Hubbard would get really angry if anyone questioned the veracity of his tales-he expected to be believed unconditionally. When socializing with other science fiction writers, he told fabulous stories-the others did the same of course, but it was acknowledged that they were stretching the truth or improving the story. He truly felt entitled to do whatever he pleased, including marrying his second wife without divorcing the first one. Every single university or job application that he wrote contained what might be kindly called “exaggerations,” more realistically called fabrications. In the navy, he aspired to command, but his fellow officers recognized his incompetence early and he rarely got a chance to cause too much mayhem before being removed from that capacity.

In every area of his life, he expected to be acknowledged as a master, despite proof of the opposite. Ron Hubbard is a classic example of these criteria. Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner Being envious of others and believing others envy youġ1. Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of othersġ0. Taking advantage of others to get what you wantĩ. Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectationsĨ. Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special peopleħ. Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mateĥ.

Exaggerating your achievements and talentsĤ. Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant itģ. Having an exaggerated sense of self-importanceĢ. Let’s begin at the beginning, with the DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder:ġ.

Bare-faced Messiah by Russell Miller