Free Personality Test
Many brochures have been distributed around the Orlando area recently which offer a free personality test. On the front is asked the question: "Curious about yourself?" Well, maybe, but I'm more curious about the test, and the answer is that it turns out to be quite extensive—200 questions. What? Seriously. Everything is printed in type smaller than you are now reading on a piece of paper the same size—namely, 11 by 17. It is folded once in half (like Spiritual Perspectives) and then twice more by the width.
The inside page and the back panel let the reader know that these results are going to the Church of Scientology located here in Orlando. You find 57 questions on the three inside panels and 143 more on the inside when completely unfolded. That may be more than you want to know about yourself. If you answer the 200 questions and mail it in (or do it online at the scientology.org website), they will analyze your personality for you and as a bonus provide courses for you to take which will improve your personality tremendously—more than 200 points, they promise. They even provide a before and after graph.
The test is called, The Oxford Capacity Analysis Test, which makes it seem like it is an objective test from a responsible research institution. The following information may be found on Wikipedia.
The Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA), also known as the American Personality Analysis, is a list of questions which is advertised as being a personality test and that is administered for free by the Church of Scientology as part of its recruitment process. The organization offers the test online, at its local sites, and sometimes at local fairs, carnivals, and in other public settings. It has no relation to the University of Oxford, although the name may have been chosen to imply a link.
Hmm. Yes, you might think of the Oxford English Dictionary, the Oxford Annotated Apocrypha, The Oxford Companion to the Bible, the Oxford Companion to English Literature, or one of several other legitimate works. This personality test sounds as though it is officially related to Oxford University. But it is not. If you and I were making up a personality test, perhaps the first question we would ask is, "Do you think it is all right to deceive people in order to serve the higher good?"
Interestingly, some questions do deal with this topic, such as #38: "Would you admit you're wrong just to 'keep the peace'?" If the answer is yes, then in what other areas might you fudge the truth? If an object for sale was underpriced, would you pay that amount and not point out the truth? #44 asks. Later, #174 lays it on the line: "Are you usually truthful to others?" If "usually," what about the times you're not? Does this test want to know if you will deceive if the purpose is a good one?
Personality?
Are all the questions related to personality? If the following ones are, they can only be so obliquely. Number 5 asks if the one taking the test plans to have two or less children even if the couple can afford more. And that relates to personality how? This is a personal and family decision—and is not Scientology's business. Some questions also deal with a person's income. "Do you spend too freely in relation to your income?" (#176). How is that Scientology's concern?
The ninth question is: "Do you consider more money should be spent on social security?" Is this not a political question? Number 59 wants an opinion on the "prison without bars" program. Is it doomed to fail? Shouldn't they first define what it is and how it works? Another one (#170) asks if the test-taker is opposed to the "probation system"? These are not questions that are generally thought to be related to personality.
Some of the questions are ill-defined and require explanation, but there is no room for comments. One of these is number 115: "Would a disagreement affect your general relationship with another person?" Wouldn't that depend on the disagreement. If the tiff involves a matter of personal preference—what kind of car to buy or what football team to root for—then of course the relationship should not suffer. But what if a family member decided to get an abortion? Whether or not society agrees, the action is murder. What if a cousin or even a child decided to be a practicing homosexual—even knowing that the Bible teaches it is sin? What if a friend was stealing from others on a regular basis? Can we casually shrug our shoulders over such matters?
Authority
Several questions broach the subject of authority from different angles. The seventh question wants to know if the respondent would prefer not having to make decisions. A related question is #29: "Would you rather give orders than take them?" Number 31 wants to know if the reader can adhere to "strict discipline"? "Coming from whom?" one wonders. "Headquarters?"
When we get to the next question (#32), we begin to imagine strange scenarios. It asks: "Would the idea of making a complete new start cause you much concern?" Well, what does that mean? Do I have to move to Antarctica to monitor weather conditions? Will I need to give up my career in order to train Scientology converts? Will I have to divorce my wife and leave my children in order to advance within the ranks? Another related topic is #162: "Would you like to 'start a new activity' in the area in which you live?" Not necessarily. Are we being overly suspicious? Maybe, but Scientology has had quite a bit of negative news coverage, which has not been proven false.
Smart-Aleck Responses
No, I would not send these in, but what would they do if they had annotated answers to some of their questions. Below are some one might have some fun with.
#16: "Do you speak slowly?" Not as slowly as I read or type, which is why this survey is taking so long.
#21: "Do your past failures still worry you?" What past failures?
#23: "Do you resent the efforts of others to tell you what to do?" Only if they assume I'm a novice at it when I have 25 years of experience.
#27: "Do you often sing or whistle just for the fun of it?" Doesn't everybody?
#66: "Are you so self-assured that it sometimes annoys others?" I hope so.
#80: "Do you accept criticism easily and without resentment?" Sure. I'll get even later.
#82: "Are you likely to be jealous?" Of what?
#92: "Are you a slow eater?" No. I usually wolf my food down as fast as I can.
#124: "Do you often make tactless blunders?" No; they are usually calculated.
#146: "Do you have a tendency to tidy up a disorder of somebody else's household?" No. I gladly hand over that task to my friend, Adrian Monk.
#151: "Are you sometimes completely unable to enter into the spirit of things?" I let the older brother in Luke 15:25-30 handle such matters.
#163: "Would you take the necessary actions to kill an animal in order to put it out of pain?" No. I would defer to the governor of South Dakota.
#172: "In a disagreement do you find it hard to understand how the other person fails to see your side, and thus agree with you?" What do you think?
#181: "Do you often ponder over your own inferiority?" Seriously? What do you think?
#187: "Do your acquaintances seem to think more of your abilities than you do?" How would that be possible?
#196: "Do you sometimes feel that your age is against you (too young or too old)?" No. Why would I?
Probably, the Scientologists would send me a dozen or more courses to straighten me out. Or is this the type of person they want? But before filling out anything, one should ask, "What is Scientology?"
SCIENTOLOGY
Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought was written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of this cult. It is doubtful that very many people would find this book interesting.
In the introduction, the reader is told that this book is a summation "of the results of 50,000 years of thinking" (2). This way of thinking is styled as evolutionary, not revolutionary (3). In other words, this statement implies that man's thoughts have evolved to a higher level throughout time and that Scientology is a more advanced way of looking at things.
It claims not to be a political perspective (3). Some statements follow that might make Scientology appealing. Scientology is defined as "a war upon stupidity" (3). "…the real barbarism of Earth is stupidity" (3). "Ignorant people elect ignorant rulers" (4). Scientology can put man on "the track to reason." (5). "It is time men grew up" (5).
All these things sound good; unfortunately, they are about the only things that do. The introduction also promises to "change no man's religion" (6), but now Scientology has become a religion. Let's review this book and then look at other material concerning it.
Chapter one claims:
"Scientology is an applied religious philosophy" (9).
Scientology can and does change behavior and intelligence…" (10). It claims to be able to raise your IQ.
"The end result of Scientology studies and drills is a renewed awareness of self as a spiritual and immortal being" (11).
"Scientology...improves the health, ability, intelligence, behavior, skill and appearance of people" (11).
"It is a precise and exact science…" (11). Testing has proved that people who adhere to it "can be freed from their major anxieties and become brighter, more alert and more competent" (12).
"Scientology...can restore man's ability to handle any and all of his problems" (12).
"It restores people's ability to handle conditions which were once considered hopeless" (14).
It "brings them a better understanding of life" (14).
The reader should always beware of something that promises so much. Scientology claims to do mentally what Hadacol once claimed to do physically. Hadacol was touted as just about a universal cure for everything. Ray Stevens did a song about a similar product, called:
"Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated, Quick Dissolving, Fast Acting, Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills," which cured everything from neuralgia to Berry-Berry. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't (to be continued).