Every once in a while, I will surf the Internet for articles on self-improvement (in my case, there is a lot of room for that), and I almost always find a lot of good, free advice. Some very good advice, curiously, came from a book called "The Science of getting Rich" (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Science_of_Getting_Rich) written in 1910 by someone with the unlikely name of Wallace D. Wattles.
My new-found friend Wally writes about having goals, keeping constant faith that you will achieve them (or something similar enough), being grateful for what you have, and - as Deepak Chopra might say - letting the universe take care of things. He (Wally) even argues that you should not try to get rich at other's expense, and should always try (in today's parlance) to make every situation win-win.
Having had some scientific training myself, I cannot help but note that - notwithstanding the title of the book - there is nothing even remotely scientific about his theory. He simply makes a number of claims, and asks us to take them on faith, without providing any kind of proof or even any arguments. If anything, that is in fact much closer to what you would expect from a religious sect. But that does not mean his ideas lack merit: I find them all very interesting, and certainly worth exploring.
Which reminds me of an argument I had recently with a friend, who rejected homeopathy in its totality simply because the theory did not seem to make any sense. To me, theory and fact are totally separate. Just because you cannot find a plausible explanation (scientific or otherwise) for something does not mean it is not true, or does not exist. Personally, I have serious doubts about the theory that the position of the stars at our birth determine who we will be or become, but I am quite happy that people continue to explore patterns or clusters of human characteristics.
What I am most interested in, in fact, is in keeping an open mind. I hope one day I will find convincing arguments for doing so, but in the meantime I would ask you - like my friend Wally does with his claim that one should not get rich at another's expense - to accept on faith the idea that suppressing ideas (however ludicrous they may sound) is not the best way to arrive at the truth. Knowledge moves in mysterious ways.
My new-found friend Wally writes about having goals, keeping constant faith that you will achieve them (or something similar enough), being grateful for what you have, and - as Deepak Chopra might say - letting the universe take care of things. He (Wally) even argues that you should not try to get rich at other's expense, and should always try (in today's parlance) to make every situation win-win.
Having had some scientific training myself, I cannot help but note that - notwithstanding the title of the book - there is nothing even remotely scientific about his theory. He simply makes a number of claims, and asks us to take them on faith, without providing any kind of proof or even any arguments. If anything, that is in fact much closer to what you would expect from a religious sect. But that does not mean his ideas lack merit: I find them all very interesting, and certainly worth exploring.
Which reminds me of an argument I had recently with a friend, who rejected homeopathy in its totality simply because the theory did not seem to make any sense. To me, theory and fact are totally separate. Just because you cannot find a plausible explanation (scientific or otherwise) for something does not mean it is not true, or does not exist. Personally, I have serious doubts about the theory that the position of the stars at our birth determine who we will be or become, but I am quite happy that people continue to explore patterns or clusters of human characteristics.
What I am most interested in, in fact, is in keeping an open mind. I hope one day I will find convincing arguments for doing so, but in the meantime I would ask you - like my friend Wally does with his claim that one should not get rich at another's expense - to accept on faith the idea that suppressing ideas (however ludicrous they may sound) is not the best way to arrive at the truth. Knowledge moves in mysterious ways.
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