Remember I said in the posting Where Did Super Power Come From? that the plans for the “Humongous Rundown” were replaced by subsequent “next big things,” one of which was Key to Life?
This is another of the Christi Gordon documents: The World Out of Comm evaluation by Hubbard was issued without a “handling.”
The “handling” was the Key to Life Course.
As you can see from this eval, this was again a solution to STAFF incompetence. If you read the data trail of this eval, you will see what a low regard Hubbard had for people in general and scientology staff members in particular. A few select quotes:
Efforts to train auditors and admin people taking 8X as long as required in the 50s and then winding up without real results.
Current new tech research found the majority of staff members in one locale to be along the bottom line of the Grade Chart.
M9 was developed to handle underprivileged illiterates – Chicanos, colored people – now applies to modern “fully educated” college graduates.
Psychiatry and medicine have put a heavy majority of modern generations into institutional condition.
Hardly any modern staff have ever understood the verbal or written orders or information they receive.
And the very end of his “data” is this summation:
A survey of staff of 2 large orgs showed the majority to be classifiable as institutional by conduct, stats, or past psychiatric handling.
The psychs of course are to blame for the horrible state of scientology staff. And yet, Hubbard would publicly state how staff members are the heroes of the universe and above and beyond everyone else on earth.
As a result of this eval, the Key to Life course was compiled by Sue Koon and David Phillips at Gold under the direction of Hubbard.
The “pilot” of the course was done on 4 Messengers: myself, Ronnie and Bitty Miscavige and Barbara Saecker.
Sometime later the course was updated and Miscavige brought in Disney animators to draw pictures representing the words to be defined. It was an immense, and expensive undertaking. The books were huge, printed on thick, glossy paper, making them stupidly expensive.
Of course, this staff handling was then sold to the public.
Until it wasn’t.
At some point Miscavige decided the Key to Life Course could no longer be delivered. No doubt he decided it was “out tech” — though it still appears on the Grade Chart and there is still a website devoted to it: KeytoLife.org
And the hagiography website of Hubbard, LRonHubbard.org still has a section lauding his incredible “discoveries” and the amazing “approach” he had to solving problems. This is the Shermanspeak interpretation of the eval you read above.
Hey COB, if this is truly the cause of the decline of civilization and the reason no staff are able to duplicate the orders and policies of Hubbard, don’t you think you should be making it available? If Hubbard couldn’t get his scientology empire expanding without it, how do you think you can do so?
I joined staff in 1970 as a very literate 19 year old college student. I became a Cl, IV auditor by 1972 in my study time and a CS by 1974.
I did the KTL course in the early 90’s and found it to be quite challenging, but very beneficial as a real “mental workout ” in confronting written material . When I finished KTL, I read ” War and Peace” by Tolstoy, not an easy accomplishment.
*the eval is a whole other can of worms, I see that Ron took NO personal responsibility at all for his part in how his orgs were run. I can give you examples where Ron HIMSELF misapplied his own “tech” with DISASTROUS results. Again, for another time.
Hubbard’s “solutions” were just problems, longer range, padding and deflecting off of the core quackery problem.
Scapegoating the staffs and managers when the “solutions” failed, is also Hubbard policy.
It keeps all newbie staffs in the mindset that the former staffs were the cause of the failures.
But it was Hubbard’s quackery that is the problem, all along.
Hubbard’s quackery is the core problem.
Period.
You can only dupe newbie dupes with false claims that the Hubbard “solutions” will work when done perfectly standardly.
The quackery is what undermines all, long range.
Hubbard died thinking he was still infested with several un exorcised “body-thetans”.
He failed at his own exorcism quackery.
It’s important to see Hubbard’s solutions as the real problem, and not beat yourself over the head if you were ever suffering to make this quackery stuff work, nor beat yourself over the head if as staff you implemented it, or trained it, and it didn’t work.
Keeping Scientology Working is factually
“The Impossibility of Making Quackery Work” : Scientology’s Operation
That’s a great point, I used to wonder what was wrong with me that I wasn’t getting them the miraculous results I thought everyone else was
Keeping Scientology Working
is also
Keep Scapegoating When Scientology Quackery Isn’t Working
(This statement is essentially one of the points made by Martin Gardener in his must read “Fads and Fallacies…” book of the mid 1950s, where he noted a pattern of the modern mid 20th century cranks was that they blame and scapegoat others for their crackpottery failing.)
I came to two major solutions conclusions, after two decades being out, and after having been intimately part of the Hubbard solutions. (I was Course Sup at the admin training courses at Flag when we “piloted” the “simple words” pre KTL stuff, and we piloted the other pre LOC Life Orientation Course stuff.)
a) Educate the Scientology execs and participants, with college and university (and continuing education, masters degrees, etc). Use the tiniest loophole in the “Staff Study” policy.
b) Encourage staff to read outside books, always, give staffs time to read books, get them literate
It is not “simple words” that magically solve staffs’ illiteracy.
c) (Third problem). LRH’s “tech” (is quackery in fact, it’s past lives delving imagination “therapy” a pseudo-therapy / and upper Scientology’s secret five exorcism steps – OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, the quackery undermines ALL educated staffs, no matter how literate they are.
Nothing solves the staffing problems of Scientology, nor will it ever.
When a subject is selling it’s quackery, the quackery is the problem, not the staffs.
And the quackery repels the smarter stronger willed newbies ultimately, once they become immersed in the the quackery sales movement.
You can’t sell exorcism on the volume that Scientology sells its exorcism, the more that the exorcism is publicly known about.
Hubbard wrote extensively deflectingly always blaming the staffs for failing.
It’s the subject that Hubbard is selling that. doesn’t attract volumes of smarter staffs in the first place.
The “solutions” of
a) Educate the staffs in college/university and additional degrees
b) Give staffs time to get up to literacy and reading many books for their pleasure
just cannot overcome Hubbard’s quackery core of Scientology, which repels common sense.
————————
Even though Hubbard believed to the bitter end of his life, that he himself had some orbiting surplus souls nagging him incessantly, that doesn’t mean this is real.
Scientology offers just too much quackery false spiritual treatment for the members.
People who get to the OT levels OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are immersed in their own imaginations to create these surplus souls (given the Hubbard story about Xenu dumping these implanted surplus souls, “body-thetans” onto earth 75 million years ago) that members doing the exorcism link these surplus souls’ own “case” ideas leech into their own minds, and cause them their troubles.
It’s surplus souls “cases” leeching that is the Hubbard imagined problem for humanity, and it’s Hubbard’s OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 exorcism to strip off these surplus souls off a human’s body, which alleviates this spiritual trouble out of our minds, supposedly.
It cannot be sold.
It’s quackery.
It undermines even the most sincere able and smart staff who staff the gargantuan Hubbard organizations in the Hubbard multiechelon hierarchy.
In the end, all you need to fool, with all this, is the richer dupes, who get consumed with the Hubbard endless outlay of pablum nonsense, who will inject enough money into the Hubbard framework setups of organizations to keep the doors open to lure in new richer dupes.
Richer dupes keep Scientology alive.
Outside college education would help the people on staffs more. Help them expand their education and get out of the Scientology ultimately.
Chuck, if staff did a) and b) they would learn enough to realize c), and blow. There’s a reason Hubbard and Scientology treat staff like mushrooms, even though in the long run it leaves them crippled…
I think that’s also reflected in the fact that, as far as I can tell, there’s almost no one left on CofS staff who’s even attended college, as used to not infrequently be the case with the young people they were once able to recruit. No one who has a business degree much less an MBA wants to join staff now, either – and the orgs don’t even have any way to integrate someone with outside training, do they?
Related, there seem to be fewer and fewer public members with higher education, certainly not advanced degrees. There are also no or virtually no engineers or scientists, or others with rigorous professional training – chiropractic “doctors” don’t count in that regard, and dentists don’t really either.
Absolutely right on the money.
It’s not a winning future for them.
Typical dictatorial application of fault assignment. It follows along the same line as, “a bad tradesman blames his tools.”
There’s nothing wrong with discipline if applied with a conscience and results in a real or productive purpose to follow. At the end of the day Hubbard and his organisation simply had nowhere to go with the technology, there wasn’t a result to be had with it no matter how long you studied or tried to apply it. In particular, policy is a joke – a bad, cruel joke. It sure doesn’t work, the evidence is in and has been for decades. Scientology just shuffled the shadows around with bs to make money until it eventually caught up with them and emptied the orgs, destroyed lives and drove people away. What is left is a good example of, “donkey and the carrot people.” Sounds like the name of a band doesn’t it?
Scientology is the most horrific and treacherous example of applied hypocrisy I’ve sure ever be a part of or ever seen up close and personal.
KTL & LOC showed more staff members where the door was with Scientology than anything else when I was in. I never heard even one staff member ever say that their goal in life was to be Scientology staff when they did those courses, and I sup’d it. From Miscavige’s aspect it had to shut down asap as staff were leaving, wanted other posts than what they were doing or wanted to leave because of it and pursue a real life. That’s what I saw.
It’s a friggen rock show!
I was the Key to Life Course Supervisor about 7-8 years in Chicago. At first, things seemed great. In our org, about 18 Key to Life courses were sold to public before the course was even released. It was highly touted as the solution to everything that wasn’t going well in Scientology. A lot of money was made on the sale of this course for several years. Then somewhere along the line, the whole thing faded out gradually, and nobody really said much about the fact that the Key to Life stats were declining.
There was less and less interest in the Key to Life Course over the next few years. Then, the Golden Age of Tech became the next thing that was going to solve everything in Scientology. Soon after that, the Key to Life went down to absolute zero, permanently.
But it was a gradual change. And during that gradual decline, what do you think the Supervisor is concerned about regarding this decline? A Supervisor (me) who has had it forced into his head that declining stats are always the fault of the person who is posted in the specific area in which the stats are declining. “What am I doing wrong? What do I, myself, have to do to change this?
Also, having had it ground into my head, “An in-ethics courseroom fills up; an out-ethics courseroom empties out”. That it has nothing to do whatsoever with the rest of the organization, it is only the Supervisor who causes the statistics to be whatever they are.
All these datums just aren’t true. The person posted in the immediate area of the declining stats is not the only possible person who could cause the stats to be whatever they are. In the case of the Key to Life, it was just decided by “upper management” that the course would not be pushed, sold or delivered anymore – either purposely or by default when the next “solution for everything” came up.
After leaving the C of S, it was nice to be able to let go of these false datums and realize that I wasn’t the only cause of what happened.
Dave,
The KTL didn’t truly work. That’s why stats were low to non existent and so were students. That’s it buddy! It wasn’t you. The tech was the problem. That’s all.
You got it!
Keeping Scientology Working
really means:
“Keep Blaming Staff And Public, To Keep the Scam Working”.
aka
“Keeping Quackery “Working” By Always Blaming Staff and Public”
The AOLA Special Courses Sup (OT 3 Course Sup), based on the above, ought go stand at the corner of Vermont and Sunset, with a sign:
“Xenu’s Body-Thetans Exorcism Training: All Welcome”.
The subject of Scientology’s secret exorcism of Xenu’s dumped body-thetans ought to by itself draw people into AOLA for the Course Sup to supervise and fill up his course room.
It’s nice to hear from you Dave. When I first blew Scientology, I read your blog and found it very helpful.
I always enjoy your stories. Because you often mention the lie that was Scientology’s party line and what you have realized since you left.
I heard from a KTL student that there was a big flap when a college-age Scientologist who was a second-generation Scientologist finished KTL and did LOC. He found his true purpose and left the cherch behind.
For that reason alone I like the course. I never did it, but I had the books. That is until I did the big purge.
Thank you. Nice to read your compliments, Lili. Have we ever met?
Hi Dave,
We haven’t met. But I felt as if your hand was in mine while I read your story. You were leading me gently through your story and the thicket of confusion that was my mind. I was leaving Scientology, but I still believed the Hubbard BS.
I still felt knee-jerk guilt at “letting the group down.” My Scientology friends were my friends. I loved them.
You were like my new friend, showing me what was wrong in the small ways as well as the large ways. You helped me see my experience with your eyes as you showed me your experience.
Whenever I’ve seen a comment written by you, I smile.
So, no we haven’t met, but I call you friend.
Wow! Nice! Thank you, Lily.
Very appreciative of any tips.
Does anyone know what is the secret to keeping the Sea Org from manipulating your kids into signing a billion year contract?
I notice in our Org, the executives were able to keep their kids out of joining staff or going into the Sea Org…
How did they do that and what is the secret?
if they are <18 years old anything they sign is non-binding and irrelevant.
If the parents have signed custody over to the Corporation, then the age is not a factor. Currently it is 14 they take them.
That wasn’t the question Shawn.
SO is notorious to have the child be ‘emancipated’ legally from the parents and then the SO becomes legal guardian. How is this legal? I have no idea.
The parents have to sign off on a 16 year old being emancipated. The SO and the child CANNOT do it without the parents legal consent.
TIP I use, with non Scientologist adults with kids.
I tell them to give their kids the two SECRET taboo words from Scientology.
If their kids know the Xenu story, and know about body-thetans being the target for Scientology’s OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 exorcism, then the “Dead File” rules by Scientology will not accept anyone’s kids.
So, when the kids are old enough and it is appropriate, have them watch the South Park episode that tells the Xenu story.
And then simplify the story a bit, just say Xenu the space leader dumped surplus souls onto earth, and the Scientologists do exorcism of these surplus souls, called body-thetans.
When Scientologists try to communicate to any young people, all the young people have to say is Xenu and body-thetans theory back at the Scientologists, and they will be left alone.
Just say Xenu (pronouced ZEE NEW) that’s usually enough, and if the Scientologists keep coming at the kids, then go further with comments like
a) Didnt Xenu drop zillions of body-thetans onto earth during the 4th Dynamic Engram?
b) Isn’t Xenu the person most responsible for why Scientology has the secret exorcism steps called OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
c) Are all humans full of body-thetans? And is Scientology’s exorcism steps OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 really the only solution?
d) I think I’ll pass on Scientology, thanks. I just can’t get my head around the idea I’m full of body-thetans to the degree you lower Scientologists don’t even know the upper Scientologists are full of them.
Excellent advice!
If you cut their hands off, they can’t sign anything. It’s a close call. To avoid the S.O. or to live without hands. A tough choice to be sure.
As of March 1979, it sounds as if L. Ron Hubbard had started to go Type 3. He found himself at odds with just about everyone and everything around him. He tried but couldn’t control much of anything — including itsy bitsy words, such as “the”, “at”, and “but.”
Just imagine what the guy faced: complete and utter uncertainty. As of the date of this Aides Order, and if my mind serves me correctly, he had gone into hiding. His wife faced a prison sentence.
The foundation of his empire had not produced the results he wanted. Screw The Bridge to Total Freedom! Let’s demean everyone from the ground up. No one became safe from his frustration. First, he failed with Dianetics. Then, he failed with Scientology. Sure, he had squandered millions from his cons, but can money buy happiness?
Did L. Ron Hubbard ever find what he wanted? Are the goals of a madman unattainable?
Shortly after the release of this Aides Order, and at a time when ASHO Day had little money and struggled to put out their Auditor magazine, an HCOB called “How Not to Miss Out on Gains from Your Auditing” came down the pike. Executives at the org hailed it as The Next Best Thing.
An Auditor mag mailing went to a Major mailing list, which went nationwide. A Minor mag went locally. A Major mailing cost much more than a Minor. ASHO Day hadn’t been able to send out a Major mailing in a while. That all changed with this new HCOB. The Org could afford a Major mailing for a much smaller magazine, and this HCOB fit the bill.
It turned out that David Mayo had written that HCOB, not Hubbard. That Special Edition of the Auditor mag ended up having words, sentences and even complete paragraphs missing from it. A Comm Ev convened on the Director of Promotion and Marketing — Yours Truly– which ended my Sea Org career.
At the bottom Fred writes:
“A Comm Ev convened on the Director of Promotion and Marketing — Yours Truly– which ended my Sea Org career.”
I got a laugh at the clever wording. Another one bites the dust. I’m sure it wasn’t funny at the time.
Hi, Richard. No, I didn’t have much fun in the days leading up to that Comm Ev at ASHO Day.
Just imagine Sea Org members shunning me in droves. One guy named Jessie purposely stuck his foot out for me to trip over when I walked by him in the hallway. Innocent until proven guilty in the court of Scientology didn’t happen in my case.
I couldn’t stick around for the Comm Ev’s Findings and Recommendations, so I blew. I soon got in touch with the then Staff Ethics Officer, Craig Sargeant. Shortly thereafter, I returned to ASHO Day as a Freeloader. You could’ve called me “Freddie the Freeloader,” and I would have chuckled.
About a year later, and as I worked as an FSM to get other Freeloaders to pay off their debts, the ASHO Day Dir of Income, Mary Bievenouer, did something that blew my mind.
I needed to have my Accounts folder worked on. When she opened the folder after a period of inactivity, there sat the official Findings and Recommendations from that Comm Ev. I had never read them and didn’t even know that I had been billed half the cost of printing and publishing that Special Edition of the Auditor mag. After I read it, Mary moved that document and billing to the rear of the folder where nobody would find them unless they were looking for them. She actually hid the billing under a bunch of other invoices. Mary said something to this effect: “There, that’s where that belongs.”
If Mary ever reads this: Thank you! Miss you!
Great story Fred,
ASHO Staff did have a lot of heart. When I routed out, became a freeloader, the then Treasury Sec ASHO Fdn was an Englishman named Stephen Hocke, who I’d trained on his OEC ten years prior. Stephan very nicely reduced my freeloader debt from 100Gs range down to 500 bucks, in much the same way your Mary did, by just not taking into consideration all the other crap billed to me.
But I didn’t want to go back, so never paid even the 500 bucks reduced F/L bill.
But ASHO staff were just so abused, they were so stuck in the middle of things there at the Pacifica Bridge hierarchy, they were a special nice bunch of suffering diehards.
Re: “…reduced my freeloader debt from 100Gs range down to 500 bucks…”
That is a considerable reduction in debt, Chuck!
When the powers that be calculated my freeloader debt, they applied a particular policy letter to it (for every year served, you could knock off a certain percentage, or something like that).
If I remember correctly, Miscavige cancelled that policy short after that.
And you never did pay your F/L debt. Now that is what I’d call a ” discount”!
The subject I no longer consider deserving anyone’s time nor money, no paying any “debts” to it for one’s staff courses and the quackery pseudo-therapy or exorcism they gave you for “free.”
So when I was toying with the debt, I wanted to see how low I could finnagle it, but I really didn’t want to stay in LA, go on course at ASHO even though per rights, I “ought” to have, since i was playing along like that was my intention.
But the whole subject is undeserving of anyone playing along with it.
The whole subject–the “quackery pseudo-therapy or exorcism”–is undeserving.
That’s very interesting but I didn’t understand why there was missing paragraphs and why that was your fault?
Thanks for asking, Doug Sprinkle. As the DPM (Dir Promo & Marketing), I’d be held ultimately responsible for any wrong doings in my dept. This despite the fact that I’d been posted to ASHO Day after never completing the EPF (Estates Project Force), an action I’d openly opposed. I’d also taken that post after being cornered in an office by two Executives (who will remain nameless) who coerced me into accepting the DPM post.
The Special Edition of the Auditor came out in 1981, I believe (not 1980 as I previously wrote). The Comm Ev focused on the proofreading expertise (or lack thereof) on a job that ASHO Day rushed out the door. Rushed so fast that I worked all night into the wee hours of the morning, at Bruce Rigney, the typesetter hired for the job. Jeff Patrick, who normally wrote copy, conducted surveys, etc., worked all night into the wee hours of the morning, shuttling the proofread typeset copy to the Org. That copy went into the hands of Patricia Kettler Foster, the Auditor Editor, who pasted the copy, creating the board that the printer would print from.
Shortly after the mailing went out, Senior Executives from higher up called a meeting to discuss the fact that the mag had 52 or so typographical errors: words, sentences, even complete paragraphs that were missing.
Patricia and I were held responsible for these errors. The Findings and Recommendations of the Comm Ev called for Patricia and I to be held equally responsible, financially, for this. We were each billed $10,000.00.
Some years later, a Missionaire (from CMO, I believe), had been “pulling strings” on various reports that had been written at ASHO Day. One such report had been written about me by a Sea Org member (who will remain nameless) at ASHO Day, where I had been working in finance as a non-Sea Org member.
My interview with the Missionaire opened my eyes to the probability that that Special Edition of the Auditor magazine fiasco had not been entirely my fault. It appears that the Editor of the Auditor magazine may have measured the wrong size type. In other words, it had been spec’d incorrectly (“spec’d” is shorthand for “specified, or copy which has had its printing and binding specifications—such as paper and ink, binding and finishing, etc.—indicated” — thanks, PrintWiki).
It appears that Patricia had measured too large a copy for the print job, and ended up having to cut and slice all the space between the lines in order to paste it onto the board that would be used to print from.
I remember arriving at my office at 8:00 AM or so, after working all night at Bruce Rigney’s office. Patricia had already gone to bed, and that’s when I noticed the mess she had left on the floor around the table she’d using to arrange the typeset copy. There, on the floor, sat words, sentences — even complete paragraphs, that Patricia had apparently edited out of the mag.
That Missionaire made me feel so much better about that Auditor mag fiasco. That guy is an angel, and if he’s reading this: Thank you!
Vindicated at last. What a great feeling!
Fred,
Yes, the period of 1977 onwards was tumultuous from then to the end of LRH’s life.
I worked on the project to read literally all of LRH’s ever written stuff, administratively.
The amount of material is staggering.
a) Mimeo Files at Int Base (Gold Base’s “Mimeo Files” run by Gold Mimeo)
b) Watchdog Committee Files (the late Bill Funnel’s who was “WDC Files” job in CMO Int)
c) I rummaged through “containers” full of banker’s boxes of former WDC and Exec Strata staff who were busted, I rummaged through their filing cabinets folders transferred to banker’s boxes)
d) Ron’s Traffic Liaison (RTL job was a super specialist job for a short important time in the early 1980s at Int Base) office filing cabinets of LRH’s. RTL was Michelle Yager, married to Mark Yager at the time she was RTL and had her office directly next to Mark’s CO CMO Int office.
c) CST/Archives filing cabinets, today moved to the CST/Archives “mother” site
e) “Flag Mimeo” files, this took weeks, it’s the biggest mimeo files in the world in Scientology. The old Apollo “Mimeo Files” is today the “Flag Mimeo Files” in the basement of the HGB.
then, years later, I read even more, when I got access in later years, to ASI filing cabinet of LRH traffic to ASI.
Of all the traffic that most closely shows Hubbard’s ability to mentally lose it, and also to retain composure, I think would be the LRH traffic to “Spcl Pjt Ops” which was Miscavige. And LRH’s same time period traffic to CO CMO Int (Mark Yager). LRH’s traffic to ED Int, Guilliaume Leserve is important administratively and long range strategically, but there isn’t anyone to appreciate it. (Plus undermining even trying to solve things with LRH’s final strategies is futile, due to the subject, the “tech” of Hubbard’s being in fact quackery, and no amount of LRH un-utilized strategies will fix the fact that Scientology is selling quackery.)
The final years of LRH traffic, to Int Base people, and to ASI, show LRH was still not totally losing it, he knew how to compose himself mostly most of the time, in his official traffic to
ASI and to Int Base leaders.
But he did lose it, the stories did even leak, that he was in “bad” mental shape at the end, that did leak to some degree, and people who were familiar with all he did write, the omissions of NOT writing more in the very end, showed he had to have been in poor mental shape, going dementia in his final months.
But to year by year, month by month, go into the final years and months and days of LRH’s mind, there are very very few who’ve done this by just reading his traffic. I’m one.
I jump to attention and respect those that did tell the final LRH mindset stories.
Annie Broeker’s stories told to Camilla Anderson, told to Jim Logan, truly truly must be preserved and retold, and try to get all of the Annie Broeker final stories laid out.
Camilla Anderson’s stories and reporting Camilla has told, really help see how it was in the final days of LRH’s life.
It would take someome who knows the area, respects who was who, who said what to whom, to gather all of LRH’s final months and days actual mindset and behavior to totally thoroughly paint Hubbard’s mental health.
Jeffrey Augustine I think has summarized LRH’s final mindset very responsibly.
Chuck,
Hail Xenu!
Guinness World Records claims: “The most published works by one author is L. Ron Hubbard…”
Scientology built a book empire with Bridge Publications and Galaxy Press. You, too, can have your own book empire if you’re able to launch a group of people completely devoted to you (that is, the Sea Org, whose birthday is August 12, founded 1966). “Published works” does not necessarily mean that what Hubbard wrote is coherent or even good.
“Quackery” is a most apt description of Scientology.
Your observation and evaluation is appreciated.
Of all the things that I did in scientology, the “key to life” course was the most valuable to me.
When I was supposed to be learning grammar and writing in grade school, I was so upset by other events in my life, and was bored as well, I never got that education. Though I loved to read, I hardly ever used a dictionary to get actual definitions. Mostly I invented definitions from the context of what I was reading. I didn’t know a lot of correct pronunciations of the words I was reading.
In life, you don’t learn to speak the language from books or a dictionary. You learn by listening, asking questions, imitation, practice, corrections from others. Even if you are smart, you are bound to have missing areas in your understanding and those persist if you don’t have an education that focuses on words and grammar, etc.
So “key to life” did fill in a lot of blanks in my basic education about words and definitions and grammar. I loved it, though it was long and expensive. I graduated with 100% on the final test at just prior to 2:00 am on my birthday. So out-tech!!!! But I was done.
It is telling that this one course probably resulted in more people really becoming aware of how crazy scientology really is, than any other action in scientology. Because they will have learned the real definitions of “unfair” and “abusive” and “immoral” and “criminal.” And related them to the environment of scientology. The “life orientation course” was even worse for scientology. People in droves had their basic purpose rehabilitated and almost one-for-one, it was not to “do scientology” or “be a scientology staff member” but rather being artists and scientists and teachers and anything else but a scientology staff member.
Hubbard inadvertently created the vehicle for scientology’s demise. He was so smart.
Very insightful. Similar to what you describe, it was practical study of scientology that caused me to realize I needed to absolutely leave scientology. How funny, I think Method 1 metered Word Clearing where you scan through and repair any misses in your existing education was one of the last actions I did. So ironic. One can gain sudden and lasting clarity by a scientology action that shows in full-technicolor how “off” is scientology and how sane it is to leave.
Peridot,
I too gained greatly from a Method 1 Word Clearing co-audit with an IT guy. We ended up at the UCLA and Caltech library’s digging into ‘sound’ and ‘radiation’ to a conceptual level of understanding that he ended up running the sound systems at pageants and rock concerts. I went into radiation safety and industrial safety. As you wrote and others too; being on staff at an org was NOT on the menu.
We continued co-auditing until we moved back of the written word roots and were left with beings throwing picture concepts at each other. Probably drove the C/Ss nuts.
Jim – So very interesting, what you recount. Sometimes, you get a good twin match and the two of you can really “dig in” and have some useful and fun adventures.
In the 1970s did a course called the Primary Rundown where you looked up every word in the course the first time it appeared. I think there were four one hour tapes where Hubbard went into detail about the three Barriers To Study which were first introduced by educators on the Briefing Course and on which Hubbard expanded. The barriers were the misunderstood word, too steep a gradient and absence of mass (no physical reality of the thing being studied.)
Every word in the tapes was listed in booklets in alphabetical order and looked up before listening to the tape. Obviously first tape had the most words and the number of new words declined as you continued.
The supposed End Phenomenon of the course was becoming “Super Literate: Able to duplicate and apply any subject.” Wow! At any rate after becoming Super Lit you escaped any future spot checking while on course by claiming your status.
To this day a misunderstood word rarely escapes my notice. In casual reading if I don’t feel like looking up an MU I just identify it as such and (usually) don’t dope off or fall asleep. haha
Maybe the Primary Rundown was an early attempt by Hubbard to solve the problem, from his point of view, of staff remaining incompetent even after doing a basic study course and getting them to be Super Literate would solve the problem.
Looking up all the words in the course was time consuming but the vast majority were common simple words so it was just a quick check in a dictionary to be honest about it and you got points for every word you looked up so the course supervisor was happy and back then there wasn’t as crazy a push for stats and completions, at least where I studied.
I often questioned where the title Primary Rundown came from since it doesn’t seem to directly refer to Study Tech. I just now decided to look up primary and here’s the list of definitions from http://www.dictionary.com for anyone who likes to play with words.
I guess nobody ain’t gonna learn nothing unless they first get a “primary” understanding of words and how to study so Primary Rundown fits and probably what Hubbard was indicating.
primary – adjective
first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal:
his primary goals in life.
first in order in any series, sequence, etc.
first in time; earliest; primitive.
of, relating to, or characteristic of primary school:
the primary grades.
constituting or belonging to the first stage in any process.
of the nature of the ultimate or simpler constituents of which something complex is made up:
Animals have a few primary instincts.
original; not derived or subordinate; fundamental; basic.
(in scholarly studies) pertaining to or being a firsthand account, original data, etc., or based on direct knowledge, as in primary source; primary research.
immediate or direct, or not involving intermediate agency:
primary perceptions.
Sociology. (of social values or ideals) conceived as derived from the primary group and culturally defined as being necessary to the welfare of the individual and society.
Ornithology. pertaining to any of the set of flight feathers situated on the distal segment of a bird’s wing.
Electricity. noting or pertaining to the circuit, coil, winding, or current that induces current in secondary windings in an induction coil, transformer, or the like.
Chemistry.
involving or obtained by replacement of one atom or group.
noting or containing a carbon atom united to no other or to only one other carbon atom in a molecule.
Grammar.
(of a derivative) having a root or other unanalyzable element as the underlying form:
The word “dole” is a primary derivative formed by modification of “deal,” and “phonograph” is a primary derivative from “phono-” and “-graph.”
(of Latin, Greek, Sanskrit tenses) having reference to present or future time.Compare secondary (def. 10).
SEE LESS
Just to qualify, the ability to study and learn is an innate human ability and people become scholars without ever having engaged in any type of study course. Hubbard was recruiting laymen to fill technical auditing and administrative positions so having a study tech was an advantage although it could also be used to manipulate or indoctrinate and control people.
Li’l Davey can’t have other people more literate than himself. They might figure out that semi-colons aren’t the problem.
To: ExScnStaff
From: David Miscavige COB RTC
Re: semi colons
HOW DARE YOU MAKE SUCH AN INSINUATION! SEMICOLONS WERE THE PROBLEM WITH SCIENCE OF SURVIVAL UNTIL I MADE IT RIGHT! WHY WERE SEMICOLONS THE PROBLEM? BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT I DECIDED WAS THE PROBLEM! NO, I DIDN’T DO ALL THAT GARBAGE ABOUT LOOKING AT THE IDEAL SCENE, INVESTIGATE THE ACTUAL SCENE, LOOK FOR THE OUTPOINTS, ETC. AS THE MOST THETA BEING IN THE MEST UNIVERSE I HAVE NO NEED OF ALL THAT!
SO YOU JUST WATCH YOURSELF!
ML,
Dave.
To: David Miscavige COB RTC
From: Alcoboy
Re: semicolons.
So you admit to being out-tech, huh?
And you have the audacity to call yourself Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center.
What a laugh.
No love at all,
Alcoboy.
Key To Life:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
“If Hubbard couldn’t get his scientology empire expanding without it, how do you think you can do so?”
I discovered a LONG time ago that MustSavage isn’t interested in expanding scientology, evidenced in part by the actual stats he ignores while touting the useless numbers WOWing the sheeple at his grand events. He’s only interested in the small portion he carved out decades ago, which is still raking in more money that he’s figured out how to spend, though he had a good start with that landlocked schooner, and later the cases of fine scotch he guzzles. OR throws against the nearest wall in disgust when he realizes Mike Rinder and Leah Remini are NOT shattered despite his best efforts.
Like so many things in Scientology, there are some gems to be gained from doing this course. People I know who did Key to Life and Life Orientation Course count them as favorite all-time actions. Too bad it is so expensive, the books are as Mike says huge, and “aberrations” entered in, such as if you were an org staff member who took the Life Orientation course, there was no way your supervisors would let you declare any other “hat” in life except….being on staff. Such an unnecessary invalidation, as some people, yes, are on staff, but they are something else, too, which is their true career interest. Nope, those interests are brushed aside to further wedge the person into this week’s or this month’s “command intention.”
I think he probably was actually getting a lower quality of staff by the 1970s, when the “tune in, drop out” era had passed, and ambitious and college-educated people were no longer joining groups like cults in droves. His failure at staff development – like not prioritizing having them making significant progress up the “bridge” themselves – not to mention continued abysmal pay and working conditions, didn’t help to attract or retain good people, either.
In the early days Hubbard collaborated with people like Dr. Winter and John W. Campbell (who attended MIT for two years, and then graduated from Duke). His secretary and mistress Barbara “Kaye” had a degree in psychology, and would go on to get advanced training and become a well regarded professional therapist; early executive Jack Horner had done postgraduate work in psychology.
But by the 1970s he was surrounding himself with the likes of Miscavige and the Broekers, many of whom hadn’t even completed high school. Typically, rather than owning up to the fundamental problems and challenges, he looked for scapegoats, and superficial solutions that failed to address underlying causes.
Obviously there are exceptions, like Mike 🙂 But of course he eventually had had enough, and they haven’t been able to find anyone really capable of replacing him….
This is very helpful. I had not connected the dots that Hubbard seems to have consciously devolved the attractiveness of joining him and being on-staff. Another “nail in the coffin” of comprehending this puzzlement. Also, seems like a tactic of a suppressive person.
I did the Key to Life in the early 90s.
I learnt a lot from this course and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It certainly provided a very detailed study of English grammar,
Followed it with Life Orientation Course, which I was much less taken with.
I wonder why Miscavige stopped delivering this.
As a recall it was popular with staff and public alike and must have been a good money-spinner.
I spent over 3 years on the key To Live Course. I was on it 2.5 hours every night of the week. I experienced no wins or improvement and never saw anyone else get anything of value either. I have vivid recollections of the course supervisor regularly falling asleep while “on duty”. I watched many students “finish” the course and route off. None were smiling and the “wins” they spoke of sounded totally fabricated.
One day I was close to finishing the course. It was a Wednesday evening. OMG!
Got to get the stats up for Thursday 2 pm!!! So Get this! The Case Supervisor of the org; the woman who was in charge of all the auditing being delivered there decided to “help me” that night with the intent of getting me finished so a Course Completion stat could be added for the week. It was TOTALLY USELESS and the ONLY thing I got from it all was the certainty that there was NEVER going to be ANY benefit or result from the course and the ONLY thing the org wanted was a student completion statistic for the week. I walked out and NEVER went back. ABSOLUTELY DESPICABLE waste of time and money. No RESULTS or IMPROVEMENT whatsoever even after spending 3 years trying. GRRRRRRRR!!!!
Everyone has their own memories and experiences about this I guess.
I am not trying to change anyone’s mind, just give my own views.
KTL took me about 3 Months to complete, putting in about 15 hours over the weekend only.
I am a computer software developer and have to do a lot of reading and get up to speed on new technology rapidly. KTL was the one course that really improved me on this.
I am not sure there was anything magic about it. Getting a much better command of the English language just means that you understand what you are reading a lot more and this is bound to be beneficial, surely.
If I had to choose just two actions in Scientology that immediately changed my life they would be (1) TRs and (2) KTL.
Hi Cavalier,
Thanks for your comment; I am very glad to hear you got something for your time and money. From all I’ve seen you are one of the very few lucky folks. I did the KTL at a class 4 org maybe you did yours at Flag and that’s why you got somewhere? Just guessing.
You mentioned the TRs. In my first week in scn I did the comm course. On TR0 I became able to be stably exterior and accomplishing this reminded of just how able and powerful I am. No other student had these wins. The only member I’ve heard of having the same result is Jason Beghe. He’s got a video on the web telling viewers just what I’m talking about.
Sadly, never in my subsequent four decades did I ever experience/achieve anything like I did on TR0. And over those decades I paid for and trudged through many, many other courses and auditing levels but got nothing even close to the win and ability gained I got on TR0. And I have used what I learned on that drill in real life and have had earth shaking and soul awakening experiences. So yes something was gained from my time in. But it all was accomplished in the first year and so, so much of it was my own doing. Never got anything close to those wins and abilities in any session or on any course after.
I assume since you are on this blog that you have left scn too. Is this correct? What made you finally leave?
Hi Glenn,
Actually, I did KTL in a small Class 5 Org.
I have been out of Scientology for almost 20 years.
It was a combination of things that led to my departure.
I had a very bad cycle at Flag on OT VI. Flag is supposed to be Scientology Mecca.
I had some of the worst auditing there I have ever experienced and it was very expensive to boot.
Prior to this I was on staff for several years and was not impressed with all of the insanity I encountered there. I was around in the days of the Finance Police and, as an FBO, had the benefit of listening to them screaming down the phone many times.
I am still ambivalent about my time in Scientology, unlike most of the people who post on this site these days, and feel that I benefited greatly from some of the Scientology training and auditing .
Despite this I would never go back.
Back in the day I was blissfully ignorant of the abuses of Scientology.
I cannot support a group that deals in enforced abortions, disconnection and all of the blatant lying.
Hi Cavalier,
Thanks for the update and additional info.
Flag. I’ve heard bad news from folks who’ve been there too. One who paid full price for auditing only to be given some foreign student who is on training there and has language problems enough to make comm very difficult. But full price was paid for the levels/sessions why wasn’t one of Flag’s fully trained, experienced, competent auditors used? Oh right, it’s all about the money isn’t it.
I’ve heard of other public at Flag who’ve been routed to the MAA where the visit swiftly evolves into an attempt to get money out of them. One was taken in because they confessed in session they’d been reading websites that were derogatory on scn. Once the MAA determined all was okay he began to push for a big “donation” to the IAS, Planetary Clearing, Way to Happiness, etc. etc. etc.
Finance Police. You ever get attacked by Wendel Reynolds?
I am very glad that you feel got something out of your time in scn and are ambivalent about it overall. I truly regret being in for 40 years and experiencing/suffering all that took place both as staff and public. I made it quite high up the org board and have so many experiences I’ve even though of writing a book like Mike has. But honestly, I think it better to just get on with making and experiencing a life wonderful by doing all the things I’ve always dreamed of and not waste time delving through and writing up all I witnessed and experienced in 40 years.
And so, Cavalier, here’s wishing you a similarly wonderful life now that we’ve both found the true freedom that comes from leaving the cult.
The most important thing: the cash.
“Cash bills of 10 US orgs worsening.”
Oh my. It is a cash crisis. Hubbs’ cash flow – in jeopardy.
How will the Great Man buy more toys? What if he runs out of cash?
Who would pay for his cowboy outfits? His fake sideburns?
Oh, the humanity!
Call out the Bene Gesseret – the Spice must flow!
I mean – call out the Sea Org, and the Regges, and badger the Whales, and don the holy religious dog collars, lie, cheat, steal (but don’t get caught) and do whatever it takes, because – The Cash Must Flow!
A ‘Dune’ fan, eh?
House Atreides versus House Harkkonen.
Spice flows from a band of religious women who can alter their body chemistry simply by thinking about it
First, let me again say that I no longer, and for a long time now, have any interest in SCN. I left many years ago.
Second, SCN is like so many business and politicians these days…a bunch of bombastic hot air promoting their “truths”, and all just for the mighty buck or for power.
Third, and please don’t rip on me too much for saying this, my wife and i often comment on how The Key to Life Course helped us, but not for any reasons noted above. We were forced into learning some grammar, which opened the door to my successes in business in the years to follow. Hell, in college, i barely passed “bone-head English.”
I have found that there are some good and interesting tools in SCN, especially the basic stuff, but that anything good is wrapped up in a a big old pile of turd. Or, as my good friend put it, some good and decent truth wrapped in lies.
Just sayin’
As another, I forget who, said: Anything good in scientology is not new; anything new is not good.
Great one.
“Affluence Attainment”
said, don’t try new things untried, go back to what’s “worked”
Dig up prior LRH policy solutions, prior LRH ideas tried and which worked in the past.
Keeping management on a hamster’s wheel of solutions all by LRH.
And “new” really was old LRH solutions which hadn’t worked, but due to “Affluence Attainment” rule, you could dig up the old LRH ideas, re-use them.
And like when they failed under LRH, during LRH’s time the staffs who let the ideas fail were scapegoated.
It’s cyclical LRH solutions which were ultimately shoddy, and then LRH scapegoating ordered which found the staffs at fault.
A hamster wheel of false solutions and scapegoating those trying valiantly to implement LRH’s shoddy “solutions.”
And it’s policy now, to repeat this, as the movement’s core strategic methods.
The product of the LOC in my org were several people wanting to do things like singing, playing an instrument, etc., not doing scn as their #1 purpose in life.
This in spite of the illustrations in the book usually showing the groups outfitted in S.O. garb.
Thanks to Christi,
Maybe Hubbard would have benefitted from a review of ‘Scientology’s Out-Points.’
1) Far less than minimum wage, no benefits, no retirement plans.
2) Long hours (2X a 40 hour work week)
3) No auditing
4 No training
5) No room and board typical of even a 3rd world country
6) No rewards
7) All punishments
8) No human rights
9) False goals, purposes, and aims for stats
10) No personal freedom-liberty
11) No family freedom-time together
12) No education outside of Hubbard dogma
13) No goals-purposes outside Hubbard’s—-$$$$$$$$
In essence Hubbard got on staff that level of society that would accept the above out-points. And then whined because he got what he advertised for. Just an opinion.
Well said!
Jim, great points. There was a period at the peak of the 1960s consciousness expansion movement when Hubbard’s organizations were able to attract idealists and forward thinkers. Scientology (like many other such groups or cults) could just hang its shingle out, and people who had read books like Siddhartha, or even Dianetics, would show up wanting to check out it for themselves – or at least their peers were easily recruited.
What I think might be called a sort of barebones startup strategy that young boomers were willing to sign up for – sometimes, literally, as an alternative to being drafted into the military – that exploited an historic opportunity, turned into, as you point out, a permanently established system that was just demeaning and abusive, and which increasingly became a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy of minimal performance.
Then there’s the Joking and Degrading thing. Tom Cruise likely hates this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDu-fGp_A9Y