Dianetics

1. Dianetics: A Modern Science for Mental Well-being

Hubbard provides a new and revolutionary method for enabling men to live up to their full capacity.

A quest for understanding. Dianetics emerges from a long history of humanity's search for a science of the mind, a quest that has driven philosophers, shamans, and medical practitioners for millennia. Unlike past approaches rooted in superstition or brutality, Dianetics aims to be a precise, workable technology for mental health.

Addressing societal ills. The absence of a true science of mind has had dire consequences, leading to societal problems like war and social derangement. Dianetics offers a path to alleviate these issues by addressing the root causes of individual and collective irrationality.

A science, not a belief system. Dianetics is presented as an organized science of thought built on definite axioms, similar to those in physics and chemistry. It offers a therapeutic technique for treating mental and psychosomatic ills, enhancing vigor and personality rather than destroying them.

2. The Clear: Achieving Optimum Human Potential

A clear can be tested for any and all psychoses, neuroses, compulsions and repressions (all aberrations) and can be examined for any autogenetic (self-generated) diseases referred to as psychosomatic ills.

Beyond the norm. The "clear" represents the optimum individual, free from psychoses, neuroses, compulsions, repressions, and psychosomatic ills. This state is characterized by high intelligence, vigor, and satisfaction in pursuing existence.

Enhanced perceptions. Clears experience a full range of perceptions, including color, tone, smell, taste, and tactile sensations, without the distortions caused by psychic derangements. They can fully sense and appreciate reality.

The power of recall. Clears possess an inherent ability called "returning," allowing them to re-experience past incidents with full sensory recall. This ability enhances learning, research, and everyday living.

3. Survival: The Dynamic Principle of Existence

The goal of life can be considered to be infinite survival.

The driving force. Survival is identified as the fundamental dynamic principle underlying all human activities. This principle explains behavior and provides a basis for understanding and resolving man's major problems.

Pleasure and pain. The spectrum of life spans from death to immortality, with pleasure attracting individuals toward survival and pain repelling them from death. Both pleasure and pain are essential for survival, with pleasure potentially holding greater cosmic value.

Necessity within. Man is a self-determined organism, not driven by external forces. The necessity for survival, both in avoiding pain and seeking pleasure, is inherent within the individual.

4. The Four Dynamics: A Spectrum of Survival Urges

All the purposes of man can be considered to lie within this spectrum and all behavior becomes explained.

Expanding the survival goal. The survival dynamic is divided into four interconnected dynamics:

• Individual survival
• Survival through procreation
• Group survival
• Survival of mankind

Interconnectedness. These dynamics form a spectrum, with each representing a different facet of the overall survival urge. They are not necessarily stronger than each other, but rather different paths toward the same goal.

Optimum solutions. Rational behavior involves finding solutions that benefit the maximum number of dynamics. This means considering the impact on oneself, progeny, family, community, and all of mankind.

5. The Analytical Mind: A Perfect Computer

The analytical mind is incapable of error, and it is so certain that it is incapable of error that it works out everything on the basis that it cannot make an error.

The seat of reason. The analytical mind is the computing machine of the human psyche, responsible for analyzing data, solving problems, and directing the organism toward survival. It is considered a perfect computer, incapable of error.

Standard memory banks. The analytical mind relies on standard memory banks to store percepts, memories, and imagination. These banks are organized in a cross-index system, providing the analyzer with a wealth of information.

The role of "I." The monitor, or "I," is the center of awareness and control within the analytical mind. It is the essence of the individual, present regardless of aberration or clarity.

6. The Reactive Mind: The Source of Aberration

If there ever was a devil, he designed the reactive mind.

The villain of the piece. The reactive mind is identified as the single source of all insanities, neuroses, compulsions, repressions, and psychosomatic ills. It operates on a stimulus-response basis, storing engrams that dictate irrational behavior.

Engrams: The hidden commands. Engrams are complete recordings of perceptions during moments of "unconsciousness" caused by pain, shock, or drugs. These recordings act as bypass circuits, exerting a powerful influence on the body and mind.

The posthypnotic suggestion analogy. The reactive mind operates similarly to a posthypnotic suggestion, compelling individuals to act in irrational ways without conscious awareness. This mechanism explains the source of insane rages, slips of the tongue, and irrational fears.

7. Engrams: The Root of Mental and Psychosomatic Ills

Physical pain and painful emotion are the difference between an engram, which is the cause of aberration—all aberration—and a memory.

The key ingredients. Engrams are distinguished from memories by the presence of physical pain and painful emotion. These elements create a powerful, fused recording that can exert a lasting influence on behavior.

Types of engrams. There are three types of engrams:

• Contrasurvival engrams: Contain physical pain, painful emotion, and menace to the organism.
• Prosurvival engrams: Appear to favor survival but are often more aberrative due to the law of affinity.
• Painful emotion engrams: Caused by the shock of sudden loss.

The engram's impact. Engrams can cause a wide range of mental and physical derangements, from psychoses and neuroses to arthritis, asthma, and the common cold. They are the single source of aberration and psychosomatic illness.

8. Returning: Re-experiencing the Past

The mind, then, has another ability of remembering.

Beyond ordinary memory. Returning is an inherent ability of the mind to re-experience past incidents with full sensory recall. This process allows individuals to "send" a portion of their mind to a past period and relive the event.

Returning vs. regression. Returning is distinguished from hypnotic regression, as it occurs in a wide-awake state and does not rely on trance techniques or drugs. It is a natural remembering function of the mind.

The value of facing the past. Facing reality requires the ability to remember and re-experience the past. Returning provides a powerful tool for examining past events and integrating them into one's understanding of the present.

9. The Auditor's Role: Guiding the Preclear

The auditor is there to audit and only to audit.

A cooperative endeavor. The auditor's role is to guide the preclear through Dianetic therapy, attacking the engram bank and safeguarding the preclear's well-being. It is a cooperative effort based on affinity and mutual trust.

The Auditor's Code. The Auditor's Code provides a set of guidelines for ethical and effective auditing. It emphasizes courtesy, kindness, trustworthiness, courage, patience, thoroughness, persistence, and uncommunicativeness.

The target: The engram bank. The auditor's focus should always be on the engram bank, not on the preclear's personality or behavior. The goal is to remove the content of the reactive mind, allowing the analytical mind to function optimally.

10. Preventive Dianetics: Safeguarding Future Generations

The dynamic principle of existence—Survive!

Preventing engrams. Preventive Dianetics aims to minimize engram content and prevent their formation. This involves creating a calm and harmonious environment, particularly during pregnancy and childhood.

The mother's role. The mother plays a crucial role in shaping the child's mental health. Her emotional state and the language used around her during pregnancy can have a profound impact on the child's reactive mind.

A society of clears. An ideal society would be composed of unaberrated individuals, capable of rational thought and action. This requires a shift in cultural values and practices to prioritize mental health and self-determinism.

Last updated: March 14, 2025