E-meter

Template:ScientologySeries An E-Meter is a battery powered electronic instrument manufactured by the Church of Scientology's Gold Base. Its usage is a central component of Scientology and Dianetics. While it is properly called the Hubbard Electrometer, it is generally referred to as an E-meter.

In Understanding the E-Meter the Church explains "The E-Meter works on a very easily understood principle. It 'floats' a tiny electrical current through the preclear and uses this electrical current ... to pick up the shifts in electrical energy that occur within or in close proximity to the preclear's body. These tiny electrical disturbances are carried into the E-Meter where they are amplified and made manifest in needle reads." In action, according to the Church, if a preclear goes from grief to happiness while "holding the cans", the meter dial will indicate a change has happened.

Usage

In use it is similar to a galvanometer, quite similar to one of the measurements a lie detector makes. 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 electric current is passed. The needle of the meter shows the amount of resistance a person has to the voltage, and the E-meter device is particularly sensitive to small changes. Such changes in voltage are caused by corresponding small changes the person has on the electrical energy passing through them. A similar phenomenon is known as galvanic skin response.

A person trained in its use is called an auditor. The person "holding the cans" is called the pre-clear. An auditor asks the pre-clear a question and the movement or lack of movement on the dial is used to help determine the pre-clear's reaction to the question asked.

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 in Dianetics by Hubbard in the early 1950s, before being temporarily dropped in 1954 during a dispute with Mathison.

In a quote from Bent Corydon's "Messiah or Madman?",

It was the Mathison E-Meter, and Mathison was determined to keep it that way. So in late 1954 the use of the E-meter was discontinued by Hubbard. Wrote Hubbard: "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..." see page 313

In 1958 when Scientologists Don Breeding and Joe Wallis developed a modified, smaller battery-operated version which they presented to Hubbard he again used it. This was christened the Hubbard electrometer. Hubbard 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). The patent is now expired and in the public domain. The Church of Scientology continues to make, sell and teach its use in auditing.

Mathison never litigated the appropriation of his invention, but was bitter and disillusioned about Hubbard. In 1964 Mathison stated: "I decry the doings of trivial fakers, such as scientologists and the like, who glibly denounce hypnosis and then try covertly to use it in their phony systems." [1] [2]

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Mark Super VII Quantum E-meter

Today, 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 resistance 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 since they take only 80 minutes to assemble.The St. Petersburg Times online

See also

Polygraph

External sites and references

Official Church of Scientology site

• Official Church of Scientology site E-Meter

Other sites

• 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)

• Janssen, Wallace (1993). "The Gadgeteers". In Stephen Barrett, MD, and William Jarvis, PhD (editors) (ed.). The Health Robbers. A Close Look at Quackery in America. Prometheus Books, Buffalo NY. pp. pp. 321–335. ISBN 0879758554. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Ralph Hilton (2001). "Build your own E-Meter". Retrieved August 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• Michael (2003). "E-meter Starlight". Retrieved May 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• Paulette Cooper (November 28 1997). "The E-Meter". The Scandal of Scientology, Web Edition. City: Name. Retrieved August 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |year= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• Arnaldo Lerma (1999). "The E-Meter Papers". Retrieved August 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter, David S. Touretzky
• Laura Kay Fuller (1999). "Technology". CoS and Totalitarianism. Retrieved August 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)