more than a spiritual one.

3) Visualization

Visualization works in much the same way as affirmation; you visualize

yourself achieving something and your brain will come to believe it is so;

therefore, you will be able to do it. Again, this is closely related to the law

of attraction but does not address any underlying issues which could

contribute to negative vibes.

In Conclusion

Although the power of the law of attraction has yet to be supported by any

physical means its effects have been proven time and time again. In spite of the

opposition which you will surely face, both within your own mind and throughout

the rest of your societal acquaintances, if you adhere carefully to the guidelines

set forth, you too will be able to unlock the power hidden within the depths of

your own mind and chart the course for your own destiny.

Arguments Against the Law of Attraction

While the law of attraction can be universally applied this should not be

misconstrued to mean that it has not been the recipient of its fair share of

criticism following the revelation of its potential to the general public.

Numerous scientific and theological societies have gone to great lengths to

voice their disapproval of this upstart new theory.

Science

Among the most fervent of the protestors are those

who choose to poke holes in the scientific foundation

upon which the law of attraction is built. This scientific

theory is best explained by Michael J. Losier in a

segment of his recently published novel Law of

Attraction.

“There is a physiological foundation for positive thinking and its effect

in creating the law of attraction.

As you may recall from your high school science classes, there are

many forms of energy: atomic, thermal, electromotive, kinetic and potential.

Energy can never be destroyed.

You may also recall that all matter is made up of atoms, and each

atom has a nucleus (made up of protons and electrons) around which orbit

electrons.

Electrons in atoms always orbit the nucleus in prescribed “orbitals” or

energy levels that ensure the stability of the atom. Electrons may be

compelled to assume “higher” orbits by the addition of energy, or may give off

energy when they drop to a “lower” orbit. When it comes to “vibrations,” if

atoms are “aligned,” they create a motive force, all pulling together in the

same direction, in much the same way as metals can be magnetized by

aligning their molecules in the same direction. This creation of positive (+) and

negative (-) poles is a fact of nature and science. Suffice to say, science has

shown that if there are physical laws that can be observed and quantified in

one arena, there are most probably similar laws in other arenas, even if they

cannot at this time be quantified.

So you see, the law of attraction isn’t a fancy term or new age magic; it

is a law of nature that every atom in your body is constantly responding -

whether you know it or not.”

The ideas contained within this explanation were briefly touched on in

previous explanations concerning the foundations of the law of attraction;

However, in order to understand the controversy surrounding these

assumptions it is important that you first understand what these assumptions

are.

Supporters of the theory claim that the effectiveness of the law of

attraction stems from its origin in the field of physics and its supporting facts

in the field of quantum mechanics; after all, the primary argument against

many metaphysical occurrences is that while their origins may be speculated

on, these origins very rarely have more than a small amount of circumstantial

physical evidence to back them up. Who is going to argue about the validity of

a theory which, although assumed to actually be manifesting itself on a higher

plane, has its roots planted firmly in the grounds of modern science.

Unfortunately, much of the “scientific evidence” which has been

brought forward to date in support of the law of attraction has not been

conclusively proven with sufficient reproducibility to allow it to be considered

an actual law of nature. The entire axis upon which the scientific world

revolves was best described by Richard Feynman, one of the finest physicists

of his time and a man whose writings and teachings can still be found in

almost every bookstore and college campus in the country.

In his book Six Easy Pieces Feynman states:

“…nature, as we understand it today, behaves in

such a way that it is fundamentally impossible to

make a precise prediction of exactly what will happen

in a given experiment. This is a horrible thing; in fact,

philosophers have said before that one of the

fundamental requisites of science is that whenever

you set up the same conditions the same thing must

happen. This is simply not true, it is not a fundamental

condition of science…We stated…the sole test of the

validity of any idea is experiment. If it turns out that

most experiments work out the same in Quito as the

do in Stockholm, then those “most experiments” will be used to formulate

some general law…We will invent some way to summarize the results of the

experiment, and we do not have to be told ahead of time what this way will

look like. If we are told that the same experiments will always produce the

same result, that is all very well, but if when we try it, it does not, then it does

not.”

That’s right, straight from the mouth of one of the most revered names

in science to your eyes. Contrary to what your teachers told you in grade

school it is not necessary for an experiment to reproduce itself in order to be

considered both valid and significant. This is an important lesson to

remember throughout life; however, with respect to the process of a theory

becoming established as a law it is important that any experiment conducted

with that theory as its fundamental backbone be reproducible under most

circumstances.

The experimental trials of the law of attraction which have been

performed with the use of test subjects have left a great deal of grey in the

decision as to whether or not the law is actually a law at all. Since

researchers are dealing with the human psyche rather than a physical object

which can be manipulated and controlled it is all but impossible to establish

proper testing conditions which will guarantee a high level of accuracy and

completely unbiased results.

In order for a trial of the law of attraction to be considered conclusive it

is necessary that the test subject follow the guidelines meticulously. This

means that they must remove all of the negative energy from the

subconscious portion of their psyche. This is a condition that is considered to

be “mission critical” in an experiment yet is impossible for researchers to

control.

A test subject cannot be forced through any artificial means to remove

negative thoughts from their subconscious; they may not even know that

these negative thoughts are there (after all,

there is a reason that it is called the

subconscious). Since the key element to

finding success with the law of attraction is

to allow positive energy to dominate your

thought processes, any negative energy

remaining, even deeply buried away from

the conscious mind, will have an adverse

reaction on the results of the experiment.

In addition, since researchers are dealing with the human psyche there is

another factor which has never officially been proven through scientific means

but which is accepted as fact all around the world: the power of the human

mind. You may be looking at this in confusion, asking yourself why the power

of the human mind would be a problem when it is the power of the human

mind which you are attempting to harness in order to find success with the

law of attraction.

The reasons are simple. There are three main factors which stand in the

way of a person achieving their goals. One of these is the body, the other is

the environment. Each of these plays a small role in a person’s ability to carry

out a task which they have chosen for themselves; however, they are not the

key factor responsible for the success or failure of a person’s appointed

mission. The human mind is the primary obstacle standing in the way of a

person and their dreams. If they do not believe that they will be able to

overcome the other environmental and social obstacles standing in the way of

achieving their goal then they will not be able to. On the other hand, if they

believe that they will be able to triumph over these adversities they are almost

guaranteed success. This is not always due to some form of cosmic

influence, however.

Let us look at this dilemma through the eyes of a young adult who is

straight out of college and attempting to start his career. If he has a great deal

of doubt in his ability to succeed in his chosen field and land a job he will be

happy, for his mind will recognize that negativity and make it fact. He will not

be as aggressive as he needs to be in hunting down jobs, and when he does

find a job he will almost inevitably crash and burn in the very first interview

because he will be so sure of his failure that he will not be able to put his best

foot forward. On the other side of the coin, if he is confident that he will be

able to succeed he will portray that confidence in everything that he does,

allowing him to get through his interview with flying colors and land the job of

his dreams.

There was no cosmic influence here, merely a readjustment in attitude

that led to a readjustment in presentation. It is impossible to look at the results

of an experiment relating to the law of attraction and be able to say with one

hundred percent surety that the positive results of these trials were a result of

some form of cosmic influence rather than sheer human determination.

Experimental results are not the only issues causing contention among the

scientific community. A large portion of the theory has fallen under fire as

well. The simple truth of the matter is that from a scientific standpoint the cold,

hard evidence supporting the physical existence of the law of attraction in

nature is weak indeed. Unlike many other experiments dealing with nonmetaphysical

properties of science it is virtually impossible for scientists to

actually examine the individual components which make the law of attraction.

Vibrations being emitted from the body with respect to moods and

emotions are still largely a conceptual idea, and while scientists may be able

to pinpoint the precise energy signatures being emitted by the body, the

technology to recognize whether it is good or bad, stemming solely from the

body’s physical self or having some foundation in the body’s emotional

channels simply does not exist.

In addition to these difficulties scientists do not yet have a means with

which to identify the specific energy waves which comprise an event. For

every change dealt to the status quo in nature, there is both a waterfall of

precursor events which must occur in order for events to proceed as needed

for a specific outcome and a “ripple effect” of changes which will occur as a

result of this change. It is impossible to determine whether or not there is, in

fact, an energy based reason for each of these events, and how the various

forms of energy which must collaborate to bring circumstances to these ends

work together is still a mystery.

Are you confused yet? Probably, which is precisely the point upon which a

great deal of the controversy surrounding this law is founded. The theory

simply does not make sense in any manner that can be specifically

addressed by a scientific team or proven using scientific methods. Where

does that leave the scientific community? Still turning its wheels looking for

answers.