Interpreting the motions of the needle, the auditor then coaxes the subject to view a mental picture of the supposed event. The idea is that the same E-meter needle reaction will continue until the person has faced up to whatever is being repressed. In this way, the E-meter is essentially used to uncover buried thoughts or experiences on behalf of the subject. Oh yeah, I did steal a candy bar when I was eight years old. Many Scientologists are initially impressed that the auditor can apparently discover what they are thinking.
Some members come to regard the instrument with a special, almost supernatural awe.
The machine revealed what was beneath the surface of the human conscious in a precise and accurate manner, said Hubbard. For Hubbard, the needle's movements reflected a scientific precision that lent an air of credibility to the movement. The machine was the final indicator of what was true- it did not lie. The importance that Scientology places on the E-meter and how this correlates with the ideology of totalitarianism is the subject of this section. I argue that Scientology's relation toward its E-meter has come to epitomize the movement's totalitarian leaning toward technology and science.