Overflow

Slate has published a very good response to the recent craze over the glorified infomercial called The Secret. Like everything evil, The Secret is wrapped around a core truth — having a vision of a positive future can help you achieve your goals.

Absolutely. I am a big believer in vision. But the absurdity of letting the Law of Attraction short-circuit your ability to plan critically is dangerous. Have a positive vision, yes, but be clear-eyed about the potential negatives that may happen and incorporate them into your plan.

Here’s how it should work — positive vision guides and motivates your actions, and each positive action puts you ever closer into the vicintiy of your dreams. But at least some of those positive actions need to be concerned with anticipating and addressing risks from potential negatives that may bite you. Balanced planning, people! Critical thinking!

You need a healthy dose of “Stinkin thinkin” to make your dreams come true. No amount of positive thinking can overcome the realities of life, the world, and the systems that comprise them.

So, if you are going to comprise a cockamamie life philosophy around a TV show, you’d be a lot better off with Earl Hickey’s Karma List System.