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by dang
3710 days ago
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Lest anyone dive into religious polarization around this, it's worth pointing out that such psychological doctrines have a long history, back through Norman Vincent Peale and Napoleon Hill to the New Thought movement of the late 19th-early 20th century [1] and a whole kaleidoscope of religious splinter groups. Many of these were Christian, but mostly marginally so; a famous example is [2]. Then there's the New Age wing to this (think The Secret) that goes back to the Theosophists and alchemical traditions. Then again there were more philosophical versions, like the Transcendentalists. You can find this type of thing in Emerson. The history and literature is rich. More recently it is beginning (as one would expect) to take scientific and quasi-scientific forms, including attempts to test it experimentally. Not clear yet what will come of those. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_a_Man_Thinketh |
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The New Age contrast between scarcity and abundance is compelling when applied to the question of adapting to changed circumstances. (Take for example the link posted in the last day or two about people raised in poverty finding it difficult to regulate their food intake.) The New Age arguments boil down to a simple diagnosis that we have been conditioned, by scarcity, into habits that are no longer appropriate.
There was a Wired article about 7 years ago which discussed this contrast from another angle. In that article, like the original link under discussion here, the Scarcity mindset is caricatured as mean and rigid. The Abundance mindset is healthy and open to alternatives. It's not at all about "manifesting" abundance out of nowhere, as per The Secret. I think Stephen Covey might be a major source for the Wired version of the polarity.
From the Wired article "When scarce resources become abundant, smart people treat them differently, exploiting them rather than conserving them. It feels wrong, but done right it can change the world.
The problem is that abundant resources, like computing power, are too often treated as scarce."
Hard to disagree with that.
http://www.wired.com/2009/06/mf-freer/