Dianetics - what is it? Ronald Hubbard's Dianetics

Perhaps you've heard the term "dianetics" before. What it is? This is the doctrine of the metaphysical relationship between mind and body, created by the American science fiction writer Ronald Lafayette Hubbard.

In recent decades, this theory in is not so popular. And in the times of the USSR, it was professed by many famous statesmen and bright scientific minds. But first things first.

Dianetics - what is it?

Still, we must begin to consider this doctrine from the theory proposed by Ronald Hubbard himself. Let us turn to his book Dianetics: Modern Science of Mind. It was written for three months and was published in 1950.

So, according to the founder, Dianetics is the science of how to think and live right. Using her techniques and techniques, you can get healing from many physical ailments and the painful burden of past mistakes and, in addition, start thinking positively.

Dianetics divides the human mind into three conventional parts: consciousness (analytical mind), the subconscious mind (reactive mind), and the so-called somatic mind. The goal of the practice of Hubbard's followers is to get rid of the consequences of the work of a reactive mind that affects the behavior, life and health of a person. The influence is this: all experiences are recorded in the subconscious of a person, and then in a similar situation is experienced again. There is a so-called engram. For example, a man has a toothache, and at a time when he suffers from pain, children run and run in his house. Time passes, and when the children again rasshumyatsya, this man can again reasonlessly get sick teeth, even recently healed or absolutely healthy.

According to Hubbard, Dianetics is a modern science of mental health, which means that it can help a person achieve harmony and psychological comfort. In addition, following the canons and observing certain instructions suggested by the founder of the theory, one can supposedly live forever.

Dianetics of Survival

Ronald Hubbard proposed a scale, the beginning of which was non-living, and the end is eternal life. Man strives for immortality and overcomes in his path a huge number of levels of existence and four so-called dynamics:

• The first is the desire to survive for oneself;
• The second is survival for the sake of your family and loved ones;
• The third is life for the sake of a group of people;
• The fourth is the existence of the individual for the benefit of all mankind.

His mind helps him to survive. Only getting rid of the adverse impact of engrams, you can go to a higher standard of living. And dianetics involves carrying out a certain procedure, the purpose of which is to save a person from engrams.

Working with engrams

Hubbard proposed a procedure for auditing - an active hearing, as represented by Dianetics. What it is? The procedure is as follows. One person who has certain life problems, interpreted in Dianetics as a negative influence of engrams, tells in detail about his difficulties to another person, the auditor. The listener directs the narrator's thoughts to the awareness of the pain he has experienced. He asks questions and applies special techniques of dianetics, helping to get rid of the effects of engrams.

Thus, gradually from the life of a person, the action of all engrams goes away. But this is an ideal development of events. Nobody, and even Hubbard himself, who still died in 1986, did not manage to get rid of reactive intelligence, and at the same time with this immortality.

However, many scientists, analyzing the theory of Dianetics, noticed that such a teaching could only be created by a person like Hubbard. Why is that?

From the history of Dianetics

As mentioned above, the book "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mind" was written in a very short period of time. Hubbard and his followers explain this with illumination, but critics of Dianetics pay attention to completely different moments.

Erich Fromm draws a parallel between Hubbard's auditing and the popular cleansing of the chakras and holotropic breathing. There is no scientific basis under these methods, more precisely, in some of them the necessity of any justification is simply ignored, while others take as a basis the teachings of recognized masters of psychology. So did Hubbard.

And here Freud?

Hubbard tried to link his dianetics to the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, modifying the teachings of the famous physician and the method of free associations, as well as the procedure for conducting a psychoanalytic session. Fromm notes that if Dianetics were a mere retelling of Freud's teaching, it would not have any negative effect on the minds of ordinary people, its followers. But psychoanalytic terms Hubbard interpreted inaccurately, as he perverted and understanding the value of the human person.

Dianetics is the science of the mind? May be. But if we allow this, as well as the scientific basis of the theory itself, we thereby acknowledge that man does not have the ability to build his life by doing acts and logical choices, we recognize that man does not have individuality. Hubbard believed that programming an individual to do things, saving him from engrams. That is, by pressing the right levers, you can get certain actions from a person.

Psychoanalysis seeks to help the individual, to reveal the contents of her psyche that remains unconscious and slows development, remaining in the shadows. The dianetics of Ronald Hubbard deprives man of the ability to think and to realize, she teaches us to reject engrams and "press levers". Dianetics thereby destroys personality in person.

Some facts of Hubbard's biography

Hubbard was a writer. At first he created fantastic stories that were printed in some American magazines, then, according to his followers, collaborated with Hollywood and even wrote several scripts for the film company Columbia Pictures. For some reason, his name was not mentioned in the credits ...

During the Second World War, Hubbard commanded the ship, but because of the organized pursuit of a seemingly non-existent submarine, and then the bombardment of the Mexican island, he was removed from the command and sent ashore.

At the end of the war, Hubbard was wounded in a hospital. There are no documents and extracts from the medical file at the moment, as, indeed, there was no earlier. Presumably, Ronald Hubbard himself wounded himself to leave the fleet and quickly get on land.

In the hospital, he, according to his own allegations, was developing special techniques that could help to cure hopelessly sick patients. After the war, he created well-known works, and on the covers of his books was "Hubbard L. Ron: Dianetics."

Dianetics and Scientology

These teachings are interrelated. However, if Dianetics was initially positioned by the author as a science, then Scientology was immediately elevated to the category of religion. Scientology and Dianetics use very similar terms, but there are some differences in content.

Thus, both Dianetics and Scientology proclaim survival as the sole goal of man. Both teachings divide the mind into analytical and reactive, and postulate auditing as the main way to get rid of all problems and diseases. However, Scientology proclaims a man by default good, and his own identity is the eternal and indestructible foundation of being, calling it the new word "thetan".

Scientology has a direct relationship to the company "Purification", which was also founded by R. Hubbard. Dianetics, by the way, by the time (60th years of the last century) had already been criticized by the American scientific community, which, quite possibly, was the impetus for the emergence of all the new concepts developed by Hubbard. His beginnings seemed to be good: the company "Purification" was developed for the rehabilitation of drug addicts and former criminals. However, behind these good intentions were again commercial organizations - Narconon and Criminon.

Criticism of the teachings of Ronald Hubbard

Initially, Dianetics was criticized. Reviews of the scientific community of America boiled down to one: Hubbard does not have a compulsory permit for psychoanalysts to conduct their own medical practice. The postulates of his theory were not properly theoretical and were considered unscientific.

In the 1950s, Hubbard gave an interview to The New York Times, in which he stated that he had conducted a phenomenal study - a psychometric test in which over 80 people with various pathologies participated. According to Hubbard, most of them experienced improvements after the therapy they had under Dianetics, and his patients got rid of bronchial asthma, ulcerative colitis, arthritis, manic-depressive psychosis and pronounced homosexuality. This was not confirmed.

Following Dianetics, Scientology also underwent scientific criticism. At first it was a matter of defining it as a religion. Scientology takes the theory from both Christianity, and from philosophy, psychology and other humanities. In fact, it does not apply to any of these areas of knowledge.

Later, scientists and the media expressed the view that Scientology is a commercial organization through which Hubbard shelters from prosecutions in the case of illegally provided medical services. She, thus, served him as a kind of facade, allowing him to remain in the status of leader and founder of the whole teaching, and also to earn money.

Scientology and Dianetics were not only criticized at the time, but they also underwent the most real persecution under the law.

The history of adepts with a fatal outcome

There are several such cases. The most famous is the death of Lisa MacPherson. The girl came early in Scientology. She was already an adept when she had an accident, an accident, after which Lisa went to the hospital. Like-minded people by faith took the girl to the acting center of Dianetics and Scientology, in order not to let doctors and psychotherapists interfere in her fate. After two and a half weeks, Lisa died.

Another girl, Susan Meister, shot herself on board a ship belonging to the Church of Scientology. More precisely, the suicide version was suggested by the Hubbard followers themselves, but in fact it was established that Susan was killed. Perhaps her death was part of some Scientology rite.

Two men, Patrick Vick and Richard Collins, threw themselves out of the window. True, the reasons for each of them were diametrically opposed: Patrick did not have enough money to pay for the next theoretical course of Dianetics, and Richard wanted to leave the sect of Scientologists, but they did not let go. He received regular letters with threats from former comrades in the church, and the man, driven to an extreme degree of despair, found no other way out.

Some other cases of suicides committed by former members of the organization are connected with Scientology. As a rule, the cause was bitter disappointment in the religion and personality of the teacher - Ronald Hubbard.

According to Hubbard himself, his teaching should heal, but, as we see, the reason for the collapse of human destinies was precisely dianetics. Reviews about it, of course, were completely unflattering. However, this was the case in the United States. How did they relate to the teachings of Hubbard at the other end of the earth?

Dianetics and Scientology in the USSR

In the USSR, the dianetics of Ronald Hubbard came in the 70s of the last century. Before our country, she got there after she was criticized in the US, and she got quite wide popularity here.

Hubbard's teachings were admired by many people of science of that time, and the students of educational institutions were lectured by the most inspired professors. Scientology was perceived as a "science of science", its categories and postulates were tried in depth to study and re-think, and also to apply in practice.

In Russia, the centers of Dianetics and Scientology existed in the 90s. Later and in the post-Soviet space Ronald Hubbard's teaching was forbidden as contradicting the scientific canons and carrying destruction. However, some postulates of Dianetics were borrowed by the founders of the destructive sect "Sinton".

Conclusions about Dianetics

So, the theories of Ronald Hubbard were recognized as destructive, unscientific and almost charlatan. However, Scientology still exists, and her church reserves all copyright to Hubbard's dianetics. Many people still consider themselves to be adherents of Scientology, among them there are even very famous media personalities: John Travolta, Tom Cruise and Elvis Presley's former wife Priscilla.

This is the strange, incomprehensible and in many ways absurd theory of Ronald Hubbard - Dianetics. What is it really? Another page in the life of all mankind, not quite rainbow and pleasant, but it is still possible to turn it around.