The Law of Attraction, Demonstrated
- Tuesday, May 17 2011 @ 08:10 AM CST
- Contributed by: filbert
- Views: 2,382
What's the Law of Attraction? It's this New-Agey idea that "like attracts like." Basically, it gets reified by non-spiritual mystics (i.e. most "progressives" and similar sloppy thinkers) as a Deep Thought. Its the mystical thought that if you think about something, it will happen.
This is of course nonsense on stilts. You can sit around all day wishing to be rich, or thin, or have better hair, or more satisfying relationships, or anything, but if you don't actually do anything which will make those things happen, then they won't. So, while it's true that the thought is necessary for almost anything good to happen, it is not a sufficient condition for it to happen.
Still, a small collection of articles today brought to my mind the Law of Attraction--either as a lesson that you get what you give, or as a cautionary tale that it's probably best to follow the Golden Rule (i.e. do unto others as you would have them do unto you) which is NOT nonsense, but common sense. Of course, common sense is uncommon, which is why we have devised a term to describe it.
OK, on to the links.
The End of an Idea -- Why Affirmative Action Should Stop. Connection to the Law of Attraction: well, "affirmative action" is discrimination. There's no way around that fact, no matter how you try to spin it. And discrimination begets more discrimination. That's human nature. Hell, human beings are desperately eager to see discrimination where there isn't any, let alone where you go out and purposefully do more of it. Discrimination breeds resentment. Resentment breeds distrust. Distrust breeds discord. Discord breeds hate. Hate breeds violence. And so it goes. Where do you stop this vicious cycle? By doing more of it? Oh, yeah, that'll work.
Black Confederates Revealed. This features the wonderful quote (and the author does, from the attached picture, seem to have an enhanced melanin skin content) "I've spent much of my adult life studying various theories of race and racism, and the last few years in a rather intensive mode of study. In all of that time one inescapable conclusion has dogged me: Race is such bullshit." But if you run around wanting to see differences between people, it's guaranteed that you'll find them. That's human nature.
WI Attorney General Releases 100 PAGES of Documented Threats Against Lawmakers During the Budget "Negotiations". "Progressives" constantly project their own biases, fears, and prejudices on their political and philosophical opponents. They are so utterly convinced that their view of the world is absolutely, totally, 100% correct that they are simply unable to formulate the thought that there are others who do not share their worldview. This is why non-"progressives" watch the constant media circus going on all around them with such bemused horror. They see the "progressives'" attempt to portray them like you'd see your own image in a funhouse mirror--hopelessly distorted. This is why I find TV shows like Law and Order utterly unwatchable. Hollywood's depictions of the non-"progressive" worldview have about as much connection to reality as Doctor Who while managing to be far, far more offensive to a huge swath of the American public.
Nearly 20 percent of new Obamacare waivers are gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi's district. Well, why not? It's what the Tea Partiers would do. Right? Actually, no. The "progressives" know that Tea Party people are different than them, they just do not understand--and it seems are unable to understand--how they're different. So they keep trying to imagine that Tea Partiers are Just Like Them. We're not.
U.S. justified in killing Osama Bin Laden. One area where reciprocity is in fact recognized is armed conflict. If you recognize rules of war, you will be accorded treatment according to those rules of war. If you choose to ignore all rules of war (by, for instance, targeting totally civilian, non-military targets) then you give up any right you might have to use the rules of war in your defense.
This is of course nonsense on stilts. You can sit around all day wishing to be rich, or thin, or have better hair, or more satisfying relationships, or anything, but if you don't actually do anything which will make those things happen, then they won't. So, while it's true that the thought is necessary for almost anything good to happen, it is not a sufficient condition for it to happen.
Still, a small collection of articles today brought to my mind the Law of Attraction--either as a lesson that you get what you give, or as a cautionary tale that it's probably best to follow the Golden Rule (i.e. do unto others as you would have them do unto you) which is NOT nonsense, but common sense. Of course, common sense is uncommon, which is why we have devised a term to describe it.
OK, on to the links.
The End of an Idea -- Why Affirmative Action Should Stop. Connection to the Law of Attraction: well, "affirmative action" is discrimination. There's no way around that fact, no matter how you try to spin it. And discrimination begets more discrimination. That's human nature. Hell, human beings are desperately eager to see discrimination where there isn't any, let alone where you go out and purposefully do more of it. Discrimination breeds resentment. Resentment breeds distrust. Distrust breeds discord. Discord breeds hate. Hate breeds violence. And so it goes. Where do you stop this vicious cycle? By doing more of it? Oh, yeah, that'll work.
Black Confederates Revealed. This features the wonderful quote (and the author does, from the attached picture, seem to have an enhanced melanin skin content) "I've spent much of my adult life studying various theories of race and racism, and the last few years in a rather intensive mode of study. In all of that time one inescapable conclusion has dogged me: Race is such bullshit." But if you run around wanting to see differences between people, it's guaranteed that you'll find them. That's human nature.
WI Attorney General Releases 100 PAGES of Documented Threats Against Lawmakers During the Budget "Negotiations". "Progressives" constantly project their own biases, fears, and prejudices on their political and philosophical opponents. They are so utterly convinced that their view of the world is absolutely, totally, 100% correct that they are simply unable to formulate the thought that there are others who do not share their worldview. This is why non-"progressives" watch the constant media circus going on all around them with such bemused horror. They see the "progressives'" attempt to portray them like you'd see your own image in a funhouse mirror--hopelessly distorted. This is why I find TV shows like Law and Order utterly unwatchable. Hollywood's depictions of the non-"progressive" worldview have about as much connection to reality as Doctor Who while managing to be far, far more offensive to a huge swath of the American public.
Nearly 20 percent of new Obamacare waivers are gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi's district. Well, why not? It's what the Tea Partiers would do. Right? Actually, no. The "progressives" know that Tea Party people are different than them, they just do not understand--and it seems are unable to understand--how they're different. So they keep trying to imagine that Tea Partiers are Just Like Them. We're not.
U.S. justified in killing Osama Bin Laden. One area where reciprocity is in fact recognized is armed conflict. If you recognize rules of war, you will be accorded treatment according to those rules of war. If you choose to ignore all rules of war (by, for instance, targeting totally civilian, non-military targets) then you give up any right you might have to use the rules of war in your defense.