Yeah, but to admit it would undermine the entire belief system.
That's the most basic weird thing about Scientology, really. According to its supporters, it's not just good. It's a nail file and it's a chainsaw, it makes the able more able and also cures mental illness and criminality, it's uniformly workable, it's the only thing remotely in its class that there's ever been. it really
can't seem to dial it down and back off even a little bit. Its knob doesn't just go up to eleven. It's permanently stuck there.
That's weird. I mean, even very high-end products are normally open about their limitations. Your friendly neighborhood Porsche dealer will admit right away that the 911 is a bad choice for off-road driving. Apple doesn't try to pretend that its iPhones are waterproof. When someone's got a product that really does work great, for some things, for most people, then they don't have to say any more than that. "It is what it is; it's expensive but we think it's worth it; if you don't agree, then please excuse us while we go count our money, and do have a nice day."
So why can't Scientology admit to any shortcomings? Why does 'the tech' have to be so perfect? Why not be open and unembarrassed about its limitations? Why not even pitch it as a beta version, a work in progress, and be frank about all the ways it can stand to be improved?
I'm just musing about this as a problem in marketing. Maybe there's a special little dip in some kind of supply-and-demand curve, a marketing niche, that you can hit if you go totally over the top, and insist on staying there. Are there any other products that try to live in that niche? Or is that niche exactly what Hubbard meant, when he said that the way to get rich was to start a religion?