In Vance Woodwards' excellent http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A412OGS/ref=docs-os-doi_0 "Addicted to Scientology" we find the interesting observation: I have never been a fan of "Study Tech" since I have, by now, easily enough experience as an avid and efficient reader to know that looking up every single word for which I haven't memorised every single definition is going to stop me dead rather than help me. However, I had not realised that the problem could go this deep and that the victims of the mind-fuck perpetrated by the criminal organisation known as the "church" of $cientology could give up on reading rather than continuing to wreak their minds, I think that's sad, and I'm obliged to Vance for pointing out how bad things can go.
I see this as another way that scientology, claims to make people free and able, (The best study tech in the world! Never have MU again!) and yet it turns into another way to chain those in oppression. (Clearing MUs is hard, so I'm just going to avoid MUs)
I remember doing this when I was in. My memory sucks and clearing words in session was expensive. It was where I couldn't just read a novel without having to repeatedly stop to clear fucking words. In California we have an electronics store called Fry's. Their commercials were on TV and radio all the time. The guy talks very fast with tons of computer terms I couldn't begin to understand at the time. Scientology brainwashes you into believing that going past a misunderstood word is as bad as having lunch with an SP. Yet I was able to survive listening to Fry's commercials. It was one of the things that made me think twice about "The Tech".
Oh Jens, you may have just persuaded me that I need to buy one of those darn kindle things. Is that the only way I am able to read this delightful book? I suppose it could be useful for me whilst I am hanging around the studios waiting for the show to begin
I guess the Scientologists wouldn't enjoy Cloud Atlas then, because it has a ton of made-up words that aren't going to be in any dictionary. But you get the meaning from context. Same way kids learn language. Four year olds don't need no stinkin' dictionaries. Gee, how did the human race survive tens of thousands of years of spoken language with no dictionaries?
Kids usually have someone around to explain what's what. I understand that you might not have, as a kid.
Seems different, though, having a conversation verses having to go look stuff up in a book. While talking you can say, what do you mean? Or, what is that? when you feel you don't get what someone is saying. That's a lot more natural than focusing on the meaning of individual words and then having to flip through a dictionary for any feeling of uncertainty. De-contextualizing learning --all independent study in Scientology; de-contextualizing linguisting meanings --who knew this could become a form of profound social control? A poor little bee without his hive is a terribly vulnerable thing.
We need to smuggle an introductory course in psycholinguistics to the Scientologists. They will find it fascinating and the information will help to dismantle their inner mental prisons. But how to do this, hmm...
Free Kindle Apps - Read eBooks on your Phone, Tablet, or Computer www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771
... Yup. I have a kindle because I travel enough that it's essential to have a lot of reading material (the kindle is very compact) and cheap enough that I can leave it on an airplane and not be excessively sad (for long, anyway). But, I do not recommend people to buy any e-book without looking veery carefully into availability of the books they want. In Denmark, for instance, public libraries are now lending to e-books, and that would be a plus-point. As they are today, e-books are still held back by publishers. Annoying, but there you have it.
on a similar note, i believe that many scientologists find themselves on staff (typically via ethics) as a method of avoiding having to go to course!
Cross-posted to ESMB: http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthre...cientologists-do-not-read-anything-Study-Tech .
i figure some (many) scientologists don't get much out of their courses, but have gotten something out of scientology in the past, so they keep coming back to the trough, or feel somewhat obliged to keep coming back out of sympathy for their mates ("helping the group"). so, they're conflicted. yeah, they feel like they should be on course because their friends are asking for it, because ron promises levitating tea cups, because they've gotten benefit from scientology in the past ... but at the same time they aren't really feeling it. so, they show up late for course one too many times, go to ethics, onto staff and voila ... now they have a reason for not being on course ... and a whole host of new and interesting problems.
Haha, this is so true. It was like a superstition - couldn't go past an "MU" or you'll suffer a fate worse than death. If you start using jargon, you can expect a Scientologist to say: "Stop, you're giving me MUs!" It could get pretty annoying to talk to other Scientologists about anything they didn't know. (Actually, this would be a hilarious protest idea: just hold up a bunch of signs full of extremely obscure words... it would completely ruin their day) When I was 13 or 14, I finally said, fuck it. I just want to read a damn book without going through this ridiculous ritual. If it causes brain damage, so be it. Secretly I still feel a tiny bit guilty every time I go past a word and don't know how to pronounce it or what the language of origin is... but now if it really bugs me I can just stick the word into google! Problem solved, thanks to the internet.
Free in a variety of formats: http://www.gutenberg.org/ http://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx
That is a good idea Ted Mayett used to protest in Las Vegas with blank signs. He claimed it drove the clams nuts. Best Regards Jens PS: "preterite"
