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Revision as of 16:27, 19 March 2006 by Terryeo (talk | contribs) (removed the redundant disambiguation. see discussion page)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In Dianetics, the secular predecessor of Scientology, an engram is defined as a painful memory containing unconsciousness stored in the stimulus-response unconscious (the reactive mind). This use of the term was coined by author L. Ron Hubbard in his writings on the subject, although the term had previously been used prior to the inception of Dianetics and continues to be used in other contexts.
Dianetics defines an engram as "a moment of unconsciousness containing physical pain or painful emotion." Engrams are said to contain all of the perception and experience of any memory but are not so available to an individual's consciousness because they are overlaid with some kind of pain. The goal of Dianetics is to assist a person in confronting such memories and thus to effect the erasure of the incident from the person's unconscious mind.
Principle of the engram
Engrams are said to contain all sensory perceptions, but are not directly available to the conscious mind, which is termed the analytical mind; engrams are considered to be formed when the analytical mind is not fully functional, in moments of physical pain and painful emotion.
Dianetics holds the engram to be the single source of all psychosomatic illness and aberrations of the human mind via the literal content of these engrams being imposed on to the analytical mind when similar sensory perceptions unconsciously recall the engram; this process is referred to as "keying-in the engram".
As a consequence these memories are ascribed by Dianetics to cause stimulus-response behaviour to occur unconsciously in an individual, which may be pro-survival or contra-survival depending on the content of the engram (Hubbard, 1958, pp.59). 70% of all health ailments are attributed by Hubbard to the harmful effects of engrams (Hubbard, 1958, pp.5).
References
- Hubbard, L. R. (1958). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (Rev. ed.) London: The Hubbard Association of Scientologists Limited.