Science Vs. Pseudoscience: A Brief History of How Scientology’s E-Meter Came Into Existence – Part 2

[Karen#1]

Science Vs. Pseudoscience: A Brief History of How Scientology’s E-Meter Came Into Existence – Part 2

Having established the scientific and psychological background of the psychogalvanometer in our previous article, in this installment we weave together several strands as we inexorably head toward …

scientologymoneyproject.com

EXCERPT from blog:
Having established the scientific and psychological background of the psychogalvanometer in our previous article, in this installment we weave together several strands as we inexorably head toward the moment in which the paths of L. Ron Hubbard and the e-meter collided.


As a prelude to that collision, we find the fingerprints of L. Ron Hubbard all over the psychiatric literature at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. During the many months Hubbard spent malingering there in the latter half of 1945, he pretended to be a medical doctor. This allowed him access to the medical library where he devoted his extensive free time to consuming psychiatric texts. He read Wundt, Freud, and even the very current works on systematic trauma reduction by William Sargant. Hubbard was very busy educating himself.

 

[Chuck J.]

Science Vs. Pseudoscience: A Brief History of How Scientology’s E-Meter Came Into Existence – Part 2

Having established the scientific and psychological background of the psychogalvanometer in our previous article, in this installment we weave together several strands as we inexorably head toward …

scientologymoneyproject.com

EXCERPT from blog:
Having established the scientific and psychological background of the psychogalvanometer in our previous article, in this installment we weave together several strands as we inexorably head toward the moment in which the paths of L. Ron Hubbard and the e-meter collided.


As a prelude to that collision, we find the fingerprints of L. Ron Hubbard all over the psychiatric literature at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. During the many months Hubbard spent malingering there in the latter half of 1945, he pretended to be a medical doctor. This allowed him access to the medical library where he devoted his extensive free time to consuming psychiatric texts. He read Wundt, Freud, and even the very current works on systematic trauma reduction by William Sargant. Hubbard was very busy educating himself.

"malingering"

That is the exact correct word for what he was doing.

 

[programmer_guy]

For me, part 2 is more interesting than part 1.

Obviously, Hubbard made up his version of abreaction therapy when he used it to invent Dianetics.

 

[Zertel]

For me, part 2 is more interesting than part 1.

Obviously, Hubbard made up his version of abreaction therapy when he used it to invent Dianetics.

I concur. Part 2 wasn't that long and gave an excellent explanation of the historical background of Hubbard's early "work". Much of what he was doing had previously been experimented with by others in the field of mental therapies.

Soon after entering scientology I had the goal of making a living as a professional auditor. The lower levels seemed sensible and there was a demand for excellence throughout the organization. OT Powerz could be looked at as, who knows, maybe.

 

[Harold#1]

I concur. Part 2 wasn't that long and gave an excellent explanation of the historical background of Hubbard's early "work". Much of what he was doing had previously been experimented with by others in the field of mental therapies.

Soon after entering scientology I had the goal of making a living as a professional auditor. The lower levels seemed sensible and there was a demand for excellence throughout the organization. OT Powerz could be looked at as, who knows, maybe.

The "demand for excellence" is part of LRH's con. There is no excellence in Scientology.

 

[Karakorum]

The "demand for excellence" is part of LRH's con. There is no excellence in Scientology.

You have read too much entheta on the net. There's a lot of excellence in scn!

For example:
- There's excellence when it comes to disaster relief through colorful pamphlet distribution. Ain't nobody doin' it better than the church!
- There's excellence in annoying people by playing their 20+ year old confessionals to them (its not just excellent, its highly entertaining as well).
- There's excellence when it comes to shouting at ashtrays. All of the world's gold medalists in this discipline are scientologists. Is that a coincidence? I don't think so!
- There's excellence in scanning documents. Yes suh! I ain't never seen a more excellent low-resolution scan of an overexposed copy of a 5-bit printout of a faded copy of a blurry scan of a copy of a bad angle polaroid photo of a Venezuelan passport. You just can't find that sort of things outside the church.

You need to get yer facts straight get your ethics in,, make it go right, get back with the team and come on in for the big win!


Gosh darnit and tarnation, they should give me a medal for this highly excellent motivational post
(guess they need to un-declare me first, but hey!)

 

[Zertel]

As an auditor I was dealing with a person's innermost thoughts and feelings and I took my job seriously. My desire was to be "excellent" at what I was doing. Likewise with the case supervisors, ethics officers and front line personnel I knew. I have no regrets about the auditing I gave and received.

The subject as a whole in hindsight lends itself to satire. I was out in 1982.