 | | |
| Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health | 
 enlarge | Author: L. Ron Hubbard
Publisher: Bridge Publications, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  (301 reviews)
Sales Rank: 238040
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 702
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 088404632X
Dewey Decimal Number: 158.9
EAN: 9780884046325
ASIN: 088404632X
Publication Date: September 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Dangerous theories... February 29, 2008
52 out of 54 found this review helpful
This book is one of many pseudo-science books out there, unfortunately it's led to a very dangerous movement. That aside, the book is inaccurate to say the least. Despite the assertions of Hubbard in the book, there is no scientific evidence for most of the theories in the book. He claims they are "scientific facts," but has no back up. He referenced frequently in the book "laboratory observation" but cites no studies and there is no indication any such efforts ever took place. Hubbard had no academic background to come up with such theories of the mind, despite his false grandiose claims of world travel and incredible education. Moreover, the actual scientific community disputes with credible evidence almost all of the theories in this book.
The basic underlying tenets of the book are therefore unproven, unwise and unsound. The metaphysical and religious aspects of the book are also controversial and open to criticism (despite members opposition, particularly in the "fair game" doctrine), but I choose not to make that argument in this review.
Not so sure about Hubbard's opinion... February 29, 2008
41 out of 42 found this review helpful
The majority of the information that Hubbard presents is speculation and is rebuked by hundreds of studies done ranging from Sigmund Freud's time (and possibly earlier than that) up to the present.
Hubbard makes note of a several confusing aspects of mental operations as he breaks down his "record of observations and research into the human mind and spirit." (Side note, can someone please tell me how to research the human spirit? I wasn't aware that doing research on a *concept* was possible.)
Namely, Hubbard's ideas of the mind being split into no more than two parts (the analytical mind and the reactive mind) is pure silliness. That Hubbard would attest to the fact that "the reactive mind is incapable of making rational decisions" is an atrocity.
There are, indeed, parts of the human brain, excuse me, the "human mind," that are incapable of making rational decisions, and those are the parts of the brain that run other aspects of being alive, namely respiration, circulation, muscle contractions, senses, etc. I am quite certain that these parts of the brain do not store images and memories.
Perhaps Hubbard was trying to reference the differences between the left- and right-hemispheres of the brain, in that they store and process information differently. Maybe he was making reference to the different lobes, as they also send and receive information differently than their counterparts. I somehow doubt that this was Hubbard's mistake, as such an parallel would require a bit of provable, repeatable research, something that Hubbard somehow failed to show throughout his work.
As a last note, Hubbard seems to use the terms "modern" and "science" very loosely, as he himself was never much more than a science-fiction writer, which requires no real training. I do not believe that a book written in 1950 can be termed "modern," mostly because technology has advanced by such leaps and bounds that 60-year old speculation isn't really modern anymore. Moreover, making up parts of the brain and their respective functions does NOT count as "science." Research, however, does. Having a PhD can. Being a science-fiction writer, well, sadly, it does not associate you with science in the ways with which Hubbard tries to use the word. I realize I should be talking about the book more than the author, but take this as character evaluation. You wouldn't take mental health suggestions from George Lucas, would you?
All in all, if you're looking for a way to find out about the "modern science" of mental health, look elsewhere. Perhaps someone with a PhD in psychology or a similar field. Leave this wherever you found it, you'll be better off for doing so.
Oh man, what a load of ridiculous gobble-de-gook February 28, 2008
53 out of 54 found this review helpful
I approached this book with all due seriousness, thinking that it was one of the many psychological self-help books on the market. I have read my fair share of poorly written books in this life, but Dianetics takes the cake.
I found the text to be abstruse, rambling, repetitive, studded with weird neologisms and littered with interminable footnotes. There are numerous totally unfounded claims, e.g. "Arthritis vanishes, myopia gets better, heart illness decreases, asthma disappears, stomachs function properly and the whole catalogue of illnesses goes away and stays away" [with Dianetics]. And what is up with Hubbard's racism? Here's a juicy bit: "...the Zulu is only outside the bars of a madhouse because there are no madhouses provided by his tribe. ... primitives are far more aberrated than civilized peoples. Their savageness, their unprogressiveness, their incidence of illness..."
I find Dianetics to be a rather disturbed mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long-acknowledged findings, disguised and distorted by crazy, newly-invented terminologies, and slapped incoherently into a book.
Dianetics February 25, 2008
107 out of 113 found this review helpful
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.
Not Impressed February 22, 2008
52 out of 53 found this review helpful
I ordered the book and couldn't get through the first two chapters. All fluff, no substance. I would not recommend.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |