Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1950, coined by U.S. writer Latin Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), an alteration of dianoetic (1670s) "of or pertaining to thought," from Greek dianoetikos "of or for thinking; intellectual," from dianoetos, verbal adjective from dianoe-esthai "to think," from dia- "through" (see dia-) + noe-ein "to think, suppose."
Wiktionary
n. A self-help system designed by (w: L. Ron Hubbard) which is chiefly employed today in Scientology.
Wikipedia
Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body created by L. Ron Hubbard; Dianetics is practiced by followers of Scientology and separate independent Dianeticist groups. Hubbard coined Dianetics from the Greek stems dia, meaning "through," and nous, meaning " mind." Dianetics has achieved no acceptance as a scientific theory and is widely considered to be a pseudoscience.
Dianetics divides the mind into three parts: the conscious "analytical mind," the subconscious " reactive mind," and the somatic mind. The goal of Dianetics is to erase the content of the "reactive mind," which Scientologists believe interferes with a person's ethics, awareness, happiness, and sanity. The Dianetics procedure to achieve this erasure is called " auditing." In auditing, the Dianetic auditor asks a series of questions (or commands) and elicits answers to help a person locate and deal with painful experiences of the past, which Scientologists believe to be the content of the "reactive mind."
Practitioners of Dianetics believe that "the basic principle of existence is to survive" and that the basic personality of humans is sincere, intelligent, and good. The drive for goodness and survival is distorted and inhibited by aberrations "ranging from simple neuroses to different psychotic states to various kinds of sociopathic behavior patterns." Hubbard developed Dianetics, claiming that it could eradicate these aberrations.
When Hubbard formulated Dianetics, he described it as "a mix of Western technology and Oriental philosophy". He said that Dianetics "forms a bridge between" cybernetics and general semantics (a set of ideas about education originated by Alfred Korzybski, which received much attention in the science fiction world in the 1940s)—a claim denied by scholars of General Semantics, including S. I. Hayakawa, who expressed strong criticism of Dianetics as early as 1951. Hubbard claimed that Dianetics could increase intelligence, eliminate unwanted emotions and alleviate a wide range of illnesses he believed to be psychosomatic. Among the conditions purportedly treated were arthritis, allergies, asthma, some coronary difficulties, eye trouble, ulcers, migraine headaches, "sexual deviation" (which for Hubbard included homosexuality), and even death. Hubbard asserted that "memories of painful physical and emotional experiences accumulate in a specific region of the mind, causing illness and mental problems." He taught that "once these experiences have been purged through cathartic procedures he developed, a person can achieve superior health and intelligence." Hubbard also variously defined Dianetics as "a spiritual healing technology" and "an organized science of thought."
Dianetics predates Hubbard's classification of Scientology as an "applied religious philosophy." Early in 1951, he expanded his writings to include teachings related to the soul, or " thetan." Dianetics is practiced by several independent Dianetics-only groups not connected with Scientology, and also Free Zone or Independent Scientologists. The Church of Scientology has prosecuted a number of people in court for unauthorized publication of Scientology and Dianetics copyrighted material.
Usage examples of "dianetics".
Reliving is substituted for revivification in Dia-netics because, in Dianetics, the principles of hypnotism can be found explained and hypnotism is not used in Dianetic therapy, as will be explained later.
In Dianetics itself is the statement that "many schools of mental healing from the Aesculapian to the modern hypnotist were studied after the basic philosophy of Dianetics had been postulated".
Preventive Dianetics makes it possible to sort out the aberree who is accident-prone and bar him from activities which will menace others.
While Preventive Dianetics is a large subject, infiltrating the fields of industry and agriculture and other specialized activities of man, its basic principle is the scientific fact that engrams can be held to minimal content or prevented entirely with large gains in favor of mental health and physical well-being as well as social adjustment.
Like germs they respect none and carry forward from individual to individual, from parents to child, respecting none until they are stopped by Dianetics.
But the engram can manifest itself chronically as either a somatic (a noun has been made out of an adjective here and it is commonly employed in Dianetics to avoid the use of the word pain, which is not embracive and which is restim-ulative) or as an aberration or as both together.
How many more can be so classified after Dianetics has been in practice for a few years is difficult to predict, but it is certain that more illnesses are psychosomatic than have been so classified to date.
One would say, unless he knew Dianetics, that this child was ruined postnatally by being beaten by the father, and one might attempt to bring the patient's mind back into better condition by removing these locks.
The basic nature of man is discovered in Dianetics rather than hazarded29 or postulated, since that basic nature can be brought into action in any individual completely.
In Dianetics the analytical mind is the one which is alert and aware and the reactive mind simply reacts without analysis.
As an organized body of scientific knowledge, Dianetics can draw only the conclusion which it observes in the laboratory.
In Dianetics, you can see valences turn on and off in people and change with a rapidity which would be awesome to a quick-change artist.