Book Review: Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard
Pellegrin Foiskola L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health turns 76. It has sold over twenty million copies. May 2026. In May 1950, a science fiction writer published a self-help book claiming to cure all mental illness. It sold 150,000 copies in seven months. Within eighteen months the organization built on its proceeds was bankrupt, its founder had fled to Phoenix, and multiple practitioners had been arrested for practicing medicine without a license. The founder responded by starting a religion. Let me explain why this is more interesting than it sounds. I. The Product L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health presents a model of the human mind divided into two parts. The "analytical mind" is the conscious, computing mind — rational, perceptive, essentially a biological computer. The "reactive mind" is a hidden recording device that captures every experience occurring during moments of pain, uncons...