Jon Atack takes apart the Scientology E-meter « The Underground Bunker

The first Electropsychometer used in Dianetics was developed by Volney Mathison. It is a device based on a Wheatstone bridge, an electrical circuit which measures resistance, in this case through sensors held in the hands, so it measures the conductivity of skin — also known as galvanic skin response. More accurately, it measures changes in the sweat glands, by passing a small electric current through the body. Such meters were not new — Hubbard’s claim to have made the only valid discoveries in the field of the mind and spirit in 50,000 years are not borne out by the development of the e-meter, which actually had nothing to do with him, and had been enthusiastically supported by Jung and others many years before.

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n the 1970s, Saint Hill’s two E-meter repair men were disappointed at the poor quality of the Mark V e-meter. Because they repaired them, they knew that the cheapest components were used, including germanium transistors, which had long been considered obsolete elsewhere. They set themselves a simple task: what would happen if, instead of the cheapest components, they used the best?

One night, they left their new meter alongside a standard Mark V, with the same input to both meters, and a pen read out to show how they reacted. When they returned from their pleasant evening at the pub, they were surprised to find that the Mark V had registered twice as many reads as their new high-spec machine. They forewent further boozing, and watched closely during the next test, which confirmed, beyond a shadow of doubt, that half of the reads on the Mark V were self-generated.

Their plans for a superior E-meter were shelved when the Mark VI was announced. To their surprise, the Mark VI was actually little more than a Mark V in a soap box (which someone must have thought was futuristic). At around this time, Texas Instruments quoted $38 per meter to build the Mark VI, which were already retailing for over $500. They soon passed $3,000.

Jon Atack takes apart the Scientology E-meter « The Underground Bunker