DIANETICS: The Clear

Reference: Hubbard 1950: Dianetics TMSMH

These are some comments on Book One, Chapter 2, “The Clear” from  DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH.

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Comments on
The Clear

KEY WORDS: Clear, Reverie, Hypnosis, Returning

Clear is the goal of Dianetics Therapy. A Clear is a person who is cleared of all anomalies from his body-mind system. Hubbard wrote earlier about the Clear as The Basic Individual. 

An anomaly is any violation of the oneness of reality, such as, discontinuity (missing data), inconsistency (contradictory data), or disharmony (arbitrary data). All aberrations, such as, psychoses, neuroses, compulsions and repressions, are anomalies. Dianetics focuses on clearing up mental and physical aberrations, such as, the psychosomatics ills. The process of clearing also restores one’s perceptions if the organs of perception are physically intact.

The process of clearing is all about the resolution of anomalies.

The dianetic reverie used in clearing is similar to hypnosis. Hubbard takes pains to differentiate reverie from hypnosis. Hypnosis has been used for centuries to treat diverse ills, but it went into relative decline with the rise of modern medicine. In the last 200 years it’s been more associated with stage magicians and movie villains. Just how it works is not clear, and some critics suggest it’s simply a way of relaxing. But practitioners say there’s more to it, and that under hypnosis the patient can concentrate intensely on a specific thought, memory, feeling or sensation while blocking out distractions. See Hypnotherapy Terms and Definitions.

The dianetic reverie is a mild form of hypnosis in which the individual retains enough analytical awareness.

Apparently the process of hypnotism bypasses the “mental filters” to access the intuitive capabilities of the brain. This attenuates one’s analytical capabilities, but not to the degree the person loses control, or does things against his will. A portion of the mind simply returns to a past period of life and re-experiences it. It is an inherent ability of the mind. A person can do it all by oneself. The re-experiencing of the past includes all perceptions. The attention may get absorbed to varying degrees. Due to aberrations this ability to return gets curtailed, and the “memory” reduces to vague impressions.

A person can apply meditative reverie to oneself to access impression that lie below consciousness.

The anomalies generate fixations that aberrate a person’s thinking and behavior. As these anomalies are resolved the logic circuits clear up. In Dianetics, Hubbard identifies “held down sevens” to be the cause of all aberrations. The mind, otherwise, is inherently incapable of error. We may further explain these “held down sevens” as fixations caused by disharmonies, discontinuities and inconsistencies. A person may either be unaware of these anomalies or he could have accepted them as normal.

Not only somatics but one’s fixations may also be used to enter the search for the impressions that lie below consciousness.

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A Buddhist Perspective

When we take the postulates from Buddhism into account we find that Scientology lacks compassion because it is “fixated on the survival of individuality”. We may define a cleared individual as follows:

A cleared individual is not absolutely free of flaws, but he is very close to being completely rational. He has a mind in which perceptions continually break down into fine discriminative elements, and get freely associated and assimilated into an orderly mental matrix providing rational solutions.

The cleared individual does not avoid, resist, suppress or deny any thoughts, emotions, and sensations when thinking; and so he perceives things objectively with clarity. He is able to examine and overcome all prejudices, biases and fixations. He is keenly perceptive and knowledgeable and continues to explore new areas of knowledge.

The cleared individual is universal in his outlook. He rises above any fixation on self or individuality. He is not subjective, self-centric, or human-centric. There are no conflicts within him. He would not hesitate to sacrifice himself if need be.

The cleared individual can look from the viewpoint of others as well as objectively from the viewpoint of all life and the environment. He continues to expand his understanding of the physical and spiritual aspects of the universe without resorting to superstitions.

The cleared individual is the first to realize his error and correct himself. Whenever he senses resistance or observes some oddity, he follows it up until it is cleared. If he suffers a painful experience, heavy loss, or confusion he is able to sort it out quietly in his mind.

The cleared individual is in good health and has no psychosomatic illnesses. He is purposeful in his demeanor, and graceful in his movements. He is strong and calm even in adversity. In no way is he trying to win or dominate, but he is passionately engaged in bringing order to his environment.

Above all, he is compassionate.

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April 26, 2021 – 12:02 PM Categories: Dianetics | Comments (15)

The World of Atom (Part XIV)

Reference: Boorse 1966: The World of Atom

PART XIV – NEWER DEVELOPMENTS IN ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR THEORY

THE WORLD OF ATOM by Boorse

Chapter 81: Mesons (Cecil Frank Powell 1903 – 1969)

Mesons. In 1947 Powell and Occhialini discovered pion tracks on special photographic plates exposed to cosmic rays. Powell received the Nobel Prize in 1950 for developing special photographic techniques for the study of cosmic rays and applying the techniques to the analysis of mesons found in such rays. This discovery confirmed Yukawa’s theory about the nature of nuclear force.

Chapter 82: The Antiproton (Emilio Segrè 1905 – 1989, Owen Chamberlain 1920 – 2006)

Antiprotons. In 1955 Segrè and Chamberlain discovered the antiproton for which they received the Nobel prize in 1959. The antiproton was predicted by Dirac’s theory, but to produce it required vastly more energy, over a six-billion-volt proton as a bombarding particle. Collisions at this energy produced some 40,000 other particles. The recognition of antiproton required precise alignment of detectors and counters along with the demonstration that these particles annihilate protons and neutrons. The existence of the antinucleon greatly strengthens the belief of physicists that antimatter exists as the normal state of things in a different part of our universe.

Chapter 83: Nuclear Magnetic Moment (Isidor I. Rabi 1898 – 1988)

Quantization in a Gyrating Magnetic Field. I. I. Rabi developed the most precise and elegant method for measuring the size of the magnetic moment of a nucleus that was needed to construct a nuclear model. His starting point was the Stern and Gerlach experiment to which he added a longer path and auxiliary fields that could rotate and oscillate at adjustable frequencies. This finally led to the molecular beam resonance method that could precisely determine the magnetic moments of nuclei. His experiments won him a Nobel prize in physics in 1944.

Chapter 84: Hydrogen and the Elementary Particles (Willis E. Lamb, Jr. 1913 – 2008)

Fine Structure of the Hydrogen Atom. In 1947, Lamb designed a very ingenious and beautiful experiment, based on microwave techniques, to analyze the fine structure of the hydrogen lines for n = 2. The experiment showed that there is a 1000 megacycle-per-second separation between the 2S½ and 2P½ levels, in disagreement with the prediction of Dirac’s theory. This remarkable experiment led to the mass renormalization theories of Bethe, Schwinger, Feynman and Tomonaga, and indicated how the Dirac theory must be corrected to conform to the observed results. Lamb won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 “for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum.” 

Chapter 85: Magnetic Moment of the Electron (Polykarp Kusch 1911 – 1993)

Magnetic Moment of the Electron. Another discrepancy from Dirac’s theory detected experimentally was the value of the magnetic moment of the electron. It became clear that the intrinsic magnetic moment of the electron must differ from 1 Bohr magneton by about 1%. This suggested the need of a very precise determination for g-factor associated with spin of the electron. This was undertaken by Kusch. The agreement was about 1 part in a billion. This result is extremely important since it demonstrates the high degree of accuracy of the improved quantum electrodynamics in analyzing the interaction of an electron and an electromagnetic field.

Chapter 86: High Energy Physics (Hans Bethe 1906 – 2005, Julian Schwinger 1918 – 1994, Richard Feynman 1918 – 1988)

The Electromagnetic Shift of Energy Levels. An error in the Dirac theory arises because it regards the electron as a point without a surrounding radiation field. There is therefore no limit as to how energetic the photons may be with which the electron could interact. This is equivalent to saying that the interaction of the electron with the radiation field surrounding it leads to an infinite correction to its mass. Bethe was the first to obtain a fairly accurate value by an approximate non-relativistic method. Schwinger and Feynman then independently came up with a precise relativistic procedure for mass and charge renormalization.

Chapter 87: The Nuclear Shell (Johannes D. Jensen 1907 – 1973)

The History of the theory of Structure of The Atomic Nucleus. There is a nuclear shell structure similar to the electronic shell structure. For electronic shells the numbers of electrons that completely fill the shells are: 2, 8, 18, 32, etc. For nucleon shells such numbers for neutrons or protons are: 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126, and so on. When these nucleon shells are completely filled, we get an extremely stable and abundant nucleus. It was for shell structure theory of the nucleus that Jensen shared the 1963 Nobel Prize.

Chapter 88: Radiocarbon Dating (Willard F. Libby 1908 – 1980)

Radiocarbon Dating. Libby discovered C14, with a half-life of 5,568 years, as the radioactive substance that could be used to date substances in the organic world. The method depends on the fact that all samples of atmospheric carbon dioxide are radioactive and consequently all plants, animals and humans are radioactive in a balanced way. When death occurs the balance immediately ceases, and the radiocarbon atoms become fewer and fewer as time goes on.  Libby was honored by the Nobel Prize in chemistry for 1960 for his development of the C14 dating techniques.

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MAIN POINTS

  1. The nuclear force is very small and operates at very small range.
  2. It consists of pions that are tossed back and forth between the two nucleons.
  3. Recognition of antiproton and antineutron and its proof (confirms Dirac’s theory).
  4. Apparently, antimatter exists as the normal state of things in a different part of our universe.
  5. Measurement of the size of the magnetic moment of a nucleus needed to construct a nuclear model.
  6. Fine structure of the hydrogen lines, as predicted by the Dirac theory, does not agree with the observational data.
  7. Error in Dirac’s theory because it treats the electron as an isolated point.
  8. High degree of accuracy of the improved quantum electrodynamics.
  9. A precise relativistic procedure for mass and charge renormalization in electrodynamics.
  10. There is a nuclear shell structure similar to the electronic shell structure.
  11. Radiocarbon dating of archeological artifacts and historical periods.

THEORY
The nucleus forms the extremely small core of the atomic vortex. The rotating orbital within the nucleus are similar to the orbitals in the electronic region, but they are extremely small and tight.

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April 24, 2021 – 7:33 AM Categories: Physics Book | Post a comment

ARISTOTLE: The Historical Background

Reference: The Story of Philosophy

This paper presents Chapter II, Section 1 from the book THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY by WILL DURANT. The contents are from the 1933 reprint of this book by TIME INCORPORATED by arrangement with Simon and Schuster, Inc.

The paragraphs of the original material (in black) are accompanied by brief comments (in color) based on the present understanding.  Feedback on these comments is appreciated.

The heading below is linked to the original materials.

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I. The Historical Background 

Aristotle was born at Stagira, a Macedonian city some two hundred miles to the north of Athens, in the year 384 B. C. His father was friend and physician to Amyntas, King of Macedon and grandfather of Alexander. Aristotle himself seems to have become a member of the great medical fraternity of Asclepiads. He was brought up in the odor of medicine as many later philosophers were brought up in the odor of sanctity; he had every opportunity and encouragement to develop a scientific bent of mind; he was prepared from the beginning to become the founder of science. 

We have a choice of stories for his youth. One narrative represents him as squandering his patrimony in riotous living, joining the army to avoid starvation, returning to Stagira to practice medicine, and going to Athens at the age of thirty to study philosophy under Plato. A more dignified story takes him to Athens at the age of eighteen, and puts him at once under the tutelage of the great Master; but even in this likelier account there is sufficient echo of a reckless and irregular youth, living rapidly. The scandalized reader may console himself by observing that in either story our philosopher anchors at last in the quiet groves of the Academy. 

Aristotle was a riotous youth who anchored at last in the quiet groves of the Academy.

Under Plato he studied eight—or twenty—years; and indeed the pervasive Platonism of Aristotle’s speculations—even of those most anti-Platonic—suggests the longer period. One would like to imagine these as very happy years: a brilliant pupil guided by an incomparable teacher, walking like Greek lovers in the gardens of philosophy. But they were both geniuses; and it is notorious that geniuses accord with one another as harmoniously as dynamite with fire. Almost half a century separated them; it was difficult for understanding to bridge the gap of years and cancel the incompatibility of souls. Plato recognized the greatness of this strange new pupil from the supposedly barbarian north, and spoke of him once as the Nous of the Academy,—as if to say, Intelligence personified. Aristotle had spent money lavishly in the collection of books (that is, in those printless days, manuscripts); he was the first, after Euripides, to gather together a library; and the foundation of the principles of library classification was among his many contributions to scholarship. Therefore Plato spoke of Aristotle’s home as “the house of the reader,” and seems to have meant the sincerest compliment; but some ancient gossip will have it that the Master intended a sly but vigorous dig at a certain book-wormishness in Aristotle. A more authentic quarrel seems to have arisen towards the end of Plato’s life: Our ambitious youth apparently developed an “Oedipus complex” against his spiritual father for the favors and affections of philosophy, and began to hint that wisdom would not die with Plato; while the old sage spoke of his pupil as a foal that kicks his mother after draining her dry. The learned Zeller, in whose pages Aristotle almost achieves the Nirvana of respectability, would have us reject these stories; but we may presume that where there is still so much smoke there was once a flame. 

Aristotle, however, maintained his mental independence even at the Academy.

The other incidents of this Athenian period are still more problematical. Some biographers tell us that Aristotle founded a school of oratory to rival Isocrates; and that he had among his pupils in this school the wealthy Hermias, who was soon to become autocrat of the city-state of Atarneus. After reaching this elevation Hermias invited Aristotle to his court; and in the year 344 B. C. he rewarded his teacher for past favors by bestowing upon him a sister (or a niece) in marriage. One might suspect this as a Greek gift; but the historians hasten to assure us that Aristotle, despite his genius, lived happily enough with his wife, and spoke of her most affectionately in his will. It was just a year later that Philip, King of Macedon, called Aristotle to the court at Pella to undertake the education of Alexander. It bespeaks the rising repute of our philosopher that the greatest monarch of the time, looking about for the greatest teacher, should single out Aristotle to be the tutor of the future master of the world. 

Aristotle tutored Alexander, the future master of the world.

Philip was determined that his son should have every educational advantage, for he had made for him illimitable designs. His conquest of Thrace in 356 B. C. had given him command of gold mines which at once began to yield him precious metal to ten times the amount then coming to Athens from the failing silver of Laurium; his people were vigorous peasants and warriors, as yet unspoiled by city luxury and vice: here was the combination that would make possible the subjugation of a hundred petty city-states and the political unification of Greece. Philip had no sympathy with the individualism that had fostered the art and intellect of Greece but had at the same time disintegrated her social order; in all these little capitals he saw not the exhilarating culture and the unsurpassable art, but the commercial corruption and the political chaos; he saw insatiable merchants and bankers absorbing the vital resources of the nation, incompetent politicians and clever orators misleading a busy populace into disastrous plots and wars, factions cleaving classes and classes congealing into castes: this, said Philip, was not a nation but only a welter of individuals—geniuses and slaves; he would bring the hand of order down upon this turmoil, and make all Greece stand up united and strong as the political center and basis of the world. In his youth in Thebes he had learned the arts of military strategy and civil organization under the noble Epaminondas; and now, with courage as boundless as his ambition, he bettered the instruction. In 338 B. C. he defeated the Athenians at Chaeronea, and saw at last a Greece united, though with chains. And then, as he stood upon this victory, and planned how he and his son should master and unify the world, he fell under an assassin’s hand. 

Of course, Alexander’s father, Philip of Macedon, had his own philosophy as a ruler.

Alexander, when Aristotle came, was a wild youth of thirteen; passionate, epileptic, almost alcoholic; it was his pastime to tame horses untamable by men. The efforts of the philosopher to cool the fires of this budding volcano were not of much avail; Alexander had better success with Bucephalus than Aristotle with Alexander. “For a while,” says Plutarch, “Alexander loved and cherished Aristotle no less than as if he had been his own father; saying that though he had received life from the one, the other had taught him the art of living.” (“Life,” says a fine Greek adage, “is the gift of nature; but beautiful living is the gift of wisdom.”) “For my part,” said Alexander in a letter to Aristotle, “I had rather excel in the knowledge of what is good than in the extent of my power and dominion.” But this was probably no more than a royal-youthful compliment; beneath the enthusiastic tyro of philosophy was the fiery son of a barbarian princess and an untamed king; the restraints of reason were too delicate to hold these ancestral passions in leash; and Alexander left philosophy after two years to mount the throne and ride the world. History leaves us free to believe (though we should suspect these pleasant thoughts) that Alexander’s unifying passion derived some of its force and grandeur from his teacher, the most synthetic thinker in the history of thought; and that the conquest of order in the political realm by the pupil, and in the philosophic realm by the master, were but diverse sides of one noble and epic project—two magnificent Macedonians unifying two chaotic worlds. 

Alexander’s wild nature and ancestral passions were barely influenced by the philosophy of Aristotle.

Setting out to conquer Asia, Alexander left behind him, in the cities of Greece, governments favorable to him but populations resolutely hostile. The long tradition of a free and once imperial Athens made subjection—even to a brilliant world-conquering despot—intolerable; and the bitter eloquence of Demosthenes kept the Assembly always on the edge of revolt against the “Macedonian party” that held the reins of city power. Now when Aristotle, after another period of travel, returned to Athens in the year 334 B. C., he very naturally associated with this Macedonian group, and took no pains to conceal his approval of Alexander’s unifying rule. As we study the remarkable succession of works, in speculation and research, which Aristotle proceeded to unfold in the last twelve years of his life; and as we watch him in his multifold tasks of organizing his school, and of coordinating such a wealth of knowledge as probably never before had passed through the mind of one man; let us occasionally remember that this was no quiet and secure pursuit of truth; that at any minute the political sky might change, and precipitate a storm in this peaceful philosophic life. Only with this situation in mind shall we understand Aristotle’s political philosophy, and his tragic end. 

Aristotle approved of Alexander’s unifying rule, but his philosophic life was not very peaceful; this lead to his tragic end.

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April 23, 2021 – 5:43 PM Categories: Philosophy | Post a comment

The Scope of Dianetics

Reference: Hubbard 1950: Dianetics TMSMH

Reference: Glossary of Dianetics (Subject Cleared)

These are some comments on Book One, Chapter 1, “The Scope of Dianetics” from  DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH.

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Comments on
The Scope of Dianetics

KEY WORDS: Assimilation

Let’s answer the questions posed by Hubbard in this chapter with the help of Buddhism as follows.

  1. The goal of thought is to integrate all that is experienced. One does that by resolving any and all anomalies. 
  2. The single source of all anomalies are impressions in the mind that are not sorted out fully. 
  3. An integration occurs automatically the moment one becomes aware of the impressions related to an anomaly, thus bringing its resolution.
  4. That resolution comes from patiently confronting the anomaly without avoiding, resisting, suppressing or denying any experience (past or ongoing) connected with it. 
  5. To prevent any likelihood of mental derangement, one is careful not to interfere with the contents of the mind by ransacking them randomly.
  6. The above points provide us with an outline for curing all psychosomatic ills.

Resolution of the anomalies that we experience then cures the psychosomatic ills and the aberrations in feelings and behavior. It also produces a condition of ability and rationality, and enhances vigor and personality.

A person’s behavior is always good after his anomalies are resolved. He has easy access to all his memories. The integration in the mind assimilates the literal recordings of impressions into smooth multi-dimensional narratives. A workable model of the mind starts to come into view.

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April 22, 2021 – 1:35 PM Categories: Dianetics | Post a comment

DIANETICS: How to Read this Book

Reference: Hubbard 1950: Dianetics TMSMH

These are some comments on “How to Read this Book” from  DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH.

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Comments on
How to Read This Book

KEY WORDS: Anomaly

Read the Dianetics book using the procedure of Subject Clearing.

Subject Clearing is the most powerful tool currently available to bring clarity to the mind on any subject. It not only brings about a much better understanding of a subject but also helps detect the basic postulates, assumptions and erroneous ideas present in that subject.

The basic postulates help one understand the grounds on which a subject stands. Ideas based on these postulates must be demonstrable. There must not be inconsistencies among these postulates, ideas and reality.

If assumptions and erroneous ideas are not detected and isolated, it can cause serious problems with the application of the subject. Such erroneous ideas can be very pervasive, and may even enter the definitions of words provided in dictionaries. It is, therefore, very important not to miss them in your study. 

The true purpose of study is to resolve anomalies (things that do not make sense) as you come across them in a subject or in life. This develops clarity of mind and the ability to think fast on your feet.

Since additional information on a subject may easily be accessed through Internet these days, the purpose of study is not to memorize but to improve critical thinking.

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April 21, 2021 – 8:53 PM Categories: Dianetics | Post a comment