Phineas Fogg
Member
During the late 60s, I was on the Hubbard Standard Dianetics Course.
I was slow, on that course for 18 months, I remember it costing me $500.
Bill Franks (RIP) was my Course Sup. (For those old timers) if you recall, Franks was ED international and CO of the LA org circa 1980. He got shafted, and told his story on YouTube in a series of interviews. Search on YouTube for Bill Franks Scientology, there are three interviews about an hour long, each, and they are really interesting, lots of back story stuff. Bill was, as I recall, and as he still sounds in the videos, a really cool guy.
Now then, back to the topic. The reason I say Dianetics is basically hypnosis is because I'm thinking of studying hypnosis and getting a hypnotherapist certificate, the course is a year long, and held in Los Angeles, it's a well established and an accredited school.
Well, I sat in on some regressive hypnosis sessions ( where they go back on memories of trauma just like they do in Dianetics ) and I noticed, well, how similar it was to Dianetics. The HSD 'process R3R' isn't a whole lot different than the patter they are using now.
But, what really struck me is how, when I was auditing Dianetics, how people went into a trance, exactly like they do in hypnosis, for the life of me, I'm not seeing a difference.
Thing is, what really seals this conviction for me is that Hubbard was a parlor hypnotist back in the 40s, and it is now clear to me where he got his ideas from.
Recalling trauma in a controlled environment has therapeutic value, and what Scientology does is feed off the coattails of that therapeutic effect from Dianetics, and when people are helped, they assume that ALL of Scientology must be valid, as well. I mean it's a massive con game, and all very clever.
As far as I can tell, I'm not seeing a difference between Dianetics and hypnosis, other than the fact that Dianetic auditors are not qualified as hypnosists, who by their own 'Standard Dianetics' where they are not allowed to vary much from the patter that is given to them form the course data, whereas a hypnotist has more leeway, to use common sense, and there are no arbitrary things like 'meters' and 'meter reads' which, really do not prove anything. Hubbard made lots of assumptions about e meter reads, and what they signify. This idea that the 'end of session' is a 'floating needle' is completely arbitrary. I never actually saw a meter read that matched the specific course description of what they were supposed to be ( the flowing back and forth movement, never really saw that). I did see, however, a wide meandering needle, but on an electrical level, one cannot make any real determinations as to the significance. also, I studied electronics for 2 years in the navy, and in my view, Hubbard's contentions on the emeter are completely arbitrary, giving in to novel ideas Hubbard just couldn't resist such as the high tone arm and meter reads, floating needles, etc. None of that was ever confirmed by a peer review process, and, this idea that Hubbard cannot be challenged, and is 'source' , is as far from science as one could get, and totally into the cult regions. But, try and explain that to a true believer, it would be impossible. I had two sisters (RIP) who were Scientologists since I got into in the mid 60s, and continued in it for 30 years before they passed away.
Take the tone arm, for example. What does the Tone Arm dial on the meter, on an electrical level, measure? Just taking a guess, I would say that it It measures the DC bias level of electrical, current flowing through the body over which the more temporal movements of the needle rides,, which varies, and whether it's over or under 4 on the meter, it's meaningless, If the DC bias level increases, pushing the temporal movements of the needle off the dial, you adjust the tone arm to compensate and bring the needle back on the dial. Hubbard has made complete assumptions about it's significance.
Dianetics is hypnosis of a certain, very narrow, type, i.e., 'regressive hypnosis' and there are now those who specialize in past lives.
That Hubbard and Scientology claims it is not hypnosis, is not really true. A rose by any other name is still a rose.
I was slow, on that course for 18 months, I remember it costing me $500.
Bill Franks (RIP) was my Course Sup. (For those old timers) if you recall, Franks was ED international and CO of the LA org circa 1980. He got shafted, and told his story on YouTube in a series of interviews. Search on YouTube for Bill Franks Scientology, there are three interviews about an hour long, each, and they are really interesting, lots of back story stuff. Bill was, as I recall, and as he still sounds in the videos, a really cool guy.
Now then, back to the topic. The reason I say Dianetics is basically hypnosis is because I'm thinking of studying hypnosis and getting a hypnotherapist certificate, the course is a year long, and held in Los Angeles, it's a well established and an accredited school.
Well, I sat in on some regressive hypnosis sessions ( where they go back on memories of trauma just like they do in Dianetics ) and I noticed, well, how similar it was to Dianetics. The HSD 'process R3R' isn't a whole lot different than the patter they are using now.
But, what really struck me is how, when I was auditing Dianetics, how people went into a trance, exactly like they do in hypnosis, for the life of me, I'm not seeing a difference.
Thing is, what really seals this conviction for me is that Hubbard was a parlor hypnotist back in the 40s, and it is now clear to me where he got his ideas from.
Recalling trauma in a controlled environment has therapeutic value, and what Scientology does is feed off the coattails of that therapeutic effect from Dianetics, and when people are helped, they assume that ALL of Scientology must be valid, as well. I mean it's a massive con game, and all very clever.
As far as I can tell, I'm not seeing a difference between Dianetics and hypnosis, other than the fact that Dianetic auditors are not qualified as hypnosists, who by their own 'Standard Dianetics' where they are not allowed to vary much from the patter that is given to them form the course data, whereas a hypnotist has more leeway, to use common sense, and there are no arbitrary things like 'meters' and 'meter reads' which, really do not prove anything. Hubbard made lots of assumptions about e meter reads, and what they signify. This idea that the 'end of session' is a 'floating needle' is completely arbitrary. I never actually saw a meter read that matched the specific course description of what they were supposed to be ( the flowing back and forth movement, never really saw that). I did see, however, a wide meandering needle, but on an electrical level, one cannot make any real determinations as to the significance. also, I studied electronics for 2 years in the navy, and in my view, Hubbard's contentions on the emeter are completely arbitrary, giving in to novel ideas Hubbard just couldn't resist such as the high tone arm and meter reads, floating needles, etc. None of that was ever confirmed by a peer review process, and, this idea that Hubbard cannot be challenged, and is 'source' , is as far from science as one could get, and totally into the cult regions. But, try and explain that to a true believer, it would be impossible. I had two sisters (RIP) who were Scientologists since I got into in the mid 60s, and continued in it for 30 years before they passed away.
Take the tone arm, for example. What does the Tone Arm dial on the meter, on an electrical level, measure? Just taking a guess, I would say that it It measures the DC bias level of electrical, current flowing through the body over which the more temporal movements of the needle rides,, which varies, and whether it's over or under 4 on the meter, it's meaningless, If the DC bias level increases, pushing the temporal movements of the needle off the dial, you adjust the tone arm to compensate and bring the needle back on the dial. Hubbard has made complete assumptions about it's significance.
Dianetics is hypnosis of a certain, very narrow, type, i.e., 'regressive hypnosis' and there are now those who specialize in past lives.
That Hubbard and Scientology claims it is not hypnosis, is not really true. A rose by any other name is still a rose.
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