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This article is about the concept of the engram in Dianetics and Scientology. For other articles with similar names, see Engram.

In Dianetics and Scientology, an engram is defined as an unconscious, painful memory. It is stored in the stimulus-response unconsciousness (the reactive mind) rather than as a normal memory. Scientology is a system of beliefs and practices created by American pulp fiction[1][2] and science fiction [3] author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a self-help philosophy. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1536x1152, 199 KB) A blue e-meter, a ritual device used by the Church of Scientology. ... This is an incomplete bibliography of Scientology and Scientology-related books produced within the Church of Scientology and its related organizations. ... This is an incomplete filmography of Scientology and Scientology-related films, videos, and audiovisual materials produced within the Church of Scientology and its related organizations. ... Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the relationship between mind and body that were developed by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. ... In Dianetics and Scientology, Clear is defined as a state in which a person is free of unwanted influences of past memories, unwanted emotions, and mental and physical pain not existing in present time. ... This article examines the beliefs and practices of Scientology as taught by the Church of Scientology. ... In Scientology, the concept of thetan is similar to the concept of spirit or soul found in other belief systems. ... In Church of Scientology doctrine, the subjects of supernatural or superhuman powers and abilities are ones that recur often. ... In Scientology doctrine, space opera was the term used by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to describe extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions. ... In Scientology doctrine, Xenu (also Xemu or the modern day Emu or Elmo) is an alien ruler of the Galactic Confederacy who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of aliens to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. ... According to Hinduism, every living being is an eternally existing spirit (the soul or the self). ... In Church of Scientology doctrine, there have been a number of controversial medical claims made, usually centered around their auditing process, which uses a device called an E-meter to analyze and treat a persons so-called Reactive mind and Body Thetans. These claims range from the 1950 publication... In the Church of Scientology, It has long been considered essential that the word of founder L. Ron Hubbard is incontrovertible, and that his works, or Tech, must be preserved unaltered. ... This article examines the beliefs and practices of Scientology as taught by the Church of Scientology. ... Study tech, or study technology, is a method of study, devised and spelled out by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Disconnection is a practice in Scientology, in which a Scientologist severs all ties between themselves and friends, colleagues, or family members who criticize Scientology practices. ... In Scientology, a rundown is a procedure set out as a series of steps to produce a particular end result, or phenomena. ... The Scientology Justice system is a means for a Scientology organization to take action against a member whose conduct or actions are viewed as highly desctructive or offensive by an executive within the organization. ... An E-Meter is a battery-powered electronic instrument manufactured by the Church of Scientologys Gold Base. ... In the Scientology religion, MEST is an acronym for Matter, Energy, Space and Time, considered by Scientologists to be the four component parts of the physical universe. ... ARC is a fundamental concept in Scientology doctrine. ... The Tone scale in Scientology technology is a characterization of human behavior and bodily appearance. ... In Dianetics and Scientology, the reactive mind is a concept created by L. Ron Hubbard, referring to a hypothetical portion of the human mind which Hubbard blamed for most mental and physical ailments. ... Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (13 March 1911 – 24 January 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard, was an American pulp fiction[1][2] and science fiction[3] writer and founder of Scientology and Dianetics. ... Mary Sue Hubbard (born Mary Sue Whipp) (17 June 1931–25 November 2002 [1]) was the third wife of science fiction writer and Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and often regarded as the first lady of Scientology. ... Heber Jentzsch is a former actor and president of Church of Scientology International since 1982. ... David Miscavige (born April 30, 1960) is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC)[1], a corporation that owns the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. ... Lisa McPherson (born Lisa Skonetski, February 10, 1959–December 5, 1995) was a Scientologist who died while in the care of the Church of Scientology (CoS). ... Lawrence A. Wollersheim is an ex-Scientologist. ... The Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA) is a personality test that is given for free by the Church of Scientology. ... The Volunteer Minister program is a worldwide effort founded by the Church of Scientology International. ... Recruitment and endorsements by celebrities have always been very important to the Church of Scientology. ... The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR; also sometimes known as the Citizens Committee on Human Rights) is an advocacy group established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Thomas Szasz. ... The Association for Better Living and Education (A.B.L.E.) is a secular branch of the Church of Scientology. ... Founded in 1983, the Concerned Businessmens Association of America (CBAA) is an element of the Scientology movement directed at promoting moral education and enhanced well-being through the use of Hubbards The Way to Happiness booklet in their Set A Good Example (SAGE) program, which holds childrens... World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) is an organization that educates and assists businesses in the use of Scientology management techniques. ... Narconon is not associated with Narcotics Anonymous, which is sometimes abbreviated Narcanon. Scientologys Narconon is an in-patient rehabilitation program for drug abusers in several dozen treatment centers worldwide, chiefly in the United States and western Europe. ... Downtown Medical is a controversial Scientology clinic on 139 Fulton Street in New York City, founded in 2003 with the purpose of treating people for toxins inhaled from the smoke of the 9/11 attacks. ... Criminon is a secular non proft 501 C3 working with government departments and inmates to reduce recidivism and restore self respect to the inmate. ... A Scientology Center in Los Angeles, California. ... This is a list of Scientology organizations operated by the Church of Scientology (CoS), including Church offices, missions, Celebrity Centres and publicized Scientology and Dianetics groups. ... The Church of Scientology is the largest organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. ... The Sea Org logo. ... The Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF, is a system of work camps set up by the Church of Scientology Sea Organization, intended to correct members who have not lived up to CoS expectations or have violated certain policies. ... Celebrity Centres are Church of Scientology centers that are open to the public but serve mostly artists and celebrities and other professionals, leaders and promising new-comers in the fields of the arts, sports, management and government, and for those are the people who are sculpting the present into the... The Church of Scientology (CST) maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Office of Special Affairs (OSA) is a department of the Church of Scientology responsible for directing legal affairs, publicizing the Churchs social betterment works, and oversee[ing its] social reform programs. Observers outside the Church have characterized the department as an intelligence agency, comparing it variously to the... The Gold Base is a 500 acre parcel and the headquarters of Golden Era Productions, the media division of the Church of Scientology, located at 19625 Highway 79, Gilman Hot Springs, California 92583, near Hemet. ... The International Association of Scientologists (IAS) was formed in October 1984 by a group of selected Scientologists, who assembled at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex, England. ... The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is a non-profit organization established in 1982 by the Church of Scientology to control and oversee the uses of all of the trademarks, symbols and sacred texts of Scientology and Dianetics, including the copyrighted works of the religions founder, L. Ron Hubbard. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In Scientology, a formally condemned and shunned heretic or wrongdoer is labelled a Suppressive Person, often abbreviated SP. L. Ron Hubbard coined the term to refer to enemies of the Church of Scientology, whose suppressive acts are said to impede the progress of Scientology. ... Fair Game is a status assigned to those whom the Church of Scientology has officially declared to be Suppressive Persons or Suppressive Persons are those whose actions are deemed to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist. ... Operation Snow-White was the name given internally by the Church of Scientology to a program which included the largest incident of private domestic espionage in the history of the United States. ... Operation PC Freakout was the name given by the Church of Scientology to a covert plan undertaken by the Church in 1976, with the goal of harassing Paulette Cooper, author of a book critical of Scientology titled The Scandal of Scientology. The plan came to light when the FBI seized... Scientology versus the Internet is the colloquial term for a long-running online dispute between the Church of Scientology and a number of the Churchs online critics. ... The Church of Scientology has been involved in a number of court disputes throughout the world. ... The Free Zone comprises a variety of groups and individuals who practice Scientology beliefs and techniques free from the control of the official Church of Scientology (CoS). ... Patter drills are a drilling method used in courses in the Church of Scientology which were added to many Church courses in mid-1995, by David Miscavige. ... The Fishman Affidavit is a set of court documents submitted by ex-Scientologist Steven Fishman in 1994 containing criticisms of the Church of Scientology and, controversially, substantial portions of the Operating Thetan course materials. ... Operation Clambake Operation Clambake (xenu. ... Trapped in the Closet is episode 912 of the Comedy Central series South Park. ... Scientology pays members commissions on new recruits they bring in, so Scientology members routinely try to sell Scientology to others. ... An Engram is a term for the (hypothesized) means by which memory traces are biologically stored as physical or biochemical change in the brain (and other neural tissue) in response to external stimuli. ... Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the relationship between mind and body that were developed by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. ... Scientology is a system of beliefs and practices created by American pulp fiction[1][2] and science fiction [3] author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a self-help philosophy. ... In Dianetics and Scientology, the reactive mind is a concept created by L. Ron Hubbard, referring to a hypothetical portion of the human mind which Hubbard blamed for most mental and physical ailments. ...

The term engram was coined by Richard Semon and had previously been used prior to the inception of Dianetics; Semon defined it as a "stimulus impression" which could be reactivated by the recurrence of "the energetic conditions which ruled at the generation of the engram."^[1] It continues to be used in other contexts unrelated to Hubbard's theories. According to Joseph Winter, M.D., Hubbard had taken the term "engram" from the 1936 edition of Dorland's Medical Dictionary for use to describe his own unique concepts (Winter, 1951). Hubbard's earliest public writings on Dianetics, (an article published in the Astounding Science Fiction pulp magazine) [1] he referred to engrams by the term "Norns". [2] Richard Wolfgang Semon (August 22, 1859 -- December 12, 1918) was a German biologist. ... Astounding Stories was a seminal science fiction magazine founded in 1930. ...

Dianetics defines an engram as "a mental image picture which is a recording of a time of physical pain and unconsciousness. It must by definition have impact or injury as part of its content."^[2] Engrams are said to contain all of the perception and experience of any memory but are not easily available to an individual because they are overlaid with some kind of pain. A goal of Dianetics is to assist a person in confronting such memories and thus to bring the memory into full consciousness.

Principle of the engram

Engrams are said to contain all sensory perceptions, but are not directly available to the conscious mind, which is termed the analytical mind; engrams are considered to be formed when the analytical mind is not fully functional, in moments of physical pain and painful emotion. ^{[citation needed]}

Dianetics holds the engram to be the single source of all psychosomatic illness and aberrations of the human mind via the literal content of these engrams being imposed on to the analytical mind when similar sensory perceptions unconsciously recall the engram; this process is referred to as "keying-in the engram". ^{[citation needed]} A psychosomatic illness is one with physical manifestations and supposed psychological cause, often diagnosed when any known or identifiable physical cause was excluded by medical examination. ...

As a consequence these memories are ascribed by Dianetics to cause stimulus-response behaviour to occur unconsciously in an individual, which may be pro-survival or contra-survival depending on the content of the engram (Hubbard, 1958, pp.59). A possible 70% of all health ailments are attributed by Hubbard to the harmful effects of engrams (Hubbard, 1958, pp.5).

Origins of the concept

Hubbard conceived of the engram as a form of "memory trace", an idea which had long existed in medicine. He initially proposed using the terms norn, impediment or comanome but eventually settled on "engram", based on the definition in Dorland's Medical Dictionary (1936): "a lasting mark or trace .... In psychology it is the lasting trace left in the psyche by anything that has been experienced psychically; a latent memory picture." (Winter, 1951) Dorlands Medical Dictionary was first published in 1890 as the American Illustrated Medical Dictionary including 770 pages. ...

Notes

1. ^ Corydon, Bent, L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. (1987). L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?. Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart. ISBN 0-8184-0444-2. Convenience link at http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt .
2. ^ Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary pg. 141 pub. Bridge Publications, USA ISBN 0-88404-037-2

Ronald DeWolf (7 May 1934 - 1991), born Lafayette Ron Hubbard, Jr. ...

References

• Hubbard, L. R. (1958). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (Rev. ed.) London: The Hubbard Association of Scientologists Limited.
• Winter, J.A. A Doctor's Report on Dianetics, Hermitage House, 1951

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (13 March 1911 – 24 January 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard, was an American pulp fiction[1][2] and science fiction[3] writer and founder of Scientology and Dianetics. ...

External link

• Dianetics: understanding the mind. An explaination of the analytical and reactive mind followed by the example of an engram. Church of Scientology.