placidranger said:We’re talking about the subconscious—that non-conscious layer of our total awareness that is just as real as anything else. Every single thing we've ever encountered—every sound, every scent, every lived experience in this life (and maybe others)—is tucked away in there. It's essentially how we exist. It builds our daily reality through memory, logic, emotion, and those automatic reactions we can't seem to stop. Because of this subconscious programming and those deep-seated habits, we end up inviting suffering into our lives—those endless, unresolved cycles—and, frankly, we bear some responsibility for it.
Sure, you could interpret it that way, but no matter how you slice it—thoughts don't actually pull physical objects toward us (unless we're speaking metaphorically).
Well, the question is whether they attract... that is a very thin and dangerous line between magical thinking (psychosis)—the belief that because you waved your hand here, something happened to someone two houses away😉 and other theories that actually hold some weight—that your subconscious patterns pull certain contents into your life that they "require." Not in the sense that you are emitting something radioactive😁 but not strictly through mere thoughts either; it’s more about actions. Or rather, it's at the level of behavior rather than just thought. For instance, someone prone to feeling guilty radiates those vibes quite clearly—and those vibrations usually "attract" someone who enjoys imposing guilt on others. That transmission doesn't even have to be verbal; it can be purely through body language and such...
What irritates me about this whole "self-help" nonsense, and what is particularly damaging, is the idea that one simply needs to "think positively." This isn't just harmful; it's absurd, because for most people, their problems are caused precisely by this unrealistic positive thinking—or what else should we call it😉? Denial. And then you find these groups claiming the power of positive thinking, and honestly, I feel like hitting them over the head☕. While the core concept might be decent, it is completely misinterpreted, and for someone already struggling with themselves, it can lead to even deeper trouble.
Then comes the notion that whatever you think will manifest—often presented in such a banal way—which is a total misinterpretation of a much more complex issue. The reality is that the "power of positive thinking" operates at the conscious level. If your subconscious is still driven by unexamined patterns, you could be thinking positively at a hundred miles an hour on a conscious level, and it won't do a thing to stop you from repeating those same old behavioral loops.
But here we are moving away from the magical idea of attracting bad things via thoughts and approaching subconscious patterns of behavior, action, and cognition, which falls much more under the domain of psychology and psychoanalysis than any mystical science...
Furthermore, this "power of positive thinking" often excludes any form of aggression. It doesn't just exclude it; it denies it. And that isn't just bad; it's dangerous. If we look at it through the lens of psychoanalysis—where every disorder is essentially a form of repression or denial—this becomes extremely hazardous because it encourages further denial and suppression... personally, I would ban such people from writing books.
I mean, in the self-help industry, there are plenty of crazies and unstable individuals out there (charismatic narcissists, sociopaths, or gurus?—that's the question now)😉 so one must know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. You have to keep in mind that certain worldviews are sometimes just convenient ways for someone to justify their own behavior, all while exploiting whatever opportunity they can get.