Talk:E-meter

To add to article

To add to this article: at least a brief mention of the "floating needle" (F/N) phenomenon. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 17:26, 13 August 2022 (UTC)

Why? What is the connection to the E-meter and which reliable source makes that connection? --Hob Gadling (talk) 20:20, 13 August 2022 (UTC)

The floating needle is one of the needle reactions of the meter. It indicates a few things, but mainly it is "the" needle reaction that is required to manifest in order to end an auditing session. It is described in various books. I found this one today.   ▶ I am Grorp ◀ 10:54, 28 January 2024 (UTC)

References

Confusing

With what seems like earlier editors' attempts to ridicule the topic of the e-meter, this article has become more "what it is not", and fails to clearly describe "what it is". The article was (and should be) intended to describe the Scientology device (WP:DUE)—keep its title in mind. Though it could still mention "other similar devices" or "non-Scientology uses", one must keep in mind WP:DUEWEIGHT.

I made some changes (rearranged sections) with the goal of an outline like this:

• Lead (need rewriting)
• Overview (keeping it brief, cover what is it, who uses it, how is it used, why it was invented)
• History
  • Mathison (cover Mathison's invention)
  • Hubbard (cover Hubbard's association/participation with the invention or ongoing modifications)
  • Earlier use of potentially similar devices (as an aside, because none were part of the e-meter's invention)
• Use in Scientology (put a little more detail than the overview of how it is used)
• Technical description (put all the electronics/geeky stuff here)
• Legal issues

That last section titled "Scientology beliefs and theories" is mostly uncited, heavy on the quotes, and I'm not really sure what the purpose of it was. Other things of note: The constant use of "EDA" is odd, since all the sources called it a "galvanometer"; I suspect EDA is coming from the "what it is not" category of sources. The article is also heavy on quotes.

  ▶ I am Grorp ◀ 09:51, 28 January 2024 (UTC)

Capitalization

The trademarked term is spelled "E-Meter". I thought that "e-meter" would be the general term as written, but no. Every Hubbard or Church of Scientology source, from very early to recent, seems to have capitalized it as "E-Meter". There are 104 instances of "e-meter" in the article, with varying capitalization. Perhaps we should standardize it to "E-Meter", unless it is used in a quote which capitalizes it differently.   ▶ I am Grorp ◀ 10:47, 28 January 2024 (UTC)

Interesting source

I found this source today. Very interesting. Lots of photos. It looks like a composite of excerpts from many other sources. Doubtful it could be used as a citation (non-RS), but it might be useful for information... and then a more reliable source found.

• https://jamieallen.com/media/pages/activities/recomposing-the-e-meter/ddaac16268-1641507562/recomposingtheemeter.pdf

  ▶ I am Grorp ◀ 11:03, 28 January 2024 (UTC)

A 'secular' or 'scientific' perspective is needed.

Whilst explaining Scientologist's perspective and understanding on the device is an important part of the article, as a Wikipedia article, it needs a 'secular' or 'scientific' section to this page too which I find is lacking. This is something that really needs to be expanded upon. 203.211.79.70 (talk) 12:06, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, the page is an over-detailed monstrosity in much need of simplifying/clarifying. Can you elaborate on what you mean by 'secular or scientific'?   ▶ I am Grorp ◀ 20:45, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

The article is all too credulous and seems to not achieve the balance that other fringle articles do when documenting quackery 66.41.165.13 (talk) 06:55, 28 March 2024 (UTC)