# L. Ron Hubbard **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127 "2003-02-06T03:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/21 "2003-02-06T15:52:42Z")
I just read the thing. I knew a guy who believed this stuff. Changed his name to Yogishwar. Claimed to have the highest IQ ever measured by the state of California. I read a text of his where he believed that we are all born with implants in our brains (Chapter 7 of the book). Suggest you watch out for beetles. Orange makes me nervous. Where did all these birds come from? ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/22 "2003-02-06T16:10:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Meatros \* > \*\*I’m currently reading Carl Sagan’s **Demon Haunted World** and in it he said something very briefly about L. Ron Hubbard claiming to have written a book that would make the reader insane. > > What’s the deal with this? > > * * * Dunno. I need to look at that book again I guess. I don’t remember Sagan saying that. I thought L. Ron was the one who went insane. ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/23 "2003-02-06T16:16:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\*Hubbard claimed that “four of the first fifteen people who read it went insane.” Basically, it’s just a nonsensical claim by Hubbard that he probably made up on the spot and which nobody has thought worth debunking. \*\* hmmm I wonder if that little ploy increased sales? ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/24 "2003-02-06T16:18:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smeghead \* > \*\*I read all 10 volumes of his _Mission Earth_ series. Having done so, I would certainly question the sanity of anyone else who had done it as well. \*\* Same here, I read it in High School before I found out what a lunatic Hubbard was. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/25 "2003-02-06T16:47:19Z")
Never trust a man who uses an first name initial with a second nickname. “L. Ron”. How stupid does that sound? My middle name is William, it’s just as if I went around calling myself “J. Bill”. [F. Gump] And that’s all I have to say about that. [/F.Gump] ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/26 "2003-02-06T16:47:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*1. Want to know the Secret of the Universe and the Foundation to All Happiness? Pay up, sucker. > > Or, you could go to the right websites and read court documents that are transcripts of those OTs. > > 1. [http://www.xenu.net/](http://www.xenu.net/) – A great website I currently cannot access. If the bastards have finally gotten to them … \*\* 1. Yeah. Ron discovered that creating a “religion” was a lot more profitable than writing science fiction. 2. The site works now. Thanks for posting it. ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/27 "2003-02-06T16:51:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > \*\*Never trust a man who uses an first name initial with a second nickname. “L. Ron”. How stupid does that sound? My middle name is William, it’s just as if I went around calling myself “J. Bill”. > > [F. Gump] > And that’s all I have to say about that. > [/F.Gump] \*\* He didn’t have a brother, did he? N. Ron? ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/28 "2003-02-06T16:54:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*D’oh. Make that [OT III Scholarship Page](http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/OTIII/) > > Sorry. \*\* I’ll have to check that out when I get home, I don’t want to _go insane at work_ after all 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/29 "2003-02-06T16:57:18Z")
So a good present would be the book in question, a frontal lobotomy and 10 rolls of rubber wallpaper? ---
**Author:** ![tunabreath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@tunabreath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tunabreath)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/30 "2003-02-06T17:49:53Z")
When I was young I read “Battlefield Earth”, I liked it. Later I tried reading “Mission: Earth”, I think I just got to fed up with the crap around book 7, too bad I’d already bought all 10. I knew he was a crack pot but Derleth’s link linked to this, [http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/OTIII/minton-essay.txt](http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/OTIII/minton-essay.txt) and it also linked to the [www.xenu.net](http://www.xenu.net) place. what a creepy bunch! I think I’m still sane but who am I to judge. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/31 "2003-02-06T18:39:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > Never trust a man who uses an first name initial with a second nickname. “L. Ron”. How stupid does that sound? My middle name is William, it’s just as if I went around calling myself “J. Bill”. On the other hand, if _your_ name were “Lafayette” you might go around using your middle name (Ron) instead. Or if your first name were Elmer, and your middle name were Mark, you might go around as Mark, or even emark – or if your last name started with a “P”, you might even use “emarkp.” But then, what do I know? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Payne\_N.Diaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Payne\_N.Diaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payne_N.Diaz)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/32 "2003-02-06T20:41:21Z")
Hey, emarkp, are you the same emarkp from over on [nauvoo.com](http://nauvoo.com)? There can’t be two of you, can there? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/33 "2003-02-06T20:48:31Z")
L. Ron wrote pretty good SF and I read _Dianetics_ when it was first published. I might not be quite all there, but I’m not way out. Of course I haven’t read anything of his since. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/34 "2003-02-06T20:56:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > \*\*Never trust a man who uses an first name initial with a second nickname. “L. Ron”. How stupid does that sound? My middle name is William, it’s just as if I went around calling myself “J. Bill”. > > [F. Gump] > And that’s all I have to say about that. > [/F.Gump] \*\* Hmmm…my middle name is Houston… “B. Huey” Whaddaya think? ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/35 "2003-02-07T01:25:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payne N. Diaz \* > Hey, emarkp, are you the same emarkp from over on [nauvoo.com](http://nauvoo.com)? There can’t be two of you, can there? Yep, that’d be me. I’ve yet to run into another emarkp. It’s the one and only signon I use. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/36 "2003-02-07T03:52:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\*L. Ron wrote pretty good SF and I read _Dianetics_ when it was first published. \*\* How was dianetics? Anything you’d like to share? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127/37 "2003-02-07T07:48:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Meatros \* > \*\*How was dianetics? Anything you’d like to share? \*\* Hard to swallow, so I didn’t. When a claim about memories back to the womb is made I begin to lose interest. Central point was, as I remember it, we’ve got to get those engrams in order and then we can become a “dianetic clear” which is alleged to be a solution to all problems. Other than that I don’t remember much about it since it has now been almost 50 years and I wasn’t all that keen on it after reading maybe half of it. I finished it just for the sake of completeness, but I didn’t pay much attention to the last half. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/l-ron-hubbard/153127.md?page=1)