murdering your family doesn't bring happiness

mamakash · Post by **mamakash** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 5:57 pm

Do we have any scientologists on this board that might be able to explain the quote cranberry posted? It may be a metaphor and not meant to be taken literally.

If Ed Wood had started his own religion, I'd hop right on board. His stuff is so bizzare, it might be right. "Plan nine from outer space" . . . bad fiction or the door to something greater? Did you know that sunlight is explosive? Or that vitamins are one of our recent scientific discoveries?

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 6:16 pm

Wanderer wrote:I put a link to that site about 3 messages up from yours Some folks may have mistaken it for a signature

We're cross-posting, Wanderer! I just edited my post to include an acknowledgement of your previously posting the site.
I'll stop now.

Susan

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 6:53 pm

susnfx wrote:
Wanderer wrote:I put a link to that site about 3 messages up from yours Some folks may have mistaken it for a signature
We're cross-posting, Wanderer! I just edited my post to include an acknowledgement of your previously posting the site.
I'll stop now.

Susan

Hehe!

toughknot · Post by **toughknot** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:04 am

Ron L. Hubbard never actually met MY family.

OutOfBreath · Post by **OutOfBreath** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:17 am

I read all the way through Dianetics about 15 years ago - I thought it was a science ficition novel until I was well into it - when I realized it was supposed to be non-fiction it was even wackier and more fun!

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:07 am

OutOfBreath wrote:I read all the way through Dianetics about 15 years ago - I thought it was a science ficition novel until I was well into it - when I realized it was supposed to be non-fiction it was even wackier and more fun!

I don't know if it's in recent editions, but the 1970-something edition I had tried to make the case that we evolved brains because without them animals were too stupid not to run into things.

Basically it went something like this:
Pain causes charge. Nerve cells like charge, and clump together. When we didn't have brains, we ran our heads into stuff a lot, so caused a lot of pain. So we eventually got a lot of nerve cells clumped up there. Voila, a brain!

I suppose that explains why people smack their forheads with their palm when they do something stupid. It's an instinctual reaction to make you smarter

(edited for typos)

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:17 am

mamakash wrote:Do we have any scientologists on this board that might be able to explain the quote cranberry posted? It may be a metaphor and not meant to be taken literally.

I'll have a stab (metaphorically), though I'm not a scientologist.

Happiness can be reached through self-denial.

Giving up smoking, not eating that last chocolate biscuit, not watching East Enders, that sort of thing.

Murdering your family cannot generate this form of virtuous aura of smugness, because it isn't habit forming, and so you can't feel good about breaking the habit.

Therefore murdering your family does not lead to long-term happiness. QED

Post by **Nanohedron** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:20 am

Wanderer wrote:Basically it went something like this:
Pain causes charge. Nerve cells like charge, and clump together. When we didn't have brains, we ran our heads into stuff a lot, so caued a lot of pain. So we eventually got a lot of nerve cells clumped up there. Voila, a brain!

Even paraphrased, that's pure Hubbard. What a genius!

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:36 pm

Martin Milner wrote:Therefore murdering your family does not lead to long-term happiness. QED

Where does quantum electrodynamics come into it?

I must admit that I enjoyed The Worlds of Null A and the rest when I was in high school. I was very disappointed with the quality of writing when I tried to re-read it a few years back. Actually, though, that's happened with several sci-fi books. One problem is that I now have some vague understanding of science.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:44 pm

I went looking for an L. Ron quote and found a reference to it here http://www.sciforums.com/archive/index.php/t-12720:

"If I wanted to make ALOT of money, screw writing, I'd start my own religion!"

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:47 pm

Isn't the idea of a science fiction writer starting a religion a little ludicrous? However, it made him rich.

Ron

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 8:29 pm

It all depends on your family, frankly.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:12 pm

RonKiley wrote:Isn't the idea of a science fiction writer starting a religion a little ludicrous? However, it made him rich.

Ron

It also made him a paranoid who put himself in self-imposed exile from most of the rest of humanity, because he felt the government was out to get him...first out to sea, and then later hiding in a ranch unknown to most everyone. Not the way I'd like to spend my last years, rich or not.

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:41 pm

Yes it does.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:13 pm

Wanderer wrote:
RonKiley wrote:Isn't the idea of a science fiction writer starting a religion a little ludicrous? However, it made him rich.

Ron
It also made him a paranoid...

Hard to be sure. His science fiction already had a bit of a paranoid quality to it. He might have already been well on his way. Maybe being paranoid contributed to his "religious" ideas?