Pronoia: Believing That The Universe Conspires In Your Favor
It is a stretch that distances the optimistic attitude and generates the “good vibes” that the champions of this “positivism” manifest with magical touches that so much career has made. Many of these perspectives give rise to what is called pronoia. That word refers to a state of consciousness that has practically become doctrine. In it it is postulated that some rituals of autosuggestion should be carried out to put the universe to “conspire” in our favor.
The word pronoia arises in opposition to the disorder known as “paranoia. ” In the latter, delusional ideas appear, whose central content is the conviction that the universe is conspiring to harm us. So any difficulty or obstacle is interpreted as the effect of an invisible plot, without any evidence about it. The source of this universal conspiracy would be a “higher power”, which may well be the devil, the Martians, etc.
In pronoia there is a similar mechanism, although the object of the plot is the opposite. In this case, there are “higher powers” conspiring to make everything go wonderfully well for us. And as paradoxical as it sounds, whoever assumes pronoia as a philosophy of life is also very close to falling into paranoid states. This, because the logic of both mental conditions is the same.
The pronoia and the mentality of the new age
There is a debate about whether pronoia should be considered a mental disorder in itself or if it is just a symptom. There is no consensus on this. What there is agreement on is that it is a distorted view of reality.
The “positive mindset” currents began to rise during the 1980s. This happened at the same time that the doctrines of the so-called “new age” were spreading throughout the world. Towards the end of the millennium, the idea spread that there would be a change of era and that this entailed a new “positive” consciousness. To get on the bus of those new times it was necessary to use objects and rituals that attracted “good energy”.
Much of these ideas came from some Eastern religions such as Hinduism, but they were taken out of context and poured into pieces in Western thought, deriving them from material questions and yearnings. The existence of the so-called “law of attraction” was widely spread, according to which to achieve something the deep desire to achieve it must be nurtured, thus increasing the probability that the desire will come true. This nutrition of desire is done, according to these currents, through rituals of autosuggestion.
Thus the foundations were laid for the appearance and consolidation of that symptom known as pronoia. If you want to have a mansion, they say, you must visualize it every day in your mind. Concentrate a lot on that image and even begin to furnish it. If you do it correctly, the universe will collude and sooner rather than later it will be yours.
A highly profitable business
Ideologies that promote pronoia sell hope. This, in principle, would be even laudable, if it weren’t for the fact that a whole market was set up around “the positive mind”. The reprehensible thing is that in many cases they only induce people to deceive themselves and ultimately lose valuable time. Not to mention the costs of living reality from a distorted position and bearing the weight of the disappointments that derive from this attitude.
From the ethical and psychological point of view, it is serious that people are led to believe that they can achieve their objectives at the cost of “concentrating” on and “visualizing” them. And to help yourself with quartz, practices of “attraction of energies”, and so on. Something that detracts from the value of work, effort and perseverance. While … many fill their pockets.
Any ideology that sells you paradises at a bargain price is, to say the least, suspicious. At the bottom of these currents of thought what is promised is an impossible: absence of difficulties or effort. It is frequent that those who are immersed in these postures that promote pronoia, tell you that you have to avoid problems or keep a distance with those who have problems, understanding the problems as contagious diseases. They sell smoke and there are many who buy it.
The sustenance of these “positive” currents is none other than a careful marketing strategy. They know that many people in the world fear difficulties because they have not discovered that tools can be developed and built to face them. They feed the illusion of being in a universe in which it is enough to “tune in” for our wishes to come true. They cheat people emotionally and financially.
Don’t leave everything in the hands of the universe
There is little written about pronoia in the scientific literature, rather they are theories and hypotheses of specialists. However, this does not mean that we are cautious. Certain mystical movements tell us to want everything we want very strongly and in a short time we will have it. The dangerous thing about pronoia is not thinking that the universe favors us, the dangerous thing is abandoning ourselves and letting life drag us down.
We can spend months, if not years, wanting something to happen or have a new possession, without actually fighting to achieve it. For this reason, it is so important not to leave what we propose to ourselves in the hands of the universe, but to walk towards our goals. We can think that if we act correctly everything will be in our favor and we will collect the desired results, but without stopping working for what we want.
Images courtesy of Henrietta Harris
