The Good And The Bad

Often an idea or a theory is both good and bad, but our tendency is to dismiss anything which we cannot entirely agree with. This naturally means "throwing out the baby with the bath water." Let's look at a few examples of how we can find value in the most ridiculous ideas, see the problems or flaws in some of the best ideas, and use both approaches to have new, sometimes radical thoughts.

There have been many recent books that talk about "the law of attraction." Often the idea is expressed in ways that leave you wondering about the sanity of a person who could believe it. Without using their names (I don't want to pick on people), I have statements below from several different "experts," as quoted in recent best-seller. They are followed by a few comments of my own.

1. "The only reason any person does not have enough money is because they are blocking money from coming to them with their thoughts." - The only reason? Being born poor in the middle of a war zone doesn't affect these things?

2. "Everything that is coming into your life you are attracting into your life." - What if one person is attracting snow and his neighbor is attracting a warm sunny day? What about that comet that will eventually hit the planet?

3. "You attract what you think about most." - Tell that to the guy who spends hours per day dreaming about wealth and women and getting neither. Maybe you have to do more than think about things?

4. "The law of attraction is obedient. It will give you what you want every time." - We need to pass more laws like this. Of course, there is the problem of people wanting opposite things to happen.

It is easy to poke fun at the "law of attraction," because of the way many new age gurus explain it. The problem with simply dismissing it, however, is that - like most silly theories - it is based on something real that people have seen. They notice that many of us are thinking in ways that prevent making money (very true), and extrapolate that to be the "only reason that any person does not have enough money."

They see that what we think about and how we think about it really does have effects. In fact, anyone can investigate and verify this phenomenon with personal experimentation. It may be silly to say "It will give you what you want every time," but there is ample evidence that directing ones thoughts can lead to better outcomes. Thinking (followed by acting) positively is usually more productive than focusing on the reasons something won't work. In that sense, we do "attract" what we get - much of the time.

The silly idea of a "law" of attraction then, is based on real and powerful principles. It would be a shame to ignore these just because of the poor way they are expressed. In fact, if you look, you'll find that most of the time when people are logically wrong about something they are nonetheless seeing something real. Drop their explanation and try to see what they are pointing to.

The True And The False

As shown above, real phenomena can be expressed poorly, making them into what seem to be bad ideas. On the other hand, good or "true" ideas are also sometimes not entirely true. Let's look at some examples of that, and see how we can train ourselves to find both truth and falsity, which often live together in the same theory. Doing so will often lead us to radical new insights.

Life Is Getting More Expensive?

This is an idea expressed by many. Recently a friend pointed out that a house his parents bought now cost twice as much. I pointed out that he makes more money than they did when they bought it, and that at 6% (2006) versus their 13% mortgage loan, he could pay less per month in nominal OR inflation adjusted terms. It was actually cheaper at twice the price.

In fact, most things cost less than thirty years ago if you look at the real cost, which is the time you have to work to make the money to pay for them. So this idea seems to be false.

But when we remember that when people are wrong they're still usually seeing something real, we have to ask what it is that they see. In this case their personal experience gives them the very real feeling that life is getting more expensive. Looking past their explanation to what they are pointing at, we have to ask why it feels that way for them.

What has changed is expectations. People require more of life. Cable television, cell phones, movie rentals and hours on the phone are now considered a normal part of life. These do not replace other things, but are added to our expenses. My friend has a snow mobile, three cell phones and many other extra expenses that are considered normal now - things his parents never had.

At this point then we come to a new insight: Life is getting more expectation-full, which makes it more more expensive (and stressful).

Free Markets Explain U.S. Prosperity?

Often an idea seen as a truth is only a partial truth. To understand the whole of the matter (or as much as we can), we have to challenge the idea. This is what economist Hernando de Soto did with the general opinion that free markets are the cause of the prosperity in the United States.

De Soto runs the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), located in Lima, Peru. Upon investigation, he quickly found that there were countries which had open and free markets yet didn't seem to be climbing out of poverty. He investigated more closely , traveling to the U.S. and many other countries, and found that free markets alone are not what makes an economy grow.

He discovered that property law made the difference. For example, most entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. is financed in part from home equity. This isn't possible where titles aren't clear, or where the banks can't easily take homes pledged as collateral (if it's difficult they won't loan). Even the rights to a song can be easily used as collateral for a business loan in most developed countries. There isn't room to fully explain De Soto's powerful insights here, but he basically found that well defined, easily transferred property rights make raising capital easier and so cause a boom in business activity and general wealth creation.

Ignorance Is Bliss

This seems either silly or insightful depending on one's experience just prior to hearing this common saying. It is both. We can see that we learn how to worry about the future. We learn how to conform to the rules and rush around trying to get things we didn't used to know we need. We have knowledge that brings us greater anxiety. In many ways what we come to "know" makes us less happy. Looking at these things, it's easy to understand the idea that ignorance is bliss.

On the other hand, knowledge brings us great opportunities for a better life. It wouldn't be bliss to be ignorant of modern medicines, books, toothbrushes, agricultural techniques and flush toilets. Furthermore, if we look more closely, we see that we can learn knowledge that doesn't bring more misery, but more understanding. I'm referring to spiritual insight which had the potential to bring more bliss than any amount of ignorance.

The Good, The Bad, And The Creative

The examples above show how much nonsense and truth can be wrapped up in the same idea. Looking for the flaws in what you see as "good ideas" and the truth which "bad ideas" derive from is a way to more creative thoughts. It's a way to go deeper, possibly resulting in more radical insights.

Two Exercises

1. Turn on the television or radio, or get a friend started on his favorite topic. Then, as soon as you hear an idea which you consider foolish or false, write it down. Find the truth it is derived from (what the speaker saw that lead him or her to this conclusion), and explore how it might be a useful insight if expressed more accurately.

2. Take any of the ideas you have which can be put in the form of a general statement (for example, "love is about action, not feeling"). Find the flaws in it, or in the way in which you commonly express it, and try to see a deeper truth which can be explained in a better way.

Until next time,

Steve

www.RadicalNewThoughts.com