Scientific proof is NOT overrated. The past five years? They are making progress all the time, especially in behavioral science. We are learning more and more about the different portions of the brain using lesion studies and the instrumentation such as the fMRI that enables us to study the various functions of the brain more adequately.

Take a look at the top inventions of the past 50 years as according to Popular Mechanics and it’s not hard to see that science is behind every single one of them:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/2078467

Steve is completely unscientific and writes primarily about where his intuition gets him. The reason I’m not writing a post to completely bash him is because he’s not worth completely bashing – he has some good thoughts, an interesting perspective, and does provide people with some value. But if there is anything I would say is overrated, it’s Steve.

You might ask, “Why waste your time writing about why he’s wrong? What good does it do?” An answer would be that for one – I do not have to have a reason to write anything but two would more importantly be that the perspective he has, and so many other “gurus” like him have is HARMFUL to many different people. His idea of manifestation is entirely misleading: there’s a fat and obvious difference staring you in the face between finding coins on the ground versus starting a business and making millions.

His attitude that making thousands is just as easy as making pennies if you “know how to manifest it” is, I’m sorry to say, the wrong one to have. If you want the real truth about money, don’t follow your feelings and what “the Universe is telling you.” DO THE MATH. You can ‘manifest’ over $900 more dollars at the end of the year, for example, if you do not buy Starbucks every day. That’s science, not what Steve is actually teaching.

He teaches in abstracts and abstracts are a part of everyone’s development but my main point is that the evidence POINTS THE WAY, not emotion, not feelings. What do the FACTS tell you? The cold, ugly, hard, dirty truth is in empiricism. Even when we’re talking about life happiness this is STILL the case.

Treating everything and everyone in terms of a subjective reality perspective is not the only way to go and more importantly: it’s not the BEST way to go.

In response to your thoughts on food: I agree with what you said and believe you that raw food tastes better the longer and more you eat it – I’ve experienced the same thing with my low carb diet. Society doesn’t have to tell me to cook and eat beef, I do it because science (and my emotional whim and taste buds) told me to.

We could also say society tells me to eat french fries, chips, sandwiches, and lots of other unhealthy food but I don’t follow that norm. People not eating one particular way might be influenced by societal norms but I would disagree that’s their primary motivation for not doing it.

I read his stuff, and for the most part, I think it’s great and I agree with him. Sometimes I disagree, but that’s where it ends. If I don’t like what’s he’s writing, I don’t have to read it, or believe it. You can’t say he’s wrong hoping to somehow save all the people that don’t know better. And providing scientific proof is overrated. How much did we “know” 5 years ago that’s completely changed because of what we “know” today? And about the raw thing, people being nicer than those who eat cooked food, you’re making your own subjective, non-scientific claims about what you “think” is the real deal.

As for the Scientology, I don’t know a lot about it, but like so many eventually corrupted organizations, it started with a pure intention, and a lot of the ideas and skills have a very valid place in the realm of spirituality. Just like any religion, it’s best not to gather crowds in a hall conducted by 1 person, but to teach an individual how to find themselves, by themselves.

“Sorry, Steve, but the fact of the matter is that the majority of people who consume a raw food diet not only will not stick with it – they will not think it tastes very good either. On the other hand, if you let me have my grass fed beef with green beans and my daily multivitamin I will be very happy.”

You’re right, most people won’t stick with it, because it’s a move against social norms, and because they won’t do it long enough, they won’t experience and appreciate the best benefits of it. However, it’s “scientifically” proven that people who eat only raw food develop 100x more taste buds, and I can personally testify that raw food tastes better (than it normally does) after eating raw for so long.

Beef isn’t bad if it’s raw, and clean. Greens aren’t as healthy when they’re cooked, and multivitamins, while beneficial, aren’t nearly as effective as natural vitamins and minerals. We choose cooked beef, cooked veggies, and multivitamins because we’re all following society instead of asking ourselves why we’re listening to advertisements and letting Big Business tell us how we need to live.

My closing statement is:

You seem like a cool, intelligent guy. There are a lot of holes in your post, there are holes in Steve’s post, as well as my reply. We all need to strive to live more consciously. One of the things I admire so much about Steve is that he doesn’t (that I can recall) make hater posts to slam people. He is his own force. He wants people to take a conscious stand, because that’s all the world really needs.

So Pavlina may be WRONG in some areas of his writings, but overall, considering the wealth of value he is, and is trying to provide, he’s way more RIGHT than not.