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1. For practical purposes, it is unnecessary to form any opinion about the deep underpinnings of what the LOA exactly is. In other words, you need not have an opinion:
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I'm happy for you, ALG, to have your own take on these issues. I strongly disagree with most of what you write here, and urge people to
have opinions...their
own opinions.
I wouldn't advise anyone just try "going into alpha", let alone manifest their desires or expect good things to happen to them as a result. For a start, meditation teachers usually advise people to check with a doctor before starting. Secondly...well, it's a big secondly...but there are potential pitfalls in the manifestation practices. Things are not always what they seem. The mind is a little trickster. Getting free of prejudice is a wonderful opportunity, but I don't think it comes to those who stop having opinions.
I think that much of the LoA/IM philosophy is going in the opposite direction. Usually unwittingly, the practitioner seeks to increase his prejudice. It is fitting that a self-styled expert should summarise the theory with so much emphasis on the worthlessness of our opinions about it (while sharing his with such self-confidence).
Daffy Duck expressed it this way: "The interesting thing about LoA is its self-defensive belief. It removes itself from the burden of proof." I agree. It is for people to choose themselves whether they see any value in reality-checking their ideas, or whether they will separate themselves from such burdens as proof or logic and enter the world of makebelieve, or indeed whether they see it completely differently from either of our positions.
I have never argued a radically intellectual philosophy, and see a great deal of usefulness in balance. It is good to suspend judgement and thought, I just think that ALG is offering a very one-sided approach: don't think, just follow my instructions and try it out for yourself. That might seem innocent to some people - after all, if you don't like it you can stop again.
But can you? What if deciding not to test anything anymore is seductive, even addictive? It wouldn't be too far fetched. If practice requires you to not test things rationally, but just believe and trust, that might become habitual to some extent and interfere with your assessment of whether you feel you should give it up again. If not a one-way trapdoor, it seems, potentially, like a slippery slope.