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Hugh Urban omits mention of "Terra Incognita" article being prior to ASF article

chuckbeatty

Patron with Honors
Hugh on page 43 says:

"Hubbard's new science initially took the form of an unpublished manuscript in 1948 (later published under the title "Dianetics: The original Theses"). Its first published form appeared in an issue of "Astounding Science Fiction"---a popular magazine edited by John Campbell, to which Hubbard had been a regular contributor--in May 1950." - Hugh Urban, page 43 chapter one, "The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion." 2011 Princeton Univ Press.

Caroline's site clearly gives evidence of the Explorer's Journal article by LRH is technically published earlier than the Astounding Science Fiction article by LRH on Dianetics.

http://www.carolineletkeman.org/sp/images/stories/hcob/terra-incognita.pdf

I think if one is going to make a point about Astounding Science Fiction, then one has to fairly also mention the Explorer's Journal article by LRH.

LRH amply discusses Dianetics, and it's an earlier Hubbard published use of the word "Dianetics."

In Oxford English Dictionary quality history of the use of a word, Dianetics in this case, clearly OED researchers would be obliged to use the Explorer's Journal published writing as the first published use of the term Dianetics with the meaning Hubbard gives that word.

And if Hugh's point is that the "Terra Incognita" article wasn't a sufficient coverage of Dianetic principles, I think it is historically important to mention that argument, and to include the fact that Hubbard did pen the Explorer's Journal article and got it published earlier though.

To omit any mention of the Explorer's Journal article by Hubbard, I think is an important mistake.

In that "Terra Incognita: The Mind" article, Hubbard claims a whole important theme of why he developed Dianetics. A theme that deserves a bit of discussion all its own, by experts, and even though that sub theme, "exploration" and mental health of team members, really gets lost and not mentioned again by Hubbard ever again, it's still an important detail to Hubbard's mindset in that early period. Hugh could have dispensed with LRH's explorer pretensions, since most of the rest of Hugh's book pokes holes all through Ron's legacy.

It's just a troublesome detail I think worth mentioning, since "Terra Incognita" is L. Ron Hubbard's second sentence in DMSMH:

" Dianetics is an adventure. It is an exploration into Terra Incognita, the human mind, ....." DMSMH, 2007 edition, page 1.

This isn't something that Hugh nor Janet should have omitted mention in some way.

The explorer's lure of Dianetics, delving into one's mind, is one of the lures.

If you think of how many times we (who were lifelong Scientologists for any amount of time) picked up DMSMH, read from the beginning, then put the book down, to me, it's clear that the "Terra Incognita" idea had thus a chance to be drilled into us, by repetition! Even if we didn't get more than a few pages or chapters into the book, before putting it down, and not pick it up again until another later point in our Scientology lives, to then repeat picking it up, reading Chapter 1 from the start again, reading the "Terra Incognita" point, over and over, etc, etc.

Plus the fact that LRH got that article even published in the Explorer's Journal, that to me means Ron was at least someone the Explorer's Journal would consider publishing at that moment in history.
 
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... I think if one is going to make a point about Astounding Science Fiction, then one has to fairly also mention the Explorer's Journal article by LRH. ...

Was the "Explorer's Journal" a private newsletter available only to members of the Explorer's Club or was it also published for general availability to the public as was "Astouding Science Fiction"? If so that might account for Urban's treatment.



Mark A. Baker
 

chuckbeatty

Patron with Honors
Was the "Explorer's Journal" a private newsletter available only to members of the Explorer's Club or was it also published for general availability to the public as was "Astouding Science Fiction"? If so that might account for Urban's treatment.



Mark A. Baker

Hi Mark,

The article is the first Hubbard writing in red volume number 1, which is all the more surprising why Hugh might not have noticed it!

I'm sure Scientology researchers a couple decades ago, dug up that Explorer's Journal article, but it's in the 1976 edition of the red volumes, volume 1, the very first writing by Hubbard in the volume!

And Caroline links to snippets of it, her snippets contain detailed info of it, showing it was the winter 49/spring 50 issue, which shows it was before the Astounding Science Fiction issue.

I only bring it up, since it's an expert's point, but it's one that Scientology used to pull, to denigrate researchers who only focused on the Astounding Sci Fi article on Dianetics as the "first published" treatment of Dianetics.

It's simply something that even when mentioned, and acknowledged, leads to the embarrassing style of L. Ron Hubbard's attempts to make himself acceptable to society.

It's important, only due to the connection of the title and theme of the article, with the first page of DMSMH, and later to the cobbled together hagiography of Hubbard's image.

It's not a solution to Hubbard's image problem, it's actually just a good example of Hubbard and Dianetics, from day one, presenting himself in as favorable of a light as he could manage.
 
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