Me vs. L. Ron Hubbard

            I’m not really a fan of L. Ron Hubbard. I’ve never been a believer in either Dianetics or Scientology; I could perhaps go on about why I’m against it, but several people who have actually been in the religion could probably do a better job (including Leah Remini). In addition I’ve read a little of his non-religious writing, and it’s very ehhh. I tried to read “Battlefield Earth” once but didn’t get into it, and have read some of his short stories. But I’m not really here to talk about L. Ron Hubbard’s writing or the religion he founded. No, instead I want to talk about one particular quote of his that I have come across, and why I disagree with it.

            In some of his books on Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard has this quote of his included. “When reading a book, be very certain that you never go past a word you do not fully understand. The only reason a person gives up a study or becomes confused or unable to learn is because he or she has gone past a word that was not understood.” The advice isn’t necessarily bad in and of itself. It’s not a bad idea to look up a word in a dictionary if you don’t understand what it means. You’ll probably understand what you’re reading better if you know what each and every word means, and what the author is fully intending.

            However, the second sentence in the quote is what I disagree with. There are several reasons a person might give up a study, or become confused or unable to learn, that have nothing whatsoever to do with not understanding the meaning of one particular word. A few reasons a person might give up a study include…

1)    Someone might simply lose interest in a topic. If they gained all the information on a topic that they need or desire, they might not have any reason or motivation to keep on learning about it. They might want to dedicate their time to something else.

2)    They might be juggling several different interests. Let’s say someone is interested in learning martial arts, studying another language, becoming a master at dance, and mastering calligraphy. And let’s say said person also has to juggle school, a job, or even both. Unless they are an expert at time management and decide to completely eliminate any free time (or perhaps a social life as well), they might decide to drop, or at least put on hold, one of their interests.

3)    They thought they were interested (and potentially talented) in something but it turns out they like something else better. At one point when I was in between jobs after getting laid off, I was seriously considering going into coding. It seemed like a very reasonable decision, since at the time I was living in the Seattle area (a Mecca for software) and coding can make people a ton of money. Unfortunately it turns out that coding isn’t for me; while I honestly consider myself to be someone who is smarter than average, I’m not talented at coding and my brain doesn’t appear to be wired that way. I could have all of the dictionaries in the world to help me understand every technical word in the field of coding and I still probably wouldn’t have come anywhere close to mastering it. Luckily it seems like I’m talented as an English teacher.

I could probably come up with more reasons for why people give up or are struggling

in a study. But ultimately, I feel that the idea that the only reason people don’t continue with a practice is due to not knowing one single word is misleading to say the least, and it gives me one more reason to not be a fan of L. Ron Hubbard.