Study Tech
Page last updated:
Scientology study tech is almost good as is except there is a major false (or rather misleading) datum, and the tech itself is not complete.
Scientology study tech is most clearly and correctly described in 1970’s Basic Study Manual [basic info]. It is not advised to use any Scientology materials published after 1970’s since they have been significantly distorted under the leadership of David Miscavige who took control of the Church in the 1980’s.
False Datum 1:
The only reason a person gives up a study or becomes confused or unable to learn is because he or she has gone past a word that was not understood.
source: essay VITAL DATA ON STUDY in Basic Staff Volume 0 which has become a standard note at the beginning of every book on Dianetics and Scientology.
False Datum 2:
Whenever a person has a confused idea of something, or believes there is some conflict of ideas, IT IS ALWAYS TRUE THAT A MISUNDERSTOOD WORD EXISTS AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT CONFUSION.
sources: 1) HCOB 31 AUGUST 1971 CONFUSED IDEAS [color] || 2) A chapter of the same name in the original Basic Study Manual.
Misunderstood words can definitely breed confusion in one’s mind, but it is not “always true” that individual’s problem with communicated ideas “always” comes down to some misunderstood words and not ideas themselves. If this false datum above is accepted as true, it can be used effectively to force further false data and unreason onto a person and as such become an effective tool in psychological conditioning.
Example of an nonsensical sentence:
Someone reads: “Liberals don’t like conservatives because they like to eat spaghetti.”
Right away a person can get confused by the sentence and correctly identify that there is a conflict of ideas and a breakdown in logic. What does liberals not liking conservatives, which are two political positions, has to do with eating spaghetti? And does the sentence say that liberals don’t like conservatives because liberals like to eat spaghetti or because conservatives like to eat spaghetti? – “they” obscures this point. So the complete sentence is obviously non-sense and should be recognized as such, yet per Hubbard’s study tech someone’s natural “confusion” or some sort of disagreement with a nonsensical proposition would be invalidated and fought with the word clearing methodology.
In an enforced environment that actually exists in Scientology this process can become very destructive and inhibitive of someone’s ability to reason, and REASON ABILITY is a key factor that is actually missing from Hubbard’s study methodology – at the least, it is not clearly singled out as a factor in itself that is key to one’s ability to study and process any information effectively.
Ability to reason, ability to use one’s mind to organize and process information can be enhanced quite significantly using various methodologies, in addition to learning drills that exist in Scientology.
Learning LOGIC as a professional skill is a must, and any community college usually has a class available in its curriculum, in addition to materials that can be found on one’s own… Apparently, simple and clear works on the subject of logic are hard to come by, especially in a free format on the Internet. For now, the most recommended work on the subject is “LOGIC: The Ancient Art of Reason” by Earl Fontainelle.
Then there are books like “Photoreading” by Paul R. Scheele which teach how to conceptualize and logically organize the material one is reading so the more detailed information within the material can be absorbed more rapidly.
There are plenty of materials and courses that exist out there that can be of great value in increasing one’s analytical abilities in understanding and processing information and generally improving one’s ability to study. Perhaps with time a list of the best materials for such a purpose can be compiled and made known.
Page initially published on CivilizationUpgrade.com: May 18th, 2016
Moved to ScientologyAnalysis.com: June 20, 2020