What's inside a $5000 Scientology E-Meter? [motherboard.vice.com]
It's a galvanometer which measures electrical resistance. If a question makes you sweat the moisture and salts in the sweat reduce the electrical resistance and the needle on the dial moves.
It's a rudimentary lie detector. L. Ron Hubbard had a big problem with psychiatry. This machine was created as a pseudo scientific replacement. They ask questions and the machine reacts to physical responses. This leads to more questions and more analysis. On and on it goes until you become "clear". I only know this from a couple of Hubbard biographies I read. He was also obsessed with the Navy and had tax issues so he lived on an old large boat. The fascinating part of his story to me is how Scientology was able to gain tax exempt status by harassing several IRS agents (followed them around) and filed frivolous law suits until the agency surrendered.
The thought "who gives a fuck" springs to mind. Obviously, the people at motherboard.com do ( or nobody ha a better idea for an article)
The article was a bit low on real content, that is for sure, I was hoping on a more thorough examination of the actual techniques it uses to measure things.
I think it is nothing more than an ohmmeter.
Plus an ooh- and aah-meter.
I think that's exactly correct. I remember reading or watching a doc about someone that was being audited, they discovered that by flexing their leg muscles, they could cause responses on the e-reader. I believe they used that method to guide the auditor into seeing whatever they wanted them to see.
It's not a lie detector, although may be designed like one, but since lie detectors don't actually detect lies anyway...they're just as useless.