FDS: Theory

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*Words or phrases marked with an asterisk are explained in footnotes.

False Data Stripping was originally issued by L. Ron Hubbard in 1978. There is an online article linked here written by Clearbird*, which captures the essence of Hubbard's writing. This Clearbird article was the main source of the wording of the procedure used in the PaulsRobot FDS module. The article below is Clearbird's article, with slight editing and the technical lingo changed to make it comprehensible to normal people.

False Data Stripping

FDSing is a great tool in training and in educating somebody on the job. Many jobs have a lot of written materials with duties, procedures and know-how which the staff member has to know very well in order to perform efficiently. Along with word clearing*, FDSing is a valuable tool used in getting somebody capable of doing this.

False Data Come off in Layers

It will be found that false data come off little by little. You can have a student who handled some false data concerning a particular procedure and it appears it is all out of the way. He happily goes on with his studies and makes good progress for a while. Then at some point things seem to slow down or he runs into difficulties again. This is usually because more false or conflicting data are beginning to surface. The procedural role-playing [drilling] or study has brought them up to the surface. As the student gets more familiar with a subject or action new areas can get activated, and new confusions will appear. This can happen several times as he gets further and further into a subject.

Thus it can be necessary to redo the FDSing and get off these new and deeper layers of false or conflicting data. It can be repeated as often as necessary on any specific area. Finally, all these old data will be handled and the student is capable of understanding and doing the subject in its own right and free of these old or wrong ideas.

Theory

There is a philosophical background of why it is necessary to get off false data in a field, and why it is very difficult to teach somebody something over false data. The Greek philosopher, Socrates, (470 B.C. - 399 B.C.) formulated the famous formula about thesis plus anti-thesis leading to synthesis.

The Thesis is a statement or view. The Anti-thesis is an opposing statement or view.

Socrates used this to describe a debate. You had one party stating a certain view or statement. The other party would state an opposing view or statement. According to Socrates this would bring about a new idea: the synthesis. This is used in formal logic up to modern times. It works well in debate. When things are discussed in depth they can usually be sorted out. In training, old uninspected ideas can have some disastrous consequences.

If a person has learned a false thesis (or datum), the true datum becomes the anti-thesis. The true datum gets up against the false datum and hangs up there. This happens on a sub-conscious level.

In other words, the two data collide and neither of them will make sense. You don't necessarily get a synthesis. You can simply end up with two data in opposition and conflict. The datum the student is trying to learn is in plain view. The other is an old and sort of hidden datum that can generate all kinds of troubles in his thinking.

You can end up with:

An attempt to use a false, unworkable synthesis the student has formed, or
his ability to think in the area is being prevented.

In both cases you get a student who it is impossible to get through a subject or who is impossible to train on the job.

Glib* Students

There is a thing known as a 'glib student'. It is a student who can repeat everything verbatim and yet can't demonstrate any practical ability in a subject. It is all glib memorizing with little or no real understanding.

His basic understanding and participation is blocked by a consideration like 'nothing works anyway, but I can at least get a pass and please the professor'.

The less a person can confront*, the more false data he is likely to accumulate. The 'syntheses' usually adds up to complexities and the person has now a very complex subject to deal with. He has a battle in his mind between false data and true data and an inability to determine which is which. Result: he seems really dumb and incapable in the subject.

To be able to have a teachable student, you need to cure him of all these complexities and additives*. The first thing is of course to find and clear misunderstood words. But often this isn't enough. It is also necessary to find and strip the false data off a subject. Most of the time, these false data will be earlier in time than the true data. They are more basic in his conscious or subconscious memory. By locating them and stripping them away the whole subject can suddenly open up and now be understood.

Open to False Data

Some students are more prone to accept false data than others. This can stem from harmful acts committed prior to accepting the false data. The false data is made into a justification for the harmful act.

Example: A student is doing a poor job studying. He goes past misunderstood words in the subject, he cheats at exams and finally he drops the subject completely. Then somebody comes along and says that the subject is useless and destructive. He will immediately hold on to this datum or view as it helps him justify his earlier wrong actions related to the subject. He will use this view as a 'make wrong'.

If you see somebody who is very prone to accepting false data in a certain area or subject, the answer is to check him out for and get him to tell any prior harmful acts he has committed or things he is not talking about in relation to the subject. With those out of the way the person is less prone to accept any false data in the future.

Approach

It is not always possible to detect false data by simply asking for them. After all, the person thinks of them as true. Therefore you have to approach it a little differently: You ask if there is anything in the subject under discussion that he couldn't think with, which didn't seem to add up or seems to be in conflict with the materials he is trying to study.

The false data themselves tend to stay buried and out of sight. The approach above will however locate them indirectly. When a false datum has been located, it is dealt with by addressing it with a basic procedure that works at the simple recall level. Although light, this procedure can be very powerful. It directs the student's attention directly to the incident where the false datum was received and it will blow [disappear, vanish, its effects dissipate]. He is made to recall the datum and the circumstances under which he received or accepted that datum. Doing that, he can now sort out the confusion rationally.

*Clearbird: A highly-trained Scio who has written and put online an extensive treatment of the main Scn procedures and how to do them properly
*word clearing: clearing the meanings of misunderstood and not-understood words
*glib student: as defined in the text, it is a student who can repeat everything verbatim and yet can't demonstrate any practical ability in a subject. It is all glib memorizing with little or no real understanding.
*confront: in Scn use means "face without flinching, tolerate easily," without the aspect of challenge in the regular English usage.
*additive: something extra added in that reduces the overall effectiveness. It is never good.
*misunderstood words (mu's): mu's can create physiological effects, like going foggy or even going to sleep.
*go past misunderstood words: the idea is that a good student will clear up any misunderstood or not-understood words as he goes along, and not skip any through laziness or inattention
*make wrong: make someone guilty, whether they deserve it or not. For example, a make-wrong of a mugging victim could be, "You got mugged? You must have done something really bad to pull that in!"

Notes:

Procedure

[Note that you don't need to remember this procedure, as PaulsRobot will be applying it. But you do need to understand how it is being used, so that when PaulsRobot asks you a question, you will know how to answer it. The original article was written from the viewpoint of the reader applying FDSing to another person, "the student" above. This section on the procedure has been rewritten slightly to reflect the idea of you receiving FDSing from PaulsRobot, not you applying the FDSing procedure to another.]

A. The first step is to determine if you need this procedure. Look at these factors:

You don't seem to understand the on-the-job training or can't be educated on a subject.
No crashing misunderstood words [pivotal misunderstood words that completely crash a person in an area, and yes, they can exist!] can be found in the subject. Yet from the symptoms they are probably there.
You are not understanding the materials [books, texts, lectures etc.] you have studied or are incapable of applying them correctly even after word clearing [various procedures for finding and clarifying words that have been misunderstood and are hindering a person's understanding and ability to act in the area] on the materials.
You are rejecting the data you are learning or the definitions of words being cleared.
You have studied earlier materials on the subject at hand that could contain incorrect data.
You quote such sources repeatedly and have a hard time with the materials at hand.
You are glib.
You are afraid of actually applying the data, even after word clearing.
You are bogged.
You can't think with the data.

B. Isolate what materials you can't grasp or apply. The materials must be at hand. You must have some familiarity with these materials, of course.

C. [Not applicable with PaulsRobot]

D. If the FDSing is being given for the first time, you need to clear the idea of false data. Give several examples to ensure you get it.

E. The below questions are used to uncover the false data. They need to be cleared [clarified as needed; any misunderstanding or confusions removed] before you do an actual FDSing session.

Clear them all now, one by one. In the actual session, when one of them uncovers false data you go on to the handling step (F) below.

"Is there anything you have run across in (subject) which you couldn't think with?"
"Is there anything you have encountered in (subject) which didn't seem to add up?"
"Is there something you have come across in (subject) that seems to be in conflict with the material you are trying to learn?"
"Is there something in (subject) which never made any sense to you?"
"Did you come across any data in (subject) that you had no use for?"
"Was there any data you came across in (subject) that never seemed to fit in?"
"Do you know of any datum that makes it unnecessary for you to do a good job on this subject?"
"Do you know of any reason why a bad product is alright?"
"Would you be made wrong if you really learned this subject?"
"Did anyone ever explain this subject to you verbally?"*
"Do you know of any datum that conflicts with standard texts on this subject?"
"Do you consider you really know best* about this subject?"
"Would it make somebody else wrong not to learn this subject?
"Is this subject not worth learning?"

F. When you give an answer to one of these questions, you then try very hard to locate the false datum:

PaulsRobot will ask: "Have you been given any false data regarding this?" You must then carefully look for, and locate any false datum. You may have to look around a bit; after all, you may see them as true. Look very thoroughly for any false datum.

If you give a false datum directly in answer to a (step E) question above, PaulsRobot will go ahead to G, the handling.

G. When the false datum has been found, PaulsRobot will ask the following:

"Where did this datum come from?" (Could be a book, person, web, TV, etc.)
"When was this?"
"Where exactly were you at the time?"
"Where was (book, person, etc.) at the time?"
"What were you doing at the time?"
If the source was a person: "What was (the person) doing at the time?"
"How did (book, person, etc.) look at the time?"
8. If the datum has not blown with the above questions, PaulsRobot will ask: "Is there an earlier similar false datum or incident on (subject)?" and handle per Steps 1-7.

PaulsRobot will continue with these steps, including earlier similar false data as needed, until the false datum has blown.

You would not continue past the point where the false datum blows.

H. When you have handled one false datum to a blow per (G) above, you would go back to the detection step (E) and ask the hot question again. If there are more answers to that question, you proceed with the location/handling steps (F/G). You keep going until there are no more answers on that question. Then you go down the detection questions list to find more.

At some point you may feel the whole subject has been cleared. That would of course be the end point for FDSing on the subject for now.

I. (Not applicable for a PaulsRobot session.)

J. (Not applicable for a PaulsRobot session.)

K. Study or restudy the subject that was dealt with.

Indications that the end point has been reached

When the above is done fully on an area the person had difficulties with, he will end up being able to understand and apply and think with the data. The false data will have been cleared away and the person's thinking freed up. When this happens, no matter where in the procedure, you end off the FDSing on that subject. He will have realizations and be bright and shiny. This is not the end of all FDSing for that person. It is the end of that FDSing at that particular time. As the student continues to work with and study that subject, he will learn more about it and may again collide with false data, at which time one can repeat the above process.

Note

A student's faith or respect for a certain author or source of information can sometimes make it hard for him to see any false data coming from that source.

It takes persistence and cunning to get around this sometimes, but it pays off.

Misunderstood words and FDSing

Misunderstood words can often turn up during an FDSing session. They should simply be cleared when they do and you just continue with FDSing. They can tie in with false data in different ways and shouldn't be ignored.

Repeated Use

As mentioned in the beginning, false data often come off in layers. If the student has repeated difficulties with some materials or a drill, you would simply continue (repeat) the FDSing on the area. There will most likely be more false data available to be picked up.

FDSing and other sessions

If somebody is upset, critical or worried, it means a regular PaulsRobot Core session should be done to deal with these issues first.

Don't push it beyond 'Datum blown'. That is the end point you are going for. Keep it light and don't go past this point trying for some deeper resolution.

Summary

FDSing is a great additional tool in training. It is a supplement to word clearing. It should be done after word clearing on the subject has been completed.

*verbal data: There is a strong emphasis in Scn of not just explaining something verbally to someone, but instead one should refer the asker to the relevant "official" text.
*know-best: The concept is of someone not following the recommended procedure but doing it their own way (knowing best), leading to a worse result. It is never used in Scn to mean actually knowing better than the official text.