Introduction: One can only be self-determined when one can observe the actual situation before one: otherwise a being is delusion-determined or other-determined. – Fundamentals of Thought.
Read Max Hauri's introduction letter to this article below.
Here's an excerpt from the book “Introduction to Scientology” or “Journey to Yourself” by Richard DeMille also known as D. Folgere. He was a close companion of L. Ron Hubbard in the early ‘50s and wrote for Ron the book “How to Live, Though an Executive”. A great book, by the way.
Self-Determinism is the essence of Scientology. It is the one principle without which no part of Scientology may be used or understood. It is the idea which leads to all others and without which no others may be reached. It is the fundamental principle of being.
What Self-Determinism Is Not
Perhaps we should say something about what self-determinism is not. Again, we avoid misunderstandings by clearing away previous conceptions before discussing present conceptions.
Self-Determinism is not selfishness.
Self-Determinism is not selflessness.
Self-Determinism is not arrogance, pride, willfulness, stubbornness, bigotry, zealotry, egomania, or fascism.
One Must Be Self-Determined in Order to Understand Self-Determinism
Self-Determinism is a principle which can be understood in direct proportion to the degree to which it is experienced.
A man who has signed ninety-nine percent of his self-determinism over to his environment can read about self-determinism until he is black in the face, but he will understand only one percent of the thing he is reading about.
The student is asked, again, not to be in too big a hurry to understand what is meant by self-determinism. All of Scientology is a study of self-determinism.
Self-determinism is a principle which must be used, not merely talked about. One does not become self-determined by hanging a sign on one's body which says “Self-determined!” any more than the government can make everyone rich by printing lots and lots of money. This kind of “wealth” and this kind of “self-determinism” are only a mirage.
Self-determinism is on a gradient scale. The higher one goes on that scale, the more one manifests creativity, perceptivity and sanity. Such high-scale behavior can be recognized easily only by high-scale beings. Low-scale beings almost inevitably fail and refuse to recognize high-scale behavior.
This may sound, at first, like the rankest snobbism, but the student will discover for himself – and, therefore, is not even asked to take the word of the present writer for the fact – that those who live on the bottom of the sea cannot fully consider the life of the birds. Fortunately, if the fish take a strong enough interest in considering their own lives, they may rise to the top of the water and grow wings. This is known as processing.
Attributes of Self-Determinism
Some of the attitudes of self-determinism, as stated in the Hubbard Chart of Attitudes and elsewhere (pages 30, 38, 50), are listed here. The self-determined individual:
Survive
is right,
is responsible,
wins,
controls objects,
perceives the minds of others,
is Truth,
is Faith (Trust),
knows,
causes,
is free,
creates, changes and uncreates Space,
creates, changes and uncreates Time,
creates, changes and uncreates Energy, is a source of Motion,
creates,changes and uncreates Illusions.
Attributes of Other-Determinism
The other-determined individual succumbs, is – wrong, loses, blames the environment, is controlled by objects, is isolated from other beings, hallucinates, distrusts, does not know, is an effect, is restrained, is lost in space, has no time, is powerless before energy and motion, and is flooded with delusions.
The Normal Human Being
The normal human being is somewhere between the extremes of self-determinism and other-determinism.
The normal human being does not knowingly create much space, time, or motion; but neither is he wholly lost in space, bound by time, or powerless before motion. He is not truth; but neither does he hallucinate entirely.
He has an agreement with others upon the reality of some things, and he can depend upon that reality, so long as the others do not turn against him. This means, of course, that he is “sane” in exact ratio to his conformity to society.
The normal human being is not so unfortunate as he might be, but he could be considerably better off than he is.
“One can only be self-determined when one can observe the actual situation before one: otherwise a being is delusion-determined or other-determined.” HCOB 6. Nov. 1964 – Styles of Auditing A sobering statement. When you read, listen to, or watch any kind of media, can you really be self-determined?
It's something on the order of magnitude of “the more I know, the more I know that I don't know”. (Aristotle)
This statement is also deeply revealing with regard to our forms of state and government. Are we not being led to believe that we are self-determined? How often have we been told that we are the sovereign?
Other-, self and pan-determinism are words that we “understand”, they are self-explanatory.
But are they really?
What does “pan-determined” or “pan-determining” mean? Here from the definition of it:
“Full responsibility for both sides of a game.” – “We see the aberrated version of pan-determinism in the willingness to control everyone else in order to make oneself look good or important.”
“A state in which we determine both our own actions and the actions of others. For example, a chess player is pan-determined when he plays on both sides of the board.” Pan-determined, Pan-determinism.
Much love,
Max Hauri