meter, abbr. m, fundamental unit of length in the metric system. The meter was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and either pole; however, the original survey was inaccurate and the meter was later defined simply as the distance between two scratches on a bar made of a platinum-iridium alloy and kept at Sevres, France, near Paris. More recently, it has been defined as the distance light travels through a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The meter is now the legal standard of length for most of the world, other standards, such as the yard, being defined in terms of the meter.

meter, in music, the division of a composition into units of equal time value called measures, and the subdivision of those measures into an underlying pattern of stresses or accents (see measure). Meter is usually indicated by a time signature, a fraction whose numerator indicates the number of beats in a measure and whose denominator indicates the note value that is the unit of beating. The time signature may be changed at any point in the composition, and frequent changes of meter occur in much 20th-century music. In music of the 18th and 19th cent., however, the same meter is usually adhered to throughout a section or movement in a composition. See rhythm. For meter in poetry, see versification; for meter as a unit of measure, see metric system.

Short pipe with a constricted inner surface, used to measure fluid flows and as a pump. The effects of constricted channels on fluid flow were first investigated by Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746–1822), but it was Clemens Herschel (1842–1930) who devised the instrument in 1888. Fluid passing through the tube speeds up as it enters the tube's narrow throat, and the pressure drops. There are countless applications for the principle, including the carburetor, in which air flows through a venturi channel at whose throat gasoline vapour enters through an opening, drawn in by the low pressure. The pressure differential can also be used to measure fluid flow (see flow meter).

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In poetry, the rhythmic pattern of a poetic line. Various principles have been devised to organize poetic lines into rhythmic units. Quantitative verse, the metre of Classical Greek and Latin poetry, measures the length of time required to pronounce syllables, regardless of their stress; combinations of long and short syllables form the basic rhythmic units. Syllabic verse is most common in languages that are not strongly accented, such as French or Japanese; it is based on a fixed number of syllables within a line. Accentual verse occurs in strongly stressed languages, such as the Germanic; only stressed syllables within a line are counted. Accentual-syllabic verse is the usual form in English poetry; it combines syllable counting and stress counting. The most common English metre, iambic pentameter, is a line of 10 syllables, or 5 iambic feet; each foot contains an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Free verse does not follow regular metrical patterns. Seealso prosody.

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An E-meter is an electronic device used as an aid in some forms of Dianetics and Scientology auditing. The device is a variation on an ohmmeter, using a Wheatstone bridge to measure electrical resistance. The device is formally known as the Hubbard Electrometer, for the Church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

The Church of Scientology restricts the use of the E-meter to trained professionals, treating it as "a religious artifact which can only be used by Scientology ministers or ministers-in-training. It does not diagnose or cure anything. It purports to measure the mental state or change of state of a person and thus is of benefit to the auditor in helping the preclear locate areas to be handled. The E-meters used by the Church of Scientology are manufactured at the Church of Scientology's Golden Era Productions facility.

Description and use

The device's primary component is an electrical measuring instrument called a Wheatstone bridge, which measures the subject's galvanic skin response. By inducing a tiny electrical current through the body, the device measures changes in the electrical resistance of the human body. According to Scientology doctrine, the resistance corresponds to the "mental mass and energy" of the subject's mind, which change when the subject thinks of particular mental images (engrams).

E-meter sessions are conducted by Scientology staff known as auditors, and its use is covered in advanced Scientology training courses. Scientology materials traditionally refer to the subject as the "preclear", although auditors continue to use the meter well beyond the clear level. The preclear holds a pair of cylindrical electrodes ("cans") connected to the meter while the auditor asks the preclear a series of questions and notes both the verbal response and the activity of the meter. Auditor training describes many types of needle movements, with each having its own special significance.

The meter has two control dials. The larger dial, known as the "tone arm", adjusts the meter bias, while the smaller one controls the gain. Auditors manipulate the tone arm during an auditing session to keep the E-meter needle on a marked reference point.

History

The E-meter has undergone many changes since it was invented by Volney Mathison, an early collaborator with Hubbard. The Mathison Electropsychometer (as it was then called) was adopted for use in Dianetics and Scientology by Hubbard in the early 1950s, before being temporarily dropped in 1954 during a dispute with Mathison.

In a quote from Bent Corydon's "Messiah or Madman?",

It was the Mathison E-Meter, and Mathison was determined to keep it that way. So in late 1954 the use of the E-meter was discontinued by Hubbard. Wrote Hubbard: "Yesterday, we used an instrument called an E-Meter to register whether or not the process was still getting results so that the auditor would know how long to continue it. While the E-Meter is an interesting investigation instrument and has played its part in research, it is not today used by the auditor... As we long ago suspected, the intervention of a mechanical gadget between the auditor and the preclear had a tendency to depersonalize the session..."

In 1958 when Scientologists Don Breeding and Joe Wallis developed a modified, smaller battery-operated version, which they presented to Hubbard, he again used it. This was christened the Hubbard electrometer. Hubbard patented it on December 6, 1966, as a "Device for Measuring and Indicating Changes in the Resistance of a Human Body" (). The patent is now expired and in the public domain. The Church of Scientology continues to make, sell, and teach its use in auditing.

Mathison never litigated the appropriation of his invention, but was bitter and disillusioned about Hubbard. In 1964 Mathison stated: "I decry the doings of trivial fakers, such as scientologists and the like, who glibly denounce hypnosis and then try covertly to use it in their phony systems."

Today, models of the E-meter include the Mark V, the Mark VI and the Mark VII. As of January 2005, the cost of the Mark V was $900 and the Mark VII Super Quantum E-meter was US $4,650.00 (up from US $3,850 in 1995). Scientologists of the Free Zone have developed their own E-meter models which are available at much lower prices. They also offer circuit diagrams and instructions for building a meter. (Hilton, 2001)

Scientology's views on the device

L. Ron Hubbard sets out his theory of how the E-meter works in his book Understanding the E-Meter:

For the meter to be read, the tiny flow of electrical energy through the preclear (person) has to remain steady. When this tiny flow is changed the needle of the E-Meter moves. This will happen if the preclear pulls in or releases mental mass. This mental mass (condensed energy), acts as an additional resistance or lack of resistance to the flow of electrical energy from the E-Meter.

Hubbard claimed that this "mental mass" has the same physical characteristics, including weight, as mass as commonly understood by lay persons:

"In Scientology it has been discovered that mental energy is simply a finer, higher level of physical energy. The test of this is conclusive in that a thetan "mocking up" (creating) mental image pictures and thrusting them into the body can increase the body mass and by casting them away again can decrease the body mass. This test has actually been made and an increase of as much as thirty pounds, actually measured on scales, has been added to, and subtracted from, a body by creating "mental energy." Energy is energy. Matter is condensed energy."

This text in Understanding the E-Meter is accompanied by three drawings. The first shows a man standing on a weighing scale, which reflects a weight of "150" (the units are not given but are presumably pounds). The next shows the man on the same scale, weighed down under a burden of "Mental Image Pictures", and the scale indicates a weight of "180". The last picture shows the man standing upright on the scale, now unburdened by "Mental Image Pictures" and with a smile on his face, while the scale again indicates a weight of "150".

Controversy

The E-meter became the subject of a major controversy with the US Food and Drug Administration in the early 1960s, when the FDA became concerned that the church was using the E-meter to practice medicine without a license. The controversy is described by Jannsen, 1993.

On January 4, 1963, more than one hundred E-meters were seized by US marshals at the "Founding Church of Scientology" building in Washington, D.C. The church was accused of making false claims that the devices effectively treated some 70 percent of all physical and mental illness. The FDA also charged that the devices did not bear adequate directions for treating the conditions for which they were recommended.

Prolonged litigation ensued, with a subsequent jury trial finding that the E-meter had indeed been misrepresented. The church's contention that its literature was exempt from legal action because it was issued by a religious organization was rejected by the court as irrelevant. However, the Court of Appeals reversed the verdict on the basis that the government had done nothing to rebut the church's claim that Scientology was a religion. A new trial was ordered which upheld the findings and verdict of the first trial.

Judge Gerhardt A. Gesell found that:

Hubbard and his fellow Scientologists developed the notion of using an E-Meter to aid auditing. Substantial fees were charged for the meter and for auditing sessions using the meter. They repeatedly and explicitly represented that such auditing effectuated cures of many physical and mental illnesses. An individual processed with the aid of the E-Meter was said to reach the intended goal of 'clear' and was led to believe that there was reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most, illnesses would successfully be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to be successful. All this was and is false.

The judge ordered use of the E-meter be confined to "bona fide religious counseling" and the device be prominently labeled with a warning notice:

The E-Meter is not medically or scientifically useful for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease. It is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily functions of anyone.

The church has adopted a modified version of this statement, which it still invokes in connection with the E-meter. The current statement reads:

By itself, this meter does nothing. It is solely for the guide of Ministers of the Church in Confessionals and pastoral counseling. The Electrometer is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily function of anyone and is for religious use by students and Ministers of the Church of Scientology only.

Critics point to a lack of scientific basis for the E-meter and associated practices. They claim that at the time Hubbard began claiming the E-meter to be an accurate and precise instrument for detecting mental tension, no attempt had been made to scientifically validate this hypothesis by comparing the E-meter readings of individuals under tension to the readings of a control group.

A Californian student of American Studies, Laura Kay Fuller, claimed in a 1999 thesis that the E-meter furthers totalitarian tendencies in Scientology: :"Scientology insists that the E-meter is the final indicator of the truth, consistently relying on the "scientific proof" of this machine to further its ideology. ... In addition to this, Scientology uses the E-meter as a lie detector, gradually building a state of fear and paranoia for its members."

See also

• List of Scientology Security Checks
• Rehabilitation Project Force
• Ohmmeter
• Polygraph
• Pseudoscience

References

• United States District Court, District of Columbia, 1971. "United States of America, Libelant, v. An Article or Device... 'Hubbard Electrometer' or Hubbard E-Meter,' etc., Funding Church of Scientology, et al., Claimants. No. D.C. 1-63 (July 30)
• Victory for the Scientologists. Time (Magazine). Retrieved on 2007-10-18..
• Pilkington, Mark Clear thinking. Far out. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-10-18..

External links

• Official Church of Scientology site of the E-Meter
• What is Scientology: The E-Meter
• Scientology Today: What is the E-Meter and how does it work?
• Build your own E-meter
• The Scandal of Scientology
• The E-Meter Papers
• Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter, David S. Touretzky
• E-Meter Patent
• Scientology abuses eBay's VeRO program to practice religious, price discrimination