Scientology: A History of Man
Encyclopedia
Scientology: A History of Man is a book by L. Ron Hubbard
, first published in 1952 under the title What To Audit. According to the author, it provides "a coldblooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years." It has gone through many editions since its first publication and is a key text of the Church of Scientology
. The book has, however, come in for considerable ridicule from critics of Scientology for its unusual writing style and pseudoscientific
claims; it has been described as "a slim pretense at scientific method ... blended with a strange amalgam of psychotherapy, mysticism and pure science fiction; mainly the latter."
sessions held in Wichita
, Kansas
in early 1952, involving Hubbard and his personal auditor, Perry Chapdelaine. According to Chapdelaine, Hubbard would "settle himself on a couch with a tape recorder handy and an 'auditor' who would be expected to provide appropriate feedback. In no time a flow of introspection - like the free association characteristic of a psychoanalytic session - would begin." Hubbard's son, L. Ron Hubbard Jr. (otherwise known as "Nibs") and Hubbard senior's medical officer, Jim Dincalci, have both stated that the book was written under the influence of amphetamine
s:
Hubbard's account of human evolution
was first released as four lectures which Hubbard delivered to Scientologists on March 10, 1952. Further lectures followed in Phoenix, Arizona
in April, and in July 1952 the book What to audit; a list and description of the principle incidents to be found in a human being was published by the Phoenix-based "Scientific Press" - an imprint established by Hubbard. The same book was published under the title A History of Man by the London
-based Hubbard Association of Scientologists. It was reissued in two substantially modified editions, in 1968 (minus chapter 11 of the original book and under the current title of Scientology: A History of Man) in 1988, and again in 2007, this time with a set of lectures expanding on the content.
Since 1968, the book's jacket has displayed a picture of a hirsute, unkempt "caveman" dressed in a fur eating the raw meat from a thigh bone of an animal. This appears to refer to one of the past-life "incidents" described by Hubbard in the book. Many Scientology books have similar curious pictures on their jackets; according to former Scientologist Bent Corydon, their purpose is to "restimulate" past-life memories and make the book irresistible to purchasers. After such symbols were first added to the jackets of Scientology books, writes Corydon,
".
The book sets out a description of the areas to be audited. It proposes that the human body actually houses two separate entities. The most important is a thetan
, the spiritual being said by Hubbard to be the "true self" of a person. According to Hubbard, this is accompanied by a 'genetic entity', or GE, which is "a sort of low-grade soul" located more or less in the centre of the body, and which passes to another body when the current body dies.
These stages of biological history, some typified by an animal and others typified by other items, were marked by traumatic incidents which have to be "run out" using an E-meter
.
Hubbard stressed that these incidents are not limited to the list below: for example, he notes "there are many steps and incidents between the Birds and the Sloth". The list simply arbitrarily names some incidents that Hubbard found particularly worth commenting on:
Hubbard also described numerous incidents of "implanting" by hostile alien races which caused traumatic memories in the thetan. This formed part of what soon became an elaborate cosmology of alien civilizations, interstellar dictators and brainwashing implants - collectively, matters that Hubbard described as "Space opera
".
of Scientology." Christopher Evans
notes that the book "marks a transition point at which the technically oriented Dianetics
became the philosophically oriented Scientology."
of 1965 comments that "To say it is an astonishing document does not adequately convey the peculiar qualities or contents of "The History of Man ... For compressed nonsense and fantasy it must surpass anything theretofore written." Hubbard's unofficial biographer Russell Miller
describes it in similar terms as "one of Hubbard's most bizarre works and possibly the most absurd book ever written", which "invited the derision which was inevitably forthcoming." Bent Corydon, a former Scientologist, criticises A History of Man on Scientological grounds, pointing out that Hubbard's "imaginings, opinions, or observations" are presented as established facts - in effect, instructing the Scientologist in what he should remember, rather than letting him find out for himself.
Apart from the unusual style of narration, which Miller describes as having "wobbled uncertainly between schoolboy fiction and a pseudo-scientific medical paper", many of Hubbard's claims in A History of Man are incompatible with established scientific knowledge. Particular problems include:
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...
, first published in 1952 under the title What To Audit. According to the author, it provides "a coldblooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years." It has gone through many editions since its first publication and is a key text of the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
. The book has, however, come in for considerable ridicule from critics of Scientology for its unusual writing style and pseudoscientific
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
claims; it has been described as "a slim pretense at scientific method ... blended with a strange amalgam of psychotherapy, mysticism and pure science fiction; mainly the latter."
Publication history
The book reportedly originated in Scientology auditingAuditing (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:...
sessions held in Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
in early 1952, involving Hubbard and his personal auditor, Perry Chapdelaine. According to Chapdelaine, Hubbard would "settle himself on a couch with a tape recorder handy and an 'auditor' who would be expected to provide appropriate feedback. In no time a flow of introspection - like the free association characteristic of a psychoanalytic session - would begin." Hubbard's son, L. Ron Hubbard Jr. (otherwise known as "Nibs") and Hubbard senior's medical officer, Jim Dincalci, have both stated that the book was written under the influence of amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s:
LRH gave his son Nibs some amphetamines, and Nibs started talking, he said, started really going talking fast, from the speed. And he kept talking, he kept talking, and his dad kept giving him speed and all of a sudden he was talking about his history, when he was a clam and all these different situations in early Earth. And out of that came History of Man.
Hubbard's account of human evolution
Human evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
was first released as four lectures which Hubbard delivered to Scientologists on March 10, 1952. Further lectures followed in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
in April, and in July 1952 the book What to audit; a list and description of the principle incidents to be found in a human being was published by the Phoenix-based "Scientific Press" - an imprint established by Hubbard. The same book was published under the title A History of Man by the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based Hubbard Association of Scientologists. It was reissued in two substantially modified editions, in 1968 (minus chapter 11 of the original book and under the current title of Scientology: A History of Man) in 1988, and again in 2007, this time with a set of lectures expanding on the content.
Since 1968, the book's jacket has displayed a picture of a hirsute, unkempt "caveman" dressed in a fur eating the raw meat from a thigh bone of an animal. This appears to refer to one of the past-life "incidents" described by Hubbard in the book. Many Scientology books have similar curious pictures on their jackets; according to former Scientologist Bent Corydon, their purpose is to "restimulate" past-life memories and make the book irresistible to purchasers. After such symbols were first added to the jackets of Scientology books, writes Corydon,
- 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.
Synopsis
As the original title suggests, What to Audit / A History of Man was written as a guide for Scientologist auditors, pointing out various Space opera "incidents" that are said to have occurred in all of our "past livesPast life
Past life may refer to:* Past lives in reincarnation* Pre-existence, the belief that each individual human soul existed before conception- Popular culture :...
".
The book sets out a description of the areas to be audited. It proposes that the human body actually houses two separate entities. The most important is a thetan
Thetan
In Scientology, the concept of thetan is similar to the concept of spirit or soul found in other belief systems. The term is derived from the Greek letter theta, which in Scientology represents "the source of life, or life itself." In Scientology it is believed that it is the Thetan, not the...
, the spiritual being said by Hubbard to be the "true self" of a person. According to Hubbard, this is accompanied by a 'genetic entity', or GE, which is "a sort of low-grade soul" located more or less in the centre of the body, and which passes to another body when the current body dies.
Key incidents
The book describes numerous "incidents" that, according to Hubbard, occurred to the thetan or the genetic entity in past lives. Although commonly misinterpreted as an alternative theory of evolution, the purpose of the incidents list is not to suggest that clams begat sloths who begat cavemen. What Hubbard claims is that we have buried memories of past lives as clams, sloths, and cavemen, and that those memories - or engrams - affect us today. Hubbard also presented the vague concept of the "genetic entity" which he claims progressed through each of these prehuman forms before finally ending up in a homo sapiens body.These stages of biological history, some typified by an animal and others typified by other items, were marked by traumatic incidents which have to be "run out" using an E-meter
E-meter
An E-meter is an electronic device used during Dianetics and Scientology auditing. The device is a variation of a Wheatstone bridge, which measures electrical resistance and skin conductance. It is formally known as the Hubbard Electrometer, for the Church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard...
.
Hubbard stressed that these incidents are not limited to the list below: for example, he notes "there are many steps and incidents between the Birds and the Sloth". The list simply arbitrarily names some incidents that Hubbard found particularly worth commenting on:
- The Atom, "complete with electronic rings". According to Hubbard, "There seems to be a 'hole in space' immediately ahead of the Atom", which generates a particular state of mind in a person.
- The Cosmic Impact, based on the premise that "As physicists tell us, cosmic rays enter the body in large numbers and occasionally explode in the body. Very early on the track the impact of a cosmic ray and its explosion is very destructive to the existing organism."
- The Photon Converter, essentially an early photosynthetic organism such as an alga or planktonPlanktonPlankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
. Hubbard deemed the Photon Converter to be responsible for fears of "light and dark, the storms of the sea, the fight to keep from rolling into the surf."
- The Helper, an incident of mitosisMitosisMitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets, in two separate nuclei. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly...
(cell division) in some unnamed organism which was "a confusing area for the [genetic entity] which therein has much cause for misidentification."
- The Clam, one of a number of incidents between The Helper and The Weeper. The others include seaweed and "jellyfish incidents [which] are quite remarkable for their occasional aberrative force". Encounters between jellyfish and cave walls are held to be responsible for the emergence of "a shell as in the clam." The Clam itself is "a deadly incident" involving a "scalloped-lip, white- shelled creature" which suffered from a severe split personality or "double-hinge problem. One hinge wishes to stay open, the other tries to close, thus conflict occurs." According to Hubbard, the hinges of the Clam "later become the hinges of the human jaw" and the Clam's method of reproducing using sporeSporeIn biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s is said to be responsible for toothacheToothacheA toothache, also known as odontalgia or, less frequently, as odontalgy, is an aching pain in or around a tooth.-Causes:* Dental etiology, In most cases toothaches are caused by problems in the tooth or jaw, such as** Dental caries...
. In one of the most famous passages of the book, Hubbard advised that
- Should you desire to confirm this, describe to some uninitiated person the death of a clam without saying what you are describing. "Can you imagine a clam sitting on the beach, opening and closing its shell very rapidly?" (Make a motion with your thumb and forefinger of a rapid opening and closing). The victim may grip his jaws with his hand and feel quite upset. He may even have to have a few teeth pulled: At the very least he will argue as to whether or not the shell stays open at the end or closed. And he will, with no hint of the death aspect of it, talk about the "poor clam" and he will feel quite sad emotionally.
- He goes on to warn the reader that "your discussion of these incidents with the uninitiated in Scientology can cause havoc. Should you describe the "clam" to someone, you may restimulate it in him to the extent of causing severe jaw pain. One such victim, after hearing about a clam death, could not use his jaws for three days."
- The Weeper/Boohoo incident deals with a mollusk that rolled in the surf for half a million years, pumping sea water out of its shell as it breathed, hence its name. Weepers had 'trillions of misadventures', prominent among them the anxiety caused by trying to gulp air before being swamped by the next wave. 'The inability of a pre-clear to cry,' Hubbard explained, 'is partly a hang-up in the Weeper. He is about to be hit by a wave, has his eyes full of sand or is frightened about opening his shell because he may be hit.'
- The Volcanoes occurred at several points - violent volcanic eruptions which choked the genetic entity's host organism with choking sulphurous smoke. Hubbard suggests that these eruptions hastened the progress of evolution, "for there is a lack of real reason why this evolution should not be continuing on even today." Volcanoes, believed by Scientologists to be used by XenuXenuXenu ,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...
to murder billions of thetans, are a prominent symbol frequently used in Scientology.
- Being Eaten is the next class of incident on the list. "In that so many fish and animals were equipped with so many teeth, it is inevitable that somebody somewhere on the track would have been eaten." And so it is. for there are a great many "being eaten" engrams. Technique 80 is recommended by Hubbard for dealing with these problems. "Few auditors, in the absence of Technique 80, have been able to run these incidents".
- The Birds were a traumatic incident caused when "birds of a very crude construction developed a taste for clams". As a result of bird attacks on ancestral clams, modern man suffers from "falling sensations, indecision and other troubles."
- "The Sloth", says Hubbard, "is a chain of incidents and misadventures" covered under this general name. According to Hubbard, the Sloth was "slow and easily attacked and he had bad times falling out of trees when hit by snakes, falling off cliffs when attacked by baboons."
- The Ape is the name of the next incident, by which time the genetic entity was inhabiting an "agile and intelligent" host. "The Ape is usually an area of overt acts against animals and incidents of protecting young". (pg.54)
- The Piltdown Man was "a creature not an ape, yet not entirely a Man." It was not "the real Piltdown ManPiltdown ManThe Piltdown Man was a hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. These fragments consisted of parts of a skull and jawbone, said to have been collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England...
" but had some similarities. It resulted in a variety of psychological conditions in modern humans, including "obsessions about biting efforts to hide the mouth and early familial troubles." The Piltdown Man was characterized by "freakish acts of strange 'logic,' of demonstrating dangerous on one's fellows, of eating one's wife and other somewhat illogical activities. The PILTDOWN teeth were ENORMOUS and he was quite careless as to whom and what he bit and often very much surprised at the resulting damage."
- The Caveman was the final stage of evolution prior to modern man. The genetic entity's host still had marital trouble, though not quite on the level of "eating one's wife". Instead, "one crippled one's woman to keep her [at home] or poisoned one's man for having kept her there." Memories of this era were responsible, in Hubbard's view, for "any condition of interpersonal relationships" such as "jealousy and overt acts around it, strangling, smashing in heads with rocks, quarrels about homes, tribal rebukes, pack instincts."
Hubbard also described numerous incidents of "implanting" by hostile alien races which caused traumatic memories in the thetan. This formed part of what soon became an elaborate cosmology of alien civilizations, interstellar dictators and brainwashing implants - collectively, matters that Hubbard described as "Space opera
Space opera in Scientology doctrine
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard used the science fiction term space opera to describe what he said were actual extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in past lives...
".
The book's role in Scientology
As Hubbard himself said in the book, A History of Man was written as a technical aid for experienced Scientologists. According to ex-Scientologist Jon Atack, "The material in the book is hardly encountered in contemporary auditing, but is still required reading for the second secret "OT" levelOperating Thetan
In Scientology, the state of Operating Thetan is a spiritual state above Clear. L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, defined it as "knowing and willing cause over life, thought, matter, energy, space and time ". According to religious scholar J...
of Scientology." Christopher Evans
Christopher Evans (computer scientist)
Dr Christopher Riche Evans was a British psychologist, computer scientist, and author.-Biography:Born in Aberdovey, he spent his childhood in Wales and was educated at Christ College, Brecon . He spent two years in the RAF , and worked as a science journalist and writer until 1957 when he began a...
notes that the book "marks a transition point at which the technically oriented 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...
became the philosophically oriented Scientology."
Critical views
A History of Man has attracted a good deal of comment from critical reviewers and analysts of Scientology. As Marco Frenschkowski notes, it is a "very strange book easily ridiculed" and, indeed, many have done just this. Ex-Scientologist Jon Atack describes it as "among the most bizarre of Hubbard's works, [which] deserves the cult status that some truly dreadful science fiction movies have achieved". The Anderson ReportAnderson Report
The Anderson Report is the colloquial name of the report of the Board of Inquiry into Scientology, an official inquiry into the Church of Scientology conducted for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was written by Kevin Victor Anderson QC and published in 1965.-Background:In 1959, L...
of 1965 comments that "To say it is an astonishing document does not adequately convey the peculiar qualities or contents of "The History of Man ... For compressed nonsense and fantasy it must surpass anything theretofore written." Hubbard's unofficial biographer Russell Miller
Russell Miller
Russell Miller is an award-winning British journalist and author of fifteen books, including biographies of Hugh Hefner, J. Paul Getty and L. Ron Hubbard.-L. Ron Hubbard biography:...
describes it in similar terms as "one of Hubbard's most bizarre works and possibly the most absurd book ever written", which "invited the derision which was inevitably forthcoming." Bent Corydon, a former Scientologist, criticises A History of Man on Scientological grounds, pointing out that Hubbard's "imaginings, opinions, or observations" are presented as established facts - in effect, instructing the Scientologist in what he should remember, rather than letting him find out for himself.
Apart from the unusual style of narration, which Miller describes as having "wobbled uncertainly between schoolboy fiction and a pseudo-scientific medical paper", many of Hubbard's claims in A History of Man are incompatible with established scientific knowledge. Particular problems include:
- According to Hubbard's introduction to the book, it puts forward "a coldblooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years." Sixty trillion years would be roughly 4,300 times the general scientific consensus on the age of the universeAge of the universeThe age of the universe is the time elapsed since the Big Bang posited by the most widely accepted scientific model of cosmology. The best current estimate of the age of the universe is 13.75 ± 0.13 billion years within the Lambda-CDM concordance model...
.
- In his description of the Volcanoes incident, Hubbard suggests that evolution is no longer continuing and that there is a "lack of real reason why this evolution should not be continuing on even today." In fact, human evolution appears to still occur.