Do we attract our reality or do we create it? Or is it just there?

Question

According to the Law of Attraction we attract our reality based on our thoughts, feelings, and general vibe. However previous thought was that we created our reality ultimately by our attitude and behaviour. Is it possible that we react to already controlled stimuli, or do we create the situations for said stimuli to exist?

Answer 1

I'm no metaphysical expert, but my opinion is that it is a combination of both. Reality does exist outside our perceptions. There is a real physical world out there that is dynamic and changing with or without us. It existed before us and it will exist after us. Having said that, how we perceive this reality is almost a complete creation of our minds. In psychology, they explain perception and it is well understood that your mind processes, edits, filters, and distorts the information you are receiving from your 5 senses - even before you can perceive it or become aware of it. Therefore, a lot of what you experience as 'reality' is really just the filtered, processed result of your mind's peculiar way of distorting/manipulating things. There are thousands of things happening outside your senses (radiation, sound waves, infrared, etc) that is happening beyond your ability to perceive them. So, you cannot know what 'reality' is or what the truth is because you only perceive a small sliver of it. The brain evolved along a certain path and it was designed to help you survive. Naturally, you will perceive threats as being 'larger' than other positive phenomena so most people are necessarily pessimistic - it's a survival advantage. It's just the way the mind works (The hardwiring can be changed though - It's called Neuroplasticity). This is why two people can see the exact same event and have different memories of it. This is why some people see the glass as half full and others, half empty. This is why there are many 'truths' (i.e., many ways of looking at things) and the truth that you cling to depends on your particular mental makeup (unless you consciously choose an alternative view). So to answer your question, there is a concrete reality but how much and in what manner you perceive it is up to you. Therefore, you can 'attract' good things by focusing on those things (but in reality you are just opening yourself up to new and better experiences). If you don't focus on the negative, your mind will never experience it. I suggest reading a book called 'Learned Optimism' by Martin Seligman because he goes in-depth on how successful people make their own success by focusing on the positive. There is a small percentage of people that never give up and as a result experience incredible results in their life because of their mindset.

Answer 2

"Reality" is a Construct in the strongest sense of the word. It is dependent upon denotation and connotation. Western thought sets"us" apart from the "environment". Yet Eastern thought, particularly "Taoism" does not objectify what we perceive from who and what we are. The "Way" teaches a flow and confluence of both into the human self and the environment which meet at a vertex to form or define what is known as one level of "reality'. But it is only defined that way in terms of this plane. Through meditation and opening Chakras (There are suppose to be 7 Centers in the body)higher states, that through Yoga and meditation one may reach enlightenment--ultimately Nirvana. Western thinking is rather simplistic and mechanical in comparison. However, early behaviorist: Pavlov, was able to define stimulus response in terms a ringing bells associated with the salivation of dogs. It nails a form of "reality" down. But we suggest that existence and the juggling of "reality" as we perceive it beyond illusion has deeper meaning in sensation itself and what ultimately constitutes perception that determines realities which are based on a myriad of variables--all of them probative.

Answer 3

I don't think that the different theories you list are necessarily mutually exclusive. We certainly have some control over our environment and the direction our lives take, but that control is limited. To suggest otherwise, to me, is to imply that there is no such thing as a victim, which I cannot accept, because by that logic people who are raped, for instance, brought that upon themselves, as opposed to simply being the victims of something that they neither deserved nor brought about on their own. Similarly, someone who is killed in an accident as a result of a drunk driver did not bring that reality upon himself/herself. Granted, these are rather dark and extreme scenarios, but my point is that we do not have boundless control over what happens to us, though we certainly have SOME control.

Answer 4

This is such a bad way to ask about "how things are." Are people like Michale J. Fox doing something wrong? Are people who have bad things happen to them, to blame. I already know that many of you who read this want to believe that you are in control of your lives, but this is an illusion that is easily destroyed. All of us know someone who has suffered some tragedy in their lives. Is it always their fault?

How do you create reality, (matter in motion) through thoughts (small electro/chemical reactions) in your skull? You cannot even make an effect on a electrical detector unless they put the electrodes on your skull. Just how do you imagine you have such tremendous control? Try practicing a little real science and a little acceptance. Try understanding that bad things happen to good people and they are not to blame.

Answer 5

Yes but if we use the law of attraction then the we start to interprate the data we observe in those terms and this can lead to biased observation. That is to say you find what you are looking for and ignore what you are not looking for, in this way the law of attraction becomes manifest but is flawed. As to a true law of attraction that can endure the test of scientific scrutiny I remain skeptical.

Answer 6

You are probably right to suggest that reality is less 'made' than it is attracted. On the other hand much of what shapes our reality are circumstances brought about by other individuals, as a group, who are also not entirely creaing their own reality.

Answer 7

We create it by attracting what we want our reality to be.

Answer 8

It is really so hard to see "Reality, for the fact that we see what we "think" we are seeing!
Peace and Blessings....