I wonder what happens to intelligent people who go through the whole insane “Bridge” process, then realize they have been had?
Suppose you are a lonely college student-you decide to join the COS. You take the "courses " (OT-I to OT-XII), and become a “clear” (no more body Thetans).
Then you realize:
-you do not have an IQ of 185
-you have no job skills
-you spent over $100,000 for nothing
-you are surrounded by people who are borderline insane
Do such people get depressed? I would demand my money back-of course, “buyer’s remorse” probably would not apply.
Do a great many people drop out of the COS, after having sch a realization?
This factor alone rather limits the pool, I couldn’t put together that money to save my life from absolute certain death. I imagine someone who could do it might be in very different circumstances than me, where the money isn’t that big a deal.
I recall it being mentioned in another thread that by the time you get far along they’ll have a lot of blackmail material on you (from confessions during the whole process), and can use that to keep you in.
Also, psychologically spending that kind of money will help them keep a psychological hold on you, since admitting they are fakes means admitting you were stupid enough to waste that much money. Lots of groups use that basic psychological trick to control people; get people to do something stupid or evil in the name of the cause or to join a group, and they’ll tend to maintain loyalty to avoid admitting that what they did was stupid or evil. Hazing and military/political/religious atrocities are other examples; kill a village full of people for the cause and you’ll have a hefty incentive to keep believing in the cause, because otherwise you’ve killed a village full of people for nothing.
I would have to agree. For an awesome perspective on the subject check out this video:
It’s an interview with actor Jason Beghe who explains all about what you are asking about. He was in COS for 10 years then left. It’s a long video but very intriguing.