Reference: Scientology 8-8008
This paper presents Section 1 from the book SCIENTOLOGY 8-8008 by L. RON HUBBARD. The contents are from the original publication of this book by The Church of Scientology (1952).
The paragraphs of the original material (in black) are accompanied by brief comments (in color).
The heading below is linked to the original materials.
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Forward
THE work contained in this book is the result of 25 years’ investigation of electronics as they apply to knowledge and human thinking by L. Ron Hubbard.
In his youth, Hubbard had the good fortune to know Commander Thompson (M.C.), U.S.N., who had studied with Sigmund Freud in Vienna. Stimulated by Freud’s investigatory spirit and by the encouragement of the late Commander Thompson, and equipped with considerable personal experience in the Orient with phenomena not generally known in the Western World, Hubbard bent the exactitudes of Occidental engineering to the investigation and practical application of such data to the human mind.
His studies of the subject were extremely broad and varied. They included such things as expeditions to investigate the ethnology of twelve widely-separated primitive cultures, an intensive survey of the endocrine system, the study of early writers and philosophers on the subject of mankind and epistemology, also the direct study of his forte, nuclear physics, as it might be found to apply to the human intellect.
In addition to Sigmund Freud and Commander Thompson, he has credited the following persons as source material:
L. Ron Hubbard’s work has excited interest and comment throughout the world, and its more elementary forms are today taught in at least two leading universities. Some of his earlier discoveries have become accepted fact by the medical profession and his methodology is now in use in several institutions.
Some think of his work as the only significant enlargement of the field of the mind since Freud’s papers in the late 19th century; others think of it as the Western world’s first workable organization of Eastern philosophy. It has been called by two of the leading writers in America: “The most significant advance of mankind in the 20th century.”
Many lay writers have sensationalized these developments in the extreme, and others have levelled against this work the bitterest of condemnations: whether bad or good, no development in the field of the mind for many centuries has excited as much interest.
L. Ron Hubbard is himself a man of considerable energy and of extremely wide interests. He has written fiction under many of his pen-names; and, indeed, financed and supported his own investigations (which have cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) with his own pen. His interests do not lie in the field of practice but in the field of continued investigation.
Probably no philosopher of modem times has had the popularity and appeal of Hubbard or such startling successes within his own lifetime. And mankind has had no better friend.
THE EDITOR
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FINAL COMMENTS
There were some electronic circuits presented at the back of DMSMH to explain the functioning of the mind. The useful idea was that the reactive mind short-circuited the analytical circuits.
So Hubbard applied western engineering approach to eastern philosophy to come up with Scientology principles. Yes, this is a novel approach. Though Hubbard’s approach is interesting, it is yet to be seen how consistent and free of personal bias it is.
Hubbard claimed himself to be the total source of the philosophy of Scientology, of which he was very proud. He prohibited his followers to carry forward his research, or to improve upon his work on their own.
There seems to be details missing on the claims made in favor of Scientology; but I do feel that Hubbard’s work deserves to be closely studied, examined and verified. It is high time that somebody from the East examined his work and brought it forward to the level of complete objectivity.
There is controversy about Hubbard’s work because convincing objectivity is missing. Hubbard’s accomplishments are laudable even when he used unscientific means. Actual success of Scientology needs to be measured in terms of its positive impact on the society.
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