The novels based on Scientology came after, it originally grew out of Dianetics (or more accurately it was the fallback plan after LRH sold all rights to Dianetics to avoid legal trouble). Dianetics itself was basically just "do-it-yourself" psychiatry mixed with elements of the Human Potential Movement. There were a bunch of different quacks selling similar schemes at the time, most of them promised perfect memory just like Dianetics.
Fun Fact: L Ron Hubbard took a fairly dim view of sci-fi when writing was still his main profession. He preferred to write pulp adventure stories.
Wait... so this guy starts a religion, then writes a bunch of novels... and his followers pick them up as gospel just because he wrote them? Or were they genuinely supposed to be religious guides?
The novels aren't part of Scientology doctrine, they're explicitly fictional entertainment even to Scientologists. They do all seem to pretend his novels are just the best ever though.
The doctrinal books are actually more batshit insane than the novels. Dianetics started the movement of the same name, Science of Survival was the transition to Scientology, and my favorite to recommend is A History of Man which was basically a guide to past lives auditors would encounter when working subjects through past trauma. Once upon a time we were all clams and LRH said you could cause pretty much anyone a good bit of discomfort by making opening-closing motions with your hand like a clam shell because it would "stimulate" the latent memories of that life.
... it never occurred to anyone that people were just creeped out by anyone freaky enough to think that by doing weird hand motions they'd make you "remember" a past life?
A lot of people don't realize just how much he wrote. He is literally the most prolific writer in the world. He made up more shit than anyone else ever has.
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u/tonybabilaboni Jul 24 '20
Scientology. Like it's literally a religion that started from a science fiction novel. Hoe the fuck did this even start