I have encountered in dealing with Scientologists and exes a particular phenomena which I will both name and attempt to explain that bears examination.This is a very scholarly matter so please keep that in mind.As a consequence of the multiple mind altering effects created on a Scientologist on course ( they routinely have at least 6 or 7 things being done to their minds while" studying " and particularly if they do this intensively , or for long periods ) specific changes occur in behavior and beliefs.
I am calling this effect : Post Indoctrination Scientological Studies Educational Disorder or PISSED for short .Many Scientologists while intaking study tech with the critical factor disabled are implanted with a pattern of being confused intellectually and having the doctrine seem to solve confusions emotionally with comforting info .It really distracts from the intellectual confusions rather than solve them , with misdirection and by splitting attention and other hypnotic techniques I've written about extensively in other threads.
It can produce euphoric " comforted " trance states and create an unconscious association in the mind with accepting and conforming to the emotional illogical doctrine.It can make it " feel " good , comforting and relaxing to think , write and speak the doctrine.It can also feel very uncomfortable to doubt , examine or reject the doctrine or parts that are implanted in the comfortable trance.
The more one is exposed to this through repetition ( probably one of the two most basic hypnotic techniques ) the stronger and more integrated into one's deeply held beliefs and very identity this can become.This is true for " study tech , admin , cramming , auditing , c/sing " , and especially for " course supervisors " as they get a lot of training to never recognize or even suspect hypnotic mind control and they are re-exposed to the hypnotic materials and hypnotic environment of the courseroom over and over. Hubbard truly and deeply fooled many of them !
So , when exit counseling or dealing with people keep this in mind ; they have been conditioned , often for decades , on a deep deep emotional level to never doubt or suspect study tech .They often feel it is right and good with a very strong conviction born of emotion , so it is difficult to reason with . It is like if someone you absolutely , completely love is accused of a terrible crime , on an emotional level your first instinct is to reject the accusation , hate the accuser and defend vehemently !! Even though you have none of the facts or evidence to decide rationally !!!
Hubbard wanted you to never look at the facts.
Facts : courses almost always take far longer than advertised . If we really raised IQ , became error free etc. we would take over , or at least shine in fields like engineering , research , mathematics , medicine , science , etc. , but very few Scientologists succeed in those fields and the " new man " ( i. e. clear ) of Scientology has always been a flop.Clears are not MLK , Einstein , Da Vinci , Tesla etc. etc. " Graduates " of " study tech " don't immediately rocket to brilliance with genius IQ , perfect memory , flawless thinking etc. Auditors are advertised as super able cause over their environment etc. etc. and to be frank some auditors I know are complete dimwits , some are very nice folks but there is confidence from training but confidence is not competence !
And study tech makes it so you cannot see that ; you get certainty.That certainty is in delusion not truth .I am very , very sorry I am quite sure this is how it is.There are tons of books on cults and mind control that concur with my own findings ; there are court rulings and reports.There is a growing scholarly community that sees it this way and very , very few that claim the other side , and they are almost exclusively Scientologists , and " New religious movement experts " that Scientology PAID OFF .
So , when dealing with that old Sup have a lot of patience and remember his mind has been reprogrammed and messed up without his knowledge or consent !! So when he acts PISSED when you tell him study tech is hypnotic cognitive restructuring , combined with stacked realities and loaded language and embedded commands and misdirection with changed vocabulary ( as another misdirection) and repetition and logical fallacies and he just says " OH NO , I know it can't be !! " With great indignation !! If you try to reason with him and explain that he needs to understand those ideas to have an educated opinion ,even if he thinks he is a critical thinker ,he may automatically reject needing to even understand what he is rejecting and instead attack you !!! For trying to help him ! It's not his fault he's PISSED , Hubbard worked for decades , and stole and twisted a lot of other people's work to get the tech that protects itself from exposure or examination .
Additional symptoms of this condition are being defensive , elitist , narcissistic , and thinking in and not recognizing the following logical fallacies regarding study tech or Scientology in general or parts of it : Personal incredulity , black and white thinking , magical thinking , the Texas sharpshooter fallacy ( aka apophenia ) , Ad Hominem , no true Scotsman ( Scientologist ) , Appeal to authority ( their own or Hubbard ) , begging the question , genetic , burden of proof , ambiguity , bandwagon , anecdotal and of course tu quoque .
Some ex members will vehemently deny brainwashing . The way out of the " I am not brainwashed " , " yes you are ! " argument is simple.STUDY mind control and hypnotism and persuasion and logical fallacies.Read : Rape of the Mind , Freedom of Mind , Recovery From Cults , the True Believer by Eric Hoffer ,the Cult Papers by A Orange ( free online ) , Hypnotism Comes of Age , the criteria of thought reform by Robert J Lifton ( just a short list ) the online works of Jon Atack , the Lermanet.com library on hypnosis and the confusion technique . Read about stacking realities and embedded commands from NLP free online.Watch free online videos of Derren Brown and Dantalion Jones.Look online at the logical fallacies I have listed as symptoms of PISSED and others and learn how liars use them to confuse and deceive you.
If you are not brainwashed you should be able to look at these things.
In psychoanalysis and other therapies many therapists note that the content of the subconscious resists close examination , even after trust is built up. The implanted commands of Scientology are rigged so Scientologists can not look at both sides to see if there is any basis for the claim of brainwashing .If you know you're being brainwashed it won't work as intended. To have an intelligent debate about mind control you need to understand the methods and theories in the subject.
It's that simple , if you want to debate any subject in depth you need to understand it's contents.This does not mean any individual is or is not brainwashed by name .It means to deny something you need to understand what you are denying .
Bluntly the source of the harm Scientology does is in the ideas in the minds of Scientologists , and even many exes or indies or freezoners. I don't suggest mass commitment or arrest or anything that prone to abuse and injustice.
Education and voluntary exit counseling are the only way to go for individuals already affected by Scientology. The materials to educate them , in my opinion are not even made yet ! I believe books and booklets and videos exposing as much as possible how the con works and exactly what is the real source and purpose of each step a person takes in Scientology need to be compiled. I mean so extensively as to cover ALL grade chart and other cult techniques - one by one . I mean in such simple language that a person of below average intelligence can easily understand !
Much of what I've studied has required learning about psychology , and hypnosis in significant detail and depth on my own just to be able to understand the materials and language ! Many terms and conditions in hypnosis are not what they are in regular English and you will be quite lost if you don't do your homework along the way.
Some people look at broad terms , like " well Hubbard or David Miscavige have suppressive intentions ! , without which I can use the tech to help! "
Well , I'm sure you have good intentions , but what you are saying relies on magical thinking ! Mind control , in my experience and opinion is a mechanistic effect . In other words it follows rules as precise as gravity or any other physical force or reaction. If an apple falls I don't attribute that to the apple or anything else's intention .
If you use hypnotic mind control techniques regardless of your intention on people if they are without an almost encyclopedic knowledge and equal understanding of what you are really doing it will be just the same as Scientology ! Our minds are built with certain weaknesses and vulnerabilities and ways to bypass the critical factor and free will and the method achieves that , NOT the intention or will of the user. Really will may be an inappropriate term for the ability to resist mind control . In my research thought stopping and resistance are very similar in effect and involve associations in the mind not a supernatural or innate force.
Another way to put this is if you said " oh yeah , the war killed my cousin , war is bad " - and you did not notice getting shot killed your cousin and you went out believing shooting people " without suppressive intentions " would not harm them ! Uh , it most definitely will ! The only hope for this subject ( recovery from Scientology )and effectiveness in dealing with it to advance is a lot of tremendous individual effort to be thoroughly educated about it , and unfortunately this is not just one or two subjects to specialize in.
You will miss most of the subject and be largely ineffective in exit counseling ( including self exit counseling )or even explaining Scientology if you only study any one or two of the following : critical thinking , logical fallacies , sources Hubbard stole from , normal hypnosis , Hubbard and his insanity ,the abuses and crimes in Scientology many basic ideas and theories in psychology and psychiatry , mass movements or any of several other aspects of Scientology.
It's similar to how I heard a mechanic explain that he needed to understand as much as A HVAC guy for the heating and cooling system and a computer guy for the computer and two or three other professions in order to understand and work on my car. Some things require a lot of knowledge and frankly most people never get the knowledge to take apart Scientology ; some expert psychiatrists and psychologists have done a good job ( like for the Anderson report ) , but they then leave all the info in language so obtuse and complex for laymen that the research is largely ineffective as an educational aid to others , except equally educated pros , who would also see right through Scientology!
The job of translating this and doing independent verification is daunting , but very needed. I have seen very few sources that even identify study tech as harmful , let alone a precise compound mind control array as I see it ! Some experts in hypnosis/language patterns just casually act as if it's so obvious anyone should see it , BUT they have expertise in persuasion or communication . Some cult experts just say " well cults use self-hypnosis " as if that is enough explanation . But in Scientology it is so well hidden that for many Scientologists they will need a much more detailed explanation to understand , let alone recover.
See if you cut out anybody who is in or partway a believer you don't just neglect them , which at times is simply cruel ,you also leave the seeds for a future with Scientology or a successor. This technology will be used by someone in the future , probably altered and under another name, IF widespread education does not happen. I don't want somebody in fifty or a hundred years to use Miscavology or something on the population of a country or countries to establish a totalitarian hell .
I have met people who begged to go back on the RPF after years of abuse in the Sea Org . I have met people with top five , or even top one percent , IQs who blame themselves for all failures in Scientology. I have known people in for twenty to forty years who never see anything wrong , and die true believers !
The future demands far more and in some ways far smarter efforts to combat Scientology and totalism in other forms.The official cult shrinks , but offshoots and future threats will survive.In Scientology your mind is a prison ; to beat it many minds must be the weapon .The work has been begun by Lermanet.com ( Arnie Lerma ) and Jon Atack , BUT there is still a long, long way to go.
