Volney Mathison

Dr. Volney G. Mathison was an American experimenter/hobbyist in early biofeedback, galvanic skin response technology, and psychogalvanometer (lie-detector machine) research in the 1940s and 1950s. He was also allegedly a chiropractor and an author of paranormal and science fiction books.

E-meter

Mathison discovered through experiments with early lie-detectors during the 1940s that when the subject was reminded of certain past events, the lie detector needle would fluctuate. He further determined that the degree of fluctuation was in direct proportion to the strength of the subject's reaction.

It was Mathison's idea, by way of his study of Carl Jung's theories, to create a special lie-detector for examining unconscious and subconscious reactions rather than conscious ones. This notion, however pseudoscientific, was directly appropriated by fellow science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, who enlisted Mathison to build similar devices for use in his still-developing concepts of Dianetics and Scientology. The devices were called Mathison E-meters, short for "electro-psychometer" or sometimes "electroencephaloneuromentimograph".

Mathison and Hubbard's business relationship ended in the mid-1950s, when Hubbard, who already had coerced Mathison into giving him exclusive rights to the device, now urged Mathison to transfer complete ownership of the patent. He refused. Hubbard discontinued use of the E-meter and issued a statement that read in part:

“

As we long ago suspected, the intervention of a mechanical gadget between the auditor and the preclear had a tendency to depersonalize the session.

”

Four years later, in 1958, the E-Meter returned, but it was now called the Hubbard E-Meter, with only slight modifications to the design having been made by Don Breeding and Joe Wallis. E-meters once again became an essential part of Scientology's Auditing (Scientology) process, and no further mention was made of the four-year period in which Hubbard had disavowed it.

Bibliography

Mathison authored a Science Fiction novel called Radiobuster, and also published many non-fiction books over the years on various topics, some less scientific than others:

• How to Achieve Past Life Recalls
• The Secret Power of the Crystal Pendulum
• Practical Self-Hypnosis
• Space-Age Self-Hypnosis
• The Secret of Lourdes Revealed
• Creative Image Therapy
• Electropsychometry
• The Power and Glory of Sex

References

• L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, expanded paperback edition, Bent Corydon, L.Ron Hubbard Jr., Barricade Books, 1992.
• Article from Fortnight magazine, 1953
• skepdic.com on the E-meter
• The Aberree, Vol. 8, #2, May 1961
• Early advertisements from Mathison
• List of Scientology patents, including Mathison's
• L.Ron Hubbard Jr.'s affidavit
  

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