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SUPPLEMENT NO. 4 to SCIENCE OF SURVIVAL February, 1952 From The Hubbard Dianetic Foundation, Inc. Wichita, Kansas Effort Processing L. Ron Hubbard Life energy, the moment it becomes impinged upon the physical universe, concerns itself with physical universe motion. This may be a trifle difficult to understand at first but it becomes obvious when one examines the nuclear physicist’s formulae of composition of the physical universe. Motion is the one thing common to everything in the physical universe. Matter is composed of atoms and molecules. Even in something as solid-appearing as a table, these atoms and molecules are in continually changing position; a molecule which might this year be at one comer of a desk may be next year at another corner of that same desk. Additionally, and more importantly, atoms and molecules, those infinitesimal bits of matter, are evidently themselves composed wholly of motion. They have a center and around this center swing particles of energy much in the same way that the planets swing around the sun, but on a much smaller scale. And these minute particles, the center and the bits which swing around it, are themselves, evidently, nothing more than motion. The modus operandi of survival is motion. Too much or too little motion brings about that state of organism motionlessness called death. Thus, life energy, engaged in a conquest of the physical universe, is engaged upon a conquest of motion. Thus, the most important phase of thought and action is effort. Effort is force with direction, motion with purpose. The organism is concerned with self-generated effort and the counter-efforts it receives from the physical environment. An individual initiates the effort to go forward; he receives the counter-effort of air pressure, the force of gravity, even his own clothing. There is a law concerning effort and organisms. Life energy effects its conquest of the physical universe by taking the efforts of the physical universe and turning them back against the physical universe. Life learns by impinging upon the physical universe the laws of the physical universe and then uses those laws to conquer the physical universe. One sees this done in engineering continually. And any organism, with much greater simplicity, can be found to be utilizing the energy of food to produce more motion for itself. The basic food, as used by the algae, a tiny cell creature, is sunlight and minerals. That is all an algae “eats.” A higher form of life lives on algae. And higher forms live on lower forms. But all the way at the top of this scale, food is basically sunlight and minerals. The trick of taking the force of a tennis ball as it comes at you, and, by rolling your racket, returning it, is not unlike life’s trick of using the motion of the physical universe to conquer the motion of the physical universe. There are many basic laws concerning this in the science of Dianetics. Most important to an individual is the fact that effort he himself conceives to be necessary is the most important effort to him. This is self-determinism. One determines how much effort he is going to apply or withhold to accomplish certain thoughts and actions and then seeks to apply that effort. All thought is concerned with the estimate Copyright(©) 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard. All Rights Reserved. of effort. When one makes a right calculation, its rightness is determined by whether or not the desired action was accomplished. Self-determinism is all important in the organism. An organism is as successful as it is right. That is to say, it is as successful as it or its group is self-determined. Trouble enters when the environment begins to determine one’s actions without recourse to thought. One begins to be a puppet dancing on the strings of the environment. Counter-effort to one’s self-determinism is simply the efforts which override one’s decisions. One puts forth an effort. It meets counter-effort. If that counter-effort is sudden and strong enough, its impulse backs all the way into the awareness seat of the organism and unconsciousness ensues; here counter-effort has won and selfdeterminism is momentarily wiped out. However, the impression of that counter-effort remains. Reduced to its lowest level, all pain is a randomity of molecules and atoms in the human organism caused by counter-efforts. Self determines the alignment of an effort, whether to move or remain at rest, and a severe counter-effort throws the atoms and molecules into mis-alignment. This is extreme randomity; this is pain. The trouble with pain is that it remains as a facsimile of the effort-counter-effort moment. All the pain one has ever received is still on file and can be re-experienced. When counter-efforts get into present time, they become what people have called “psychosomatic illnesses.” These are simply past situations where pain was present, brought out of their right position in time and into present time where they do not belong. Nothing is easier to prove than this part of Dianetics. Counter-efforts remain latent and can come into present time. This list, used long enough, may exhaust some old pain you have. Your present attention is not only on the environment, it is upon an old pain or on dozens of old pains you didn’t even “know” you were experiencing. You may be unaware of that wasted attention until your attention is taken to some other part of the body. This list simply takes your attention to some other portion of your body. You may feel groggy or you may feel a real pain when you practice this list. You will notice that when your attention goes to the part that hurts, the pain shuts off. You may also notice that the old pain tends to wear itself out when you re-experience it several times. Direct your attention to the parts of the body named, each one in its turn. Concentrate on the aliveness of the part named. Feel as though you were wholly alive only in that part. If any pain turns on in some other part of your body, ignore it and go on with this list. Feel the aliveness of: 1. Your right hand. 2. Your left hand. 3. The back of your head. 4. Your right foot. 5. Your left foot. 6. Your right knee. 7. Your stomach. 8. Your left knee. 9. Your back. 10. Your tongue. 11. Your loins. 12. Your right leg. 13. Your right arm. 14. Your left leg. 15. Your right ear. 16. Your right cheek. 17. Your forehead. 18. Your left ear. 19. Your left cheek. 20. Your right shoulder. 21. Your left shoulder. 22. The back of your neck. 23. Your brain. 24. Your right side. 25. Your left side. 26. All your fingers. 27. Your nose. 28. Your chin. Do not concern yourself with any pain or grogginess which turns on. Just keep doing the list. If you continue this practice, you might rid yourself of some serious psychosomatic illness. This list, by the way, is a wonderful game for processing children. They will usually play it with you and thus you can turn off their coughs and sneezes, aches and pains in a large number of cases.