Cases which bog down in the process of auditing normally come up against the computation of the workability of techniques.

People have consistently believed and disbelieved in a cycle that something would solve everything and, regardless of the workability of a technique, people continue to follow this cycle. The interruption of this cycle in any case — and, I repeat, any case — is extremely desirable.

The cycle is interrupted by running on the preclear in brackets “The remedy is unworkable,” “The technique is ineffective,” “The solution will not apply,” and so on, so as to cover techniques, cures, medicines, computations and systems of communication. The workability of any of these is under question, for the preclear has been often disappointed and betrayed. Thus, his case has a tendency to hang up.

It will be discovered that the belief that something is workable is the beginning of the cycle with considerable space, and the belief that something is unworkable is the end of the cycle and is the equivalent of death. Death itself is a solution of sorts, but it is an unworkable solution and the preclear recognizes its unworkability. When unworkability is run in terms of brackets, as in Viewpoint Processing, it will be found that the space of the preclear narrows down to nothing.

Running this in brackets is done by mocking up the people with the concept— as many people as possible, each one with the same thought. The preclear mocks them up for himself, has another mock them up in thousands for himself, and has others mock them up in thousands; each one with the idea that the remedy is workable, and again with the idea that the remedy is unworkable.

This can be specifically applied to Dianetics but is effective only when the person has long been in contact with Dianetics. We have, in Dianetics, a consistent change of technique, not because each one has proved unworkable, but because new techniques have shown up which were faster. However, to many dull people, this has given the appearance of change of technique because the last technique which was once considered so workable, is now considered unworkable. Thus we have consistently and continually run the cycle on these people and worn them out. If these people are to be renovated, running the change of technique as workable and unworkable on them in brackets as above, will remedy the condition.

This is the center of the whole idea of hope, dreams, illusions and plans.

What one is trying to do and what one is trying to solve is to get through time; in other words, to survive as long as possible.

Modem medicine has begun to run this cycle with greater and greater rapidity.

In Dianetics and Scientology, the continuing field of discovery has a different pattern.

Techniques have gone through from entirely introspective techniques to conceptual techniques through direct energy handling techniques up to purely observational techniques. This is because Man does not want to look at something. Man always looks beside something. I refer your attention to Book I and the dissertation on the subject of the restimulator in the environment: people will not look at the restimulator but look, instead, at associative restimulators. We are actually finding how we can bring people up to a point where they will look at things. It is discovered that if they will look at things directly, the threat of those things disappears. Actually, energy, directly observed, will dissolve. The only way the universe keeps going, really, is because nobody theta-wise looks directly at it. Thus we have gone from looking at the thing furthest from actuality that was still real — the engram containing pain and unconsciousness-up to staring straight in the teeth of the actual thing. Methods have been discovered by which this can be done, as you found in Six Steps of Self-Auditing.

The concept in large masses “There must be no other cause” falls into the general category of the above and resolves as well the “I must be the only one” computation which inhibits so many people. The idea that there must be no other cause but himself comes about because any person can trace immediately back to the fact that his own decision started the concatenation of events which led to disaster. Going out for an automobile ride which concludes with an accident was done on the free decision of the individual; thus he traces his own decision to go for a ride as the prior cause which led to the accident. Thus he begins to conceive that only those things which he himself has desired or caused can at length affect him. He believes he can only be attacked by those monsters which he himself has created. He gets this idea from his early work in his own universe.

This does not apply in the MEST universe. The accident has, if the preclear desires to trace it, thousands of other causes. His fixation on being the only one is, of course, a self-protective measure, and is a defensive measure in the extreme. People who have the idea that they are the only ones who can be cause have actually been punished so hard and so much that they are extremely defensive. Their assumption of cause is assumption of self-responsibility for many things for which they have no reason whatsoever to assume responsibility. This is remedied by clarifying the scarcity of causes.

The invention of God as represented for the MEST universe is an effort to fill all space with cause so that one will not then become the only one, for becoming the only one is an extremely fatal operation which goes down a fast dwindling spiral.

One has to recognize that there are three universes. Thus, all things, including wasting, Acceptance Level processing and concepts, have to be run in brackets. Otherwise, one leaves out the idea of other causes. If one omits this from the processing of a preclear, he drives the preclear further and further and further into being the only one. Thus Dianetics, after 500 or 600 hours of auditing, reversed itself and began to do harm. For one reason, it had driven people into being the only one, and for the other reason, it had made engrams scarce by erasing them.