Wednesday, December 1

Law of Precession

Like my good blogging friend Wenny, I apply alot of the Law of Attraction in my life. Recently, I got to know about the Law of Precession, and realised that it is also something that I apply unknowingly, as it is aligned with my values, though I somehow feel these 2 laws can kind of contradict each other.

Anyway, the Law of Precession was first stated by Buckminster Fuller, and it goes like this.

For every action we take there will be a side effect arising at 90 degree to the line of the our action. And this effect will be equal to or greater than the original attraction.

Wow, sounds a little abstract, isn't it?

There are 2 classic examples used to illustrate this law when you surf the Net about this subject.
(1) When you drop stones in a water, ripples are produced.
(2) When bees collect pollens from flowers, they unknowingly help cross-fertilise flowers.

So how is this law applicable in our lives?

The harder you try something, the harder it is to achieve. When you pursue money, the side effect produced is greed. And you might just end up losing more than you gain.

Instead, try adding value to those people around you. The side effect in this case is that you will gain more, either monetary or in other ways. The more selfless you are in helping others, the more you will gain.

Some of you may find this weird, isn't it? But I know of a few entrepenuers who swear by this law as the secret of their success.

Help others and you end up helping yourself in return.
Sounds good, isn't it?

14 comments:

TG said...

Honestly, I don't believe in any of these laws. Laws are meant to be broken ;) I believe in the law of gravity or that everything that was alive dies in the end. But when it comes to these "laws" between people or consequences of our actions, I don't believe in them. They of course have a good message, but the problem is, they don't always work. We want them to work and we're so happy, when we see that they work... But your examples were given from nature and the animal world. I think those laws can't be applied to humans. We're way too complex.

You say some entrepreneurs swear by these laws and think this is the secret to their success. But how many good businessmen have failed by applying same laws? How many people have done only good in their life, but in the end died a lone and miserable death?

Sorry, I'm my way of reasoning is so harsh, but when I see realty, I see good, great and successful people and good great poor people as well as rich successful a**holes and poor miserable a**holes. Of course I'm the type that tries to see the good in people and I try to do good things. But I'm reasonable: How many times did we try to do the right thing and it backfired? That's because the definitions of "right" and "good" and "successful" are too vague. What I think is good for you is not necessarily what you think is good for you. And hence all these laws are just not applicable to everybody. We're too different, our cultures and backgrounds are too diverse. It would of course make our lives very simple, if these laws worked. But then we'd be like animals, doing everything by instinct. Not sure whether that's good or bad, though ;)

Debate me.

wenn said...

i believe in helping others..

[SK] said...

hmmm, law of precession?? really have not heard about it at all, and really seems quite abstract to me.. even with the examples you listed, i don't really seem to be able to relate them to the law as the examples don't really seem to be in a uniform/standard manner..

HappySurfer said...

Whether we like it or not, I believe there are laws of nature that exist that are beyond our knowledge and not yet discovered or conceptualised. Like this Law of Precession (or Law of Side Effects), it could be one of the laws of nature. In fact, it is, as in the case of the bees.

The Chinese Tao, intrinsically related to the concepts of yin and yang, where every action creates counter-actions, is also another law of nature. It just means that everything has a balance, e.g., when there is good, there is always an equal amount of bad. One good example of that is the world we live in right now. Notice there are more and more people doing charity (contributing to disaster relief, setting up foundations, donating billions, the list goes on) but at the same time, the world is seeing more and more violence and human-inflicted destruction such as murders, terrorism, piracy, etc. Natural laws at work.. there must be a balance of yin and yang.

Yet another law is karma. Some people don't believe in this but it exists. Karma, good or bad, is accumulated and does not get cancelled. No siree! So, it's better to accumulate good karma than bad karma because there will be a payback time sooner or later. Oops! I've said too much.. Just my two cents..

bluedreamer said...

is it also the same with the what so-called Opportunity Cost and Kharma?? oh no not.. it's different right??

Ice said...

Sounds like what I used to call it "Action Reaction".

It is somehow true that when one pay too much attention on money he/she will find things hard to archieve. Trying too hard I guess.

Nat said...

http://m.xkcd.com/828/

Twilight Man said...

I understand your post and it's simple theory that works on many and failed on many more. There is no right and wrongs in life but intention that counts.

iamthewitch said...

I too believe there's a reaction to every action.. at the end of the day, it really depends on ourselves to strike the balance.

Unknown said...

If you feel like doing a good deed, do not think it will be surely be repaid. Just feel good about it and let it be. And if you're on a wave of success and attribute the good fortune,so be it.

Netster23 said...

There's no right or wrong about what people try to make you believe. If you accept it than good for you if you don't there would be plenty more information to guide people toward the same goals.

What you want in life?

You see people love to believe something and you can't stop that from not happening and there's no way for you to tell them what's right to believe.

personally I just take bits and pieces of all these learning and transfer them to those that want to hear them to motivate them. nothing wrong with that.

Do I apply them in my line of works? it's really not a question of applying it but it's a question of what I want.

If what I want is what I think about every day and with effort that I am willing to put in every day... anything is possible. There's no free lunch in this world. You do it, you get it or you don't.

Sometime we just want to be right, sometime we just want to hear the best to comfort our ears, sometime it just no time.

there's no right or wrong... this much I know... I need my friend my love one to encourage me, the leaders that will inspire me.

Wenny said...

Hey Shingo T, I'm glad to know that you too have an inclination towards the Law of Attraction.

I've not heard of this Law of Precession yet but from your description, it boils down to the same as LOA. It's all about cause & effect ... what we do results in what we will receive.

Gratitude, thankfulness, charity ... they are the fundamentals of making LOA work for us. It's true. The more gratitude and appreciation we build in us, the happier we are and this authentic happiness will result in our joyful celebration with people around us ... this is the time when we unapprehensively pay it forward.

When we are happy to give, it build in us the feelings of abundance. "Likes attract likes" ... naturally, we attract more abundance into our life.

Shingo T said...

Nino:
I respect your thinking, it's very practical. Theories to me are like religions - as long as they encourage you to become better people, I won't condemn it.

Whatever the case, just stick to the methods that work for us. ^_^

HappySurfer:
I'm not sure if karma exist, but I think it's something that people can bear in mind, so that it will reduce the chances of them doing any harm to others.

Keats The Sunshine Girl:
ya, agreed with you that we shouldn't do good, just for the sake of expecting something in return.

Netster:
There is no black or white. Everything is in shades of grey. ^_^

Wenny:
I have shared "The Secret" DVD with one of my colleagues. I hope she can have a different mindset, and will be happier after watching the concept of LOA.

TG said...

I'm a skeptic by nature and if I find a flaw in a law, I start to get my doubts. But I can understand why some people like to believe or follow them. I've nothing against it, if it helps people, but it just doesn't work for me.

Facebook "Like" Button