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The following first appeared in the private email list IVy-subscribers,
which is available to all those who subscribe to the
printed magazine, International Viewpoints.
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All about Service Facsimiles
by Phil Spickler
31 Jan 2000


The following is dedicated to  all those that have, or have had, or will have
service facsimiles.

       Possibly the earliest mention of the service facsimile as part of a
book occurred in 1951, with the publication of _Advanced Procedures and
Axioms_.  In its first edition it was kind of a big softcover thing, very
thin, less than 100 pages, and as I have previously mentioned, a very intense
book that never became extremely popular -- something Ron blamed on the fact
that it took on the subject of responsibility with a bang; and one of the
centerpieces of this little book is the subject of service facsimiles.  What
follows it the definition of Service Facsimile as given in the Glossary

      "A definitely non-survival situation contained in a facsimile which is
called into action by the individual to explain his failures.  A Service
Facsimile may be one of an illness, an injury, an inability.  The facsimile
begins with a down emotional curve and ends with an upward emotional curve.
Between these it has pain.  A service facsimile IS the pattern which is the
chronic 'psychosomatic illness.'  It may contain coughs, fevers, aches,
rashes, any manifestation of a non-survival character, mental or physical.
It may even be a suicide effort.  It is complete with all perceptions.  It
has many similar facsimiles.  It has many locks.  The possession and use of a
service facsimile distinguishes a Homo sapiens.

       SERVICE FACSIMILE CHAIN.
      The entire chain of similar incidents which comprise the total
repertoire of the individual who is thus explaining failure and thus seeking
support."

       Well, there you have it, folks.  There, circa 1951, is an early, if
not the earliest, definition of the term Service Facsimile.  I highly
recommend to anyone who can obtain a copy of this little book that they
should read it, since there's quite a bit in it that is just as timely today
as it was in 1951, and at the very least is useful for analytically
evaluating not only fellow contributors to the IVy list but also I think
gives great insight into the evolution of L. Ron Hubbard himself and the
church he spawned that still embodies many of the heaviest service facsimiles
that never got handled in the case or cases of L. Ron himself.

       The little book has in it some really handy stuff that you can have a
lot of fun with, such as Self-Determinism Processing, Justice, Effort
Processing, Types of Cases (this is a really handy one that we used to have a
lot of fun with), the Emotional Curve, as well as an interesting analysis of
self-determinism.

       As the years of Dianetics and Scientolgy swept by, the notion of the
service facsimile continued to re-appear, with new permutations and
definitions that allowed for more ways of getting at the subject; but as
anyone that has had a chance to examine their own service facsimile(s) and/or
chains will attest, it's definitely an auditing approach that makes great
leaps and bounds in the direction of being able to operate along the life
dynamics without the need of causing or needing to explain failure on all the
flows.

       But enough for now!  In soon-to-appear future postings, I propose to
take up some of the later definitions, descriptions and procedures for
dealing with the service facsimile, and hopefully carry that theme as close
to present time as possible.  I'll leave you with one of my favorite and
oft-repeated paraphrases of an LRH quote: "Being a human being is a spiritual
being's service facsimile, since it offers the immortal the ability to
provide excuses for failure or disability whenever called for."  In other
words, to be human is the basic aberration for an immortal nothingness.

      I now add the following as my own opinion: the above may all be
perfectly true, but so what?  Being human is also a tremendous kick, and if
you never have been, you ought to try it some time.  I'll now pull my tongue
out of my cheek, and bid you a fond au revoir for now --
      Phil