What is this Scientology stuff anyhow? I've taken the liberty to look at a few of the things and it seems to promote a warped view of reality.... according to Wikipedia:
(1)
"The thetan is the true identity of a person – an intrinsically good, omniscient, non-material core capable of unlimited creativity .... Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation, rather than their original state of spiritual purity."Hmmm, now that explains why so many people in Hollywood identify with Scientology. Also, perhaps Thetan means mind or something, and perhaps "beginning to identify with their creation" is a character flaw that actors tend to get.
(2)
"Thetans are reborn time and time again in new bodies through a process called 'assumption' which is analogous to reincarnation.[84] Like Hinduism, Scientology posits a causal relationship between the experiences of earlier incarnations and one's present life, and with each rebirth, I don't even know what in the heck reincarnation is aside from being a history lesson under hypnosis or something. The mind does not go on eternally, this is something that all religions desire though, and perhaps immortality is something that science can make possible someday, but it hasn't done so yet. Perhaps reincarnation is a subconscious understanding of evolution and the fact that life in general evolves to eliminate the vulnerabilities and become more complex with time.
(3) "
....the effects of the MEST universe (MEST here stands for matter, energy, space, and time) on the thetan become stronger."Okay, according to quantum physics, all behaviours in the universe can be described by space and time, and MOMENTUM and energy. Actually, the dot product of (X,t)*(P,E)= Lx + Lt where L=angular momentum or a scalar spin of a wave-particle. I realize this Hubbard fellow was a sci-fi writer, of course.
(4) "
Scientology emphasizes the importance of survival, which it subdivides into eight classifications that are referred to as dynamics. An individual's desire to survive is considered to be the first dynamic, while the second dynamic relates to procreation and family. The remaining dynamics encompass wider fields of action, involving groups, mankind, all life, the physical universe, the spirit, and the Supreme Being. The optimum solution to any problem is held to be the one that brings the greatest benefit to the greatest number of dynamics."
The bizzare thing is that I've independently arrived at a
similar solution for what morality is based on the premise of Darwinian suvivlism giving way to more complex life forms, and the idea that technologies that are more energy efficient are also less wasteful (the end goal being to minimize our entropic impact on the physical universe while maximizing our technological productivity in the goal of, well, preserving the Universe in the future just as we should be preserving the environment around Earth now).
5) "
Scientology presents two major divisions of the mind.[88] The reactive mind is thought to absorb all pain and emotional trauma, while the analytical mind is a rational mechanism which is responsible for consciousness. The reactive mind stores mental images which are not readily available to the analytical (conscious) mind; these are referred to as engrams.[90] Engrams are painful and debilitating; as they accumulate, people move further away from their true identity. To avoid this fate is Scientology's basic goal.[84] Dianetic training is the tool through which the Scientologist progresses towards the Clear state, winning gradual freedom from the reactive mind's engrams, and acquiring certainty of his or her reality as a thetan.Okay, perhaps this is actually how a psychologist might look at the brain. The brain is indeed divided between the emotional region and the analytical region. Engrams are merely scars in the brain tissue that result from emotional trauma. People aren't born with emotional scars, however they can indeed fix their emotional scars by seeing a psychologist or perhaps by means through religious processes too. Perhaps dianetics is just a warped version of psychological therapy.
6) "
Scientology uses an emotional classification system called the tone scale. The tone scale is a tool used in counseling; knowing a person's place on the scale makes it easier to predict their actions and assists in bettering their condition."
This sounds like something similar to a mood ring. I don't know exactly what a "tone scale" is but I can say that science in general has many methods of measuring people's emotional state related to the signs shown by the nervous system. Dialated pupils versus constricted pupils, high heart rates versus low heart rates, dry mouth versus salivating mouths, etc, that kind of thing can be used for determining people's emotional states.
7)
"Dianetics uses a counseling technique known as auditing, developed by Hubbard to enable conscious recall of traumatic events in an individual's past.[5] It was originally intended to be a new psychotherapy....Dianetics soon met with criticism. Morris Fishbein, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association and well-known at the time as a debunker of quack medicine, dismissed Hubbard's book.[39] An article in Newsweek stated that "the dianetics concept is unscientific and unworthy of discussion or review"."
The interesting thing is, as far as dianetics goes (or accupuncture, and numerous other kinds of non-medical treatments) that
The Placebo Effect (SETI Radio) is drastically more complex than what scientists have been claiming in the past. Scientists these days are studying all the subtle complexities involved in the placebo effect. Who is to say what is quackery and what works, and for which reasons they in fact do work?
8)
The ARC and KRC triangles are concept maps which show a relationship between three concepts to form another concept. These two triangles are present in the Scientology logo. The lower triangle, the ARC triangle, is a summary representation of the knowledge the Scientologist strives for.[84] It encompasses Affinity (affection, love or liking), Reality (consensual reality) and Communication (the exchange of ideas).[84] Scientologists believe that improving one of the three aspects of the triangle "increases the level" of the other two, but Communication is held to be the most important.[98] The upper triangle is the KRC triangle, the letters KRC positing a similar relationship between Knowledge, Responsibility and Control.[99]
In Scientology, social problems are ascribed to breakdowns in ARC – in other words, a lack of agreement on reality, a failure to communicate effectively, or a failure to develop affinity.[100] These can take the form of overts – harmful acts against another, either intentionally or by omission – which are usually followed by withholds – efforts to conceal the wrongdoing, which further increase the level of tension in the relationship.[100]I'll have to look into this one a little more. As far as I'm concerned, this falls into the realm of philosophy. It sounds neat, but I've got no expert opinion besides my own philosophy about reality. Essentially, I've got a kind of 'triangle' of my own, or perhaps it is Roger Penrose's diagram or Plato's or whatever.
My own version of Reality can be defined where mind understands the numerical and geometrical logicalities of nature, beauty is between mind and nature, and reason is between mind and logic, and truth is between logic and nature....everybody probably differs on their own version of what constitutes reality because everybody has a unique brain.
9) "
Scientology asserts that people have hidden abilities which have not yet been fully realized.This sounds like the spiritual gifts of Christianity, that people are encouraged to use to promote Christianity. However, I think that Scientology seeks to help people use their "hidden abilities" for bettering themselves AND for promoting Scientology. As a logical system, I think scientology will win more people by helping people as opposed to only seeking to utilize people for spreading Scientology. However, I don't give a shit, I'm not a scientologist by virtue of the fact that I am an Objectivist, I believe things based on an evaluation of the evidence instead of because religious authorities say them. I also don't need "help" from the scientologists either, because the end-goal is brainwashing people into believing scientology dogma as opposed to seeking the truth.
10)
The Church of Scientology believes in the principle of reciprocity, involving give-and-take in every human transaction.[6] Accordingly, members are required to make donations for study courses and auditing as they move up the Bridge, the amounts increasing as higher levels are reached.[6] Participation in higher-level courses on the Bridge may cost several thousand dollars, and Scientologists usually move up the Bridge at a rate governed by their income.Reciprocity and Mutually Benefitial Agreements are the bread and butter of well functioning society. However, perhaps people get the most benefit from a psychiatrist or a school as opposed to a scientologist? Or perhaps not, based on the placebo effect, if people are paying for the environment, then that's just fine, however it is probable they'd be paying for brainwashing as opposed to a nonbiased education when any kind of religious dogma is involved.
11)
... the story of Xenu (sometimes Xemu), introduced as an alien ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy." According to this story, 75 million years ago Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes. The thetans then clustered together, stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to do this today. Scientologists at advanced levels place considerable emphasis on isolating body thetans and neutralizing their ill effects.Hahahaha, lol, science fiction taken literally. That is the end game that Scientologists spend millions of dollars to learn, something that is worth no more than a trip to fiction section of the local public library.
Conclusive thoughts - Scientology aims at recruiting creative people (see 1) but it doesn't do any real science, it promotes the unquestioning belief in works of fiction, it might actually help people but not in the same way as professional help does, as with any religion it relies on subjective placebo effects which may "help" some gullable or hypochondriach people (actors whom have identity problems perhaps) more than it might help other less gullable people, it charges people money for "help" with some kind of bizzare philosophy (see 8) and mythological belief system (see 11) which may or may not actually help them out financially, the ones whom do feel helped by Scientology thereby go out and promote those bizzare beliefs.
