Manifestation: the idea that we can control our lives with our thoughts is captivating, until it’s not.
Timeline of the law of attraction* and manifestation
The art of manifestation and “co-creating with the universe,” and the concept of the Law of attraction (we are responsible for bringing both positive and negative influences into our lives, “like attracts like”) can be traced back to the early 19th century and the teachings of the American clockmaker, mentalist and mesmerist Phineas Quimby, as well as the writings of the Russian occultist Helena Blavatsky from 1877.
The 20th century saw a surge in interest in the subject, with many books being written about it, amongst which is one of the best-selling books of all time, “Think and Grow Rich” (1937) by Napoleon Hill. Other books on the subject include “The Power of Positive Thinking” (1952) by Norman Vincent Peale and “You Can Heal Your Life” (1984) by Louise Hay.
It was not until 2006, however, that the concept of the Law of Attraction (LoA) gained renewed exposure, with the release of the film The Secret (2006). The film was then developed into a book of the same title by Rhonda Byrne in 2007. The movie and book gained widespread media coverage, and thus revived and modernized the version of the Law of Attraction, which is now known as manifestation. If you’re further interested in the background of the Law of Attraction, I can recommend this video:
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What is manifestation and how does it work?
According to Merriam-Webster, manifestation is “The act, process, or instance of manifesting,” whereas manifesting is defined as “making something evident or certain by showing or displaying.”
In the context of the contemporary New thought movement, and New age spirituality, the act of manifesting is “bringing something into your life through thought, attraction, and belief.
Like with the notion of the Law of Attraction, manifestation is where “your thoughts and your energy can create your reality“. The supporters of the LoA and manifestation believe that “whatever you focus on is what you are bringing into your reality” and even go as far as to claim that “manifesting can become second nature to you.”
Popular manifestation practices include affirmations and sending your wish into the universe, breathing and meditation, visualization and vision boards, scripting, and journaling. Here’s a quick summary (rather an oversimplification) of the most popular guidelines and techniques for manifesting your dream life:
- Work on your energy, keep your vibrations high, be spiritually woke, clear are resistance
- Choose what you want to manifest, ask for it, send it out in the universe (visualize it, write it down)
- Be humble and trust the process, be mindful of and thankful for what you receive
The dark side of manifestation
To say that I’m skeptical about the concept of LoA and manifestation would be an understatement. However, I didn’t want to approach the subject with prejudice and disbelief, so I conducted an extensive research. But while I couldn’t find any sound scientific proof for the power of manifestation (all of my sources are listed below), there’s plenty of evidence of how manifestation can have a negative influence on your life.
And even though some individuals’ notions, beliefs, and positive personal experiences with manifestation are valid, they can in no way be considered scientific proof of solid evidence for the universal positive effect of a particular theory, practice, or technique. On the contrary, my research shows that the negatives outweigh the positives. I’d like to offer some food for thought by challenging the concept of manifestation and share a list of reasons why you should be skeptical about it too!
1. Mental health
One of the main concerns psychologists have with the concept of manifesting (“your thoughts and your energy can create your reality”), is that it doesn’t take into account people whose thoughts can be inherently negative — those with anxiety, depression, or other mental health diagnoses.
Dr. Thea Gallagher, director of the outpatient clinic at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, warns that manifesting can be harmful to people with mental health issues, especially for those who struggle with intrusive thoughts. Dr. Ariela Vasserman, a psychologist at NYU Langone Health adds that the practice promotes a lot of blame. “In therapy, we teach people that they’re not their thoughts, and just because they think something, it doesn’t mean that thing will actually happen,” she says. “We work a lot on helping people separate their thoughts from actual reality, especially the negative ones.”
Whitney Goodman, a psychotherapist in Miami, has also noticed that her clients have approach her during therapy sessions wondering why the concept didn’t work for them, disappointed and mystified about what they were doing wrong. “There was a lot of shame and guilt around it,” she says. If people are counting on manifestation, she worries that will lead them to avoid seeking treatment for serious physical or mental health concerns.
2. Action-taking
Another fundamental problem with manifesting is that it focuses more on the power of thoughts than on the actions needed to fulfill desires. The official LoA website claims that there isn’t any particular action you need to take to make manifestation possible. “Your intentions are what will determine your success,” the author of this article writes. This statement completely dismisses the importance of actions, devalues one’s efforts, and shifts the perspective from positive thinking towards wishful thinking. “When your positive thinking transitions to wishful thinking, you start to veer into the superstitious,” says Ned Presnall, a licensed clinical social worker based in St. Louis.
Gabriele Oettingen, a German academic, NYU psychology professor, and author of the book “Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation” has spent decades studying the effect of positive thinking. Though it may seem counterintuitive, she says, such thoughts are often a hindrance, because they lead to complacency. “What we find is the more positively people dream and fantasize about their future desires and wishes coming true, the less they’ll actually put in the effort,” she says.
3. Manifestation and a confused sense of ownership
The confused sense of ownership can manifest itself (pun intended) in multiple ways.
On the one hand, the concept of manifestation supports the notion that one has the ultimate power over their thoughts and emotions and absolute ownership of the intentions, which they “send” into the universe. “If you are constantly being negative and feeling down, then you are going to attract and manifest negative energy,” the LoA website claims. “That is the biggest problem I have with manifestation: It puts all the responsibility on you. If I was living in poverty or a natural disaster came and took my house down, it is as if I caused that,” Whitney Goodman, a psychotherapist in Miami, shares for The Washington Post. “Manifesting is, at its deepest level, the same thing as victim-blaming,” author and psychotherapist Cheryl Bradshaw writes. In her opinion, to put the entire onus on a person’s thoughts for what their life will bring them is unkind, unfair, and unrealistic.
On the other hand, should you achieve whatever you are manifesting, you don’t get to own your success because you simply put the intention out there, but it was the universe who worked its magic for you. It was you, who visualized your desires and trusted the process, but then again, you don’t get to take credit for your efforts and celebrate your achievement because it was the universe that brought this to you.
4. Privilege, the materialistic side of manifestation
The general concept of becoming aware of how your thoughts, beliefs, and mindset influence your human experience sounds rather innocent. After all, getting in touch with your thoughts, feelings, and emotions is a beautiful thing. But here comes the catch. The idea to manifest your dream life is particularly attractive for vulnerable people, who lack something, be it financial stability, love, or happiness.
As Jennifer Gage Kaplan writes in her article “The Dark Side of Manifestation,” “popular manifestation teachers encourage and give you permission to pursue your dreams with the full extent of your resources, encouraging students to get to the next level by spending loads of money on programs and coaching to achieve the material success they are peddling.” But who is profiting in the end? Correct! All the manifestation teachers, couches, and gurus. All the while, the vulnerable manifestation students invest their hard-earned money, time, and emotional resources into asking the universe to fulfill their dreams instead of working towards their goals.
While this is a very near and dear section of my analysis (and namely new age pseudo-gurus attributing their physical and financial wellbeing to manifestation and not acknowledging their privilege in life), I’d like to recommend you the following video. Anna’s video not only sums up this aspect of manifestation perfectly, but also inspired me to look into the subject and start my own research.
5. Manifestation and apophenia (seeing patters where there are none)
As Zulie Rane writes in her article “The Psychological Reason You See Patterns Where There Are None,” humans are hardwired to look for patterns. We are exceptionally good at spotting trends. We could learn, quickly, from seemingly unrelated events until they became inextricably linked in our minds. Additionally, the influx of information nowadays makes us look for patterns everywhere. Instead of accepting that we cannot understand things and that we are doomed to mild confusion, we look for patterns instead.
What does this have to do with manifestation? Well, LoA encourages you to see and recognize signs, give meaning to symbols, and ultimately, see patterns where there are none. As Eric Dolan writes in this article: “it has been found that apophenia, or the tendency to see patterns or causal connections where none exist, is associated with receptivity to pseudo-profound bullshit” (yes, that’s the real name of the study! It was published in the European Journal of Personality in 2018). So that’s how it comes full circle – people are inherently susceptible to patterns, they are additionally encouraged by the LoA to see patterns(where are none), and then upon “finding” them, people are misled to further believe in the power of manifestation and give meaning to random happenings, approaching them as “signs and symbols from the universe” (apophenia bias).
Conclusion
The idea that we can control our lives with our thoughts is captivating, until it’s not.
It’s not bad to believe, or want to believe, that good things are going to happen to you. A majority of people have what’s called an optimism bias, says Prof. Tali Sharot, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London. Sharot’s work has shown that having the right amount of an optimism bias can motivate people to behave in beneficial ways. But when that philosophy is taken to an extreme, it can be hazardous not only to your health, but your sanity as well.
Concepts like the Law of attraction, and manifestation, which implicitly suggest that what happens to us in life is exclusively a matter of choice, are, therefore detrimental. By extension of this faulty logic, people who suffer great misfortunes are solely responsible for their life situation and environment. Furthermore, many conversations about manifestation heavily emphasize the thinking and feeling aspects and barely mention the doing, thus belittling the importance of our actions.
And while techniques such as meditation (clearing your brain), journaling (transforming your ideas into plans), and visualization (keeping your eyes on the prize) might be beneficial, their association with the LoA or manifestation is oversimplifying or misinterpreting of physics, spirituality, people’s willpower and the importance of action-taking.
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Resources:
Eric Dolan – “People who see patterns where none exist are more receptive to pseudo-profound bullshit”
Gabriele Oettingen & Thomas A. Wadden – “Expectation, fantasy, and weight loss: Is the impact of positive thinking always positive?”
Gabriele Oettingen & Doris Mayer – “The motivating function of thinking about the future: expectations versus fantasies”
Gabriele Oettingen – “Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation”
James Clear – Best Selling Books of All-Time
Tali Sharot et al. – “Neural mechanisms mediating optimism bias”
Tali Sharot et al. – “The optimis bias”
Timothy F. Bainbridge et al. – “Openness/Intellect and Susceptibility to Pseudo‐Profound Bullshit: A Replication and Extension”
Wiki Page – Law of Attraction / New Thought
Zulie Rane “The Psychological Reason You See Patterns Where There Are None”
LoA and manifestation support
Article “Manifestation Guide: How To Manifest Anything You Want In 24hrs”
Article “How to Manifest The Life You Desire”
Article “How to Manifest Anything You Want or Desire”
Article “7 Steps to Manifest Anything You Want — Including Money”
Article “8 Principles Of Manifestation (How To Manifest Anything You Want)”
LoA and manifestation commentary & critique
Article – “Covid brought ‘manifestation’ back. But you can’t simply will your way to a better life.”
Article – “Manifestation: The Real Deal”
Article – “The Dark Side Of Manifestation”
Article – “The Idea of ‘Manifesting’ Your Future May Be Bad for Mental Health”
Article – “What is manifestation and does it actually work”
Article – “Why The “Law” of Attraction is a dangerous idea”
Article – “Why I Can’t Get Behind the Manifesting Movement – And You Shouldn’t Either”
Video, Anna’s Analysis – “No, you didn’t “manifest” being rich, you’re just privileged”
Video, Anna’s Analysis – “The Problem With The Law of Attraction”
Video, James Jani – “The Law of Attraction: Fact or Fiction”
* Since there is no scientific evidence for the Law of attraction (LoA), and it cannot be qualified as a “law” of physics, throughout this article, I refer to the LoA as a theory, a concept, or a notion.
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