Hey, AO...
You would have had better luck actually getting someone to show up by simply mentioning CFI and their intent.
That's what I originally posted and then Alex and Zinj got in to crash the thread, which is fine.
You can contact them directly and I posted the info above. IIG is a sub-group of CFI in Los Angeles. There's an anon that's part of the group too.
http://www.iigwest.com/
You made it the AO show with your talk of needles. I understand your skepticism and accept it. But your derision is unwarranted. The invitation FEELS like this; "Show up and I'll prove you are crazy."
You're right about that, but I'm honest about it !
CFI plus a trained auditor doing E-meter drills is interesting.
Not really. Screams of pain and e-meters blowing up, now that's interesting.
It is clear you really have your mind made up on GSR phenomenon without testing it. As an engineer you now better.
Do you think we need to stand under an apple tree again and confirm gravity? I knew the e-meter was bullshit 25 years ago, just by looking at it.
And yes in the E-meter books resistance is mentioned, the mechanism described is mental image pictures affect body resistance as measure by a Wheatstone Bridge circuit. That's in the books. It is not explicitly labeled GSR although it may be in some lectures. But yes, the meter measures resistance and that is what auditors are taught.
It better NOT mention GSR, because that would invalidate the whole use of e-meters as a method of measuring thoughts! Last time I checked, my hand skin did not have much to do with thinking.
We've covered the E-meter territory before. I'd like to sum up your claims...
1. E-meter reads are either sweat or movement based.
2. There is no GSR response to mental activity.
3. Auditing is a fraud.
Regarding point 1:
Two seconds on a meter will teach you that is not the case. The needle is dynamic. The reads happen quickly, yes people sweat and it will cause a steady decrease in resistance over time. But all the standard reads of auditing occur independant of this mechanism. Yes, movement affects the needle. And quite a bit. But unless the PC is intentionally moving this is not a problem. You can simulate some reads by hand and body movement. But an auditor is trained to recognize this. Involuntary micro-movements of the hand in no way account for ALL needle phenomenon and have almost NO EFFECT on needle movement.
In my brief experience, I could keep it steady regardless of the discussion. There was a slight drift to the right (falling), which I attribute to slow build up of sweat.
Point 2: See the following link. Carl Jung studied the mind/GSR link a long time ago and established there IS a connection. There are MANY, MANY research papers showing this. This is not in doubt in the mental health community. It is established fact.
http://sidis.net/galvanicjung3.htm
When you get nervous, you sweat and GSR resistance lowers and that's about it. If you think of cute puppies or what Jeffery Dahmer had for breakfast, I don't think the reading will be that different. (mind you, I have not tested it yet, but that's my hunch) If you get startled by a loud noise or a slap at the back of the head, then the electricity going to your muscles will definitely register on the device.
Carl Jung was a nut case. He was not really a scientist in my opinion. He was no Freud, and even Freud has been proven mostly wrong. Science progresses and will further improve over time.
About 15 years ago, I dated a psychiatrist and we were in a bookstore to buy a book by Jung. I simply saw the title "Synchronicity" and told her it was bullshit. She said, yeah but it's good bullshit! She liked reading that stuff. BTW, I caught up with her at the SF Psych convention.
Point 3: This is subjective. I have had gains from auditing. Mostly along the lines of self awareness.
You had "gains" because you spent many hours with a human discussing your problems. That's very theraputic.
You also spent a small fortune, which I believe would have been better spend speaking to a liscensed psychologist, who by law must have a PhD here in CA. It's also very likely that you didn't have any problems, which is the case for most people entering Scientology. They're perfectly fine going in and the higher up the bridge they go, the more messed up they are. Jason Begehe said that.
