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Project X

My meager take down of the “law of attraction.” Not that any of you need convincing. Right? Exactly.

Project X

Gravity, as far as we can tell, has always been.
We tend to think of it in personal terms,
as the force that keeps us grounded,
but it is much more than that, it keeps the moon close,
makes the tides and the sunrise predictable,
keeps the planets in their orbit,
keeps the galaxies in theirs,
and keeps the universe together,
it is literally the fabric upon which the universe sits.
Observed and quantified on earth in the 17th century
by Sir Isaac Newton, the force of gravity is predictable,
an object falls to earth at a rate of 32ft/sec/sec,
in a perfect vacuum it will keep accelerating,
but due to the friction of our atmosphere
most objects have a terminal velocity,
or the speed at which their fall becomes constant,
for humans in a random position this is about 120mph,
and with intention up to 200 plus.
All of this is to illustrate the weight of the evidence
detailing the law of gravity.
Can you tell me who discovered the “law of attraction?”
When did it come into “power?”
What has it been quantified as?
Where is the evidence to support the hypothesis?
Where are the peer reviewed scientific papers?
Or has the language of science been co-opted
to promote a sexist, racist, psuedo-scientific assertion
to excuse those born into positions of privilege from feelings of guilt?
Because if I can use my power of attraction,
a power anyone can tap into, to become rich,
then I don’t need to acknowledge the unfair systems
already in place to keep me in power.
If the law of attraction always existed
then men attracted dominance and wealth better than women,
then europeans attracted wealth and guns
more effectively and sustainably than any other culture.
If the law of attraction is the reason
for everything that happened throughout history,
then who the fuck do we blame on the continent
for the enslavement of our ancestors?
Who attracted that deadly boat trip to Africa’s shores?
The secret and the law of attraction
is a slickly packaged method of victim blaming,
because if you get wealthyy by attracting wealth to you,
then the poor are to blame for their own situation,
then rape victims were asking for it,
then starving children shouldn’t be saved,
the simply need to learn the secret and how to attract food and health.
Most scientific theories before being introduced to the general public
go through a peer review process,
the ones that are first introduced to the media
before their peers tend to be revealed as false,
as fake sciences based on faulty assumptions and unrepeatable evidence.
The men and women who promote the law of attraction
have no accreditation from reputable universities,
they’ve not had their conclusions
properly vetted by people qualified to do so,
they’ve simply sold it to you in books,
motivational talks and feel good videos
comprising a multimillion dollar industry.
The law of attraction does make people rich,
but none of those people are in the audience.
If you want to grow riches, you need to do more than just think about it,
you have to take actions as well.

Victor Harris © 2013

Sorry it’s been so long, I don’t really have an excuse, but I am motivated this year to take on more psuedo-scientific claims, the next post will deal with Astrology followed by Homeopathy. Do you have a particular brand of psuedo-science you’d like me to write a poem about? Let me know in the comments.

Victor

Trained in the ways of critical thinking and skepticism at a young age by his mother, Victor then learned the ways of atheism during ten years of catholic schooling. He has been a Dj since 1996. a performance poet since 1999, a cheesecake baker and entrepreneur since 2003, and a race car driver since he figured out which pedal was the accelerator, which pedal was the brake and which pedal was the clutch, there is a rumor that there is a video of him doing these four pursuits at the same time...but it is as of yet unsubstantiated. He is also an avid Formula 1 fan, and would like to add: Go Lewis.

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