Lots of people who know me know I left Scientology after twenty five years in and upon discovering the fraudulent nature of the technology and dishonest nature of Scientology founder Ronald Hubbard rejected them both within a few weeks of learning about these disturbing realities.
The first difficult obstacle to face accompanying this was that I am gullible, I can and do hold completely incorrect beliefs. I can and do have extreme confidence in the accuracy of beliefs, regardless of the actual truthfulness of the beliefs.
And along with lots of other unpleasant revelations comes a time distinction. I don't think there is a transformative experience that changes this fundamental nature.
Lots of ex Scientologists and ex cult members and people who leave other groups learn different lessons. Many learn Hubbard or current Scientology leader Davie Miscavige lied to them and feel they are wiser and cannot possibly be duped again.
I have come to a different conclusion. I know of my profound gullibility. Perhaps it is a defining characteristic of myself. It is well established to me. But believing it has been transcended or erased is not something I feel sound evidence supports. I think it is wishful thinking.
I think it's human nature to often assume we hold correct beliefs, judge them using sound reason and have confidence in them proportional to the evidence and good thinking supporting them. That's a nice idea but far from reality.
I think many people discover to varying degrees the deception they experienced in Scientology and feel it was a special or unusual or even unique experience. They are seeing it as having duped them but perhaps it used exceptionally well developed covert persuasion, which I must admit might be actually true, or perhaps the social circumstances in Scientology were unusually suitable for cultic relationships, which they may have been, and so they see Scientology as being a sort of exception in human existence.
in other words seeing that they were gullible, were entirely and profoundly wrong regarding thousands of ideas, including the most fundamental and personal of values and were supremely confident in these false beliefs has not made them agnostic regarding their fallibility in realizing they can hold incorrect beliefs with high confidence.
Perhaps someone else is in a different circumstance than I am. But for me the first big lesson I got in leaving Scientology is my own gullibility. It would appear that to believe something as ludicrous as Scientology for many years of deep involvement one would need profound gullibility. I must say I am guilty as charged. But at least I learned this humbling and perhaps humiliating lesson.
The first difficult obstacle to face accompanying this was that I am gullible, I can and do hold completely incorrect beliefs. I can and do have extreme confidence in the accuracy of beliefs, regardless of the actual truthfulness of the beliefs.
And along with lots of other unpleasant revelations comes a time distinction. I don't think there is a transformative experience that changes this fundamental nature.
Lots of ex Scientologists and ex cult members and people who leave other groups learn different lessons. Many learn Hubbard or current Scientology leader Davie Miscavige lied to them and feel they are wiser and cannot possibly be duped again.
I have come to a different conclusion. I know of my profound gullibility. Perhaps it is a defining characteristic of myself. It is well established to me. But believing it has been transcended or erased is not something I feel sound evidence supports. I think it is wishful thinking.
I think it's human nature to often assume we hold correct beliefs, judge them using sound reason and have confidence in them proportional to the evidence and good thinking supporting them. That's a nice idea but far from reality.
I think many people discover to varying degrees the deception they experienced in Scientology and feel it was a special or unusual or even unique experience. They are seeing it as having duped them but perhaps it used exceptionally well developed covert persuasion, which I must admit might be actually true, or perhaps the social circumstances in Scientology were unusually suitable for cultic relationships, which they may have been, and so they see Scientology as being a sort of exception in human existence.
in other words seeing that they were gullible, were entirely and profoundly wrong regarding thousands of ideas, including the most fundamental and personal of values and were supremely confident in these false beliefs has not made them agnostic regarding their fallibility in realizing they can hold incorrect beliefs with high confidence.
Perhaps someone else is in a different circumstance than I am. But for me the first big lesson I got in leaving Scientology is my own gullibility. It would appear that to believe something as ludicrous as Scientology for many years of deep involvement one would need profound gullibility. I must say I am guilty as charged. But at least I learned this humbling and perhaps humiliating lesson.
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