Manifestation is BS (this is what actually works) – Nir Eyal

A placebo works even if you know it's just sugar. Literally: You can buy bottles of pills labeled “placebo” on Amazon, take one, know that it contains nothing, and yet your body can react as if you had taken a real medicine. In IBS studies, patients who knew they were taking only a placebo had results identical to those of the market-leading medication. Here’s the point: manifestation, the law of attraction, and magical positive thinking don’t work because “the universe is listening,” but because your mind, through a belief, changes the way you perceive and react to reality. There is no quantum field that sends you money or love. However, science shows that believing in something—even if you recognize its arbitrary nature—can change your body, your resilience, and your ability to see opportunities. We think that believing means being naive or deluding ourselves. In reality, we all already live in a mental simulation: your brain processes 11 million bits of information per second, but you are only aware of 50. What you call “reality” is a projection, filtered by your mental patterns, your inherited beliefs, and your self-imposed limits. Nir Eyal, who has built his reputation on data and skepticism, recounts that he spent years sifting through bogus studies to find sound research. But what shocked him was seeing how beliefs—even when adopted consciously, like trying on a dress—can act as tools, not as truths. At one point, Nir finds himself praying, even though he doesn't really believe. Yet research shows that people who pray—even without faith—live longer, are healthier, and experience less anxiety and depression. The benefit does not depend on “truly believing,” but on the ritual act that calms the mind, reduces loneliness, and creates meaning and connection. And here comes the twist: it is not necessary to believe “wholeheartedly”; rather, beliefs should be used as functional tools that can be changed when they are no longer useful. Serena Williams’ story at Wimbledon is a perfect example: her coach blatantly lied to her, telling her that she won 80% of her points at the net. It wasn't true, but she believed it, changed her attitude, and won the tournament. The point is not objective truth, but which belief enables you to act and persevere. Eyal cites the example of Richter’s mice: a wild mouse in water survives for 15 minutes before drowning. But if you save it at the last moment, dry it off, and then put it back in the water, it can swim for 60 hours. Two hundred and forty times longer. Its body hasn’t changed: what has changed is its belief that there is a way out. And this persistence, this ability not to give up at the first sign of difficulty, is the real difference between those who achieve results and those who give up. But beware: beliefs also work in reverse. If you think you are “someone who doesn’t sleep well,” “not cut out for physical activity,” or “suffer from imposter syndrome,” these labels become real limitations, nocebos that worsen your symptoms. And often, the first step in reversing the downward spiral is precisely recognizing that pain, fatigue, and fear are signals, not sentences. In the case of chronic pain, the most up-to-date therapy teaches us to distinguish between “sickness” (actual physical harm) and “illness” (the subjective perception of symptoms). Pain is real, but suffering can be modulated by changing the way you interpret it. Nir Eyal overcame chronic insomnia simply by changing the phrase he repeated to himself in bed: “The body will take what it needs if you let it.” It's not magic: it's neuroplasticity, the ability to reprogram your automatic responses. If you ask yourself, “But am I not just deluding myself?”, the answer is: you already do, but often with limiting beliefs. The difference lies in consciously choosing the most useful beliefs, testing them out for a period (like breaking in a new pair of shoes), seeing if they work, and then deciding whether to keep them or change them again. The key phrase to remember is this: beliefs are tools, not truths. You can take them, use them, and then put them aside when you no longer need them. If this way of thinking has resonated with you, you can indicate it on Lara Notes with I'm In: it's not a like; it's a way of saying, “This perspective is now mine.” And if you end up talking about it with someone – perhaps by sharing the story of Serena Williams or Richter's mice – you can tag that conversation with Shared Offline: on Lara Notes, a record of the conversations that truly matter remains. All of this stems from a conversation between Nir Eyal and Chris Williamson. You read it in five minutes: the original lasted over two hours.