Scientology is that system of ideas that gets you to falsely imagine that you base all conclusions and opinions on "facts" and "observations", but when actually you have instead accepted and adopted a large range of ideas that function as fixed ideas (just as Hubbard explains), and these fixed ideas disable any Scientology participant from learning anything new or different. Now, while it is true that this happens in many areas of life, especially religion, it happens somewhat "naturally" in most areas, whereas with Scientology Hubbard really "figured it all out", systematized it, and brought the techniques of implanting fixed ideas to a near "science".
The Scientologist "doesn't need to look", because he "knows it all already", based on Hubbard's many claims, statements and assertions. This cracked me up when I was involved in Scientology. I studied and learned about fixed ideas, and Hubbard was on the money with his discussion of fixed ideas. And, then I would notice that many Scientologists displayed the exact same phenomena Hubbard described with fixed ideas. It was disheartening to me at first, because I imagined that maybe the people and organization might actually align with the best of the ideas - but they didn't.
A key part of this is that a person with "fixed ideas" has the opinion that he or she "knows it all already", and therefore doesn't have "to look", "obtain evidence" or "confirm the validity of any contradictions to what he or she BELIEVES". That is all true. People with fixed ideas are incapable of learning, because they have no need to look for "new information", because "I already understand this fully". "Certainty" in Scientology is often a delusion of "knowingness". If one truly grasps the nature of ANY "certainty", one comes to notice that "certainties" are often just like "beliefs", "understandings", and "opinions". They often have NOTHING to do with actual events, situations and observable anythings. People can believe, be certain about, or understand ANY IDIOCY as "being true". Now, you can be certain of your OWN observations, at least to some degree. What I am talking about involves the realm of THINKINGNESS, where IDEAS and CONCEPTS come to replace observations and even an ability or willingness to observe.
But then I would look around, not thinking, but LOOKING, and notice that many Scientologists operated in exactly the SAME WAY. Hubbard surely did have an excellent grasp of the realm of "fixed ideas", and he arranged his subject and organization so that the participants would become engrained with HIS FIXED IDEAS.
Scientology indoctrination involves a carefully-planned gradient of accepting various ideas. Courses, course checksheets, twinning, study tech, word clearing, no verbal data, practicals, drilling, no asking of ANY questions, only referring to the materials, qual correction, cramming, ethics, justice and more ALL act to get some participant to totally accept a large bundle of IDEAS. In truth, many of these ideas are NOT verifiable, and many do not actually align with honest observations of ACTUAL events and situations.
But, once the participant ACCEPTS these ideas, then this person "sees through", "experiences through", and "judges all things" in accordance with the yardstick of his or her Scientology FIXED IDEAS. The subject of "core beliefs" has more than a little to do with this. Hubbard's indoctrination chnages and instills NEW "core beliefs". This involves thought control and belief manipulation at its best.
An amazing part of Hubbard's trickery is that he convinces Scn participants that at no point do they suffer from simple "belief", and that they actually "know" with "certainty". What they actually do is "believe with strong conviction that they know instead of believe". The are tricked into becoming happily deluded.
Like in the movie "Matrix" when Morpheus tells Neo, "don't think you can, know you can".
A Scientologist does not have to LOOK, to confirm anything, because Hubbard already told him or her exactly the way things REALLY ARE - so they don't need to look.
I always took the part of Scientology that stated, and I paraphrase, "Man's highest ability is to look, and know, based on your OWN perception and ability to spot is-nesses". I saw that far too much of the subject, and almost all of the practice and organization violated THAT maxim.
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