E-meter is a device for displaying and/or recording electromagnetic (EDA) human activities. These devices are often used for auditing in Scientology and different groups. The efficacy and validity of Scientology's use of E-meters has been widely debated and litigated and in accordance with federal court orders, the Church of Scientology now publishes disclaimers in books and publications stating that E-meters "by itself, do nothing" and it is used exclusively for spiritual purposes.
The device has been used as a research tool in many studies in humans, and as one of the few components of the Leonarde Keeler lie detector system, which has been widely criticized as ineffective or pseudoscientific by lawyers and psychologists.
Video E-meter
Histori
Electrodermal activity (EDA) refers to changes in electrical charge observed on the surface of the skin. EDA meters were first developed in 1889 in Russia, and psychotherapists began using it as a tool for therapy in the 1900s.
Volney Mathison (chiropractic, radio engineer, psychologist, and hypnotist) builds EDA meters based on Wheatstone bridges, vacuum tube boosters, and large moving coil gauges that project a needle image on the wall. He patented his device in 1954 as electropsychometer or E-meter, and it came to be known as "Mathison Electropsychometer". In Mathison's words, E-meter "has a needle that swings back and forth on a scale when a patient holds two electrical contacts". Mathison was recorded in his book, Electropsychometry, that E-meter's idea came to him in 1950 when he listened to a lecture by L. Ron Hubbard: p.Ã,64
In 1950... I next attended a series of lectures given by a very controversial figure, who emphasized several times that perhaps the main problem of psychotherapy is the difficulty in maintaining accurate or valid patient data communications to the therapist.... it seems to me that the psychogalvanometer shows the most promise.
L. Ron Hubbard told of the meeting in a lecture recorded in 1952:
This machine, electropsychometer, has been acting as a pilot since about January 1952. Initially, I wanted a pilot; I must have a metering method of preclears that does not depend entirely on opinion or judgment. And I went outside and looked at the existing lie detector equipment and I could not find anything that would do the job. Now, Volney Mathison on the Beach heard a conversation out there one day, and I mentioned this fact.... I have one of the most beautiful electroencephalographs made and it does not do anything, the police detector does not do anything, and Mathison goes to work and he floats the current in the stream. The machine is relatively simple, but it is a current floating in another stream. And I am, in a way, deeply indebted to Mathison only on this basis suddenly having a pilot.
Mathison began working with Hubbard in 1951 and that year filed for his first E-meter patent, US Pat. No. 2,684,670. After the partnership broke up in 1954, Mathison continued to increase its E-meter with additional patents ( US Pat. 2,736,313 , US Patent 2,810,383 ), marketing it through its own companies and publications, retaining many of the concepts and terms of his time with Hubbard.
In a separate development line, EDA monitors are incorporated in a polygraph machine by Leonarde Keeler. The rigorous testing of polygraph has produced mixed results (see Polygraph's main page), and some critics classify polygraph operations as pseudoscience.
Scientology
The E-meter was adopted for use in Dianetics and Scientology when Mathison collaborated with L. Ron Hubbard in 1951. Some sources say E-meters "developed by Volney Mathison follow Hubbard's design", or Hubbard who created it. Hubbard incorrectly claims to be the inventor of the E-meter, a claim which is consistent with Scientology's attitude that Hubbard is the "source," or "the sole originator of all the materials of Dianetics and Scientology."
E-meters are not part of the early days of Dianetics and Scientology. Audits consist of conversations and are not led by mechanical devices. Hubbard introduced the E-meter prototype during the 1952 Philadelphia Doctorate Course but did not introduce its transistor version after a few years later. E-meters became the "main material artefact" of Dianetics and Scientology from 1960 onwards.
In the book, L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? , Bent Corydon wrote:
At the end of 1954 the use of E-meters was stopped by Hubbard. Writing Hubbard: "Yesterday we used a tool called E-Meter to register whether the process is still getting results so that the auditor will know how long to proceed, while the E-Meter is an interesting investigative instrument and has played its part in research, not currently used by auditors... As we suspected for a long time, the intervention of mechanical gadgets between auditors and preclear has a tendency to generalize sessions... "
Although it seems that for the time being that more sophisticated techniques from Scientology would serve without E-meters, a few months later in May 1955, Hubbard wrote:
And here comes E-Meter back to the picture. Currently, HASI is building a new and better E-Meter than ever built, under the trademark brand Physio-galvanometer, or O-Meter. It has very little in common with the old E-Meter type. However, old type E-Meters can be utilized.
The Scientology meter is smaller, based on a transistor than a vacuum tube, and powered by a low, rechargeable voltage battery rather than a channel voltage.
Since then, E-meter is a necessary tool for the minister of Scientology. E-meter "Hubbard Mark II" was baptized in 1960 and Hubbard Mark III shortly thereafter. On December 6, 1966, Hubbard won a patent on the Mark V version under the name "Hubbard Electropsychometer". Corydon writes that Hubbard's E-meter was actually developed by Scientologists Don Breeding and Joe Wallis, although the patent ( U.S. Patent 3,290,589 ) did not include any other developers.
The Corydon account is said to be based on Hubbard's son's memoir, Ronald DeWolf, but in 1987, DeWolf sued the publisher to prevent publication and sworn a statement declining everything in the book.
E-meter Scientology has been redesigned and patented several times since its first introduction to Dianetica (eg: US Pat. No. 4,459,995 , US Pat. 4,578,635 , US 4,702,259 ).
In 1969, Scientology was accepted as a religion by the High Court and stated that E-meter is useful in "bona fide religious counseling." The Gesell District Court Judge, while denying medical validity to the device, returned the e-meter to the Church. All e-meters from this point should be written with a rebuttal that it is not for medical or scientific diagnosis, treatment or disease prevention. The church redefined the disclaimer to be: "The Hubbard electrometer is a religious artefact, by itself, this meter does nothing, it is for the use of religion by students and ministers of churches in Confessionals and pastoral counseling alone."
Maps E-meter
Modern apps
EDA meter is used in patient-therapist settings and bio-feedback. EDA is one of the factors noted by polygraphs, and EDA meters are often used in human studies to measure psychological responses. EDA monitoring is improving clinical applications. Hugo D. Critchley, Chair of Psychiatry at Brighton and Sussex Medical School stated, "EDA is a sensitive psychophysiological index of changes in autonomous sympathetic stimulation that is integrated with emotional and cognitive states."
Scientology
E-meters are used in Scientology and Dianetics by ministers of Scientology known as "auditors". Scientific material traditionally refers to the subject as "preclear", although the auditor continues to use the meter on subjects far beyond the "clear" level. The auditor provides a series of preclear commands or queries while preclear holding a pair of cylindrical electrodes ("cans") connected to the meter, and the auditor notes both the verbal response and meter activity. Auditor training involves introduction with a number of distinctive needle movements, each with special significance. Religious scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen describes e-meters as "a technical tool that can help auditors discover engrams and areas of change when auditing a preclear."
Some critics of Dianetics and Scientology state that the concept of Scientology associated with E-meters and its use is considered by the scientific and medical community as pseudoscience, and that E-meter has never been subjected to clinical trials as a therapeutic tool. However, in 1972, over 1500 articles on electrodermal activity (EDA) have been published in professional publications, and today EDA is considered a popular method for investigating human psychophysiological phenomena.
Scientists state that in the hands of trained operators, measuring devices can show whether a person has escaped the spiritual barriers of past experience. In accordance with the 1974 federal court order, the Church of Scientology affirms that the E-meter is intended to be used only in church-approved audit sessions; it is not a curative or medical device. E-meters used by the Church were previously produced by Scientologists at their Gold Base facility, but are now produced in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
According to Hubbard, E-meters are used by operators for three vital functions:
- To determine what process to run and what to run.
- To observe how well the process runs.
- To know when the process should be stopped.
The Church claims that E-meters can be used to assess the emotional charge of single words, whole sentences, and questions, and indicate the general state of the subject when the operator does not speak. Very few E-meter claim users do anything to the subject. For the most part, it does more than suggest to the operator a mental or emotional state change, parasympathetic or activity.
The scholar of the new religious movement, Douglas Cowan, wrote that Scientologists could not progress along Bridge to Total Freedom without e-meters, and Hubbard even told Scientologists to buy two e-meters, if one of them failed to operate. According to anthropologist Roy Rappaport, e-meter is a ritual object, an object that "stands systematically for something intangible."
Functional description
One of the main components of the E-meter is the Wheatstone bridge, a configuration of electrical circuits found in 1833 that allows the detection of very small differences between two electrical impedances (in this case, obstacles). E-meters are constructed so that one barrier is the subject's body and the other is a rheostat controlled by the operator. The small voltage of the battery is applied to the electrode held in the subject's hand. Because the electrical properties (electrodermal activity) of the subject's body change during counseling, the changes generated in a small electric current are shown in the needle movement on a large analog panel meter. The face of the dial is numberless because the absolute obstacle in ohms is relatively unimportant, while the watch operator is mainly for the typical needle movement. The voltage applied to the electrode is less than 1.5V, and the electric current through the subject body is less than half a milliampere.
In Scientology E-meters, a large control, known as the "tone arm", adjusts the bias meter, while the smaller controls the gain. The operator manipulates the tone arm to keep the needle near the center of the dial so that its movement is easily observed. A simple E-meter is supported by direct current, as used by Scientologists and the like, showing some type of electrodermal activity (EDA) on one dial without distinction, including changes in conductance, resistance, and bioelectric potential. Researchers in psychophysiology also explore aspects of admittance and EDA impedance that can be observed only with alternating current.
E-Meters measure variations in electrodermal activity (which can be very responsive to emotions), functioning in one of the same physiological data sources with polygraph or lie detector. According to the doctrine of Scientology, the resistance is related to the "mental and energy mass" of the subject's mind, which is claimed to change when the subject thinks of certain mental images (engrams). One account tells of L. Ron Hubbard using an E-meter to determine if fruit can experience pain, as in his 1968 statement that tomatoes "screamed when sliced".
The traditional theory of EDA states that skin resistance varies with the state of the sweat glands in the skin. Sweating is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, Because sweat contains dielectric (salt, etc.), conductivity increases when sweat glands are activated. But some supporters argue that the meter responds more quickly than is possible by exudation and dryness of sweat. They propose an additional mechanism called "Tarchanoff Response" through which the cerebral cortex of the brain affects the current directly. This phenomenon is not fully understood, and further research needs to be done.
Legal
United States
The medical establishment has overseen the Hubbard company since 1951 when the New Jersey State Medical Supervisory Board sued the Hubbard Research Foundation for Dianetics (Elizabeth, New Jersey) for practicing drugs without a license. In 1958, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confiscated and destroyed 21,000 Dianazene tablets from Hubbard's Distribution Center, Inc., alleging that they were wrongly labeled as a treatment for radiation sickness.
On January 4, 1963, in the FDA complaints service, more than 100 US marshals and senior deputies with rifles were drawn to invade the Church of Scientology Establishment in Washington, DC and confiscated over three tons of p.Ã, 135 property including 5,000 books, 2,900 little books, and several hundred E-meters. The FDA accused the Church of making false medical claims that E-meters can treat physical and mental illness. The FDA also alleges that the meter does not have sufficient clues to treat the recommended conditions.
The Church claims that they have not written any publications that the E-meter can or will heal anything, p.Ã, 136 and sued to regain the property. Year litigation occurred. In the first trial that began on April 3, 1967, the jury found that the Church misrepresented the E-meter and the judge ordered that the confiscated material be destroyed. But in 1969, the US Court of Appeal overturned the ruling; The Church, he says, has pointed out that Scientology is a religion and the government has done nothing to refute such claims. The US Court of Appeals wrote:
[The Founding Church] did not attempt to challenge the expert testimony introduced by the Government. They have acknowledged that the E-meter is of no use in the diagnosis or treatment of such illnesses, and has stated that it was never proposed to have such use. Auditing or processing, in their view, treats the human spirit, not its body, though through spiritual healing the body can be affected. They have plucked from their literature many statements that reject any intention to treat the disease and recommend that Scientology practitioners send those who are under their care to the doctor when an organic defect can be found. They have been introduced through the testimony of a document which they claim everyone who undergo audits or processing must be signed stating that Scientology is "spiritual guidance and the religion that is meant to make people more aware of themselves as spiritual beings, and not treat or diagnose human diseases. body or mind, and is not involved in teaching medical art or science * * *. " Finally, with respect to their claims to be a religion and therefore the protection of the First Amendment, they have shown that the establishment of the Church of Scientology incorporated as a church in the District of Columbia, and that ministers are qualified to perform weddings and funerals. They have introduced their Creed into proof. The Government makes no claim that the Founding Church is not a bona fide religion, that the audit is not part of the practice of religion, or that the audit theory is not the doctrine of that religion.
Having discovered that Scientology is a religion, the Court writes that the government is banned by the First Amendment of the Constitution to decide the truth or errors of the Church's doctrine and disrupt its practice, provided that the claim is not substantially insincere and its practice is harmless. The court ordered a new trial with a mandate that the court could not prohibit auditing, use of E-meters, or the delivery of literature in the religious context. The FDA appealed the decision, but in 1969, the US Supreme Court refused to review the case, only commenting that "Scientology meets the prima facie test of religion". In his assessment in 1973, District Court Judge Gerhard Gesell ruled that:
Hubbard and his colleagues Scientologists developed the idea of ​​using E-Meters to assist the audit. Substantial fees are charged for meters and for auditing sessions. They repeatedly and explicitly stated that the audit affected the healing of many physical and mental illnesses. An individual who is processed with the help of an E-Meter is said to achieve the intended purpose 'clear' and is led to believe that there is credible scientific evidence that so much cleaning, indeed most, the disease will be successfully cured. Audit is guaranteed to be successful. All this and that's wrong.
Can not do more under the mandate of the Court of Appeal, Judge Gesell orders all properties to be returned to the Church, and after that, the E-meter can be used only in "bona fide religious counseling". All meters and literary references should include labels that reject any medical benefits:
E-Meters are medically or scientifically useless for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any illness. Not medically or scientifically able to improve the health or function of any body.
The Church adopted a modified version of the statement, which is still used in conjunction with the E-meter. The current statement reads:
The Hubbard Electrometer is a religious artifact. By itself, this meter does not do anything. This is for religious use by students and Church ministers in Confessionals and pastoral counseling only.
Judge Gesell also ordered the Church to pay all government legal fees and warehousing fees for property confiscated for nine years of litigation. He also requires the church to pay salaries and travel expenses of FDA agents who may, from time to time, check for compliance with court orders. p.Ã, 143 The attack was considered illegal, but the government kept copies of the documents.
Europe
In 1979 in Sweden, a court banned E-meter a very valuable aid to measure the human mental state and its changes in an advertisement. The prohibition was upheld by the European Commission for Human Rights in the case of X. and Church of Scientology v. Sweden .
In October 2009, a panel of three judges at the Penitentiary Court in Paris, France punished the church and six of its members committed an organized fraud. The Court's decision follows a three-week trial, in which two plaintiffs accuse them of being deceived by the organization. One of the plaintiff's complaints involves the use of E-Meters by Scientologists with medical implications. The plaintiff claimed that, after being audited with the device, he was encouraged to pay tens of thousands of euros for vitamins, books, and courses to improve his condition. He argues that as much as fraud. The court agreed, and the verdict was upheld in appeal in 2013. See Scientology in France # Conviction for fraud.
Australia
In 1964, the Victorian government of Australia held an Inquiry Council to Scientology which returned its findings in a document known as the Anderson Report. Psychiatrist Ian Holland Martin, honorary federal secretary of the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, provided evidence that the E-Meters 'used for Scientology' were 'psycho-galvano-meter' and 'dangerous in unqualified hands'. He said that if the E-meter is 'suggested to have mysterious powers' to someone who does not understand that it has been 'totally discredited as a lie detector' then 'that person will whisper the ideas disguised by the operator'. The final report of the investigation states that the E-meter allows Scientology:
"... to assume, to intensify and maintain control of the mind and will of intent, the fear of its ability to keep them submissive.The use can be manipulated by questions that are cunningly expressed so that almost all desired results can be obtained, immoral to dominate students and staff, all the evil features of science intensified where the E-meter is involved, When used in conjunction with the hypnotic technique, its evil impact is greatly improved.This simple electrical device is not, of course, the only basis of criticism scientific, but without E-meter measurements will be partially disarmed. "
In 1965, Victoria prohibited the use of E-meters without a license, with Western Australia and South Australia following. In 1969, the High Court of Western Australia ruled the ban was illegal. South Australia withdrew its law in 1973, and Victoria withdrew it in 1982. In 1983, the High Court of Australia ruled that Scientology was a religion, and thus had the same rights and protections.
Scientology beliefs and theories
In the Scientology Church, early psychoanalysts are credited with the first use of E-meter.
Bob Thomas, senior executive of the Church of Scientology in the United States, described E-meter... 'Some very early work on this was done by Jung, who used the list of words. I think he combines it with a psycho-galvanometer. In the words of this association, he seeks to improve the effectiveness of free association techniques, which he is not sure of. '" p.Ã, 62-64
L. Ron Hubbard praised Mathison by creating an E-meter and bringing his first model to Hubbard for use in Dianetics. Hubbard sets his theory on how E-meter works in his book
In order for meters to be read, a small flow of electrical energy through preclear (people) must remain stable. When this small stream changes, the needle from the E-Meter moves. This will happen if preclear attracts or releases mental mass. This mental mass (viscous energy), acts as an additional resistance or lack of resistance to the flow of electrical energy from the E-Meter.
Hubbard claims that this "mental mass" has the same physical characteristics, including weight, as a mass commonly understood by the layman:
In Scientology, it has been found that mental energy is only a higher and higher physical energy level. This test is conclusive that "scoffing" thething (creating) images of mental images and pushing them into the body can increase body mass and by throwing it away can lower body mass. This test has actually been made and an increase of as much as thirty pounds, actually measured on a scale, has been added to, and subtracted from, the body by creating "mental energy." Energy is energy. The material is the viscous energy.
This text in Understanding the E-Meter is accompanied by three images. The first shows a man standing on a scale, which reflects the weight of "150" (unit not given). Next shows the man on the same scale, burdened under the weight of "Mental Image Drawing", and the scale indicates the weight of "180". The last image shows a man standing upright on a scale, now unencumbered by the "Mental Image Image" and with a smile on his face, while the scale again shows the weight of "148".
Bob Thomas, senior church executive in the early 1970s, provided a prosaic description.
The immediate goal of E-meters is to improve communication. In other words, just to pick up a parallel: if an analyst allows his patient to be sociable, and the patient is connected to a particular galvanometer that shows the analyst what emotions the patient mentions and what is not emotionally, a lot of time saved. So it is only help for the practitioner to direct the individual to an area he or she may not have been aware of being disturbed or filled with emotion or suppressed; and more directing his attention to the area...
E-meter is a simple psycho-galvanometer. There is an increased sensitivity built into it and the myological reactions that you sometimes get in the galvanometer have been muted by the circuit, so the mental reactions, the spirit reactions, the body is emphasized and can be read more clearly.. But that's just circuit design; basically does not affect the device type. It lists the so-called, generally, psychogalvanomic reflex, which is a reflex which is a mechanism that is poorly understood by the soul. Body resistance seems to vary when individuals think of concepts, or words or ideas related to pain or associated with pain or trauma.... Some initial work was done by Jung... " p.Ã, 62-64
See also
- Auditing (Scientology)
- Biofeedback
- Identify thoughts
References
External links
- Scientology Today: What is an E-Meter and how does it work? , the official Church Scientology description
- Secret of Scientology: E-Meter , by David S. Touretzky
- US Patent E-Meter , filed by the Church of Spiritual Technology on May 9, 1996 and published Jan. 4, 2000
- "New Religious, Technological, and Science Movements: E-Meter Conceptualization in the Doctrine of Scientology" Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 51 (3): 661-683 (2016), a thorough historical and thorough study by scholar Stefano Bigliardi.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments