Is "positive thinking" just optimism, or is it a magical superpower? I guess it depends on how you define it. But I want to push the limits and see where exactly we cross the line into "woo".
Let's start with some examples of uncontroversial benefits:
- Can open you to new experiences/opportunities
- Can improve your relationships with others/social skills
- Can energize you to take action
- Can make you emotionally resilient
- Can make you plan for the future because you believe you have one
(I'm not specifying a particular flavor of Positive Thinking here; it could be anything from New Age stuff to traditional religion or even psychotherapy.)
So far we're on solid ground. But now let's cross from the conscious into the subconscious mind. Is it true that the subconscious mind is a powerful tool you can use to your advantage? I hardly think it can be denied. But how does it work? And is it "woo"?
The subconscious mind is a problem-solving machine. Have you ever tried to remember something that's on the tip of your tongue? You eventually give up in frustration, only to have the answer pop into your mind ten minutes later. The subconscious was working on the problem the whole time. A similar phenomenon is having the answer to a problem come to you in a dream. So far so good; no "woo" yet. But how can you make use of this problem-solving machine?
The subconscious will try to answer any problem you pose to it. It's suggestible; if you tell it you want to be a millionaire ten years hence, it will come up with ideas to actually make it happen. But the subconscious mind is guarded, and to imprint something upon it, certain techniques must be used.
Visualization. Intense visualization, especially during a relaxed state (e.g. before you fall asleep). The more emotionalized the image, the better. See and feel the results you want as if you already have them. The subconscious will take it as a problem to be solved, and work to bring you to the endpoint you are visualizing.
Repetition. A personal story might serve here as an example. ~Six years ago, I decided to dig myself out of debt and devise/execute a plan to become Financially Independent as soon as possible. This was a major change in my approach to life. I'd never set financial goals of any kind, never mind a 15 year plan. I came across the idea on one of the many FI blogs, and passionately consumed all the information I could for a good couple years. The idea of FI (not having to work for a living) set my brain on fire. To be sure, there was plenty of emotionalized visualization involved. But there was also a lot of repetition. By reading and thinking so much about this single topic, over and over and over, it finally just sank into my brain that this is my goal now; I'm really doing this thing. I pounded the idea into my mind through brute force. Now I can't imagine myself taking any other path, even though it would be easier.
Conditioning. You can also access your subconscious mind using techniques such as NLP (e.g. classical conditioning).
Okay, so far we're using the subconscious mind to problem-solve. Is it "woo" yet? I guess it depends. Are we just getting ideas from the subconscious? Or are we using it as a magnet to "attract" opportunities related to our goals? I think this is the "woo" line.
A major claim of the Positive Thinking/New Thought movement is that, once you start practicing it, the Universe tends to meet you halfway. Opportunities appear like magic. Strange coincidences happen. You become pronoid.
But is it real? Do we live in an associative Universe? Can you prove to me it's not woo?
Prove? LOL. No.
But consider, for example, the placebo effect. A belief in the mind, despite being false, can have inexplicable real effects on the human body. A reverse example would be a Voodoo curse. Despite being a mere mental suggestion, it can really make a person waste away and die.
In this light, subconscious beliefs seem a little more powerful. But this evidence only goes so far, because however miraculous the effects, it still involves the body, a system of which the mind is a part. The mind-body connection, although not fully understood, has long been acknowledged [by whom?].
[...]
[I'm going to cut off at this point, this took me too long to write. I'm going to post this as-is, though, with a second part forthcoming.]