The article below is about increasing your ability to comprehend by using a technique called word clearing. I studied for a short time some of the courses offered at the Church of Scientology. One of their courses was How to Gain More Comprehension through Word Clearing. Of all the courses I studied, this was the one that I have used the most. It certainly does work, although, if the person who has written an article or dialogue hasn’t explained themselves very well, then word clearing isn’t going to make it any easier to understand what they are trying to convey. However, if the misunderstanding is due to not being able to understand the meaning of the words used in the article or dialogue, then word clearing is very useful indeed.
A Technology to Increase Comprehension
Do you find it difficult to study? Do you fall asleep reading a book, or do you find that you don’t remember reading the last few paragraphs sometimes? Well what you are suffering from at times like these is what is called ‘going past a Misunderstood Word’. In the years following L. Ron Hubbard’s breakthrough on the importance of the misunderstood word, he developed a considerable body of technology which enables one to deal with the misunderstood words or symbols that he or she encounters.
The relay of ideas from one mind to another mind or minds depends upon words, symbols, sounds, pictures, emotions and past associations. Primary among these, in any developed culture, are words. These can be written or spoken.
While whole subjects exist concerning the development and meaning of words, many of them very learned and worthwhile, practically no work was ever done on the effect of words or the consequences of their misuse or non-comprehension.
What was not studied or known before L. Ron Hubbard’s development of study technology is that the flow of ideas in any message or field of learning can be blocked in such a way as to suppress further understanding or comprehension from that point forward. Further, the misunderstood word can even act in such a way as to bring about ignorance, apathy and revolt in the classroom and in the workplace depress productivity.
Not only did these factors remain undiscovered before Scientology, but also, of course, no technology existed to remedy the problem.
To enable a person to handle the effect of misunderstood words, L. Ron Hubbard developed the subject called Word Clearing. Word Clearing is part of the broader field of study technology, but in itself Word Clearing has many uses and applications. Word Clearing can be defined as “the subject and action of clearing away the ignorance, misunderstoods and false definitions of words and barriers to their use.” In his observations of society, Mr. Hubbard had noticed a deterioration in literacy during this century. This conclusion is inescapable if one compares the political speeches and literature of a hundred or even fifty years ago to those of today.
He noticed that the public was more and more dependent upon radio, motion pictures and television, all of which contain the spoken word, and he considered the possibility that these messages were not being fully received or understood. His observations were confirmed when an advertising association undertook a survey which showed that television audiences misunderstood between one-quarter and one-third of all the material they watched – findings with alarming implications. Not only are there serious economic consequences, as the study pointed out, wherein up to one-third of advertising expenditures are wasted owing to the fact that the public does not understand the ads; but more importantly, such a gross level of non-comprehension can generate antipathy and even aggression among viewers.
When one speaks or writes, one has the responsibility to others of being understood. Further, one has a responsibility to oneself of ensuring that he understands what he sees and hears.
L. Ron Hubbard developed nine separate methods of Word Clearing and several related technologies for handling the effects of misunderstoods and false data in a person.
Each method provides a different way of locating areas of non-comprehension, tracing this back to the mis-understood words underlying the problem and then getting these words fully understood so the person can use them in his own vocabulary.
Thousands of hours of research and hundreds of thousands of cases went into the development of these nine methods.
In the twelve or sixteen years or more that a student spends in school, the unknowing accumulation of undefined words and symbols can present a serious barrier to knowledge and productivity in life. Also, a person contacts words or symbols in everyday activities outside of the classroom which he does not understand and these, too, dull his capabilities.
With the techniques of Word Clearing, whole subjects and educations which were not understood at the time and could not subsequently be applied can be recovered and used. Such is the power of clearing misunderstood words.
Wherever communication is being engaged in, given or received, the technology of Word Clearing will find beneficial use. Study technology is a complete subject in itself and used by millions of people all over the world, in schools, universities and businesses.
Mr. Hubbard once remarked, “The future is the only frontier without limit and the frontier that we all enter and cross no matter what we do.”
Reading news headlines is enough to tell anyone that social problems are escalating in virtually every community and that these portend a bleak future. Drugs, crime, unemployment, poverty and violence are all indicators of how extensive educational failures have become. A great many of those enmeshed in such problems could have been happier, more productive individuals if they had simply learned how to learn. If used, study technology will help salvage the comprehension abilities of both our current and future generations.
How to Word Clear
Each time you find yourself not able to understand what you have just read, or falling asleep during your studies and reading, go back over the previous paragraphs that you have just read and find the word that you don’t have full comprehension of. There will be one word somewhere along the way that tripped you up in your ability to understand what is written from that point on. If you get out your dictionary and look up the meaning of that one word and then put that word into various sentences in your mind until you understand both its meaning and how to use that word, then you will find that the next few pages become clear again. You will become bright and attentive once more after clearing the misunderstood word. All you need is a good dictionary that you keep with you whenever you are reading or studying.
Successes from Application
I have had many wins using L. Ron Hubbard’s study technology. During high school and college I got average grades. I would fall asleep while studying and I wouldn’t retain much of what I learned. When I learned the study tech, it turned my studying around. I learned more, understood the material much better and I could use what I learned.
I now know what’s happening when I start to fall asleep and I know how to handle it. J.L.
Learning about the three barriers to study, I experienced those obstacles and it was simply amazing. The physical and mental realities, even when you are watching out for the signs and symptoms, are a real challenge.
My experience reminded me of all the times in my school years.
On retrospect I realized what my challenges had been all those years ago. It was almost mind-blowing to see that, although a third of my life had been spent in school, I had never been taught how to learn in the first place. G.K.
I spent twenty-four of twenty-eight years of my life in school and never learned how to study. Anything I learned up to that point was not under my control at all. I was lucky to learn what I did. Now I can learn anything as long as I apply L. Ron Hubbard’s study technology. I can understand things now that I would not have been able to a couple of months ago! J.L.
I just finished my Student Hat course and I feel great about it. My trouble in school was that I never knew how to study. I was always a kid with cheat sheets in the desk and instead of writing a report by myself, I’d copy the data verbatim from the source.
I now know how to study—and if someone can learn to study then they can learn anything they want to and do it. I never knew before how important proper study technology is, but now I love it. I’d never be without it. E.B.M.
