Reference: Hubbard 1950: Dianetics TMSMH
These are some comments on Book One, Chapter 3, “The Goal of Man” from DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH.
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Comments on
The Goal of Man
KEY WORDS: Survival, Immortality
Hubbard writes:
“TIME, SPACE, ENERGY and LIFE have a single denominator in common. As an analogy it could be considered that TIME, SPACE, ENERGY and LIFE began at some point of origin and were commanded to continue to some nearly infinite destination. They were told nothing but WHAT to do. They obey a single order and that order is “SURVIVE!”
Did the universe begin at some point? Was it commanded to SURVIVE? The ancient Vedas say that the universe has neither a beginning nor an end. Science says that energy forms the basic substance of the universe and it is conserved. Thus, from all evidence, energy has always been there, and it has no choice but to survive.
Hubbard writes:
“THE DYNAMIC PRINCIPLE OF EXISTENCE IS SURVIVAL The goal of life can be considered to be infinite survival. Man, as a life form, can be demonstrated to obey in all his actions and purposes the one command: SURVIVE!”
Although energy has no choice but to survive, the energy forms appear and disappear, and through this process, the forms change and evolve. Subtle energy evolves into solid atoms of matter (see the ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM). Atoms evolve into complex atoms (see the PERIODIC TABLE). Atoms combine into molecules and these molecules also evolve into complex molecules (see CHEMISTRY). Complex molecules acquire enough electronic circuits to develop self-animation. Thus come about basic life forms that evolve into complex life forms (see BIOLOGY). Life forms develop the ability to react. Such reactions gradually evolve into sophisticated analytical abilities. Thus life forms evolve from minerals to plants to animals to humans. Since Man is part of the universe, his goal is consistent with the overall goal of the universe, which is evidently, to EVOLVE.
Like the energy it is made of, Mankind cannot help but survive. Although individual human forms take birth and ultimately die, they evolve from the experience of living. The goal of Man, therefore, is continual evolution, and not the immortality of some individual form.
Some may assume that the goal of Man is to be immortal. But the actual goal of Man, like the goal of the universe and life, has always been to EVOLVE.
Where evolution will ultimates take us, we don’t know; and that is the energizing aspect of it. This is the aspect of an advancing science compared to a moribund religion.
Hubbard writes:
“In order to establish nomenclature in dianetics which would not be too complex for the purpose, words normally considered as adjectives or verbs have occasionally been pressed into service as nouns.”
Some of the words coined by Hubbard as nouns are as follows.
DYNAMIC = innate impulse or urge
SOMATIC = physical sensation
PERCEPTIC = a sense message
Hubbard writes:
“… a spectrum of life has been conceived to span from the zero of death or extinction toward the infinity of potential immortality… The thrust of survival is away from death and toward immortality. The ultimate pain could be conceived as existing just before death and the ultimate pleasure could be conceived as immortality… The urge is away from death, which has a repelling force, and toward immortality, which has an attracting force; the attracting force is pleasure, the repelling force is pain… Pain is provided to repel the individual from death, pleasure is provided to call him toward optimum life.”
Hubbard postulates “thetan” as the ultimate in individuality and gives it the attribute of immortality. Thus “thetan” is similar to the concept of “eternal soul” in Christianity. However, individuality belongs to the body-mind system as its core property. The body-mind system is subject to the cycle of birth and death, and so is individuality. What is eternal is the life force (symbolized by Hubbard as THETA), which energizes the body-mind-individuality system. Like the idea of the “eternal soul,” the postulate of an “immortal thetan” is also in error. Neither soul nor thetan stands apart from the body-mind system. What stands apart is the STATIC viewpoint.
The actual spectrum is from MYSTERY to KNOWINGNESS as it applies to consciousness. The ultimate consciousness resides in the knowingness of the STATIC viewpoint.
By definition, the STATIC viewpoint stands beyond all MOTION. Motion is the key characteristic of the universe. Motion becomes “emotion” in life organisms. Therefore, the STATIC viewpoint stands beyond all emotion too. An individual, when cleared of all anomalies, attains the STATIC viewpoint. He then views all motion (the universe) and emotion (life experiences) objectively without alteration.
It may be said that attaining the STATIC viewpoint is the goal of Man. But this STATIC viewpoint simply helps man to evolve through the cycles of birth and death.
Immortality lies in the total objectivity of the STATIC viewpoint expressed as happiness in action. The thrust from this viewpoint is always toward evolution. Each step of evolution brings immense joy. The death of the body-mind system is inevitable. There may be pain associated with death; but a person with STATIC viewpoint views death simply as a phenomena to be experienced.
Hubbard seems to advance the idea that all actions of life are driven by pain and pleasure. This is not so. All actions of life are driven by the dynamic of the life organism. Pain and pleasure are just indicators that help one evaluate the experience at that moment. The state of mind may be graded on a tone scale—apathy, anger, bearable existence, happiness. This mental state may reflect how subjective or objective the viewpoint is. The freer is the viewpoint from fixations the more objective it is.
Dianetics assumes that aberration enters through pain only. But aberration also enters through the fixation and narrowing of the viewpoint as one goes through various experiences in life. The narrower is the viewpoint the more selfish and immoral the person becomes.
A broad STATIC viewpoint is all inclusive. Life is a group effort. As the forms grow more complex, a tremendous interdependence exists. No one survives alone.
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