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Just curious, do you believe in karma or law of attraction?

abeille 6 Feb 11
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3

It is magical thinking- irrational nonsense - to believe in karma, law of attraction (whatever that is), soul mates, invisible gods, ghosts, zombies, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, etc.

From Psychology Today, a great article on magical thinking:

[psychologytoday.com]

@ToolGuy I think we use magical thinking in storytelling to understand the situation of the story, the psychology of the characters, the motivation of the characters, etc. And of course we use magical thinking within metaphorical thinking--similes, personification, hyperbole, etc.

I don't think magical thinking is completely useless, as it greases the wheels of communicating emotions, psychology, experience, etc.

I think the poor magical thinking is when we confuse the metaphor with the literal...or, worse, confusing the metaphor for another metaphor when there is nothing literal involved at all.

@greyeyed123

You use your imagination to write stories.

Irrational nonsense aka "magical thinking" is completely difference.

@LiterateHiker This is my area of expertise, so... In the sense that you have to suspend your disbelief for a story to make sense, and believe in a cosmology that has its own ethos, pathos, and logos (that may be radically different than that found in reality), it is very much similar to magical thinking (and in some ways indistinguishable). In fact, people use stories to perpetuate their religious beliefs. What would Christianity be divorced from the text of the bible?
...
Moreover, one can set aside critical and rational thinking and lose themselves in a story where the connections between events or themes or characters is entirely magical or metaphorical. The only difference between this and a person using magical thinking outside the story is how seriously they take those metaphorical (metaphysical) connections in reality (ie, not simply suspending disbelief...but simply believing). If you read the bible, understand the stories, lessons, and metaphors, and then close the book and take those stories, lessons, and metaphors literally without comparing them to anything else in reality, you are partaking of what we call "magical thinking". Recognizing all the same stories, lessons, and metaphors may require magical thinking to make any sense of them at all within the imaginary world of the story, but closing the book and comparing those things to reality to determine what is real from what is not is critical thinking.
...
That's all I'm saying.

3

Honestly.
Neither.

0

I believe that karma is self-inflicted.

1

Nope

1

Not even a little bit.

1

Nope.

@Kattywampus69 At about 450 at the moment.

2

Yes - I consider karma to be natures way of finding balance.

gater Level 7 Feb 11, 2019
1

No. I might make comments "I hope Karma gets that person" But don't think there is a real karma that will. If there is a law for attraction, I don't think I have heard it.

1

I posted this about Karma a while back "From Merriam-Webster Dictionary. - - "Karma" - - "The force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence."
I do not buy it. This is the ultimate let-the-filthy-ruler or crooked-ass-politician (Henry Kissinger for example) who has committed all kinds of atrocities off of the hook doctrine. Christianity shares the same fault, one of a huge number of faults, in that it holds that people will be rewarded or punished in some fanciful afterlife. It takes the responsibility away from society for punishing such behavior, and sublimates it to some abstract non-existent realm . . . . . and, who exactly do you suppose it serves? . . . the very people who do the atrocities. As long as you believe that they will be punished in some "future existence", you are a lot less likely to hold them accountable in the here and now . . . . and were exactly does that get you and them? No surprise that those in power have so much to gain from doctrines like these, and no surprise that they do what they can to perpetuate and support such belief systems. "

As for the "law of attraction", I think that people get in a funk, where they choose the same kind of partner over and over again, unless they consciously attempt to go against it . . . . in general we are
not much different than animals though, when it comes to attraction.

THHA Level 7 Feb 11, 2019

as Napoleon said: we need religion to keep the poor from killing the rich.

1

Despite what the nay sayers say the law of attraction manifests itself much in the way the placebo effect has real world consequences.
It's real and simple.
First we look at Luck:
When Oppurtunity meets preparation.

If you go about everyday being negative you are unlikely to be prepared to take advantage of opportunities.
If you're positive you're more likely to head into the day prepared to take advantage of an Oppurtunity.
Your mood greatly affects other people and their interactions with you. Which compounds the end result.

1

Karma,
No.

Law of attraction has a few definitions but most of them stink of Woo Woo.
No.

0

This question would have made a good poll.

0

I guess I sort of want to believe in karma, that's why I'm Agnostic rather than Atheist, because I see so little justice in how most things work in this world. But I don't believe in the law of attraction regarding our thoughts bringing experiences into our lives. I believe things come into our lives either purely by chance or fate sometimes and other times by our actions and choices, not by our thoughts. Sounds too New Age woo to me.

0

No and no.

Karma implies that there is a cosmic moral balance that maintains itself in some way, and that bad actions and good actions are somehow influenced by this or are what upset this underlying moral order. It's a nice idea but it is also complete conjecture.

As for the law of attraction, it seems to imply something similar. Sure, if you're positive and have ample opportunity, then it is possible to get the things you want. However, belief that the universe will work in your favour implies intent... It's inanimate. It has no intentions.

Saf Level 2 Feb 11, 2019
0

I believe in what is called "luck" or "fate," bit I do not believe either exists as a singular force capable of being directed by some other worldly force. As a famous athlete is reported to have once said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

1

No.
But having said that, if you are nice to people they tend to be nice to you, and actions do have reaction, so it is not not that I disbelieve the principle, just the religious and supernatural connotations falsely applied to common sense.

1

I believe in BOTH.

2

I don't believe in magic, or anything supernatural, but I do believe that actions have consequences, and that if you are mindful of something you want, you are more likely able to make it happen than if you put no thought into it. Also, I've seen plenty of times, people making their own fears come true by worrying about them too much.

skado Level 9 Feb 11, 2019
0

Woo and Woo

0

Energy is all in the universe

2

I think karma is legit. Say for instance you watch someone making an ass out of themselves and say hateful things, then this person asks you for some kind of help and you say f*** you. That's karma.

Lol this is a good one

@Neenz or say as a teenager and a young adult you just wanted to party and have fun. Now you're middle-aged and have a s*** minimum wage job. That's karma. It's not magic.

@Kojaksmom Yes it's the expected result .. we pay for our work or the lack of anyway ..a practical result of our actions ..

0

I do believe in karma. I think it's very necessary in our existence in our being and it's a part of who we are in the physical sense I think we're all born with it. I know that's an angle that you never think of but it's the truth. At least that's my opinion let me rephrase that. On the laws of attraction I truly believe that it has to do with the the signs speaking of zodiac signs and the feelings deep down that nobody else could reach that that one person could.

0

I don’t believe in karma and I don’t know what the law of attraction is unless you are talking about proton & electrons.

1

No but I sure do wish Karma existed.

It's more like our decisions can make certain things more or less likely to happen

0

Yes i believe in karma because it is the result from our actions.don't matter if god does not exist, the importante is mutual respect and fredom.

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