DIANETICS: LACK OF SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

 

The Dianetics Scam

DIANETICS:
LACK OF SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

There is a good reason universities do not bother teaching the ideas of Dianetics: because they are not valid.  At the center of Dianetics lies a mix of outdated psychological theories, unproven ideas, and wild speculation masquerading as fact.  Here we take a quick overview of failure of Dianetics to establish itself in the realm of science.

professionals caution about dianetics

Crackpot founder L. Ron Hubbard.
(Credit: Public domain photo)

After Dianetics had reached fad status in 1950, warnings came quickly from real scientific communities.  The American Psychological Association issued a statement noting, “These claims are not supported by empirical evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific generalizations.” [1]  

In 1950, the former president of the American Psychiatric Association also issued a statement condemning Dianetics that stated "It can potentially do a great deal of harm. It is obvious that [Hubbard] has oversimplified the human personality, both as to its structure and function. ... He has made inordinate and very exaggerated claims in his results." [2]

The warnings quickly made their way to mainstream media like The Nation [3] and TIME Magazine. [4]

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES COME UP EMPTY

Meanwhile, independent research of the ideas in Dianetics did not bear fruit.  One 1953 study failed to show any significant changes in intellectual functioning, mathematical ability, or the degree of personality conflicts. [5]  Another investigation was conducted by Jack Fox, Alvin E. Davis and B. Lebovit for the Psychological Newsletter in 1959.  They tested for retention of events during states of unconsciousness, as described by Hubbard's theory of engrams.  No substantiation was found, and their professional opinion was that “Dianetics uses concepts and constructs which, for the most part, are gross over-simplifications of concepts and constructs culled from general semantics, cybernetics, dynamic psychologies, and academic psychology.” [6]

hubbard goes crazy in response

Violent imagery in a Scientology event.
(Fair Use: New Year's Eve 2006 celebration)

Dianetics founder L. Ron Hubbard had failed to achieve scientific acceptance for his creation.  He went mad with conspiracy theories: the psychiatrists were an evil group, he claimed, and they exploited the vulnerable, or were even murderers. [7]  His anti-psychiatry extremism lives on today.   One day it’s Tom Cruise on a strange rant about psychiatry on the Today Show [8], another day it's a gathering of Dianetics practitioners watching violent imagery such as "Psych Buster" hand grenades and government building detonation. [9]

testimonials don't hold water

Plenty of Dianetics practitioners have bought into the hype of creator L. Ron Hubbard, who claimed to be able to bring about a mental state without anxiety, complexes, or fears. [10]  Indeed, Hubbard went on to make all types of claims about Dianetics healing, and his followers are no less enthusiastic about the powers of the so-called therapy.  Their most common argument for Dianetics is their personal testimonials.

The first problem is that every type of bogus "snake oil" product -- including junk like crystal healing, numerology, or whatever -- can offer up these types of fuzzy, feel-good stories.  The mere production of testimonials, in itself, is insufficient to establish that something actually works.  It simply means that some people believe it does.  Dianetics is sorely lacking in the proper, independent, scientific studies that would set it apart from other testimonial-laden quackery.

The second problem is that the testimonial has become hard-wired into the process of Dianetics and Scientology in an unhealthy way.  Long-term practice includes making students attest to the successful results as a prerequisite for course completions.  These mandatory declarations of success take on many different forms.  Some are simply eye-rolling quickies, and others are essentially coerced endorsements.  This group affirmation is done on a continual basis, and things like exuberant speeches at weekly graduations are commonplace.  As ex-members frequently describe, much of this pomp is exaggerated or even completely empty.

the quackery of the "e-meter"

Mark VIII Ultra E-meter, used in Dianetics and
Scientology. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

An important part of the “scientific” cloaking of Dianetics is a machine called the E-meter.  Used in Dianetics sessions, this device is a machine that passes a tiny amount of electrical current through the body of the person holding its two can-shaped electrodes.  Unknowing users may be tricked into believing the claim that it can measure “mental energy” [11] and thus actually report information about thoughts or the mind.  In reality, the E-meter simply measures changes in the human body’s electrical resistance, which can be strongly influenced by factors such as how firmly a person is squeezing the cans, how moist their palms are, and other variables.  It does not function in the way that many Dianetics users claim.

dianetics remains unproven

To this day, the main ideas of Dianetics, such as the engram and the reactive mind, have never been validated in a peer-reviewed scientific study.  For a subject claiming to be a "new science of the mind," the lack of evidence for Dianetics speaks loudly.

Read Dianetics Part 4:  Common Recruiting Methods

Section References

[1] "Psychologists Act Against Dianetics." New York Times 9 Sept. 1950. Print. http://www.xenu.net/archive/fifties/e500909.htm

[2] Maisel, Albert Q. "Exaggerated Claims." Dianetics: Science or Hoax? Des Moines, Iowa: Look Magazine, Vol. 14 No. 25, December 5, 1950.

[3] Sapirstein, Milton R. Dianetics: A Cure for All Ills. New York, New York: The Nation, August 1950.

[4] "Medicine: Tests & Poison." TIME 18 Sept. 1950. Print. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,813284,00.html

[5] Fischer, Harvey Jay. Dianetic Therapy: An Experimental Evaluation. A Statistical Analysis of the Effect of Dianetic Therapy as Measured by Group Tests of Intelligence, Mathematics and Personality. Thesis. New York University, 1953. Web. http://home.snafu.de/tilman/krasel/dianetics_test2.html

[6] Fox, J., A.E. Davis, and B. Lebovits. "An Experimental Investigation of Hubbard's Engram Hypothesis (Dianetics)." Psychological Newsletter 10 (1959): 131-34. Print. http://www.scribd.com/doc/84889855/An-Experimental-Investigation-of-Hubbard-s-Engram-Hypothesis-Dianetics

[7] Hubbard, L. Ron. "Crime and Psychiatry." 1969. http://freedom.lronhubbard.org/page080.htm

[8] Interview. In Tense Moment, Cruise Calls Lauer ‘glib’. The Today Show. Web. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/8344309/ns/today-entertainment/t/tense-moment-cruise-calls-lauer-glib/

[9] Miscavige, David. Speech. Scientology 2006 New Year's Celebration. YouTube. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfu7Sr50N7U

[10] Beecher, W. and Willingham, C. Boiled Engrams – An Elegy to Dianetics. American Mercury August 1951. http://www.scribd.com/doc/124540120/Boiled-Engrams-An-Elegy-to-Dianetics-Beecher-Willingham

[11] Hubbard, L. Ron. Understanding the E-Meter. Bridge Publications, 1982. Page 50. Web excerpt. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/E-Meter/faq-on-emeters.html

Read Dianetics Part 4:  Common Recruiting Methods