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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What?, December 8, 2008
What exactly is this book? Is it, as it purports to be, a manual of psychotherapy? Or is it, as Scientologists seem to believe, Holy Scripture? If the former, it should be updated periodically, in light of new research. If a doctor stood at my hospital bed perusing the 1858 edition of Gray's Anatomy, I would worry. Or is the original text of Dianetics inerrant, being the result of divine revelation? If so, they should say so, and drop the pretence of scientific rigor.
As an example of outmoded thinking, we learn (on page 152 in the 2002 edition, for example) that the homosexual is a 'pervert' who is 'actually quite ill physically'. I wonder how that goes down in West Hollywood, in the shadow of that splendid pastel blue Scientology building complex.
What are we to make of a theory that states that psychological disorders can arise from the fetus - or even the fertilized egg, the zygote - overhearing and recording conversations from the outside world? An example given is of a husband beating his pregnant wife while shouting, "You've got to take it!" The poor child that results will grow up to be a kleptomaniac ('You've got to take it'. Geddit?).
If dialogue can be so destructive to the unborn, perhaps we need a new movie rating of FU, for 'Fetus Unfriendly'.
In fact, the theory goes even deeper into absurdity. We are told that "it is not true that emotion gets into the child through the umbilical cord...Emotion comes on another (more electrical than physical) type of wave...Therefore, anyone who is emotional around a pregnant woman is communicating that emotion straight into the child." 'Straight into' you notice, like some sort of radio transmission. Believe that and you'll believe anything.
Here's another: "It may be that a patient is urgent in her insistence that her father raped her...Large numbers of insane patients claim this. And it is perfectly true. Father did rape her, but it happened she was only nine days beyond conception at the time. The pressure and upset of coitus is very uncomfortable to the child and normally can be expected to give the child an engram which will have as its content the sexual act and everything that was said." In other words, a man making love to his wife nine days after she becomes pregnant is effectively raping his daughter and condemning her to insanity.
Such drivel fills the 700 or so pages of this book.
Finally, what words can describe the author's writing style? 'Pompous', 'overblown', 'clumsy' and 'confused' come to mind, but I think I'll settle for 'ludicrous'.
Neither scientific nor inspirational, this thick slab of nonsense will not cure anyone of any psychological disorder except insomnia.
[PeterReeve]
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5.0 out of 5 stars
What An Eye-Opener!, March 5, 2010
This book unfolds in such a way that you can easily track with Mr. Hubbard in his exploration of the human mind.
If you ever wondered how you could be so upset over a silly (you fill in the blank here), this book explains it all.
The answers are here to questions such as "why do I avoid certain things?" "why do some locations make me nervous?" "why do I have these unexplained aches and pains?" "Why do I cry?"
You will find the answers to these questions and more when you read "Dianetics, Modern Science of Mental Health".
I sincerely suggest you get this book, get comfortable and take the adventure of your life!
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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tough Read, but interesting theories on Man's potentiality, January 15, 2009
Obviously you want the 2008 edition.
What's new in this edition? Well, nothing! The publisher didn't change anything in the book itself other than typos and punctuation errors that were introduced by Hermitage House Publishers back in 1950. In comparing the original manuscript and putting those footnotes in the back of the book, enlarging and darkening the font size, it makes for a more comfortable read.
Dianetics is an alternative to psychology and outlines several basic things that can help a person help themselves (thus the phrase "self-help") as well as help others.
Among the chapters in this book we find the following: The Goal of Man; The Dynamic Principle of Existence; The Four Dynamics (a dynamic is a drive upon which life is compartmented); a descriptive graph of survival (which was interesting - I never knew survival was more than "just barely making it" until I read Hubbard's definition); and the discovery and complete anatomy of what Hubbard calls the "Reactive Mind", which commands one to act irrationally against their own wishes and goals. Since I have been known to act irrationally, it's good to see what's causing it and what to do about it.
It's a thick book, 491 pages of actual text, divided into Theory and Practical applications; a 5 page glossary of important terms; a chapter called Dianetics in the 21st Century that brings us up to date from those long-gone days of 1950 (the year Dianetics was published) which has reprints from the LA Star and The Daily News, which did news articles on Hubbard and Dianetics at that time. Lots of photos in this section, too.
It's interesting to see what their view was. And finally, an appendix that briefly lists other self-help books by Hubbard, which are all new 2008 editions!
Oh, and finally, finally, The Editor's Glossary, that gives dictionary definitions to English words as they were used in 1950 as well as specialized Dianetics terms, as they were used at that time of writing. This is real handy and makes reading the book that much more easily read.
It's tough for me not to write a long review on a book that is over 600 pages thick. It has every imaginable area of human relationships clearly delineated and how Dianetics can help problems associated with these: alcoholism, post partum depression, divorces, domestic violence and drug abuse amongst them.
So get this book but use Amazon's latest and greatest 2008 edition of the book, as I've described above. Remember, Dianetics is not Scientology and Dianetics is not a religion. It does not obligate anyone to just pick up a copy and read it. It is also in Tagalog, Spanish, French, German and a few other languages.
Read this book.
Check these as well:
Science of Survival
Clear Body Clear Mind (English)
Dianetics: The Original Thesis (English) *this one is an easier read, written before the current Dn book*
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