TheOriginalBigBlue
Gold Meritorious Patron
I felt that I had some benefit during my time in Scientology. But it needs to be pointed out that believing one had "gains" while in Scientology does not mean that the "gains" were because of Scientology. There is no evidence or proof.
While some Scientologists believe they "got gains" it is significant to note that, often, their specific "gains" are not the same, one person to the next, nor are they able to be attributed to the same process(es). That is, there is no specific "gain" attributed to a specific process. Scientifically, this is important.
It is a well known phenomena that if a person expects to "get gains" from something, it is likely they will - but you will see this exact thing happen: No one person's "gains" will necessarily match with another's and cannot be traced to a specific process, action, technique. It is belief.
I have long believed that there is nothing wrong with the placebo effect. Improvement is improvement, no matter how it comes about. But I don't think people should be promoting "Scientology Works!" without actual, scientific evidence that precludes any placebo effect.
Scientology "Gains" did not happen in a neutral environment either. Everything was oriented towards validating gains from the Scientology experience and stigmatizing no gains or anything not attributable to Scientology. It was very politicized and marketing based. All the cheering over completions, fancy certs, clear bracelets, bridge levels, ego inflating reg cycles, etc. were inherently status oriented and competitive and in any competitive environment there are winners and losers so if you didn't get the gain then simply by inference you were a loser. If you question gains after the fact then you mentally must give up everything else invested in those gains including loyalties, convictions, emotions. There was also a very real and serious consequence to not having gains. It could result in time consuming, expensive and disruptive corrective actions and the system was designed to deflect responsibility for no gains away from the organization, LRH and the tech and onto someone or something else. The natural response is to not be that someone or something else and to dismiss personal reservations about gains.
And what about the net net gain? If you have a gain in Scientology at the greater expense of family relationships, friendships, financial stability, health, happiness - was it really a "gain" or a mitigated loss?