I don't think Hubbard was retarded. He was a sociopathic megalomaniac, but he wasn't stupid.

I must apologize to the members for failing to make distinction between “mild mental retardation” and “moderate mental retardation”.
I spoke to my cousin yesterday and she corrected my mistake.

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental retardation
American Psychiatric Association.
V62.89 Borderline Intellectual Functioning IQ 71-84
317 Mild Mental Retardation IQ 50-55 to approximately 70
318.0 Moderate Retardation IQ 35-40 to 50-55 318.1
Severe Mental Retardation IQ 20-25 to 35-40 318.2
Profound Mental Retardation IQ below 20 or 25

Hubbard’s estimated condition was mild mental retardation, which puts his IQ in 50 -55 to approximately 70 range.
Average IQ is 100, anything above 130 is considered excellent.

The problem with all this is that LRH was obviously quite bright. This was a guy that became an eagle scout in something like three months. Now whether he scammed his way to this achievement of did it legitimately, either one demonstrates above average intelligence.

Maybe he did fail some courses, but Isaac Newton spent years of his life studying alchemy and trying to turn lead into gold, Albert Einstein denied the validity of quantum mechanics and Linus Pauling spent decades touting megadoses of vitamin C as a cure all. Just because you fail at some things and have some quackish beliefs doesn't indicate mental retardation.

I don't believe this is factual. Another self-aggrandizing lie.

Unlike Newton and Einstein, Hubbard failed in too many things -- in fact, he failed in everything he tried to accomplish. It is very strange to see a post comparing him to the greatest scientists of all times. If he were so great, why no one outside Scientology heard about him?
MR is not a single symptom, but a combination of symptoms, like any other mental disorder. A diagnosis is achieved when all symptoms are present, not just one or two symptoms.

Well, with one exception!

Hubbard implemented "clay table" work in 1964, with HCOB 17 August 1964 Clay Table Work in Training and Processing. Between August and October 1964, his Saint Hill Special Briefing Course lectures focused on the subject of study. (Ref: Technical Bulletins. (1991 ed., Vol. VII, p. 453.)

These early clay table HCOBs seemed to emerge "all of a sudden," with detailed instructions and a psycho-philosophical basis. Because of the emphasis on labeling in his clay table procedure, Hubbard apparently lifted "research" from Korzybski's Science and Sanity. Hubbard turned his clay table tech into "Clay Table Auditing," complete with "Clay Table Processing Repair Lists." He claimed Clay Table Auditing raised IQ, and he had "Clay Table Healing" and "Clay Table Clearing." Seen alongside Hubbard's incessant labeling throughout Scientology, however, particularly regarding his fellow human beings, the labeling he has Scientologists do in his clay table processing actions is intended to regress his victims and keep them regressed, and prevent learning beyond the infantile, cartoonish level Hubbard imposed and allowed.



Note the cartoons on the wall in this teaching facility, and the teacher's training manual in the lower photo.

Here's a smoking pencil...



The first clay demo I did in Scientology was on the HQS (Hubbard Qualified Scientologist) course. Incidentally, it still appears as a checksheet item on the Independent Scientology version of the HQS Course.





Related thread: Hubbard and Korzybski

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Edit: Added page from Solutions Issue 14.

Not true. He formed Scientology, a cult which brought him millions of dollars and thousands of loyal slaves, (which I believe was his true objective all along). Aside from that though, he also succeeded in getting himself a military commission and command of a vessel despite having flunked out of college. Show me someone else who managed to do that. He managed to con two of his elected officials to do it, (one of whom just handed him his stationary complete with letterhead and told him to write his own recommendation). As I stated before, he became an eagle scout in some ludicrously short period of time, (I'm having trouble finding the exact time). Now given Hubbard's track record, I am definitely of the opinion that he scammed his way to this achievement, but how many 12 year olds would figure this out, or do it?

I do not know what was the purpose of posting these “wonderful” pictures of learning center and excerpts from Korzybski’s works. That technology does not work for a simple reason -- it would take forever to earn a college degree if college professors decide to use Hubbard’s clay demos and other, equally silly stuff, at their classes. Verbal means of communication is the fastest, and it works for all normal people. Of course, the retards like Hubbard need slower educational tools, much slower.
There is another problem with those learning centers -- they use Management Series to measure success. That Series is an insult to the economist’s intelligence. I posted a thread, Crappy Management Series, at the WWP website, so I won’t be repeating my arguments against Hubbard’s misuse of statistics here.
Now, let’s talk about Hubbard’s achievements, such as creating a multi-million dollar company. He was not acting alone, and he was not a founder in economic sense (he was the Founder in religious sense). Crooks who run large corporations do not act alone, they are surrounded by other crooks who also want to become rich.
Hubbard was surrounded by the fellow bastards whose goal was to get filthy rich. Unfortunately, they succeeded.

A person who uses the word "retard" while discussing developmental issues is going to be taken about as seriously as a person who constantly refers to African-Americans by the n-word.

It is not used in serious scholarly works.

Pardon me, but I am not a scholar. My cousin is, and she does not use the word "retard". Then again, she never encountered CoS, so she is not mad at them.

I've got some replies I want to make.

I must object to the use of the word "retard". This is considered an insult, even (maybe specially) when used to describe people who suffer from mental retardation.
Everyone who has a mentally retarded relative or other loved one will feel insulted by this use of the word.

Then we have the categories of retardation. Someone with an IQ between 35 and 50 (moderately retarded) won't be able to learn to write properly, just the basics, like the alphabet and his/her own name, maybe some simple sentences.

Even a mildly retarded person (IQ 50-70) will not get much farther than readin/writing at primary school level. No way will such a person be able to finish high-school, like Hubbard did.

But don't believe me; believe DSM IV, the official manual with criteria for psychiatric and psychological diagnoses.

http://www.psychtreatment.com/mental_health_diagnosis_mental_retardation.htm



In the coming version, DSM V, the category "Mental Retardation" will be considered obsolete and professionals are advised not to use the diagnosis any longer.

The accuracy of IQ testing is questionable and social functioning and learning capacity depends on much more than just IQ.

But, for the sake of the argument, a short view of diagnostic criteria currently used:
(http://www.a2zpsychology.com/psychology_guide/mental_retardation.php)



No matter how lousy Ron's stories were from a literary point of view, a truly mentally retarded person wouldn't have had the skills to write them. Neither would he have had the insight to create one of the most devious psychological systems to influence personality ever developed.
You can say a lot about the guy and his batshit-crazy religion, but it's cleverly constructed. It's evil, it destroys the critical thinking skills of people, but it's cleverly done.
If it were stupid, nobody would give up his live, loved ones, savings, mind and whatever else he has to give to get further along some imaginary bridge to freedom.

Ron wasn't stupid. He was crazy, he was evil, but he wasn't stupid. I'm not a psychiatrist, so my diagnosis is as good as anybody's, but I'd say 'Narcissistic Personality Disorder", maybe in some bizarre mix with symptoms of Schizotypal-, Paranoid-, Antisocial- and/or Histrionic Personality Disorder. Hubbardistic Personality Disorder, so to speak.

In the last part of his life his troubled mind could've also been affected by psychotic delusions and some kind of progressive dementia, which might've been caused by excessive alcohol- and drug-use, late stage syphilis, Alzheimer's disease or any other degenerative brain problem. This is all speculation from my side, but there are clues pointing in the direction of one or more of these problems.

Apart from his psychological problems, Ron simply had a rotten character. A bad seed, our grandparents would have called him. And that he was. A very bad seed, that grew out to a big, ugly tree called scientology, blocking the sunlight away from to many people.
Best thing would be (figuratively speaking) cutting the bloody tree down, dig out all its roots, burn the whole thing to ashes and dump those into the deepest part of the ocean.
And then hope that the memory of this monstrosity will soon be forgotten.

But, to be honest, I think Ron's brainchild will be around to spread its seed of corruption and ruin lives for years to come... If not in the West, then in Eastern Europe, Asia and South America.

All the more reason to keep fighting the monster.

Actually, I like your post.
Your diagnosis, which is “narcissistic personality disorder” does not contradict my cousin’s diagnosis, which is MR -- a person could have more than one mental illness, which is often the case/
Let’s say Hubbard’s IQ was 65, which puts it close to the upper limit, 70. With that IQ a person can write books.
A cult leader who establishes a small cult does everything by himself, which classifies him as a conman. But founders of large cults do not act alone, just like owners of large corporations do not run their companies by themselves. I was saying all along that Hubbard got plenty of help from other crooks who wanted to get rich (I believe Watson was one of them). You have to study a cult’s history to see who its founders were.

I reckon you need to stop fixating on I.Q


You might just now be seeing how narcissism would be more accurate than "retard"

Apparently N.D.P is being considered for removal from the latest D.S.M

Both diagnosis could be correct, as I pointed out.

Here is another proof that Hubbard was not a conman but a retard. A conman would never tell his followers that he is Satan, literally, for obvious reason: They might think that he is either pure evil or pure insane. But that was not the case with Hibbard: L. Ron Hubbard Junior said in an interview that his father believed he is Satan.(that interview could be found on the Internet)
Was that really necessary? The Senior could just have kept his mouth shut. But he could not because, being a retard, he could not foresee the consequence of his words -- this is another characteristic of mild mental retardation.