Editing Dianetics (section)

==History==

{{Main|History of Dianetics and Scientology}}
According to Hubbard, when he was sedated for a dental operation in 1938, he had a [[near-death experience]] which inspired him to write the manuscript ''[[Excalibur (L. Ron Hubbard)|Excalibur]]''. Though it was never published, this work would allegedly become the basis for Dianetics.{{r|wright|pages=29–30, 57}} The first publication on Dianetics was ''[[Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science]]'', an article by Hubbard in ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]]'' (cover date May 1950).<ref name="Creation">{{cite journal |url=https://skent.ualberta.ca/contributions/scientology/the-creation-of-religious-scientology/ |title=The Creation of 'Religious' Scientology |journal=Religious Studies and Theology |volume=18 |issue=2 |date=December 1999 |access-date=2023-12-19 |url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070312004725/http://www.solitarytrees.net/pubs/skent/creation.htm?FACTNet#txtref02 |archive-date=12 March 2007 |first=Stephen A. |last=Kent |pages=97–126 |doi=10.1558/rsth.v18i2.97 |author-link=Stephen A. Kent}}</ref> This was followed by the book ''[[Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health]]'' (DMSMH) published May 9, 1950. In these works Hubbard claimed that the source of all psychological pain, and therefore the cause of mental and physical health problems, was a form of memory known as "[[Engram (Dianetics)|engrams]]". According to Hubbard, individuals could reach a state he named "[[Clear (Scientology)|Clear]]" when all of their engrams had been removed through talking with an "[[Auditing (Scientology)|auditor]]".{{r|Creation}}

While the technique was not accepted by the medical and scientific establishment, in the first two years of its publication DMSMH sold over 100,000 copies. Publication of DMSMH brought in a flood of revenue, which Hubbard used to establish Dianetics foundations in six major American cities.{{r|reitman|p=30}} Two of the strongest initial supporters of Dianetics in the 1950s were [[John W. Campbell]], editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'', and [[A Doctor's Report on Dianetics#About the author|Joseph Augustus Winter]], a writer and medical physician. Campbell published some of Hubbard's short stories, and Winter hoped that his own colleagues would likewise be attracted to Hubbard's Dianetics system.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gallagher |first1=Eugene V. |title=The New Religious Movements Experience in America |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=9780313328077 |ol=10420337M}}</ref>{{rp|197}}

Readers formed groups to study and practice Dianetics technique. According to sociologist [[Roy Wallis]], this period was one of "excited experimentation" and Hubbard's work was regarded as "an initial exploration to be developed further by others".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Sociology |year=1975 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=89–100 |jstor=42851574|doi=10.1177/003803857500900105|last=Wallis |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Wallis |title=Scientology: Therapeutic Cult to Religious Sect |s2cid=144335265 }}</ref> Per Wallis, it was Dianetics' popularity as a lay [[psychotherapy]] that contributed to the Dianetics Foundation's downfall. Most people read the book, tried it out, then put it down. The remaining practitioners had no ties to the Foundation. Factions formed and followers challenged Hubbard's movement and his authority. The craze of 1950–51 was dead by 1952.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wallis |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Wallis |title="Poor Man's Psychoanalysis?" Observations on Dianetics |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer|The Zetetic]] |date=1976 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=9–24 |ref=zetetic-1-1 |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2019/03/1977-01.pdf#page=13}}</ref>

In 1951, with debts piled up and facing bankruptcy, the Foundation was bailed out by Don Purcell, a wealthy Dianetics follower from Wichita.{{r|miller|pages=185ff}} The relief was short-lived, however, and the Foundation fell to bankruptcy in 1952. Hubbard fled to Phoenix, Arizona, having lost the Foundation, the rights to Dianetics, and the DMSMH copyrights to Purcell.{{r|miller|pages=199–200}} Hubbard sued and in 1954 Purcell settled by giving the copyrights back to Hubbard.{{r|miller|pages=218-9}}

In Phoenix, Hubbard created "Scientology"; its techniques were intended to rehabilitate a person so that they might reach their full potential as a spiritual being.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lebron |first1=Robyn E. |title=Searching for Spiritual Unity...can There Be Common Ground?: A Basic Internet Guide to Forty World Religions & Spiritual Practices |publisher=Crossbooks |year=2012 |isbn=978-1462712618 |ol=30658519M |pages=532–3}}</ref> Dianetics was incorporated into Scientology. In 1978, Hubbard introduced "New Era Dianetics" (NED) and [[Operating Thetan#NOTs|New Era Dianetics for OTs]], and added them to [[The Bridge to Total Freedom]].{{r|lewis2017|pp=XIV-XV}}<ref name="childs">{{cite news|url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/climbing-the-bridge-a-journey-to-operating-thetan/1062094|title=Climbing The Bridge: A journey to 'Operating Thetan'|first1=Joe|last1=Childs|first2=Thomas C.|last2=Tobin|date=December 30, 2009|access-date=2016-08-26|newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times]]|archive-date=June 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617115559/http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/climbing-the-bridge-a-journey-to-operating-thetan/1062094|url-status=dead}}</ref>