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Dianetics

«It contains a therapeutic technique with which can be treated all inorganic mental ills and all organic psychosomatic ills, with assurance of complete cure in unselected cases.» — L. Ron Hubbard, "Dianetics", p. 14.
«In August 1950, at a lecture hall in Los Angeles he presented to a crowd of 6,000 the first person to be what he called a 'clear'. She was a student called Sonya Bianca. As a clear, she was supposed to have total recall. "Various members of the audience called questions at her. Could she remember what was said on page 217 of her physics textbook? She couldn't. Could she remember what she had for breakfast on the morning of August 17, 1946? She couldn't. Then various people called out for Hubbard to turn his back on her and see if she could remember the colour of his tie. She couldn't. At that moment, the whole business sort of collapsed. People started leaving the auditorium." Suddenly Hubbard was in trouble. He was accused of being a con-man and Dianetics a form of hypnotism, a technique at which he was so expert.» —"SECRET LIVES — L. Ron Hubbard", Channel 4, United Kingdom, Nov 19th 1997.

Wikipedia: Dianetics

The scientific literature records very few scientific evaluations having been conducted into the effectiveness and theoretical basis of Dianetics. Professor John A. Lee states in his evaluation of Dianetics:

Objective experimental verification of Hubbard's physiological and psychological doctrines is lacking. To date, no regular scientific agency has established the validity of his theories of prenatal perception and engrams, or cellular memory, or Dianetic reverie, or the effects of Scientology auditing routines. Existing knowledge contradicts Hubbard's theory of recording of perceptions during periods of unconsciousness. [10]

Only two independent scientific studies are recorded in the MEDLINE database, both having been conducted in the 1950s by researchers at New York University:

  • Harvey Jay Fischer tested Dianetics therapy against three claims made by proponents and found it does not effect any significant changes on intellectual functioning, mathematical ability, or upon the degree of personality conflicts. [11]
  • Jack Fox tested Hubbard's thesis regarding recall of engrams and could not substantiate it. [12]

The validity of these studies has been questioned by Dianetics advocates, who have criticized the qualifications and methodology of the authors. They certainly seem to have made little impact on either side of the debate; they have rarely been quoted in the scientific literature, and have been ignored entirely by the Church of Scientology.

Channel 4 (UK, 1997): "Secret Lives - L. Ron Hubbard" @ XenuTV


"Secret Lives - L. Ron Hubbard" (hosted at XenuTV)

With his book, Dianetics, a best-seller, Ron Hubbard was America's new guru. In August 1950, at a lecture hall in Los Angeles he presented to a crowd of 6,000 the first person to be what he called a 'clear'. She was a student called Sonya Bianca. As a clear, she was supposed to have total recall.

JEAN COX: "Various members of the audience called questions at her. Could she remember what was said on page 217 of her physics textbook? She couldn't. Could she remember what she had for breakfast on the morning of August 17, 1946? She couldn't. Then various people called out for Hubbard to turn his back on her and see if she could remember the colour of his tie. She couldn't. At that moment, the whole business sort of collapsed. People started leaving the auditorium."

Suddenly Hubbard was in trouble. He was accused of being a con-man and Dianetics a form of hypnotism, a technique at which he was so expert.

Xenu TV: "Scientology: Stress Test or Recruiting?"

A terrific report on how Scientology uses "Stress Tests" to lure people into the group.

Jeff Jacobsen (1992): "The Hubbard is Bare - Science and Dianetics"

There is one point I consider the most damning to Hubbard's attempt to cloak dianetics in scientific validity.  While he seems to be inviting others to conduct their own investigations (and thus seems to be open to attempts to refute his claims), he never explains his own experimental methods, thus closing the door to the scientific community's ability to attempt to verify his claims.  In order to evaluate Hubbard's claims, the scientific community would seek to replicate his experiments to see if the same results were obtained and to check for possible influences on the experiment Hubbard may have overlooked.  They would also, as Popper suggests, try to shoot holes in the theory, either on a logical basis or by conducting refutational experiments.

The Skeptic's Dictionary: "Dianetics (the 'Bible' of Scientology)"

However, in a disclaimer on the frontispiece of the book, we are told that "Scientology and its sub-study, Dianetics, as practiced by the Church...does not wish to accept individuals who desire treatment of physical illness or insanity but refers these to qualified specialists of other organizations who deal in these matters." The disclaimer seems clearly to have been a protective mechanism against lawsuits for practicing medicine without a license; the author repeatedly insists that dianetics can cure just about anything that ails you. He also repeatedly insists that dianetics is a science. Yet, just about anyone familiar with scientific texts will be able to tell from the first few pages of Dianetics that the text is no scientific work and the author no scientist. Dianetics is a classic example of a pseudoscience.

Operation Clambake: The Fabulous Fifties

Collection of early articles evaluating Dianetics.

Scientific American: "'Dianetics' - A New Science of the Mind?"

This volume probably contains more promises and less evidence per page than has any publication since the invention of printing.

Lermanet: "A Clinical Trial of Dianetic Theory"

Summary: This paper formulates two hypothesis concerning the retention of events occuring during a state of unconsciousness. It describes an experiment in which a passage read from a physics text was read to a subject placed in an unconscious state by administration of sodium pentathal. During a period of almost six months, Dianetic Auditors were unable to recover the passage. Thus the Engram Hypothesis is not substantiated by this experiment.

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