Over the past 40+ years of studying and working with feng shui, I’ve realised that one of the best ways to understand it and have better results is to go beyond it. Albert Einstein and others have recognised that in order to solve a problem we need to go to a higher level of thinking or beyond it. Otherwise, as Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” In short, a problem can’t be solved on its own level. Personal problems are notoriously difficult to be solved from personal perspectives – one needs to go beyond to transpersonal, spiritual domains.

Beyond feng shui

The key question is: what is feng shui for?
Feng shui is considered many things: philosophy, art, science, design, cosmology and more. “What is feng shui for?” is the question: “What does it mean to live in a physical environment? “and “How are humans placed/positioned between Heaven and Earth?” and ultimately, “How to live (in harmony with the world)?

For me, feng shui is to affirm life. The function of feng shui is to create a lifestyle you want. Feng shui is a physical affirmation. We do things physically to get results in our personal and professional lives. Most people (consciously or unconsciously) use feng shui or variations of feng shui in order to better themselves. Yes, you can change and improve your life by moving furniture in your home or workplace AND you can get the same results by mentally affirming life – by rearranging or improving the interior (design) of your mind and soul. Feng shui is a holistic interior design of your exterior environment and interior milieu. Obviously, working on both (interior and exterior) can bring better, quicker and more powerful results, not to mention the fun of the journey.

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Why start with feng shui intelligence?
Over the past 30 years of training and teaching feng shui, I’ve realised that the best way is to start with feng shui intelligence – as opposed to teaching feng shui principles and techniques. Starting with feng shui tools is like putting a cart in front of the horse. A quick look online and you’ll discover a massive amount of feng shui nonsense – myths, superstitions and false problems being propagated by so-called feng shui ‘consultants and experts’.

Feng shui ideology and dogma
Ideology does not necessarily refer to a particular political belief like communism or capitalism, but rather to the general use of the word, whereas ideology is a series of discourses that give people false ideas about the nature of reality, providing them with a ‘false consciousness’, how it works, and their place in it. In this manner, ideology is like the way most people see the world in the film They Live, unaware that they are being brainwashed by an infinitude of subliminal messages. Unfortunately, feng shui ideology or dogma has developed over the years starting with classical feng shui and been propagated by ill-informed people.

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Unfortunately, to feng shui and feng shui enthusiasts, there are many feng shui myths, superstitions, unconscious biases and false problems within the feng shui tradition. Over the last 30+ years, when I’ve been practising feng shui professionally, I’ve received thousands of letters and emails from confused people asking me about feng shui. I could easily write a book based on false problems that feng shui can give the public.

The best way to deal with feng shui myths, superstitions, biases and false problems that feng shui can give you is to apply a very tested scientific method for sorting out what is true and what is false and that is the scientific method and research. There is not much scientific research into feng shui and the next best thing is to see if another discipline such as environmental psychology – which I’m trained in – has any answers or can offer some clarity on it. Below is a growing list of feng shui myths, superstitions and false problems and my scientific explanations and answers.

Feng shui superstitions. Do numbers have the power of your life?

Feng shui astrology
There is no evidence that astrology works. There are also many astrological systems that don’t overlap, which gives us a clue that it’s not a science. Anything evidence-based works universally. It looks like different astrological systems (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Vedic, Western, etc) were developed as an early way of defining human typology or personality types. If ever any systems seem to correlate to each other is a pure statistical coincidence. And if it seems to work at all – it’s a placebo effect in action or just a priming effect or confirmation bias (read below).

Studies have shown that we spend 24 per cent of our time thinking about the future, compared to just 5 per cent recalling the past (O’Mara, 2023). Anticipating the future is more important than learning from the past, hence the popularity of astrology and other divination systems.

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The Ultimate Feng Shui Master Algorithm. Feng Shui = Intention + Relationship + Ritual. Top Feng Shui ‘Recipe’ for Success and Solving Problems.

Theories about how feng shui works

There are many theories about how feng shui works, and I have at least half a dozen. My favourite, because it’s so simple and it covers all aspects of feng shui, boils down to this: feng shui = intention + relationship + ritual. If you’re a beginner feng shui enthusiast, this will give you a good initial understanding of how feng shui works.

Unlock the secret of feng shui with the master key algorithm

Other classical feng shui theories of how feng shui works include qi/chi, yin and yang, five elements, bagua, compass approaches, form schools, time aspects and so on, but, by the logic of chunking up or generalisation, they all fall into the category of intention, relationship and ritual, which to me is the ultimate master algorithm. Let me be very clear: I’m not against any type of feng shui. My goal as a feng shui researcher and environmental psychologist is to gather all the pieces of the feng shui puzzle, understand where and how they fit from multi-disciplinary perspectives, as well as be very mindful that none of the blind men can see the whole elephant and not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

“The grand aim of science is to cover the greatest number of experimental facts by logical deduction from the smallest number of hypotheses or axioms.” Albert Einstein

Does feng shui work?

Yes! But it all depends on the feng shui algorithm you use – or your assumptions if you like. In the same way, as “does a recipe for baking a cheesecake work?” it all depends on both the recipe and the way it is made. Even the worst cheesecake in the world, even if it’s inedible, is still a cheesecake – it’s just a bad cheesecake. Thinking about how feng shui works in terms of algorithms is a very useful and instructive way of understanding how feng shui works as well as deconstructing and decoding it.

Feng shui = intention + relationship + ritual

What is an algorithm?
An algorithm is a process or set of specific rules to be followed to solve problems (and calculations, especially by a computer). Algorithms are step-by-step instructions given to a computer when you also feed it with data. In short, an algorithm is a very specific and unambiguous recipe. To be factual, I’ve used the metaphor of a recipe as a starting point to get a general idea across. A ‘cooking recipe’ may not be exactly an algorithm because, quite often, a recipe doesn’t exactly specify the precise quantities, the order of the steps, etc. As experience shows, especially with new recipes, the outcome might be delicious or a mess. An algorithm always produces the same results if followed correctly in its context. And context is everything.

Machine learning algorithms are the future of humanity and are responsible for the future automation of every possible job. They’re behind all the technology you’re using, and they are getting better and better because of machine learning or AI. Algorithms can make deductions that human brains cannot. For example, it takes about 10,000 hours (10 years for about 3 hours/day) for an eye specialist to learn to diagnose eye disease with about 90% accuracy. An algorithm developed by researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London is 94% accurate at diagnosing common signs of eye disease, and it took less than one minute for the algorithm to learn that! Another algorithm developed by researchers in Los Angeles is 90% accurate at predicting suicides, and again, it took minutes to learn how to do it. There are machine learning algorithms that create new art and paintings and even whole films. Watch a video about master algorithm

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