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An E-meter is an electronic device manufactured by the Church Of Scientology at their Gold Base production facility. It is used as an aid by Dianetics and Scientology counselors and counselors-in-training in some forms of Auditing , the application of the techniques of Dianetics and Scientology to another or to oneself for the express purpose of addressing spiritual issues. The device is formally known as the '''Hubbard Electrometer'''. A 1971 ruling of the United States District Court, District of Columbia (333 F. Supp. 357), specifically stated, "The E-meter has no proven usefulness in the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease, nor is it medically or scientifically capable of improving any bodily function." DESCRIPTION AND USE See Also: Auditing (Scientology) The device's primary component is an electrical Measuring Instrument called a Wheatstone Bridge , functioning much like a Galvanometer , that indicates changes in the subject's resistance. According to Scientology doctrine, the resistance corresponds to the "mental mass and energy" of the subject's mind, which change when the subject thinks of particular mental images ( Engrams ). These concepts have no recognition among scientists outside of Scientology; the action of the E-meter is more commonly attributed to Galvanic Skin Response , an effect used in Lie Detector s. E-meter sessions are conducted by church employees known as Auditors . Scientology materials traditionally refer to the subject as the "preclear," although auditors continue to use the meter well beyond the Clear level. The preclear holds a pair of cylindrical electrodes ("cans") connected to the meter while the auditor asks the preclear a series of questions and notes both the verbal response and the activity of the meter. Auditor training describes Many Types Of Needle Movements , with each having their own special significance. The meter has two control dials. The larger dial, known as the "tone arm," adjusts the meter Bias , while the smaller one controls the Gain . Auditors manipulate the tone arm during an audit to keep the galvanometer needle on a marked reference point. HISTORY The E-meter has undergone many changes since it was invented in the 1940s by Volney Mathison , an early collaborator with Hubbard. The Mathison Electropsychometer (as it was then called) was produced for use by Psychotherapists and Chiropractor s. It was adopted for use in Dianetics by Hubbard in the early 1950s, before being temporarily dropped in 1954 during a dispute with Mathison. In a quote from Bent Corydon's "Messiah or Madman?", ''It was the Mathison E-Meter, and Mathison was determined to keep it that way. So in late 1954 the use of the E-meter was discontinued by Hubbard. Wrote Hubbard: "Yesterday, we used an instrument called an E-Meter to register whether or not the process was still getting results so that the auditor would know how long to continue it. While the E-Meter is an interesting investigation instrument and has played its part in research, it is not today used by the auditor... As we long ago suspected, the intervention of a mechanical gadget between the auditor and the preclear had a tendency to depersonalize the session..."'' see page 313 In 1958 when Scientologists Don Breeding and Joe Wallis developed a modified, smaller battery-operated version which they presented to Hubbard he again used it. This was christened the ''Hubbard'' electrometer. Hubbard patented it on December 6 , 1966 , as a "Device for Measuring and Indicating Changes in the Resistance of a Human Body" (). The patent is now expired and in the public domain. The Church of Scientology continues to make, sell, and teach its use in auditing. Mathison never litigated the appropriation of his invention, but was bitter and disillusioned about Hubbard. In 1964 Mathison stated: ''"I decry the doings of trivial fakers, such as scientologists and the like, who glibly denounce hypnosis and then try covertly to use it in their phony systems."'' {Link without Title} Today, models of the E-meter include the Mark V, the Mark VI and the Mark VII. The newest model is the Mark VII Super Quantum E-meter. As of January 2005, the cost of the Mark VII Super Quantum E-meter is US $4,650.00 (up from US $3,850 in 1995). Scientologists of the Free Zone have developed their own E-meter models which are available at much lower prices. They offer also circuit diagrams and instructions for building a meter. (Hilton, 2001) PROPOSED MECHANISM OF OPERATION L. Ron Hubbard 's teachings propose a commonly held humanistic philosophical duality: that a human being consists of a physical body and an aware spiritual entity. He set out his theory of how the E-meter works in his book ''Understanding the E-Meter'': For the meter to be read, the tiny flow of electrical energy through the preclear (person) has to remain steady. When this tiny flow is changed the needle of the E-Meter moves. This will happen if the preclear pulls in or releases mental mass. This mental mass (condensed energy), acts as an additional resistance or lack of resistance to the flow of electrical energy from the E-Meter. Hubbard claimed that this "mental mass" has the same physical characteristics, including weight, as Mass as commonly understood by lay persons: "In Scientology it has been discovered that mental energy is simply a finer, higher level of physical energy. The test of this is conclusive in that a thetan "mocking up" (creating) mental image pictures and thrusting them into the body can increase the body mass and by casting them away again can decrease the body mass. This test has actually been made and an increase of as much as thirty pounds, actually measured on scales, has been added to, and subtracted from, a body by creating "mental energy." Energy is energy. Matter is condensed energy." This text in ''Understanding the E-Meter'' is accompanied by three pictures. The first shows a man standing on a weighing scale, which reflects a weight of "150" (the units are not given but are presumably pounds). The next shows the man on the same scale, weighed down under a burden of "Mental Image Pictures", and the scale indicates a weight of "180". The last picture shows the man standing upright on the scale, now unburdened by "Mental Image Pictures" and with a smile on his face, while the scale again indicates a weight of "150". Such a gain of mass from "mental energy" would constitute 5.94 x 1018 Joules of energy being converted into mass, as per Einstein 's Mass-energy Equivalence . This is approximately a 1.414 million kiloton yield of high explosive, or roughly 70,000 times the energy released by the Nuclear Weapon dropped on Hiroshima . CONTROVERSY |
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