Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Encyclopedia
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (often abbreviated as DMSMH) is a book by L. Ron Hubbard
which sets out self-improvement
techniques he developed, called Dianetics
. The book is also one of the canonical
texts of Scientology
. It is colloquially referred to as Book One. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and the book Scientology helped launch the religion in 1950, and are available in 32 languages.
In the best-selling self-help book, first published in 1950, Hubbard wrote that he had isolated the "dynamic principle of existence", which he states as "Survive", and presents his description of the human mind. He identifies the source of "human aberration" as the "reactive mind", a normally hidden but always conscious area of the mind, and certain cellular recordings
("engrams
") stored in it. Dianetics describes counseling (or "auditing
") techniques which Hubbard claimed would get rid of engrams and bring major therapeutic benefits.
The book was criticized by scientists and medical professionals, who charge that it presents these claims in superficially scientific language but without evidence. Despite this, the book proved a major commercial success on its publication, although B. Dalton
's officials state that these figures were inflated by Hubbard's Scientologist-controlled publisher, who had groups of Scientologists each purchase dozens or even hundreds of copies of Hubbard's books, and who sold these back to the same retailers.
was a prolific writer for pulp magazines. He attended George Washington University Engineering School, but did not graduate.
According to Hubbard, the ideas in Dianetics were developed over twelve years of research, although many of his friends at the time said this was entirely mythical. The first public outline of those ideas was an article in the pulp magazine
Astounding Science Fiction, titled "Dianetics: A new science of the mind" appearing a few weeks before the publication of the book but published in the May 1950 issue of the magazine, the same month the book was published; the book-length article was later published as the book Dianetics: the evolution of a science. This advance publicity generated so much interest that in April 1950, Hubbard and Astounding editor Joseph Campbell {with other interested parties established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. Hubbard claimed to have written Dianetics in three weeks. His writing speed was assisted by a special typewriter which accepted paper on a continuous roll and which had dedicated keys for common words like "the" or "but". An early version of the book Abnormal Dianetics, intended for the medical profession, was rejected by numerous publishers as well as the medical profession but was passed in mimeograph form from hand to hand and was later sold under the name Dianetics: The Original Thesis; the same book is published at present as The Dynamics of Life. Like other works by L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics: the modern science of mental health has been subject to continuous editing since its inception so that at present it hardly resembles the original 1950 edition.
spent decades looking for the engram and could not find any. According to Alexander Rosenberg
, no one really believes there are engrams. As of 2010, there is no hard scientific evidence to support the existence of the reactive mind or of engrams, though the basic concept of traumatic past experiences influencing present behaviour is widely accepted if not self-evident. Dianetics, in and of itself, thus presents nothing that was not already known to science in that area, while adding phenomena and functional systems that have no basis in fact. The very manner of 'scientific method' displayed by Hubbard in his works has indeed been called "anti-science", in that the claims made in the books are based not on peer-reviewed observation of phenomena, with its attendant blind testing, control groups etc, but rather on deciding a priori that a phenomenon exists – followed by an attempt to prove its validity.
In Dianetics, to explain the abilities of a Clear, Hubbard makes use of tropes and special idioms and draws the attention away by pointing to old colloquialisms as the "mind's eye". Hubbard uses such terms as "optimum recall", "optimum individual", "... What a Clear can do easily, quite a few people have, from time to time, been partially able to do in the past.", "... A clear uses imagination in its entirety.", "... Rationality, as divorced from aberration, can be studied in a Cleared person only", a Clear's intelligence is above normal, a Clear is free from all aberrations and the attributes of a Clear have never been previously included in a study of man and man's inherent abilities. After faithfully enumerating all kinds of goodies about Clear, Hubbard finally admits "... Until we obtain Clears, it remains obscure why such differences should exist" as if no Clear has ever been made or no Clear ever made it. L. Ron Hubbard was extremely apt and able in using these tropes to suit Dianetics presentation of a new reality.
In 1951, Consumer Report announced a one-month $500 course, based on the recently published Dianetics, open to anyone and intended to produce the Clear, the goal of Dianetic therapy. The Report on "a new cult" places Dianetics beyond the scope of medical practice.
According to Hubbard, the book Dianetics: the modern science of mental health follows the original line of research:
A) The discovery of the dynamic principle of existence and its meaning.
B) The discovery of the source of aberration: the reactive mind.
C) Therapy and its application.
Hubbard leaves out all the basic philosophy.
Dianetics purports to reveal revolutionary discoveries about the source of psychosomatic illness, neuroses and other mental ailments, as well as an exact, infallible way of permanently curing them. Hubbard divides the human mind into an "analytic mind" which supposedly functions perfectly, and a "reactive mind" which is incapable of thinking or making distinctions. When the analytic mind is unconscious, the reactive mind physically records memories called "engrams
". As a result of all stimuli it receives, the Reactive Mind is one mass of engrams, feeding the otherwise perfect Analytical Mind incorrect data. Misinterpretation of these Reactive Mind engrams by the analytical mind causes damage later in life. Actually, these engrams cause compulsions and repressions in later life. According to Hubbard, a person is affected in later life by the unconscious effects of these engrams. By a process called "Dianetic auditing", the book promises, people can achieve a superhuman state called "Clear" with superior IQ, morally pure intentions and greatly improved mental and physical health. In August 1950, Hubbard predicted that Clears would become the world's new aristocracy
, although he admitted that he had not achieved the state himself. In welcoming expectancy, the Theosophist Magazine compares the Dianetic engram to the Theosophic permanent atom as these atoms receive and retransmit impressions received life after life so that as the ego descends to a new birth, the new incarnation receives the stored impressions of engrams from previous lives. As the appearance of a new science, it was not so explicitly stated in DMSMH but eventually, Hubbard would go into the exploration of past lives with Dianetics.
A) The dynamic principle of existence:
Survive!
According to Hubbard, the basic discovery is not that man survives, but that he is solely motivated by survival.
B) The single source of aberration:
The Reactive Mind
According to Hubbard, the Reactive Mind works solely on a stimulus-response basis and it stores not memories but engrams.
In Dianetics, Hubbard mentions the post-hypnotic suggestion. This phenomenon of the post-hypnotic suggestion was described as far back as 1787. The development of Dynamic psychiatry
dates back to the encounter between the physician Mesmer and the exorcist Johann Joseph Gassner
. According to followers of the school of Dynamic Psychiatry, the advent of hypnotism signaled the discovery of the unconscious. At the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, where he was being treated for ulcers, Hubbard studied hypnosis, psychological theory and other similar subjects; Hubbard was quite adept at hypnotism. According to Hubbard, it was trying to find what makes hypnotism such a wide variable that led to the discovery of the Reactive Mind. Dr. Roy Grinker and Dr. John Spiegel developed Narcosynthesis which was widely used by psychiatrists in World War II. In the book Dianetics Hubbard mentions Narcosynthesis or drug-hypnosis. However, Hubbard states that the technique of drug-hypnosis has been known for ages, both in ancient Greece and in the Orient. The technique of narcosynthesis is not used in Dianetics even though Hubbard may have been trained in it while in Naval Intelligence. A shot of sodium pentothal is administered as a truth serum
. The technique is described on page 150 of the 2007 edition of Dianetics: the modern science of mental health.
C) Therapy and its application
The medical establishment completely rejected the new "science" for lack of experimental proof. Dianetics has never passed the science bar with flying colors. In 1953, Harvey Jay Fischer wrote the report Dianetic Therapy: an experimental evaluation concluding that "... Dianetic does not systematically favorably or adversely influence the ability to perform" either intellectually, mathematically or resolving personality conflicts. According to Hubbard's son, DMSMH is not the result of any research whatsoever but a man's obsession with abortion and other phenomena of the unconscious, specially the occult and black magic. There is an entire chapter in DMSMH devoted to demonology
. To maintain the "scientific" appearance of DMSMH, Hubbard decries the belief in demons. In DMSMH, demons are explained as electronic circuits. However, in Hubbard's later writings, entities begin to appear that possess man's physical body. These entities are spirits which Hubbard calls "thetans". What Hubbard does assert is that demonology is good business. A person is a thetan but the person's physical body is possessed by thetans called body thetans. To be spiritually free, a person would have to audit out all those other thetans in the body and that would take a great deal of time and a great deal of money.
In advising the auditor to be uncommunicative, Hubbard was divorcing Dianetics from other psycho-therapies, as in psychoanalysis, where the therapist most obstinately offers a personal interpretation of what is happening in the patient's mind.
Harvey Jackins
said of Dianetics therapy: "... The results have been nearly uniform and positive. Apparently, the auditor (listener or therapist) can be very forthright and direct in seeking out the past traumatic experiences which are continuing to mar the rationality and well being of the person. Once located, the exhaustion of the distress and re-evaluation of the experience apparently leads uniformly to dramatic improvement in ability, emotional tone and well-being."
Hubbard considered that to maintain silence around unconscious or injured persons is of the utmost importance in the prevention of aberration. After the publication of DMSMH, Hubbard moved to Cuba
. There, the signs in every hospital zone are still prominently displayed: Hospital Silence. In a letter dated December 7, 1950, Ernest Hemingway's son Greg writes to his father mentioning that the publisher of Dianetics is coming down to Cuba to present Ernest with a copy in earnest. Hemingway's son's girlfriend is the publisher's daughter; Greg himself is working at the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. On December 14, Hemingway answered: "... The Dianetics king never sent the book so I bought one, but Miss Nita borrowed it and it is still outside of the joint. So have not been able to practice jumping back into the womb or any of those popular New York indoor sports and have to just continue to write them as I see them."
According to Martin Gardner
, the workability of Dianetics lies in the field of faith healing
as most neurotics will react positively to something they have faith in. There is nothing extraordinary about Dianetics case histories as it is something quite common in faith healing.
Finally, Hubbard gives fair warning to those who attempt to self-audit his DIY (do-it-yourself) Dianetic process. It cannot be done, says Hubbard, because every engram contains analytical attenuation. It is better to learn to audit the technique and apply it to others. Anyone engaged in self-auditing will only succeed in getting sick. However, in later developments of technique application Hubbard would develop "Solo Auditing" where auditor and pre-clear are one and the same except that in the procedure as always Hubbard would be obeyed to the letter. In Dianetics and Scientology, self-auditing always carries a bad connotation while solo auditing does not. As usual, Hubbard's particular use of nomenclature would win the day.
-based publisher of psychiatric
textbooks whose president, Arthur Ceppos, was also on the Board of Directors of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. The book became a nationwide bestseller
, selling over 150,000 copies within a year. Due to the interest generated, a multitude of "Dianetics clubs" and similar organizations were formed for the purpose of applying Dianetics techniques. Hubbard himself established a nationwide network of Dianetic Research Foundations, offering Dianetics training and processing for a fee. Dianetics blossomed into a national fad and was then denounced by psychologists.
The original edition of the book included an introduction by J. A. Winter, M.D., who became the first medical director of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, an appendix on "The Philosophic Method" by Will Durant
(reprinted from The Story of Philosophy, 1926), another on "The Scientific Method" by John W. Campbell
and a third appendix by Donald H. Rogers. These contributions are omitted from editions of Dianetics published since about the start of the 1980s.
passed a resolution in 1950 stating of Dianetics "the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical
evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific generalizations."
Despite a couple of favourable reviews from medical doctors, Dianetics has had very hostile reviews from many, or almost all, sources. An early review in The New Republic
summed up the book as "a bold and immodest mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long-acknowledged findings and disguised and distorted by a crazy, newly invented terminology" and warned of medical risks: "it may prove fatal to have put too much trust in the promises of this dangerous book." Frederick L. Schuman
, political science professor at Williams College
in Williamstown, Massachusetts
became an ardent follower of Dianetics and wrote indignant letters to those who reviewed Dianetics adversely including the New Republic and the New York Times. Professor Schuman wrote a favorable article on Dianetics in the April 1951 issue of Better Homes and Gardens
.
Reviewing the book for Scientific American
in 1951, physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi
criticised the lack of either evidence or qualification, saying it "probably contains more promises and less evidence per page than has any publication since the invention of printing." An editorial in Clinical Medicine summarised the book as "a rumination of old psychological concepts, (...) misunderstood and misinterpreted and at the same time adorned with the halo of the philosopher's stone and of an universal remedy," which had initiated "a new system of quackery of apparently considerable dimensions." According to Consumer Reports
, the book over-extends scientific and cybernetic metaphors, and lacks the needed case reports, experimental replication
and statistical data to back up its bold claims. Both Consumer Reports and Clinical Medicine also warned of the danger that the book would inspire unqualified people to harmfully intervene in others' mental problems.
These warnings were echoed by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm
, who contrasted the sophistication of Freud's
theories with the "oversimplified" and "propagandistic" ideas offered by Dianetics. The latter's extremely mechanistic view of the mind had no need for human values, conscience or any authority other than Hubbard himself. A similar point was made by psychologist Rollo May
in the New York Times, arguing that Dianetics unwittingly illustrates the fallacy of trying to understand human nature by invariant mathematical models taken from mechanics.
A review by semantics expert S. I. Hayakawa
described Dianetics as an example of fiction-science, meaning that it borrows several linguistic techniques from science fiction
to make fanciful claims seem plausible. Science fiction, he explained, relies on vividly conveying imaginary entities such as Martian
s and raygun
s as though they were commonplace. Hubbard was doing this with his fantastic "discoveries", perhaps fooling even himself.
Science writer Martin Gardner
criticised the book's "repetitious, immature style" likening it to the grand pseudoscientific pronouncements of Wilhelm Reich
. "Nothing in the book remotely resembles a scientific report," he wrote.
Aleksei Shliapov, a columnist at the Russian paper Izvestiia, said about Dianetics, "I think that our politicians should acquaint themselves with this book, since here is, as it were, a technology for how to become popular, how to acquire influence among the masses without having to appear a significant personality."
More recently, the book has been described by Salon.com
as "a fantastically dull, terribly written, crackpot rant," which covers a lack of credible evidence with mere insistence
and The Daily Telegraph
called it a "creepy bit of mind-mechanics" which would cause rather than cure depression.
Hubbard has been considered homophobic because of passages in Dianetics where homosexuality is considered mental illness. Besides the homosexual as sexual pervert, Hubbard also includes things such as lesbianism, sexual sadism and all the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing as being actually "quite ill physically".
Current editions are published by Bridge Publications
, a Church-owned imprint
. Over twenty million copies have been sold, according to the cover of the latest paperback books. The following statement is included on the copyright page of all editions: "This book is part of the works of L. Ron Hubbard, who developed Dianetics spiritual healing technology and Scientology applied religious philosophy. It is presented to the reader as a record of observations and research into the nature of mind and spirit, and not a statement of claims made by the author..."
According to Bridge Publications, 83 million copies of Dianetics were sold in the forty years after publication. According to Nielsen BookScan
, the book has sold 52,000 copies between 2001 and 2005. The book has been very aggressively marketed, often in ways that are unusual for the book industry, for instance appearing as one of the twelve sponsors of the Goodwill Games
under a $4 million agreement between Bridge Publications and Turner Broadcasting System
. Bridge Publications also sponsors NASCAR
racer and Scientologist Kenton Gray, who races as the "Dianetics Racing Team" and whose No. 27 Ford Taurus is decorated with Dianetics logos.
Various sources allege that the book's continued sales have been manipulated by the Church of Scientology and its related organizations ordering followers to buy up new editions to boost sales figures. According to a Los Angeles Times
exposé published in 1990, "sales of Hubbard's books apparently got an extra boost from Scientology followers and employees of the publishing firm [Bridge Publications]. Showing up at major book outlets like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, they purchased armloads of Hubbard's works, according to former employees." Members are asked to contribute by placing Dianetics in public libraries. However, Dianetics was not added to the collection of the Brooklyn Public Library
on the basis of a negative review.
Scientologists regard the publication of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health as a key historical event for their movement and the world, and refer to the book as "Book One." In Scientology, years are numbered relative to the first publication of the book: 1990, for example, being "40 AD" (After Dianetics). The book is promoted as "a milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and the arch".
Dianetics is still heavily promoted today by the Church of Scientology and has been advertised widely on television and in print. Indeed, it has been alleged that the Church has asked its members to purchase large quantities of the book with their own money, or with money supplied by the Church, for the sole purpose of keeping the book on the New York Times Best Seller list
. Hubbard described the book as a key asset for getting people in Scientology:
The Church of Scientology has been explicit about using Dianetics' sponsorship of the Goodwill Games
to boost Scientology membership. The Church's internal journal for Scientologists, International Scientology News, has stated that
, Australia, measured 33 m (100 ft) wide and 10 m (30 ft) high and depicted an erupting volcano with "non-toxic smoke". Hubbard told his marketing staff that this imagery would make the books irresistible to purchasers by reactivating unconscious memories.
According to Hubbard, the volcano recalls the incident in which galactic overlord Xenu
placed billions of his people around Earth's volcanoes and killed them there by blowing them up with hydrogen bombs. A representative of the Church of Scientology has confirmed in court that the Dianetics volcano is indeed linked with the "catastrophe" wrought by Xenu.
Bent Corydon, a former Scientology mission holder, recounted that
The script for the unmade film Revolt in the Sky written by L. Ron Hubbard reads: "... Atomic blasts ballooned from the craters of Loa, Vesuvius, Shasta, Washington, Fujiyama, Etna and many, many others. Arching higher and higher, up and outwards, towering clouds mushroomed, shot through with flashes of flame, waste and fission. Great winds raced simultaneously across the face of the Earth, spreading tales of destruction."
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
which sets out self-improvement
Self-help
Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
techniques he developed, called Dianetics
Dianetics
Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that was invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced by followers of Scientology...
. The book is also one of the canonical
Canonical
Canonical is an adjective derived from canon. Canon comes from the greek word κανών kanon, "rule" or "measuring stick" , and is used in various meanings....
texts of Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
. It is colloquially referred to as Book One. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and the book Scientology helped launch the religion in 1950, and are available in 32 languages.
In the best-selling self-help book, first published in 1950, Hubbard wrote that he had isolated the "dynamic principle of existence", which he states as "Survive", and presents his description of the human mind. He identifies the source of "human aberration" as the "reactive mind", a normally hidden but always conscious area of the mind, and certain cellular recordings
Electrophysiology
Electrophysiology is the study of the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage change or electric current on a wide variety of scales from single ion channel proteins to whole organs like the heart...
("engrams
Engram (Dianetics)
In Dianetics and Scientology, an engram is defined as "a mental image picture which is a recording of an experience containing pain, unconsciousness and a real or fancied threat to survival. It is a recording in the reactive mind of something which actually happened to an individual in the past and...
") stored in it. Dianetics describes counseling (or "auditing
Auditing (Scientology)
Auditing was developed by L. Ron Hubbard, and is described by the Church of Scientology as "spiritual counseling which is the central practice of Dianetics and Scientology".-Description:...
") techniques which Hubbard claimed would get rid of engrams and bring major therapeutic benefits.
The book was criticized by scientists and medical professionals, who charge that it presents these claims in superficially scientific language but without evidence. Despite this, the book proved a major commercial success on its publication, although B. Dalton
B. Dalton
B. Dalton Bookseller was an American retail bookstore chain founded in 1966 by the Dayton's department store chain. Located primarily in shopping malls, B. Dalton competed primarily with Waldenbooks, and operated 798 stores at its peak...
's officials state that these figures were inflated by Hubbard's Scientologist-controlled publisher, who had groups of Scientologists each purchase dozens or even hundreds of copies of Hubbard's books, and who sold these back to the same retailers.
Background
Before the publication of Dianetics, L. Ron HubbardL. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
was a prolific writer for pulp magazines. He attended George Washington University Engineering School, but did not graduate.
According to Hubbard, the ideas in Dianetics were developed over twelve years of research, although many of his friends at the time said this was entirely mythical. The first public outline of those ideas was an article in the pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Astounding Science Fiction, titled "Dianetics: A new science of the mind" appearing a few weeks before the publication of the book but published in the May 1950 issue of the magazine, the same month the book was published; the book-length article was later published as the book Dianetics: the evolution of a science. This advance publicity generated so much interest that in April 1950, Hubbard and Astounding editor Joseph Campbell {with other interested parties established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. Hubbard claimed to have written Dianetics in three weeks. His writing speed was assisted by a special typewriter which accepted paper on a continuous roll and which had dedicated keys for common words like "the" or "but". An early version of the book Abnormal Dianetics, intended for the medical profession, was rejected by numerous publishers as well as the medical profession but was passed in mimeograph form from hand to hand and was later sold under the name Dianetics: The Original Thesis; the same book is published at present as The Dynamics of Life. Like other works by L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics: the modern science of mental health has been subject to continuous editing since its inception so that at present it hardly resembles the original 1950 edition.
Content
In the section "How to Read this Book", L. Ron Hubbard suggests to read right on through. An "Important Note" appeared in later editions of the book advising the reader to understand every word read. In the book, Hubbard uses two different and contradictory definitions for the word "engram". In Book One, the Goal of Man, chapter 5, summary, Hubbard states the Fundamental Axioms of Dianetics, among which is "... The engram is a moment of 'unconsciousness' containing physical pain or painful emotion and all perceptions and is not available to the analytical mind as experience." Later in the text, Hubbard writes of the engram in a footnote on page 74 of Book Two, chapter two, of the 2007 edition of Dianetics: the modern science of mental health. The footnote reads: "... The word engram in Dianetics is used in its severely accurate sense as a 'definite and permanent trace left by a stimulus on the protoplasm of a tissue'. It is considered as a unit group of stimuli impinged solely on the cellular being." In other words, Hubbard takes a definition previously debunked by biology and calls it a Dianetics definition. Karl LashleyKarl Lashley
-External links:*...
spent decades looking for the engram and could not find any. According to Alexander Rosenberg
Alexander Rosenberg
Alexander Rosenberg is an American philosopher, and the R. Taylor Cole Professor of Philosophy at Duke University.Rosenberg was educated at Stuyvesant High School, the City College of New York and Johns Hopkins University...
, no one really believes there are engrams. As of 2010, there is no hard scientific evidence to support the existence of the reactive mind or of engrams, though the basic concept of traumatic past experiences influencing present behaviour is widely accepted if not self-evident. Dianetics, in and of itself, thus presents nothing that was not already known to science in that area, while adding phenomena and functional systems that have no basis in fact. The very manner of 'scientific method' displayed by Hubbard in his works has indeed been called "anti-science", in that the claims made in the books are based not on peer-reviewed observation of phenomena, with its attendant blind testing, control groups etc, but rather on deciding a priori that a phenomenon exists – followed by an attempt to prove its validity.
In Dianetics, to explain the abilities of a Clear, Hubbard makes use of tropes and special idioms and draws the attention away by pointing to old colloquialisms as the "mind's eye". Hubbard uses such terms as "optimum recall", "optimum individual", "... What a Clear can do easily, quite a few people have, from time to time, been partially able to do in the past.", "... A clear uses imagination in its entirety.", "... Rationality, as divorced from aberration, can be studied in a Cleared person only", a Clear's intelligence is above normal, a Clear is free from all aberrations and the attributes of a Clear have never been previously included in a study of man and man's inherent abilities. After faithfully enumerating all kinds of goodies about Clear, Hubbard finally admits "... Until we obtain Clears, it remains obscure why such differences should exist" as if no Clear has ever been made or no Clear ever made it. L. Ron Hubbard was extremely apt and able in using these tropes to suit Dianetics presentation of a new reality.
In 1951, Consumer Report announced a one-month $500 course, based on the recently published Dianetics, open to anyone and intended to produce the Clear, the goal of Dianetic therapy. The Report on "a new cult" places Dianetics beyond the scope of medical practice.
According to Hubbard, the book Dianetics: the modern science of mental health follows the original line of research:
A) The discovery of the dynamic principle of existence and its meaning.
B) The discovery of the source of aberration: the reactive mind.
C) Therapy and its application.
Hubbard leaves out all the basic philosophy.
Dianetics purports to reveal revolutionary discoveries about the source of psychosomatic illness, neuroses and other mental ailments, as well as an exact, infallible way of permanently curing them. Hubbard divides the human mind into an "analytic mind" which supposedly functions perfectly, and a "reactive mind" which is incapable of thinking or making distinctions. When the analytic mind is unconscious, the reactive mind physically records memories called "engrams
Engram (Dianetics)
In Dianetics and Scientology, an engram is defined as "a mental image picture which is a recording of an experience containing pain, unconsciousness and a real or fancied threat to survival. It is a recording in the reactive mind of something which actually happened to an individual in the past and...
". As a result of all stimuli it receives, the Reactive Mind is one mass of engrams, feeding the otherwise perfect Analytical Mind incorrect data. Misinterpretation of these Reactive Mind engrams by the analytical mind causes damage later in life. Actually, these engrams cause compulsions and repressions in later life. According to Hubbard, a person is affected in later life by the unconscious effects of these engrams. By a process called "Dianetic auditing", the book promises, people can achieve a superhuman state called "Clear" with superior IQ, morally pure intentions and greatly improved mental and physical health. In August 1950, Hubbard predicted that Clears would become the world's new aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
, although he admitted that he had not achieved the state himself. In welcoming expectancy, the Theosophist Magazine compares the Dianetic engram to the Theosophic permanent atom as these atoms receive and retransmit impressions received life after life so that as the ego descends to a new birth, the new incarnation receives the stored impressions of engrams from previous lives. As the appearance of a new science, it was not so explicitly stated in DMSMH but eventually, Hubbard would go into the exploration of past lives with Dianetics.
A) The dynamic principle of existence:
Survive!
According to Hubbard, the basic discovery is not that man survives, but that he is solely motivated by survival.
B) The single source of aberration:
The Reactive Mind
According to Hubbard, the Reactive Mind works solely on a stimulus-response basis and it stores not memories but engrams.
In Dianetics, Hubbard mentions the post-hypnotic suggestion. This phenomenon of the post-hypnotic suggestion was described as far back as 1787. The development of Dynamic psychiatry
Dynamic psychiatry
Dynamic psychiatry is that which is based on the study of emotional processes, their origins, and the mental mechanisms underlying them, rather than observable behavioral phenomena, in contrast with descriptive psychiatry which is based on the study of observable symptoms and behavioral phenomena...
dates back to the encounter between the physician Mesmer and the exorcist Johann Joseph Gassner
Johann Joseph Gassner
Johann Joseph Gassner was a noted exorcist.While a Catholic priest at Klösterle he gained a wide celebrity by professing to "cast out devils" and to work cures on the sick by means simply of prayer; he was attacked as an impostor, but the bishop of Regensburg, who believed in his honesty,...
. According to followers of the school of Dynamic Psychiatry, the advent of hypnotism signaled the discovery of the unconscious. At the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, where he was being treated for ulcers, Hubbard studied hypnosis, psychological theory and other similar subjects; Hubbard was quite adept at hypnotism. According to Hubbard, it was trying to find what makes hypnotism such a wide variable that led to the discovery of the Reactive Mind. Dr. Roy Grinker and Dr. John Spiegel developed Narcosynthesis which was widely used by psychiatrists in World War II. In the book Dianetics Hubbard mentions Narcosynthesis or drug-hypnosis. However, Hubbard states that the technique of drug-hypnosis has been known for ages, both in ancient Greece and in the Orient. The technique of narcosynthesis is not used in Dianetics even though Hubbard may have been trained in it while in Naval Intelligence. A shot of sodium pentothal is administered as a truth serum
Truth Serum
Truth Serum is an independent comic book series created, written and drawn by author Jon Adams.-Overview:Originally published as a mini comic in 2001 and given away for free, it appeared as a three-issue mini series published by Slave Labor Graphics in 2002...
. The technique is described on page 150 of the 2007 edition of Dianetics: the modern science of mental health.
C) Therapy and its application
The medical establishment completely rejected the new "science" for lack of experimental proof. Dianetics has never passed the science bar with flying colors. In 1953, Harvey Jay Fischer wrote the report Dianetic Therapy: an experimental evaluation concluding that "... Dianetic does not systematically favorably or adversely influence the ability to perform" either intellectually, mathematically or resolving personality conflicts. According to Hubbard's son, DMSMH is not the result of any research whatsoever but a man's obsession with abortion and other phenomena of the unconscious, specially the occult and black magic. There is an entire chapter in DMSMH devoted to demonology
Demonology
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent...
. To maintain the "scientific" appearance of DMSMH, Hubbard decries the belief in demons. In DMSMH, demons are explained as electronic circuits. However, in Hubbard's later writings, entities begin to appear that possess man's physical body. These entities are spirits which Hubbard calls "thetans". What Hubbard does assert is that demonology is good business. A person is a thetan but the person's physical body is possessed by thetans called body thetans. To be spiritually free, a person would have to audit out all those other thetans in the body and that would take a great deal of time and a great deal of money.
In advising the auditor to be uncommunicative, Hubbard was divorcing Dianetics from other psycho-therapies, as in psychoanalysis, where the therapist most obstinately offers a personal interpretation of what is happening in the patient's mind.
Harvey Jackins
Harvey Jackins
Carl Harvey Jackins was the founder, leader and principal theorist of Re-evaluation Counseling .-Early life:Jackins was born in Northern Idaho on June 28, 1916....
said of Dianetics therapy: "... The results have been nearly uniform and positive. Apparently, the auditor (listener or therapist) can be very forthright and direct in seeking out the past traumatic experiences which are continuing to mar the rationality and well being of the person. Once located, the exhaustion of the distress and re-evaluation of the experience apparently leads uniformly to dramatic improvement in ability, emotional tone and well-being."
Hubbard considered that to maintain silence around unconscious or injured persons is of the utmost importance in the prevention of aberration. After the publication of DMSMH, Hubbard moved to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. There, the signs in every hospital zone are still prominently displayed: Hospital Silence. In a letter dated December 7, 1950, Ernest Hemingway's son Greg writes to his father mentioning that the publisher of Dianetics is coming down to Cuba to present Ernest with a copy in earnest. Hemingway's son's girlfriend is the publisher's daughter; Greg himself is working at the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. On December 14, Hemingway answered: "... The Dianetics king never sent the book so I bought one, but Miss Nita borrowed it and it is still outside of the joint. So have not been able to practice jumping back into the womb or any of those popular New York indoor sports and have to just continue to write them as I see them."
According to Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
, the workability of Dianetics lies in the field of faith healing
Faith healing
Faith healing is healing through spiritual means. The healing of a person is brought about by religious faith through prayer and/or rituals that, according to adherents, stimulate a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...
as most neurotics will react positively to something they have faith in. There is nothing extraordinary about Dianetics case histories as it is something quite common in faith healing.
Finally, Hubbard gives fair warning to those who attempt to self-audit his DIY (do-it-yourself) Dianetic process. It cannot be done, says Hubbard, because every engram contains analytical attenuation. It is better to learn to audit the technique and apply it to others. Anyone engaged in self-auditing will only succeed in getting sick. However, in later developments of technique application Hubbard would develop "Solo Auditing" where auditor and pre-clear are one and the same except that in the procedure as always Hubbard would be obeyed to the letter. In Dianetics and Scientology, self-auditing always carries a bad connotation while solo auditing does not. As usual, Hubbard's particular use of nomenclature would win the day.
Initial publication
Dianetics was first published May 9, 1950 by Hermitage House, at One Madison Ave., a New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-based publisher of psychiatric
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
textbooks whose president, Arthur Ceppos, was also on the Board of Directors of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. The book became a nationwide bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
, selling over 150,000 copies within a year. Due to the interest generated, a multitude of "Dianetics clubs" and similar organizations were formed for the purpose of applying Dianetics techniques. Hubbard himself established a nationwide network of Dianetic Research Foundations, offering Dianetics training and processing for a fee. Dianetics blossomed into a national fad and was then denounced by psychologists.
The original edition of the book included an introduction by J. A. Winter, M.D., who became the first medical director of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, an appendix on "The Philosophic Method" by Will Durant
Will Durant
William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975...
(reprinted from The Story of Philosophy, 1926), another on "The Scientific Method" by John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
and a third appendix by Donald H. Rogers. These contributions are omitted from editions of Dianetics published since about the start of the 1980s.
Reception
Although it received an initial positive public response, Dianetics was strongly criticized by scientists and medical professionals for its scientific deficiencies. The American Psychological AssociationAmerican Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
passed a resolution in 1950 stating of Dianetics "the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical
Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific generalizations."
Despite a couple of favourable reviews from medical doctors, Dianetics has had very hostile reviews from many, or almost all, sources. An early review in The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
summed up the book as "a bold and immodest mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long-acknowledged findings and disguised and distorted by a crazy, newly invented terminology" and warned of medical risks: "it may prove fatal to have put too much trust in the promises of this dangerous book." Frederick L. Schuman
Frederick L. Schuman
Frederick Lewis Schuman , was a historian, an American political scientist and international relations scholar. He was a professor of history at Williams College, an analyst of international relations, and social scientist, focusing on the period between World War I and World War II.-Publications: ...
, political science professor at Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
in Williamstown, Massachusetts
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,754 at the 2010 census...
became an ardent follower of Dianetics and wrote indignant letters to those who reviewed Dianetics adversely including the New Republic and the New York Times. Professor Schuman wrote a favorable article on Dianetics in the April 1951 issue of Better Homes and Gardens
Better Homes and Gardens (magazine)
Better Homes and Gardens is the fourth best selling magazine in the United States. The editor in Chief is Gayle Butler. Better Homes and Gardens focuses on interests regarding homes, cooking, gardening, crafts, healthy living, decorating, and entertaining. The magazine is published 12 times per...
.
Reviewing the book for Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
in 1951, physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi
Isidor Isaac Rabi
Isidor Isaac Rabi was a Galician-born American physicist and Nobel laureate recognized in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance.-Early years:...
criticised the lack of either evidence or qualification, saying it "probably contains more promises and less evidence per page than has any publication since the invention of printing." An editorial in Clinical Medicine summarised the book as "a rumination of old psychological concepts, (...) misunderstood and misinterpreted and at the same time adorned with the halo of the philosopher's stone and of an universal remedy," which had initiated "a new system of quackery of apparently considerable dimensions." According to Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
, the book over-extends scientific and cybernetic metaphors, and lacks the needed case reports, experimental replication
Reproducibility
Reproducibility is the ability of an experiment or study to be accurately reproduced, or replicated, by someone else working independently...
and statistical data to back up its bold claims. Both Consumer Reports and Clinical Medicine also warned of the danger that the book would inspire unqualified people to harmfully intervene in others' mental problems.
These warnings were echoed by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm
Erich Seligmann Fromm was a Jewish German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with what became known as the Frankfurt School of critical theory.-Life:Erich Fromm was born on March 23, 1900, at Frankfurt am...
, who contrasted the sophistication of Freud's
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
theories with the "oversimplified" and "propagandistic" ideas offered by Dianetics. The latter's extremely mechanistic view of the mind had no need for human values, conscience or any authority other than Hubbard himself. A similar point was made by psychologist Rollo May
Rollo May
Rollo May was an American existential psychologist. He authored the influential book Love and Will during 1969. He is often associated with both humanistic psychology and existentialist philosophy. May was a close friend of the theologian Paul Tillich...
in the New York Times, arguing that Dianetics unwittingly illustrates the fallacy of trying to understand human nature by invariant mathematical models taken from mechanics.
A review by semantics expert S. I. Hayakawa
S. I. Hayakawa
Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa was a Canadian-born American academic and political figure of Japanese ancestry. He was an English professor, and served as president of San Francisco State University and then as United States Senator from California from 1977 to 1983...
described Dianetics as an example of fiction-science, meaning that it borrows several linguistic techniques from science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
to make fanciful claims seem plausible. Science fiction, he explained, relies on vividly conveying imaginary entities such as Martian
Martian
As an adjective, the term martian is used to describe anything pertaining to the planet Mars.However, a Martian is more usually a hypothetical or fictional native inhabitant of the planet Mars. Historically, life on Mars has often been hypothesized, although there is currently no solid evidence of...
s and raygun
Raygun
Rayguns are a type of fictional directed-energy weapon. They have various alternate names: ray gun, death ray, beam gun, blaster, laser gun, phaser, etc. They are a well-known feature of science fiction; for such stories they typically have the general function of guns...
s as though they were commonplace. Hubbard was doing this with his fantastic "discoveries", perhaps fooling even himself.
Science writer Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
criticised the book's "repetitious, immature style" likening it to the grand pseudoscientific pronouncements of Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
. "Nothing in the book remotely resembles a scientific report," he wrote.
Aleksei Shliapov, a columnist at the Russian paper Izvestiia, said about Dianetics, "I think that our politicians should acquaint themselves with this book, since here is, as it were, a technology for how to become popular, how to acquire influence among the masses without having to appear a significant personality."
More recently, the book has been described by Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
as "a fantastically dull, terribly written, crackpot rant," which covers a lack of credible evidence with mere insistence
and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
called it a "creepy bit of mind-mechanics" which would cause rather than cure depression.
Hubbard has been considered homophobic because of passages in Dianetics where homosexuality is considered mental illness. Besides the homosexual as sexual pervert, Hubbard also includes things such as lesbianism, sexual sadism and all the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing as being actually "quite ill physically".
Publication history
It is unclear how many editions there have been, but at least 60 printings are said to have been issued by 1988, almost all having been printed by the Church of Scientology and its related organizations.Current editions are published by Bridge Publications
Bridge Publications (Scientology)
Bridge Publications, Inc. is a Californian 501 non-profit corporation. It is based in Los Angeles, California, and is the Church of Scientology's North American publishing corporation. It publishes the Scientology and nonfiction works of L. Ron Hubbard...
, a Church-owned imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
. Over twenty million copies have been sold, according to the cover of the latest paperback books. The following statement is included on the copyright page of all editions: "This book is part of the works of L. Ron Hubbard, who developed Dianetics spiritual healing technology and Scientology applied religious philosophy. It is presented to the reader as a record of observations and research into the nature of mind and spirit, and not a statement of claims made by the author..."
According to Bridge Publications, 83 million copies of Dianetics were sold in the forty years after publication. According to Nielsen BookScan
Nielsen BookScan
Nielsen BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry, owned by the Nielsen Company. BookScan compiles point of sale data for book sales.-History:...
, the book has sold 52,000 copies between 2001 and 2005. The book has been very aggressively marketed, often in ways that are unusual for the book industry, for instance appearing as one of the twelve sponsors of the Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
under a $4 million agreement between Bridge Publications and Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
. Bridge Publications also sponsors NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
racer and Scientologist Kenton Gray, who races as the "Dianetics Racing Team" and whose No. 27 Ford Taurus is decorated with Dianetics logos.
Various sources allege that the book's continued sales have been manipulated by the Church of Scientology and its related organizations ordering followers to buy up new editions to boost sales figures. According to a Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
exposé published in 1990, "sales of Hubbard's books apparently got an extra boost from Scientology followers and employees of the publishing firm [Bridge Publications]. Showing up at major book outlets like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, they purchased armloads of Hubbard's works, according to former employees." Members are asked to contribute by placing Dianetics in public libraries. However, Dianetics was not added to the collection of the Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library
The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is the fifth largest public library system in the United States. Like the two other public library systems in New York City, it is an independent nonprofit organization that is funded by the...
on the basis of a negative review.
Role in Scientology
Dianetics is still heavily promoted today by the Church of Scientology and has been advertised widely on television and in print. Indeed, it has been alleged that the Church has asked its members to purchase large quantities of the book with their own money, or with money supplied by the Church, for the sole purpose of keeping the book on the New York Times Best Seller list
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
. Hubbard described the book as a key asset for getting people in Scientology:
- People who had read Book One and wanted Dianetics, when delivered enough Book One auditing, training or co-auditing, then started to reach for Scn [Scientology] services. Given sufficient quantity and quality of Book One, these people naturally started to WANT and reach for Scn services!
The Church of Scientology has been explicit about using Dianetics' sponsorship of the Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
to boost Scientology membership. The Church's internal journal for Scientologists, International Scientology News, has stated that
- In order to create an enormous international impact, Dianetics has become a major sponsor of the upcoming Goodwill Games... All these dissemination actions are being done with the sole purpose of getting more and more people introduced to LRH's TECH so they will go into orgs [Scientology properties] and rapidly move up The Bridge to Total FreedomThe Bridge to Total FreedomAccording to sources, a Scientologist moves up The Bridge to Total Freedom, or simply "The Bridge", to a state of Clear when they have freed themselves from their "reactive mind". Purportedly , this takes place beyond training sessions in Church of Scientology auditing, and is said to be a lifetime...
[advancing through Scientology's levels].
Cover imagery
Dianetics uses the image of an exploding volcano, both on the covers of post-1967 editions, and in advertising. A giant billboard built in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia, measured 33 m (100 ft) wide and 10 m (30 ft) high and depicted an erupting volcano with "non-toxic smoke". Hubbard told his marketing staff that this imagery would make the books irresistible to purchasers by reactivating unconscious memories.
According to Hubbard, the volcano recalls the incident in which galactic overlord Xenu
Xenu
Xenu ,also spelled Xemu, was, according to the founder of Scientology L. Ron Hubbard, the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs...
placed billions of his people around Earth's volcanoes and killed them there by blowing them up with hydrogen bombs. A representative of the Church of Scientology has confirmed in court that the Dianetics volcano is indeed linked with the "catastrophe" wrought by Xenu.
Bent Corydon, a former Scientology mission holder, recounted that
- A special "Book Mission" was sent out to promote these books, now empowered and made irresistible by the addition of these supposedly overwhelming symbols or images. Organization staff were assured that if they simply held up one of the books, revealing its cover, that any bookstore owner would immediately order crateloads of them. A customs officer, seeing any of the book covers in one's luggage, would immediately pass one on through.
The script for the unmade film Revolt in the Sky written by L. Ron Hubbard reads: "... Atomic blasts ballooned from the craters of Loa, Vesuvius, Shasta, Washington, Fujiyama, Etna and many, many others. Arching higher and higher, up and outwards, towering clouds mushroomed, shot through with flashes of flame, waste and fission. Great winds raced simultaneously across the face of the Earth, spreading tales of destruction."
See also
- Scientology bibliographyScientology bibliographyThis is an incomplete bibliography of Scientology and Scientology-related books produced within the Church of Scientology and its related organizations.All entries are by L. Ron Hubbard or "Based on the Works of L...
- DianeticsDianeticsDianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that was invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced by followers of Scientology...
- A Doctor's Report on DianeticsA Doctor's Report on DianeticsA Doctor's Report on Dianetics: Theory and Therapy is a non-fiction book analyzing Dianetics. The book was authored by Joseph Augustus Winter, M.D., with an introduction by Frederick Perls, M.D., Ph.D....
Further reading
- Corydon, Bent. L. Ron Hubbard: Madman or Messiah?. Lyle Stuart, Inc. (1987)
External links
- Official Dianetics website
- Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (official page at Bridge Publications)