Anonymous asked this question on 4/20/2000:

Why did Lron have to lie about his military record, his education, his "research", his accomplishments, his marriages, and in fact, his entire life?

desertphile gave this response on 4/20/2000:

You keep asking questions that would take a great deal of time and energy to answer. [smiling!] I wish there was a simple answer to that, but there is not: the psycho-dynamics and the economic dynamics are too complex.

Ron Hubbard "had to" lie because it appears that he suffered from a very poor sense of self-worth. He felt he was not good enough, so he had to "expand" on his accomplishments. It seems that even he got carried away with his tall tales and may have even started to believe them, there towards the end of his life. That need to lie about himself, by the way, showed up very early in his life. He often told tales about how he was a "blood brother" to Indians, or "advised the President of the United States."

The general patter shows one of narcism and a sociopathology. His sexual dysfunction may have been primary or secondary to these major problems.

At a penny a word (when he could get it), and from being such a poor writer, he turned his imagination towards the "self help" field where his lies were accepted by desperate people looking for a simple, cheep alternative to real help.

The "short answer" to your question "Why did Hubbard have to lie" is:

1) It gratified his ego, which desperately needed it.

2) It filled his pocket with millions and millions of dollars.

The average rating for this answer is 4.7.

Anonymous rated this answer a 5.

Finally, an honest answer!