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The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

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Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#61
post #16
post #6

The power of positive thinking has to be one of the most undervalued capital. I would really like to see if there are any counter examples to this thinking that have worked for others.

I've been called negative before. For good reason :) I tend to see the problems with things. The stuff that is good enough, why spend time thinking about? Seems boring to me - it's already done, lets move on. I actually somewhat don't like being labeled as "negative person" since the actual result in my thinking is usually very positive outcomes. I improve things and make them better. How could I do that if I didn't…

Yep. Haven't read, but you might like:Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312658850/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_d...

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#62
post #49
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you use that power to help other beings, though?

Using your power, whatever it may be, to help others is one thing. Deliberately, actively, perhaps even desperately seeking more power to help more people is another. The first is a form of compassion. The other is a form of pride. Why do these others need your help? Have they asked for it? Are you seeking that power to help or because you like power? Lots of questions that muddy the water there. There are certain th…

What if there are easy paths to enlightenment and we just don't understand them yet?

This is one reason that very well established traditions make me nervous.

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#63
post #35
post #27

This looks like an attempt to monetize an evangelical Christian concept.[1] From the article: The ideal attitude is what she calls Abundant Thinking — a mindset that gives you the creative agency and grit to reach your vision — and, on a daily basis, to design your own life. When Verresen first meets most of her clients, they’re in reactive mode. It’s like they’re in a movie, acting in their job and life without know…

The evangelical Christian concept of "abundant life" is already an attempt to monetize the religious imperative of tithing. It's the "prosperity gospel": give us money and God will make you rich. I say this as an evangelical Christian myself.

I really object to calling all evangelical Christians supporters of the so-called prosperity gospel. Whilst there are a lot of adherents, many, many evangelical Christians consider it to be an aberration and an utter misreading of scripture.

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#64
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using your power, whatever it may be, to help others is one thing. Deliberately, actively, perhaps even desperately seeking more power to help more people is another. The first is a form of compassion. The other is a form of pride. Why do these others need your help? Have they asked for it? Are you seeking that power to help or because you like power? Lots of questions that muddy the water there. There are certain th…

What if there are easy paths to enlightenment and we just don't understand them yet? This is one reason that very well established traditions make me nervous.

If you find it, please let us know before you reach the state of Nirvana.

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#66
post #45
post #27

This looks like an attempt to monetize an evangelical Christian concept.[1] From the article: The ideal attitude is what she calls Abundant Thinking — a mindset that gives you the creative agency and grit to reach your vision — and, on a daily basis, to design your own life. When Verresen first meets most of her clients, they’re in reactive mode. It’s like they’re in a movie, acting in their job and life without know…

The religious version in fact seems more restrained in its promises, with the "arrested" bit at the end. (Not unexpectedly BTW; IMO comparing any such pitch to a religion is usually a compliment to the pitch, as religions of today evolved over many centuries and so are better debugged than many an age-of-reason attempt at scientific-sounding wisdom. And personally I'm deeply not religious, but still.) I did read that…

I suspect many religions also suffer heavily from legacy issues. Maybe a rewrite would help, debugged or not.

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#67

Dressed up Calvinism IMHO. You're poor? You just aren't tapping into the abundance of the universe.

That's not a tenet of Calvinism.

sure, but ascribing some sort of otherwordly virtue to people by virtue of their material success is. inverted Calvinism perhaps. Regardless, still taps into the weird part of the US psyche that has a Protestant work ethic that believes that everything is possible for everyone if they just work hard enough filtered through a sort of divine blessing (only this case it is dressed up in a New Age "tapping into the power of positive thinking schtick") -- in any case, it has the same outcome of blaming individuals for the structural circumstances they find themselves living in -- in one case, it is that you obviously weren't one of the chosen, in the mainstream meritocratic case, it's a more easy to digest "you just didn't work hard enough", in this case it is dressed back up with psuedo-religious trappingsabout how the universe wants you to succeed and you get back the energy you put out.

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#68

Why you shouldn't trust successful people's advice.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k7jeQQdqPA

To me that video is not making the absolute claim that the clickbait title suggests (their words not yours of course). The actual video seems to suggest to the viewer to be wary of _only_ looking at the winning perspective and being subjected to survivorship bias. That is, there's nothing wrong with hearing advice from successful people, but make sure to get input from unsuccessful people as well to get a more comple…

it's not survivor bias, I think it's attribution error.

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#69
post #20

Called Paths to Power, it emphasizes the importance of neutrality: The world is not fair or unfair. It simply is. The more you can suspend judgment, the more you can learn and grow your power. Not to be cynical about this approach, but having studied some of these concepts from a Mahayana Buddhist perspective, the idea of utilizing the perspective of Beginner's Mind to "grow your power" is a gross misappropriation an…

What if you use that power to help other beings, though?

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Re: The Advantage of Abundant Thinking

#70
post #30

These concepts also work really well for dating and relationships. If you approach girls with a scarcity mindset, you tend to be a lot more needy, insecure and generally feel like a victim. If you approach girls with an abundance mentality, you're much less needy, more confident and you don't really care about the outcome. You're just there to learn about her, and if she's not interested, well, there's plenty of othe…

Or maybe if she isn't interested, she just isn't interested? If she was the last woman on earth and she wasn't interested in you would that make it somehow alright to keep approaching her?

I mean really, I get what you are saying here, but it comes dangerous close to a guy viewing women as a "resource" and saying that he behaves better when he views that resource as unlimited.

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