reactive mind or reactive personality?

Question answered by escapee in Scientology

remiel asked this question on 9/23/2000:

I was reading recently (OK it was in a Stephen Baxter story, but it was presented as fact, not fiction), that some tests on electrical impulses in the brain showed motor neurone signals ('reactions') before the personality effect that would be said to trigger them.

For example, in the case of a pistol being fired near a subject, the subject's body reacts by flinching before the subject's personality registers what has actually happened.

I know this could be dismissed as merely an extension of reflex, but the theory being put across was that our emotions and opinions could be seen as being merely the excuse we give for our actions, as our course of action is decided by our brain before our personalities 'decide' to do anything.

If this is the case, does this have any repercussions for Hubbard's theory of the reactive mind or the thetan?

escapee gave this response on 9/23/2000:

The course of action as decided by the brain is limited in scope. Flight, freeze, that sort of thing. Exactly what one will do about something is normally chosen by the individual involved, not by the brain. Brain may signal adrenaline to be pumped, but the individual decides what course of action he will take at that point.

As far as repercussions, no, that was well covered in the books. Per Hubbard tech man is a composite being, part animal/body, part mind, part spirit. He took them apart only to know how to address man as a whole, something which is often misunderstood by Scientologists. Sort of like a doctor needs to know there are bones and muscles, and the difference, in freeing an individual one has to realize there is more that one part, three primary and of course many others or Sybils couldn't exist. As long as one has a body he is a composite, he is not just a "Thetan".

remiel asked this follow-up question on 9/23/2000:

from what I was reading, these reactions didn't seem limited to simple muscle spasms or adrenaline production, they included the subject displaying the symptoms of, for example, happiness before the personality became 'happy'. These things are measured in fragments of a second, but if they are the case (and neurologists are still discussing this), it could signify a sea change in the way we examine the personality. If this is the case, would the freezone, in your opinion, be more likely to assimilate this information or to ignore it. I have a feeling I already know what the CoS would do.

remiel rated this answer:

escapee gave this response on 9/24/2000:

FreeZone is much more open to new concepts.

I rather think that one builds ones own personality as one goes along in life. Yes, I can sometimes catch myself smiling before any decision to smile was made, but that is based not on a "reactive mind" but on what one uses to present as oneself. One sort of builds a "machine" based on likes and dislikes, abilities and lack of, as well as possibly past experiences, and that is the personality.

Everyone "has" a personality. It is just for a lifetime.

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