Re: Dianetics

In article <3skf0p$s6g@ixnews3.ix.netcom.com>, Maureen Garde <mgarde@ix.netcom.com> wrote: >In kenlong@netcom.com (Ken Long) writes:
>
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>Thank you for your answers. I'm not sure that I understand your second
>answer (the "dysfunctionally incorrect" comment.
>
>Regarding Freud, his claim to fame was the discovery of the unconscious
>mind. His therapy involved questioning his patients to uncover their
>past experiences, the memory of which was buried in their unconscious
>mind, and relive those experiences in order to alleviate the present
>consequences of the past experiences. As I said in my initial message,
>the informercial on dianetics appeared to present exactly the same
>basic theory of human behavior.

Not exactly. Feud, Jung and others dabbled in these waters and abandoned such concepts as unworkable.

Hubbard claims there are two kinds of basic mind, the analytical, and the reactive. Engrams are memories only available to the reactive mind, which be literalistic and not very discriminating, takes words and ideas very literally to our detriment. Hubbard for instance thought that such engrams as the phrase "it turns my blood to water" causes the body to develope leukemia! He took an old and abandoned oversimplification of the human psyche and took it to extremes. Understandably, psychlogists and phsychiatrists were not impressed by all of this.

>
>In your last answer, you seem to be saying that scientologists believe
>that scientology is the ultimate form of psychotherapy. Yet I
>understand scientologists to be hostile to other forms of
>psychotherapy. If this is so, why is it so, as it appears that Mr.
>Hubbard took some central ideas from Freud?
>

LRH was an egotistical man with delusions of grandeur. He found the psychiatrists and psychologists actually criticized his 'theories' and he never forgave them for not acclaiming himself as the greatest of them all. (He later tried to get himself nominated for the Nobel Prize for his ludicrous "Purification Rundown" nonsense, suanas and vitamen regimes. He gave Scientology officials authorization to spend any amount of money neccesary to get him the Nobel prize. LRH had a very big ego.)

Of course Dianetics did not work. He promised much for those who became 'clear', those who removed all their 'engrams', and his promises of higher IQs, no illnesses, lengthened life spans and such were untrue. How to explain this? Why engrams from past lives of course! And when this did not pan out, mind implants from evil space emperors, (Xenu), parasites, (body thetans) and other ludicrous stuff.

>The adherents of scientology also claim the status of a religion. I
>don't know of any other form of psychotherapy, so called, that makes
>such a claim. What is the basis for the claim that scientology is a
>religion?

LRH lost Dianetics, (his foundation and his book) in the very early 50's to his business partners when he tried to cheat them. Scientology was his way of getting back into the game. (He later recovered rights to Dianetics). He decided in 1953 to make Scientology a religion. After all, scientists, psychiatrists and psychologists weren't buying Scientology as a religion, and the tax breaks and cover from some laws that being a religion offered was attractive. Plus LRH admitted that the public perception of Scioentology couldn't get lower. Plus it is harder to fire a prophet. And he got 10% tithes up front from all "Scientology Churches". His greed cost him his religous tax exemption in 1956.

See the books Bare Faced Messiah by Russell Miller, A Piece of Blue Sky by John Atack, and the Road To Total Freedom by Roy Wallis for interesting histories of the development of Dianetics and Scientology from a self help discipline to a religous cult.

Pope Charles SubGenius Pope Of Houston Slack!