Law of Attraction: A Scientific Approach

"I do NOT believe in the Law of Attraction." There, I said it!

As a mystical, or metaphysical entity, I don't believe there is anything in the Law of Attraction that makes it a Law, or that brings about any greater results for those who believe in it.

The Law itself has no basis in scientific reality, and under scrutiny it falls apart. None of the premises can be proven, the evidence is purely anecdotal, and when you look at some of the disasters in the world - an earthquake for example - are we to believe that this is a result of very intense and negative thoughts?

That said, for those who don't believe, or for the curious, or even for those who do believe who want to understand - I will explain why the Law of Attraction works.

At the heart of the Law of Attraction is the idea that we can focus our thoughts in such a way as to have an influence on outside forces. If we want love, or more money, or fame, all we have to do is align ourselves with that reality, focus our thoughts, and we will 'attract' it into our lives.

We have years and years of experience with brain scans which show electrical signals in the brain. We have yet to see any connection between that activity and what happens externally.

But we also know that dramatic changes are possible within the brain. The human brain is able to continually adapt and rewire itself. By increased use, the strength of synapses between neurons increases, and neurogenesis. or growth of new neurons, is even possible in old age.

So, while our brains and focused thoughts can NOT have an impact on external forces; our thoughts DO have the ability to facilitate our own learning, adaptation, change, and growth.

And the world around us responds to that change.

There are three main ways the Law of Attraction works.

1. Direct Asking: You ask the Universe for something, and focused thoughts will attract this into your life. One hopes that we ask for lots of money and this comes to us, but according to Law of Attraction, we can also be asking to be fired from a job we don't like - we do this by wishing we didn't have to get up and go in to work.
2. Fear: Fears will attract negative things into your life. If you are afraid that you will get sick, often you do. If you worry that your boyfriend is losing interest in you, it isn't long before you break up. If we are constantly worried about money, it never seems to come to us.
3. Vibrational Alignment: This part of the Law has to do with our alignment with things that feel right for us. For example, there are certain groups of people that we are more comfortable with, and so when we connect with those people, we are more aligned, and we attract those types of people into our lives.

These are the basic ways that we attract things. The goal is to focus our thoughts on our desires, and try not to phrase those thoughts to reflect fear. For example, worrying about money, and expressing the words "I need a job" will attract the NEED, not the job. If you focus on your desire, and imagine your ideal job, and express the words "I want this job" or even "I'm going to get this job" then according to the Law, you will attract that job into your life.

On some level, this works. Nobody ever fixed anything by worrying about it. If you focus on the lack of something, then all you see is what you don't have. If you shift that thinking to what you want, what are your goals, then you begin to act in a positive way to reach that goal.

If your goal is to get a certain job, then you start to think about what skills you need for that job, you develop those skills. You think about who you need to contact to get that job. You send resumes, you call, you request interviews, you talk to other people who do that work. All of that builds, and creates changes within you (new neural pathways in the brain) and externally as you make connections, and show your enthusiasm - something that employers LOVE to see - and you are hired.

Did the Law of Attraction bring this to you? No. You made it happen.

One of the biggest concerns regarding the Law of Attraction, is that some people may blame their negative thoughts when bad things happen.

That's not really the point of the Law of Attraction. Yes, it does claim that we can attract things that we fear will happen. Athletes can't afford to worry about a game, they have to go out and play their best, with a focus on winning the game. If they let their mind drift, and worry that they may make a mistake, then there's a good chance that they will.

But the Law of Attraction isn't about blame. If we feel we are not getting what we want in life, we can't be worried that we brought it on by having negative thoughts. The premise is that if we catch ourselves having negative thoughts, think about how we can shape that to move us in a more positive direction.

In his book "Love, Medicine and Miracles" (not a Law of Attraction book), Dr. Bernie Siegel documents survival statistics for his cancer patients. The patients who were determined to live, who had a positive outlook, and worked as a team with their doctors, survived against all odds. The patients that gave up, died, almost on schedule. While intended to encourage patients to embrace the fight against cancer, and inspire them with stories that anyone can survive, this book has been criticized by some for blaming the patent when they don't survive.

It's not about blame. Don't worry about negative thoughts. They won't hurt you. There's no such thing as the Law of Attraction.

Perhaps we should rename this to the Law of Getting What You Want, or the Law of Motivation, or the Law of Reaching Your Goals. Or maybe we should not even call it a law.

The concept has been around for a long time. The Ancient Egyptians called it "The Will to Make Things Happen."

On some level, training your thoughts to focus on your desires and goals will get you there, or certainly heading in that direction.

Instead of writing a hub named "Why is NOBODY Reading My Hubs?", consider a hub named "Reasons I Love Writing Hubpages".

According to the Law of Attraction this will attract good hub energy. But ultimately, it makes you feel good. Hubpages should be enjoyable. It feels good when someone likes what we write and decides to follow us. It feels good when we reach our goals. It feels good to see something we wrote living and breathing on the internet.

It is an opportunity open to us 24/7 to focus our thoughts, turn those thoughts into action, plant seeds that will grow later, learn from others, and develop ourselves.

We get out of life what we put into it. Some call that the Law of Attraction.

I call it common sense.