Can imagining a better future really make it come true?
Manifestation is easy to dismiss as unscientific nonsense. Certain techniques used in the practice, though, do work — just not in the magical way some people think, as neuroscientist Sabina Brennan elucidates
First popularised by the bestselling New Age book The Secret, manifestation has remained a cultural phenomenon for decades, championed by people from Oprah Winfrey to Deepak Chopra. Advocates claim you can attract whatever you want — whether that’s a romantic partner, a new business opportunity or even a material object — by asking the universe for it and believing that it can deliver. Some practitioners propose physics-defying explanations that evoke mysterious vibrational forces to explain its effectiveness.
This article is part of a special series exploring the radical potential of the human imagination. Read more here.
This is clearly nonsense,…
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