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| Critics also argue the Church has a financial reason to tout the E-meter even if it is worthless, given E-Meters cost over $4000, even though they take only 80 minutes to assemble and contain no particularly expensive components. | Critics also argue the Church has a financial reason to tout the E-meter even if it is worthless, given E-Meters cost over $4000, even though they take only 80 minutes to assemble and contain no particularly expensive components. | ||
| The church has claimed on the one hand that Scientology is religion, not science, and therefore does not seek scientific support — and on the other, that the E-Meter's scientific validity may be inferred by the similarities between the ], which uses the electrical conductivity of the skin to indicate whether the subject is comfortable with questions and answers, and the E-Meter, which measures similarly. | |||
| In late 2005 ] intelligence agencies warned the Hungarian government that Scientologists have already smuggled dozens of E-meters into the country, which threatens national security since ]s are controlled equipment under law, which cannot be imported or posessed by private entities. This led to a public investigation by the citizen's rights ombudsman and the personal data protection ombudsman against the Magyar branch of Scientology over privacy violations. | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 17:18, 27 December 2005
The E-Meter, is a battery powered electronic instrument made by the Church of Scientology. The use of an E-Meter is a central component of Scientology practices. It has a dial and needle which indicate electrical resistance. It is properly called the Hubbard Electrometer but is usually refered to as an E-meter. The Church of Scientology claims the E-Meter indicates changes in the spiritual state of a person. For example, when in grief the meter displays a certain resistance and when the person is cheerful it shows a different one.
Usage
In use it is a galvanometer, similar to those used in giving lie detector tests. The person holds in his hands two tin can-like objects attached to the E-Meter, thereby completing an electrical circuit through which a small, low-voltage electrical current is passed. The needle of the meter shows the amount of current and is particularly sensitive to small changes in current. Such changes are caused by corresponding small changes the person has to electrical energy. This phenomenon is known as galvanic skin response.
Changes of resistance rather than absolute magnitude of resistance are the main use of an E-meter. An auditor directs a person's attention to an experience. The movement of the needle, combined with what the person says, gives the auditor information. The auditor uses this information to understand if the person has attention stuck in the area asked about. In this manner the E-meter aids an auditor, an auditor uses this information as he aids a person.
Development of the E-meter
The E-meter has undergone many changes since it was invented in the 1940s by Volney Mathison, an early collaborator with Hubbard. The Mathison Electropsychometer (as it was then called) was produced for use by psychotherapists and chiropractors. It was adopted for use by Hubbard in the early 1950s, apparently as a tool for research into his Dianetics, before being dropped in 1954. Hubbard explained why he abandoned its use:
- Yesterday, we used an instrument called an E-Meter to register whether or not the process was still getting results so that the auditor would know how long to continue it. While the E-Meter is an interesting investigation instrument and has played its part in research, it is not today used by the auditor... As we long ago suspected, the intervention of a mechanical gadget between the auditor and the preclear had a tendency to depersonalize the session...
He reversed course in 1958 when Scientologists Don Breeding and Joe Wallis developed a modified, smaller battery-operated version which they presented to Hubbard. This was christened the Hubbard electrometer. Hubbard made it central to Scientology auditing and patented it on December 6, 1966, as a "Device for Measuring and Indicating Changes in the Resistance of a Human Body" (U.S. patent 3,290,589).
Models of the E-meter include the Mark V, the Mark VI and the Mark VII. The newest model is the Mark VII Super Quantum E-Meter.
As of January 2005, the cost of the Mark Super VII Quantum E-Meter is US $4,650.00 (up from US $3,850 in 1995).
Independent Scientologists have developed their own versions which are available at much more manageable prices. They offer also circuit diagrams and instructions for building a meter. (Hilton, 2001)
Theory of operation
L. Ron Hubbard proposed a human being actually consists of a physical body and an aware spiritual entity. He set out his theory of how the E-Meter works in his book Understanding the E-Meter:
- For the meter to be read, the tiny flow of electrical energy through the preclear (person) has to remain steady. When this tiny flow is changed the needle of the E-Meter moves. This will happen if the preclear pulls in or releases mental mass. This mental mass (condensed energy), acts as an additional resistance or lack of resistence to the flow of electrical energy from the E-Meter.
Hubbard claims this "mental mass" has the same physical characteristics, including weight, as mass as commonly defined and understood by both physicists and lay persons:
- "In Scientology it has been discovered that mental energy is simply a finer, higher level of physical energy. The test of this is conclusive in that a thetan "mocking up" (creating) mental image pictures and thrusting them into the body can increase the body mass and by casting them away again can decrease the body mass. This test has actually been made and an increase of as much as thirty pounds, actually measured on scales, has been added to, and subtracted from, a body by creating "mental energy." Energy is energy. Matter is condensed energy."
This text is accompanied by three pictures. The first shows a man standing on a weighing scale, which reflects a weight of "150" (the units are not given but are presumably pounds). The next shows the man on the same scale, weighed down under a burden of "Mental Image Pictures", and the scale indicates a weight of "180". The last picture shows the man standing upright on the scale, now unburdened by "Mental Image Pictures" and with a smile on his face, while the scale again indicates a weight of "150".
Controversy
The E-meter became the subject of a major controversy with the US Food and Drug Administration in the early 1960s, when the FDA became concerned the Church was using the E-meter to practice medicine without a license. The whole controversy is described by Jannsen, 1993.
On January 4, 1963, more than one hundred E-meters were seized by US marshals at the "Founding Church of Scientology" building in Washington, D.C. The Church was accused of making false claims that the devices effectively treated some 70 percent of all physical and mental illness. The FDA also charged the devices did not bear adequate directions for treating the conditions for which they were recommended.
Prolonged litigation ensued, with a subsequent jury trial finding the E-Meter had indeed been misrepresented. The court rejected as irrelevant the Church's contention its literature was exempt from legal action because it was issued by a religious organization. However, the Court of Appeals reversed the verdict on the basis the government had done nothing to rebut Scientology's claim it was a religion. A new trial was ordered which upheld the findings and verdict of the first trial.
Judge Gerhardt A. Gesell found that:
- Hubbard and his fellow Scientologists developed the notion of using an E-Meter to aid auditing. Substantial fees were charged for the meter and for auditing sessions using the meter. They repeatedly and explicitly represented that such auditing effectuated cures of many physical and mental illnesses. An individual processed with the aid of the E-Meter was said to reach the intended goal of 'clear' and was led to believe that there was reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most, illnesses would successfully be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to be successful. All this was and is false.
The judge ordered use of the E-Meter be confined to "bona fide religious counseling" and the device be prominently labeled with a warning notice
- The E-Meter is not medically or scientifically useful for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease. It is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily functions of anyone.
The Church has adopted a modified version of this statement, which it still invokes in connection with the E-Meter. The current statement reads:
- By itself, this meter does nothing. It is solely for the guide of Ministers of the Church in Confessionals and pastoral counseling. The Electrometer is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily function of anyone and is for religious use by students and Ministers of the Church of Scientology only.
Critics point to a lack of scientific basis for the E-meter and associated practices. They point out at the time Hubbard began claiming the E-meter to be an accurate and precise instrument for detecting mental tension, no attempt had been made to scientifically validate this hypothesis by comparing the E-meter readings of individuals under tension to the readings of a control group. Clearly, if no attempt had been made to determine what the difference was between the two readings of the two groups, the E-Meter could hardly be declared an accurate and precise instrument for determining which group a particular subject belonged to—except declared as dogma or an article of faith.
Arnie Lerma described a theory suggesting low currents could lead to a release of endorphins which cause the euphoric feeling of the preclear. (Lerma, 1999)
Laura Kay Fuller sees the E-meter furthering totalitarian tendencies in Scientology:
- "Scientology insists that the E-meter is the final indicator of the truth, consistently relying on the "scientific proof" of this machine to further its ideology. ... In addition to this, Scientology uses the E-meter as a lie detector, gradually building a state of fear and paranoia for its members." (Fuller, 1999)
Critics also argue the Church has a financial reason to tout the E-meter even if it is worthless, given E-Meters cost over $4000, even though they take only 80 minutes to assemble and contain no particularly expensive components.
References
- Church of Scientology (August 12). "The E-Meter". What is Scientology.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Unknown parameter|publishyear=ignored (help) - . ISBN 088404078X.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|Author=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Publisher=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Title=ignored (|title=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Year=ignored (|year=suggested) (help) - United States District Court, District of Columbia, 1971. "United States of America, Libelant, v. An Article or Device... 'Hubbard Electrometer' or Hubbard E-Meter,' etc., Funding Church of Scientology, et. al., Claimants. No. D.C. 1-63 (July 30)
- . ISBN 0879758554 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/E-Meter/barrett-quote.txt.
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{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help); Unknown parameter|publishyear=ignored (help) - Paulette Cooper (August 12). "The E-Meter". The Scandal of Scientology, Web Edition. City: Name.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Unknown parameter|publishyear=ignored (help) - Arnaldo Lerma (August 12). "The E-Meter Papers".
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Unknown parameter|publishyear=ignored (help) - David S. Touretzki (August 12). "The E-Meter". The Secrets of Scientology.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help); Unknown parameter|publishyear=ignored (help) - Laura Kay Fuller (August 12). "Technology". CoS and Totalitarianism.
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