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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dianetics | 1/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00 | kb-cron |
Dianetics is a set of pseudoscientific ideas and practices regarding the human mind invented in 1950 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Dianetics was originally conceived as a form of psychological treatment, but was rejected by the psychological and medical establishments as pseudoscientific and ineffective. It was the precursor to Scientology and has since been incorporated into it. It involves a process called "auditing", which uses an electrical resistance meter, ostensibly to remove emotional burdens and "cure" people from their troubles. "Auditing" uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject. Hubbard eventually decided to present Dianetics as a form of spirituality that is part of the Church of Scientology, after several practitioners were arrested for practicing medicine without a license and a prosecution trial was pending against the first Dianetics organization that Hubbard founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey. As well as escaping prosecution, Hubbard also saw the possibility of reducing the tax burden from the sale of Dianetics books and methods.
== Premise == The word Dianetics was coined from Greek dia meaning "through" and nous meaning "mind". The pseudoscientific Dianetics ideas seek to explain the metaphysical relationship between the mind and the body. The theory describes the human mind as two parts: the conscious "analytical mind" and the subconscious "reactive mind". The stated purpose of the Dianetics technique of "auditing" is to erase the contents of the reactive mind—the holder of painful and destructive emotions that can act on a person as posthypnotic suggestions. "Auditing" uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject. In auditing, the person is asked questions intended to help them locate and deal with painful past experiences. Dianetics theory posits that "the basic principle of existence is to survive" and that the basic personality of humans is sincere, intelligent, and good. The drive for goodness and survival is distorted and inhibited by aberrations (deviations from rational thinking). Hubbard claimed that Dianetics could increase intelligence, eliminate unwanted emotions, and alleviate a wide range of illnesses he believed to be psychosomatic. Conditions purportedly treatable by Dianetics included arthritis, allergies, asthma, some coronary difficulties, eye trouble, ulcers, migraines, and sexual deviance.
== History ==
According to Hubbard, he had a near-death experience while sedated for a dental operation in 1938 that inspired him to write the manuscript Excalibur. Though it was never published, the work allegedly became the basis for Dianetics. The first publication on Dianetics was Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science, an article by Hubbard in Astounding Science Fiction (cover date May 1950). This was followed by the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (DMSMH), published May 9, 1950. In these works Hubbard claimed that the source of all psychological pain, and therefore the cause of mental and physical health problems, was a form of memory known as "engrams". According to Hubbard, people could reach a state he named "Clear" when all their engrams had been removed by talking with an "auditor". While the technique was not accepted by the medical and scientific establishment, in the first two years of its publication DMSMH sold over 100,000 copies. Publication of DMSMH brought in a flood of revenue, which Hubbard used to establish Dianetics foundations in six major U.S. cities. Two of the strongest initial supporters of Dianetics in the 1950s were John W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and Joseph Augustus Winter, a writer and medical physician. Campbell published some of Hubbard's short stories, and Winter hoped that his own colleagues would likewise be attracted to Hubbard's Dianetics system. Readers formed groups to study and practice Dianetics. According to sociologist Roy Wallis, this period was one of "excited experimentation" and Hubbard's work was regarded as "an initial exploration to be developed further by others". Per Wallis, it was Dianetics' popularity as a lay psychotherapy that contributed to the Dianetics Foundation's downfall. Most people read the book, tried it out, then put it down. The remaining practitioners had no ties to the Foundation. Factions formed and followers challenged Hubbard's movement and his authority. The craze of 1950–51 was dead by 1952. In 1951, with debts piled up and facing bankruptcy, the Foundation was bailed out by Don Purcell, a wealthy Dianetics follower from Wichita. But the relief was short-lived, and the Foundation fell to bankruptcy in 1952. Hubbard fled to Phoenix, Arizona, having lost the Foundation, the rights to Dianetics, and the DMSMH copyrights to Purcell. Hubbard sued and in 1954 Purcell settled by giving the copyrights back to Hubbard. In Phoenix, Hubbard created "Scientology"; its techniques were intended to rehabilitate people so that they might reach their full potential as spiritual beings. Dianetics was incorporated into Scientology. In 1978, Hubbard introduced "New Era Dianetics" (NED) and New Era Dianetics for OTs, and added them to The Bridge to Total Freedom.