Hollywood's Most Secretive Religious Relic: E-Meter Testing
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2012
- VICE editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro heads out to Union Square to give strangers E-meter readings, determining their spiritual and moral fiber.
The Hubbard Electrometer, more commonly known as the E-meter, is a "religious artifact" used to measure the state of electrical characteristics in the static field surrounding the body. E-meters operate in a similar fashion to lie detectors, relying on a type of electrical circuit called a wheatstone bridge, which measures the subject's galvanic skin response. In short, the device produces a small electrical current, and measures the subject's electrical resistance to that current. Auditors use the device to measure answers to various questions that can supposedly determine whether or not a person is spiritually pure. Basically, it's what it sounds like: a bunch of bullshit. And we made this video to prove it.
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In honor of the release of Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film, The Master, VICE will be cherry-picking articles from our vault of the peculiar and grotesque that have to do with strange sects and cults. Keep checking VICE.com as we roll out more religious weirdness.
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did they avoid saying "scientology" so they didn't get assassinated
It was so obvious it was hilarious
+majestic waluigi Nah.. I dont believe that, I honestly believe its a straight case of, their lawyers telling them for gods sake dont say it because its not worth how much the rich cunts will sue you
We all know who they mean.
Mr Hamilton yeah😂
They own that word i believe
poor kitty! they did!
Q: Why does $cientology make you hold a can in each hand?
A: So you can't keep your hand on your wallet.
+Faustus
Hahahaha
"We got one...Just because you're not supposed to have one.."
And this is why VICE wins at life.
+Mr Hamilton not anymore...
+Bruce Lee ? what I miss dude
Vice went from being an interesting small journalist company to being funded by rupert murdoch (owner of the sun...) and taking itself way too seriously. we no longer get quirky little stories like suicide forrest in japan, we now get vice trying "real news" and in its attempt it barely differs from mainstream leftwing media. In short vice has lost its individuality through being bought out.
Mr Hamilton He only bought five percent of Vice. Disney/A&E bought ten percent. 85% still belongs to the founders of Vice Media.
Bruce Lee the ‘suicide forest’ isn’t a “quirky little story”
"Don't forget to put in the crystals."
HAHAHA I laughed so hard when I read this
Uncle Rico?
I’m reading this shit in 2020 and I laughed my ass off 😂😂😂
I’m a conservative he doesn’t believe in any weird stuff for the most part but come on please don’t compare these the crystals Actually have purposes
@@OAM595 I'm not saying that this thing is real but what is the soul? I know our brain work on electrical activities EKG I don't know one for the heart or brain?
Wish they would take this E-meter to one of those guys that picks it apart and looks at all the components and how it's put together, just like Mighty Car Mods did with that PnP ECU thing.
Look at play with junk youtube channel
He explains it's structure in the intro
just remember one of these made Tom Cruise not come out of the closet.
Matthew Cassidy I hate Tom Cruise!
Packs fudge in the fudge factory 🤣
When the black dude said he wanted to go to the 30's....
No man trust me don't go back there
ComradeGaming same😁😂😂
Lmao
I’m sure you want to go back to then comrade gaming
Why not ! Black population was arguably prospering way more in the 30’s then now in terms of owning businesses and having communities
My parents were Scientologists when I was growing up, I remember being tested on these even as a kid. I still don't understand them.
They have secret recordings of you doing that to blackmail you should you choose to criticize the cult.
saw that scientology south park episode can't beleive its real
I stopped the episode just to come here
"Are you interested in E-Meters?" I fcking died XD XD
I love how everyone agrees this machine is full of sh** .
Its hilarious
Wow. This is really revealing as to how scary the e-meter is at planting suggestion to not just the person being audited but even the auditor! You could tell he didn't believe it but he knew how to behave while using it. I hope they told everyone that the test was bullshit not just the few that questioned it.
"what it sounds like: a bunch of bullshit. And we made this video to prove it."
Pretty much nailed every directors motivation that is part of VICE crew.
Lol the black guy said 1930 haha
Maybe he is from Detroit? That is actually a good place and not so bad time to be black. That is if it weren't for the depression.
Well in the 1930's a black man was a whole lot less likely to be in prison. In the 1930's the per capita incarceration rate was 137 per 100,000 people, today that number is 737 per 100,000. In the 1920's the incarceration rate was 79 per 100,000 people, The Great Depression increased the rate from 79 to 137.
If people are not sure how this whole reading thing works on some people look up "cold reading" a term which is usually associated with mediums and psychics (i.e. scammers) but applies equally here. All it takes to convince people is for a competent "auditor" who follows a script and a compliant subject -- even someone who is just a little curious about the whole process. If you give the responses they're expecting (and most people typically want to please and cooperate), they can spin it into a pretty convincing lie and that's how you can be hooked in.
In short -- the e-meter is just a prop. It doesn't do anything useful at all except make the auditor look like they're doing something important when they twiddle the knobs and take readings. As we saw in the video, it really doesn't matter what knobs get twiddled, at all.
I'm.. a little surprised that the black guy wanted to go too the 1930's.
huehuehue its cuz hes black
Hakudohshi
the harlem renaissance lasted until the mid-30s...but you knew that, of course
Cliff Anderson
Yeah.. want to know what else was going on in the 30's? Jim Crow, Segregation, The Klan, Lynchings, Miscegenation Laws, should I go on? :\
Hakudohshi
as i'm already familiar with all of that, there's no need. the problems you mentioned were predominantly (or entirely) issues in the south. the scene was filmed in new york city; context is key.
btw, miscegenation laws have - to my knowledge - never existed in the united states. anti-miscegenation laws, otoh...
@Nancy Pelosi Lol. go read a book lady!
im an electrician and the explanation this guy gave for this device made me laugh
It’s a galvanometer
It's an ohmmeter
This really fulfilled me to see. Love you, vice.
im so glad u made this video
Brilliant. But I can't believe you guys dished out the money for such a relatively new model. Still, well done. I do wish you had tried setting it up next to one of their "Free stress test" stands at the Times Sq. subway.
They need to figure out ways to hack the E meter. 😂 I'm curious so I could rig the tests😊
It’s easy. Squeeze your hands tighter when you want to cause a reaction on the meter.
Superman tricked the machine, look it up 😂
It doesn't need to be rigged. The machine is just a prop. The scam is all about the cold reading the "operator" conducts on the subject -- asking the right questions and listening carefully to their responses and then telling them what they already believe about themselves to reinforce the feeling that they need help overcoming their problems. Psychics and mediums pull the same scam.
this things real i just searched this from south park
I miss that office space 😢
Why does this thing look like some retro-futuristic 1960s interrogation equipment yet also a 1980s child's toy at the same time?
Hubbard wrote some nice SF tho. lol
So i guess had some entertainment value .
Looks cheap as fuck
Someone posted on the wiki that in 2005 the cost of the Mark V e-meter was roughly $900 and the Mark VII Super Quantum E-meter was US $4,650.
The FDA investigated them for using the e-meter to practice psuedo-medicine without a license, which led to a court case in the 1960's. Substantial fees were usually charged for buying, hiring or for auditing sessions using the meter. They repeatedly 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', according to the company.
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 group has now had to adopt a modified version of this statement, which it still invokes in connection with the E-meter. The current statement reads:
The Hubbard Electrometer is a religious artifact. By itself, this meter does nothing. It is for religious use by students and Ministers of the church in Confessionals and pastoral counseling only.
And too right too. I think it might have been common place in the USA in those days to make claims that something could cure illnesses, not just the e-meter but quack medicines sold by other organisations. The meter is actually used as an aid to the scientologiy counsellor, and if you agree with the teachings of the religion, then fair enough, but to make claims for the device would be false. The only use it has is an indicator, to help a counsellor locate troubled areas of a persons life, in order to avoid many wasted hours that would occur if left to guesswork or lengthy psyhoanalysis.
They should set it up in front of one of the church's storefronts and offer the personality tests but only give out positive info.
"Considering that Wilbert was spiritually void" lmaaaaao bro got roasted
Vice finally doing something important for once.
They’ve been doing good things for a long time... constantly have journalists going to incredibly dangerous zones.
What the hell was this? When I click on a Vice story, I usually learn something. I was hoping to see how the E-Meter was used by the Church of Scientology for real. What I got was just you goofing around with people while mocking the whole process.
What was the point?
to MOCK their crazy CULT asses.
I can tell you how it works, and it's not as crazy as people try to make out. In fact modern psychology is now making more and more use of GSR (Galvanic skin resistance) meters to assist in counselling.
If for example, you have an upset person in front of you, feeling rather down abot life, when you counsell that person, you might spen many hours getting nowhere, as the person may not actually know the exact cause of his/her upset, or may not want to address it. So the meter assists in locating areas of upset, regardless of what the person is saying. In scientology use, they believe that anyone who is not doing well in life, has engrams, hidden moments of pain and unconsciousness. By locating a time when a person experienced pain and unconsciousness, the auditor believes this can be restored as standard memory, rather than reactive memory that causes a person to act in an undesirable way.
@@catman4471 at what price?! lol
Marcos Barbosa: Well that depends on what you want. You could learn how to use the meter and how to audit, then team up with someone else who has also learned, you could pay an expert, you could build your own meter and adjust the procedure to fit in with your version of the device, you could spend the rest of your days being a Scientologist and spend as much as you want, it's really up to you.
But, if you consider that Scientologists believe they are eternal spirits inhabiting bodies, and that you run then risk of forgetting everything about this life time, by dying, then you might consider the question "What price eternity?"
Or you might consider that this current world is so screwed up, that it's only a matter of time before the lunatics destroy it, and might be prepared to invest heavily in their project of nuclear fall out shelters, survival places while the war goes on, so that the only people remaining are those with sanity.
Based on what REAL science?
It's been done, and it's already on youtube. An electrical engineer tore down an older model, and you gotta believe the new ones are built the same damn way. I don't remember the guy's name, but it shouldn't be tough to find.
Where do you put your feet when using this machine?
Between the legs of your opposite sex auditor. It's mandatory!
I've seen these things before. They actually measure the pressure of your grip. Lol
how can it measure grip through a piece of metal hooked up to an electric current?
Charles Maxwell i know, what a thicko
It could possibly measure changes in electrical signals when more energy is put into a harder grip.
Jeremiah Harding if you grip something harder it doesn't change the electrical resistance of your flesh.
Alkapow Portstar it doesn't measure the resistance. I couldn't tell you the scientific terminology... You can always Google it. But from experience (it was set up in a mall near my home) if you hold it loose the needle doesn't move, if you grip it tight then it flies to the other side. Pay attention to how each individual is holding them. Plus, even the guy says at the end it's a scam... It obviously doesn't rad your spiritual tension... I mean that makes far less sense than what I'm explaining. Think about it
3:48 Rocco changes his pitch to "Hey, you wanna get a coffee?"
Sorry to hear that.
The thetans are not pleased
The shit people believe...
“I was probably a heroin addict” I love that woman
vice you are doingi some amazing reporting best on the net. no shit. amazing. keep it up
Usually Vice does some pretty good stuff, but I learned absolutely nothing from this except that the "journalist" thinks it's silly and a fraud. Look, I'm no scientologist, but this proved nothing one way or the other. What would be nice is having Marty Rathbun, who left Scientology and who Vice did an interview with, talk about the emeter and break it down. He was supposedly one of the best auditors there was in that organization. I'd love to hear his take on it.
Otherwise, making snarky videos with obvious bias and your conclusion made before any real investigation doesn't make for very good INVESTIGATIVE journalism.
I don't know if the thing works, but for Vice to put a guy out there that has no clue as to what he is doing with it is beyond irresponsible. But this is Vice.
I give a ff. It's called journalism. Plus, I don't think Scientologists are *100%*, crazy, either. This actually makes a certain amount of sense to me, and not unlike a lie detector.
MW3Emblems
citationz plz
J Co Then take your checkbook directly the nearest cult center and sign up.
Ah, the internet. I didn't say I want to JOIN Scientology, or that I don't think they are generally f'd up. It may not be a completely black and white issue, either. Imagine that.
J Co
It's a 100% black and white issue.
3:49 "This whole thing is complete bullshit anyway" hahahaha
i love how they ask what time period they would teleport to.. .and they all choose the past..
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jesus is all I need
Idiot. It's the SAME!
@@jojolafrite90 yes, all paths work for those that believe in them
As much as there's lots of bullshit in Scientology, that doesn't mean everything must be. I believe this device actually works perfectly fine. IF you know what to do with it - the reporter dude obviously didn't even have a clue what EXACTLY it's supposed to measure. The thing isn't technically some fruity-loopy quasi-spiritual lie detector but rather scales polarity value of central nervous system at current state of consciousness. Similar to the brainwave technology that science uses to chart brain impulses via sensors, so paralyzed patients can use computers just by using their thoughts. The device in this video is pretty much the same thing, only measures a narrower range of frequencies. Brain and central nervous system are interconnected. Whenever you're thinking negatively or positively, the physiological changes occur everywhere CNS reaches in the body, not only the brain... A good study design to really test the device would ask subjects to focus on an experience from the past or a globally debated hot issue - the meter would show how negative/neutral/positive their opinion is. As much as I love Vice, this is a bullshit bias... understand your shit a bit better before you go inflict your limited opinion on other people... At the end of the day, true is what one believes, everyone creates their own reality - you can prove and disprove anything, using a limited view, but never forget - for everything you can prove, there will always be somebody to disprove you. Peace.
It's not what the e meter does, it's how it's used. For a low price of $50 0000 you can take a scientology course to become an auditor. LOL This e meter is how they get the dirt on you and secretly video tape your audit, even Tom Cruise was filmed. The e-meter is a third of a lie detector, nothing more and we all know how controversial those are. I have a friend who passed a lie detector, but lied about everything but his name. The best mouse trap in the world is useless without the cheese. Every good scam has some validity. Did you see Current Affair's show on the e meter? It's pseudoscience. It probably costs $12 to make but sell for up to $4500. Watch : "A Current Affair - Scientology E-meter - Science or a Scam?"
***** So the more or less you sweat, the more they declare you an SP or Cleared. LOL
***** Smartpants, I'm not talking any bullshit. I didn't state what exactly they measure, I only said they measure physiological changes and not in which means. Thanks for adding the information, what you say only further supports my thesis. There are only two kinds of people, those who know that nothing is true, and those who are being manipulated by the first. There is no other reality than what each own percieves to himself. And what is SWEAT? It is, like i said, physiological change due to certain thought processes. The meter doesn't give a fuck whether you lie or not, it just measures the DEVIATION from one's percieved normality. Now interpret it how you want, I know scientologists are using this to BRAINWASH, but that's how they use the technology, now is it technology's fault that scientologists abuse it? No, technology is fine as it is, and if you don't know how to use it for yourself it doesn't mean it's useless? I hope next time you think before you jump on the hate wagon. Ciao.
jlarsena Give me any lie detectors and I will pass them too, but that's because of my self control ability, not because of lack of machine's ability to read my phisiological deviation ;)
***** you won like two comments ago, now your just being mean lol. in all honesty though that guy is an idiot spreading misinformation so you go ahead and pummel him into the ground.
Best thing about this video is that the side banner is for scientology.
seriously I'd like to know how I go about purchasing one of these as a display piece. bust it out at parties
That could be true, and I have no arguments to counter that. By the way, this is the most mature discussion I have ever had on UA-cam. No "my opinion is the only opinion that counts" or "I have an ungrounded opinion about a subject I know nothing about".
very interesting video.
Hey guys were there any OSA agents standing off on the side or in the distance watching that they didn't think to look for and capture on camera? lol
YESS!!! You saved me a whole day of thinkin' "Dayum' who does he sound like!"
if a spider bites you you will become spiderman
Feels like an episode of pawn stars "I'm rick Harrison"
The scariest thing that comes to my mind is there are people with strong influence in modern society who are heavily involved in this kind of fantasy...oh wait that kind of includes all religions too...we're doomed...
No wonder the needle reader is never shown to the subject
My friend snuck into the scientology center... They ask crazy questions, and the center reaks of burnt spaghetti. Some of the strangest people you can meet.
that bugs you that a youtube video has certain comments on it...
When you say SCIENTOLOGY out loud on a show you get a phone call from Tom Cruise and he says "Seven days..."
I want an e-meter!
Ebay
A spider on your screen is safe; it's in your field of vision and unable to attack you for the moment. It's the spiders crawling over your face and down your throat while you sleep that should worry you.
it's just a wheatstone bridge. we made one in highschool. look it up. it's registering changes in moisture of the skin. put a watch battery in your hand and see what it does.
It would look right at home in the Sick Bay from the original Star Trek
I love how they're all koi about what religion they're talking about in the beginning, and throw it all away when they say "Hubbard Electronics."
So build your own, all you need are 2 empty soda cans and radioshack components for $10. Too bad the scientology branded ones are sold for like $7000
Dude is cold lamping his E meter
"You're not supposed to have rings on but this whole thing is complete bullshit anyways so it doesn't really matter." LOL
its one of those scams which has been going on for ages. You can also control the needle by tensing muscles.
Wasn't Parsons killed by the wounds he suffered in an explosion in his home laboratory?
I wanted to see the electronics inside!
The church charges like $6000 a pop for those things lol. You can get them on ebay for like $300-1000, but in terms of what they're actually made of, you're looking at less than $50 worth of fairly simple electronics in a wonky 90s-looking plastic case.
"This is so fucking silly" lol nuff said
I can actually see a value in this device as it measures electrical resistance triggered by conscious thought, but how concisely is it used in regards to the Church of Scientology? Clearly its incapable of revealing a truth or a lie.
That thing cannot read your thoughts.
A polygraph (emeter) measures emotional responses. So you could iteratively revisit something you find emotionally difficult until you resolve that memory, i.e. you no longer have a strong emotional response to it, i.e. dual stays still. You would then be 'clear'. I can't speak for emeters but this could work with a polygraph. It would be more accurate than a therapist at reading you.
they dont work either
3:11 - 3:16 Im pretty sure he was referring to Vice's one and only Hamilton Morris...
What kind of sunglasses is Rocco wearing.. I need a new pair
It also floated up on a beach near my house in San Diego. True story.
How did you get your hands on one of these?!
Anyone know?
You can get one at eBay refurbished for just $300 .
isnt that the device they use in south park's episode about scientology? i think it's called "trapped in the closet"
Oh wow those readings are off the chart
Lol Selling a H-Bridge Ohmeter, that costs like 2$ in a hardware shop for hundreds of dollars will never be the same LOL :D
I really want a go of those machines !!!! I want to play with it !!!!
"Religious Artefact?" Like the Ark of The Covenant? I smell an Indiana Jones adventure...
"wow you got some.....energy." Lol
careful they have a big white castle and tom cruise, they're an unstoppable force! lol
He should really have taken an actual E meter reading to hear the questions the scientologists ask. Then he would've been able to figure out how certain questions bring out desirable readings, instead of having no idea what the fucking thing was doing.
Thanks!
Should have asked them questions like, "Are you human?" "Do you understand English?" and have that e-meter check if they will lie about it.
30 years???? That's the first Black person that looks waaaay older than she actually is. I am kind of happy :D
Some religions claim "A," and some religions claim "not A." Since these two statements are mutually exclusive, and since the union of "A" and "not A" is the set of all possibilities, one of those two must be correct.
Also, 3 is closer to the truth than 2 is, and mathematics is one of those crystal clear cases where we can actually say what the truth is. However, even when we can't be certain we know the truth, it is a cop-out not to try.
I like how they tip-toe around the word "Scientology".
Oh okay, glad we cleared that up :D
Don't you love when you hear about these kinds of things on Southpark first, then find out its actually real.
No, the story has to be on the verge of insane and totally believable.
how expensive is one of these e-meters?
New or refurbished ?
I'm surprised about the black people answering to "when in the past would you go?" I expected "nigga, I don't wanna go back to that shit."
I hear that they just use juice cans for the meters, and that you can get e-meters on eBay.
Take it apart and show us the internals!
didnt they have something like this in southpark with the Scientologists? haha
Hey, this was filmed in front of the Barnes and Nobles I go to. Cool.