Please see Postulate Mechanics: Dianetics Theory
Theta-MEST Theory is central to Scientology. Scientology provides the following definitions for Theta-MEST Theory.
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Scientology Technical Dictionary
“THETA-MEST THEORY, 1. a theory generated by myself in the fall of 1950 as an effort to explain (just a theory) the phenomena of an analyzer working in one direction and a reactive mind working in quite another, the reactive mind being interesting, and the analyzer being interested.“
The analytical mind (analyzer) and the reactive mind are part of the same spectrum. The analyzer gradually becomes reactive as its ability to differentiate reduces. There is no firm line dividing the analyzer from the reactive mind.
“THETA-MEST THEORY, 2. the idea is that life is a no-substance thing, up against a physical universe which is a substance thing. Here is nothingness up against a somethingness interacting where the nothingness or the no-substance thing is actually giving orders to and handling the all substance thing, the physical universe.”
Here Theta is Unknowable (no substance), that is continually postulating MEST, which, having substance, is knowable.
“THETA-MEST THEORY, 3. the idea that there was a universe and that there was thought—theta without wave-length, without mass, without time, without position in space: this was life. And that was impinged upon something else called the physical universe, which was a mechanical entity which did things in a peculiar way, and these two things together, theta-mest interacting, gave us life forms.“
Here Theta is being regarded as life; MEST is being regarded as a mechanical entity. But “mechanical” means natural principles that apply to matter. This excludes natural principles that apply to energy and thought. In fact, MEST is the whole spectrum to which natural principles apply, and that is the whole universe of thought, energy and matter. Theta is the Unknowable that postulates and energizes the universe.
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Subject Clearing
There is an unbridgeable division between the Knowable and the Unknowable. See The Definition of STATIC. MEST is properly the designation for the “Knowable universe.” See The Definition of MEST. Therefore, THETA is properly the designation for the Unknowable. See The Definition of THETA.
A natural division exists between the Knowable universe and the Unknowable. But Hubbard makes an arbitrary division between the physical universe and thought, which are different aspects of the knowable universe. This is a basic anomaly in Scientology.
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Comments
BILL DE CARLE:
My position these days is disagreement with LRH’s theta-MEST theory. I tend to go with the science, and IMO there just isn’t any evidence for mind-over-matter. Did you follow the Benjamin Libet experiment which shows brain activity precedes a person’s awareness of making a free-will decision? Also, recent advances in neuroscience support the idea that brain activity always precedes awareness.
VINAIRE:
Body-mind is a single system. The two components—body and mind—cannot exist without each other. This is scientific.
Take the electrons in an atom. They are moving by themselves. Nothing is pushing them. The two dimensions of Theta and MEST are integrated in it. Similarly, the body is not being activated from something outside. It is self-activated when alive. Upon death the self-activation reduces to lower levels of organs and, ultimately, to the atomic level. This is because the body configuration changes and it loses overall coordination.
Fundamentally, there must be a “gear” moving by itself. As it engages with other “gears” the motion gets increasingly sophisticated. In Man this motion has reached a new level of sophistication. But that sophistication gets lost as the “gears” start to disengage.
This doesn’t mean that MEST produces Theta. Nor does Theta produce MEST. It is a single system with dimensions of Theta and MEST. Their coordination produces different levels of motion. The highest level of motion is “rational thinking in Man.” Life begins at the level of virus and cell. It continues to get increasingly sophisticated thereafter.
The arbitrary in Hubbard’s system is: “Theta produces MEST”. This is a bias we find in The Western religions, philosophy and thinking.
BILL DE CARLE:
We are in agreement up till your resolution that theta, MEST are two dimensions. I see a requirement for MEST to exist first, in order to provide a platform for theta to develop on – like computer hardware being necessary to run an AI chatbot – pull the plug and the ärtificial “person” ceases to manifest!
VINAIRE:
No platform can be entirely of MEST. It has to have both Theta and MEST.
Let’s take a mathematical example. We define a flat surface by two dimensions x and y. The flat surface cannot exist without both x and y being there. Neither of x and y came first.
Remember, the flat surface came first before we invented the dimensions of x and y dimensions to explain it. Similarly, the existence (and life) came first before we invented the dimensions of Theta and MEST to explain it.
Saying a dimension produced the other dimension, or preceded it, is mathematically and philosophically biased.