I can't find anything super relevant while searching for Shandling and manifesting, but considering he was known for being a practicing Buddhist and a big proponent of meditation I wouldn't be surprised if he believed that writing down his goals is a good first step in achieving them.

Adams's version of manifesting is "if you write stuff down, it's more likely that outcomes outside of your control will help you achieve your goal."

Those are not the same thing.

This concept was popularized by the book The Secret.

The concept of the book, as I understand it, is focusing your consciousness on something you want ”will cause the universe to bring it to you”.

The concept is silly to me (it’s the steps that you take to actually achieve the goal that make the difference), but in a way, it is a prerequisite to achieving the goal.

My biggest complaint is this type of thinking usually accompanies lots of “woo” thinking.

What it can do is change your perception of reality, and then you can see the path to getting what you want.

Our perceptions of reality are nearly always wrong.

It was well before he was a buddhist. Did you see The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling? There's pages and pages of him writing down how great he will be...

> Those are not the same thing.

Here's an idea: get informed on the basics of what you are discussing before you tell me what it is and isn't.

This is the correlation=causation fallacy in full force.

Basically, lets say that you naturally have the drive to do work that is valuable and can make you rich, but you are just not sure if it will.

Writing down 100 times a day that you want to become rich and then becoming rich is not really related - you were probably going to be rich anyways, or on the most charitable interpretation, the writing helped you stay focused.

Now imagine you tell someone with poor mental health who struggling at a low paying job that all you have to do is write something 100 times a day to make it happen.

It aligns very closely with conservative thinking - a lot of conservative people think they worked hard for what they have, not realizing that they have been given a massive runway (such as not having college loans to pay back, being in a good school district, having parents who aren't crazy busy with work to dedicate time to support them, and so on)

It was not a given that Garry's work was valuable.

>Now imagine you tell someone with poor mental health who struggling at a low paying job that all you have to do is write something 100 times a day to make it happen.

Sorry, did you think I was suggesting that it was good advice? Or that Doctor's should prescribe it?

> It aligns very closely with conservative thinking - a lot of conservative people think they worked hard for what they have, not realizing that they have been given a massive runway (such as not having college loans to pay back, being in a good school district, having parents who aren't crazy busy with work to dedicate time to support them, and so on)

The train has left the station. I do not think you were on it.

It's not about working hard. It's about working smart. For example,

1. stay in school

2. learn the material in school

3. don't do drugs

4. don't do crimes

5. go to college, picking a major that pays well

That is a ticket to the middle class, and just about everyone in the US can do this.

BTW, I paid back my college loans.

I'm also well aware that I missed the chance to be a billionaire several times. I know I'm missing another opportunity right now, but am not seeing it.