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Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (Mass Market Paperback)

by L. Ron Hubbard (Author) "A SCIENCE OF MIND is a goal which has engrossed thousands of generations of man..." (more)
Key Phrases: prenatal area, repeater technique, reactive bank, Tone Scale, Auditor's Code, Preventive Dianetics (more...)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (276 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
Review
Dianetics can remove the aberrations which make man a selfish and anti-social creature.... It holds hope that man may at last dispense with the ugly institution of war, because wars are the end product of social aberrations at the national level... Dianetics can rectify the mental short circuits which bring accidental death, can increase longevity, minimize the pain of child-bearing and present Mankind with vast new intellectual vistas..."
Los Angeles Daily News
</div> Review

"...the wave of interest in the subject of Dianetics which has swept the country." Publisher's Weekly
</div> --Bridge Publications, Inc.

[Dianetics is] A new science which works with the invariability of physical science in the field of the mind. -- Walter Winchell, Daily Mirror

[Dianetics is] a new science which works with the invariability of physical science in the field of the human mind. -- Walter Winchell, Daily Mirror

Review
  Review




"Dianetics can remove the aberrations which make man a selfish and anti-social creature.... It holds hope that man may at last dispense with the ugly institution of war, because wars are the end product of social aberrations at the national level... Dianetics can rectify the mental short circuits which bring accidental death, can increase longevity, minimize the pain of child-bearing and present Mankind with vast new intellectual vistas..."

Los Angeles Daily News



  Review




"...the wave of interest in the subject Dianetics which has swept the country." Publisher's Weekly






See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 702 pages
  • Publisher: Bridge Publications, Inc. (September 1, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 088404632X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0884046325
  • Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (276 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #134,737 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #9 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices > Scientology

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
A SCIENCE OF MIND is a goal which has engrossed thousands of generations of man. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
prenatal area, repeater technique, reactive bank, demon circuits, forgetter mechanism, sonic recall, painful engrams, prenatal engrams, ally computation, pain engrams, first engram, own engrams, reactive mind, other engrams, chronic psychosomatic illness, transorbital leukotomy, dwindling spiral, somatic mind, amnesia trance, valence shift, despair charges, own valence, apathy case, new engrams, psychosomatic ills
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Tone Scale, Auditor's Code, Preventive Dianetics, Uncle Goston, Simple Simon, James Clerk Maxwell, Herbert Spencer, Francis Bacon, Goodwife Sofie, Jack Dalton, Political Dianetics
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4.7 out of 5 stars (276 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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335 of 343 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Possibly Dangerous, April 18, 2008
This review is from: Dianetics: The Modern Science Of Mental Health (English) (Paperback)
I found this book to be filled with jargon, half baked theories and bizarre assertions. Hubbard seems to only be guessing; he gives no clue as to how he arrives at any of his fantastic claims- that one can raise one's IQ, avoid accidents, pretty much eradicate any and all issues in one's life, by clearing away "engrams" created by bad experiences, including *prenatal* experiences.

In short, one will become more or less superhuman- and if not, it's because you're not doing it right- and it's this weird circular logic that makes the book impossible to take seriously. He seems to have started with some interesting borrowed ideas (regression therapy, ritual magick, etc.) and gotten extraordinarily carried away. In short, he combines older forms of psychotherapy with magical techniques and his own version of Buddhist mindfulness meditation.

This could be of limited usefulness, but I am very concerned that the book makes claims that homosexuality, infertility, etc., are 'perversions,' actual physical illnesses that can be 'cured' by Dianetics, and that ulcers and other diseases are caused by unsuccessful attempts at abortion. These are just two of the many odd medical assertions hubbard makes which could cause serious harm were one to prefer Hubbard's advice over proper medical or pychological care. Most disturbing of all, critics of Hubbard's methods are, of course, ill themselves, criminals, or worse, a frighteningly convenient idea.
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250 of 270 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Dianetics, February 25, 2008
This review is from: Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (Hardcover)
L. Ron Hubbard has been grossly underestimated as a writer of Science Fiction. He is possibly one of the greatest fiction writers of the 20th century. With "Dianetics," Hubbard has been able to weave a complex, believable tale of the science of the mind, essentially forming the basis for what would come to be taken to be a religion. How many other Science Fiction writers have done something of that magnitude with such far reaching effects? Darn few.

"Dianetics" made an early appearance in the magazine "Astounding Science Fiction" back in May of 1950. It garnered a lot of press and created a buzz that eventually garnered the attention of a wider audience.

Hubbard created a whole mythology around himself. It is said he was a bronco buster at the age of three, a teenage explorer, a blood brother of the Blackfeet Indians of Montana, a Nuclear Physicist, and a World War II hero, among other things. But above all, he was a writer of pulp Science Fiction.

Interestingly enough, there's plenty of documention that many of the ideas put forth in this book are not original. Many may not be aware that at the root of Dianetics are the discoveries of Dr. William Sargant (a psychiatrist). Sargant's research observed post traumatic stress syndrome in World War II soldiers, leading to a cure known as Abnormal Reaction Therapy. This entailed re-experiencing traumatic events (Hubbard called these "engrams") utilizing a hypnotic (or drugged) state to confront these real or imagined items with the aid of a facilitator. If you are interested in exploring Sargant's work, his book is called "Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing." There are many very close similarities between the two texts.

The key is to become "Clear." Getting to the state of clear comes via "auditing" (a confessional) to remove engrams, thus destroying one's reactive mind. This is the portion of the mind that Dianetics states is the cause of mental and physical ailments. A Dianetics auditor questions the "pre-clear" with the use of an e-meter (a simple lie detector) to assist with this process.

It's been debated that either George Orwell or Ron Hubbard said: "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." Well, Hubbard did just that. And he did indeed make millions. And here is the book that started it all, compliments of the extremely imaginative mind of Science Fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard, and a few uncredited Psychiatrists.
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74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Literary train wreck, February 3, 2008
By Justin A. Knapp "koavf" (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health: A Handbook of Dianetics Procedure (Paperback)
Hubbard is attempting to introduce a new system of therapy in this book and as such, it is necessary that he take pains to write in a particularly lucid and precise style; this is not the case. This book rambles on for far too long in many places, introduces concepts out-of-step with their field in a brash manner that is not thoughtful, and does not sufficiently refute its interlocutors. It is also hard to tell how seriously the author himself takes these theses in the course of his writing. As a piece of rhetoric, self-help, or literature, this is a failure. Also, I can only speculate on why there is a bursting volcano on the cover; this makes the book less credible and more sensational in my opinion.

-JAK
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars There are other, more effective self-help techniques.
Dianetics was the beginning of my 'self help' quest. I am sorry to say that it was a false one. The idea of mental health proposed in the book Dianetics is close enough to right... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Auguste C. Harrell

1.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and interesting purely as a case study in mental illness
Is dianetics taught in any graduate level psychology programs(real ones)? No. How about undergrad? Surely a revolutionary therapy like dianetics would at least be mentioned in... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Kavity Killer

1.0 out of 5 stars Well....
Not as good as Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but a good Sci-Fi book. :)
Published 1 month ago by Erik Knox

2.0 out of 5 stars PROMISES WITHOUT PROOF
My aim is to make this review as unbiased as possible, so if you're looking for mentions of Xenu (Xemu), OT levels, Tom Cruise or discrediting LRH merely because he was a SF... Read more
Published 2 months ago by EMAN NEP

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamite
This is a very meaty book, but it is a great one.

This book is not vague and it makes sense. Everything written makes sense. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Misty Allison Tucker

2.0 out of 5 stars Why read this book?
I thought the book was very hard too read, for the author had a very high vocabulary. However, after receiving the "auditing" for ONLY twelve hours my life completely changed for... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Fernando Hernandez

1.0 out of 5 stars Hooey
I read this book several years ago and thought it a bunch of hooey and time has not altered that opinion. R.H. should have stuck with SciFi [...]
Published 3 months ago by BF Printer

5.0 out of 5 stars FASCINATING - and so much simpler than we are led to believe
I just finished reading this book cover to cover and found it fascinating. The human mind is really quite simple in its structure and operation. Read more
Published 5 months ago by John Miller

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time
The thing that bothers me about this book is how it lacks in any sort of scientific validity. The book proposes theories about how the mind works without any research evidence... Read more
Published 5 months ago by A. Gift For You

1.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't follow it
This book makes many leaps, which require an unbelievable suspense of disbelief in order to stomach. It is a self-serving pat on the back to cultists who follow this guy. Read more
Published 6 months ago by W. Jones

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