Gadfly
Crusader
I recently posted this on another thread, and KnightVision suggested that I begin a separate thread since the subject is unique and I feel, just as KV does, that discussion of this would have value for many. Here it is with slight changes:
There is no inherent "meaning" or "value" or "correct use" in the "symbol" of ARC. That is something that people who "study" or read about ARC ASSUME, INFER and breathe INTO the notion. It doesn't exist there on its own. People who assume and infer that are glaring wonderful examples of how Scientology does what it does to believers.
It kills me how so many people ASSUME such a thing. Assuming that there is some inherent "goodness" or "meaning" in the concept of ARC. There is NOT (other than what YOU read into it). But, it isn't actually there at all. NOT AT ALL.
ARC = Understanding (LRH definition)
It can be ANY understanding. Please duplicate THAT fact. Simply, one mocks up AFFINITY, sends out some communication along the lines of some set of agreements (i.e. reality) to FORM an understanding in the receiver. The content of all of that can include ANYTHING. The concept is entirely value-neutral.
ARC operates everywhere, at all times, as a simple mechanical rule. It has no "goodness" or "badness", like a gun - it is HOW it is used. Yes, it can be interesting to examine various groups and behaviors with an understanding of how this thing known as ARC functions.
When you observe how children are taught strict fundamentalist Islam in Madrasas in Pakistan, you are observing ARC in action. There is much "love", "validation" and "likingness" aimed at young children (students). Affinity is the glue that holds anything together. The communication is relentless, as the kids sit rocking reading the Muslim texts, and the reality is formed by the agreement that is built up by incessant contact with the same type ideas and beliefs. The understanding? Well, it is what it is depending on WHAT is agreed with.
The concept of ARC is entirely amoral. It has NO slant, other than what the starry-eyed newbie Scientologist reads into it.
The notions of ARC resulting in SOME type of understanding can easily be applied to the world of advertising and PR, and whether those who practice in these fields know it in these terms, they USE "ARC" to manipulate and control the behavior of their target audiences. Madison Avenue techniques involve an endless intention and practice to develop communications, while often trumping up "affinity", that involve attitudes, ideas and beliefs that they want you to AGREE with (thus creating a "reality"), so that your UNDERSTANDING results in you handing over your hard earned dollars. Scientology, has also used it in THAT same exact way since Hubbard began the subject.
Take the notion of "hard sell". The reg sits there with his or her pack of relevant LRH issues. The reg smiles at you. The reg jokes with you about your kids. The reg really builds up that AFFINITY. You like and enjoy how it feels! Now that the comm line is GREASED with affinity (artificial or real, it doesn't matter), then the reg pulls out the "content" of Communication. "The fight is long and hard", "you are a big being", "dragons on the Bridge", "making an OT", and on and on and on, feeding you with an endless stream of "data". The purpose of all of that, of course, is simply to get you to Understand within a certain framework, so as to get whatever it is that they want from you. You come to AGREE with the various ideas, you BUY INTO the set of agreements and go along with the "realities". Understand, any reality is arbitrary. It is a mock up. There is nothing inherently right or wrong, of any value, in ANY mock up. So, you come to "understand" the "hard fight", "the heavy odds against all Scientology", "the evil nature of the world out there", "the wonders of the Scientology Bridge", and when you finally come around to UNDERSTANDING all of that, then BANG, the reg can get you to separate yourself from your hard earned dollars.
Any person who uses ARC on you desires for you to understand reality in a certain slanted manner. There is no other reason. Why? So that he or she can get whatever it is that he or she wants from you (that can be anything; sex, money, drugs, rock and roll, etc). Having ANY concern at all for whatever any other person agrees with is a FLAW of EGO. From a strict Buddhist or Taoist viewpoint, it is an additive. It is entirely artificial. Caring about what other people accept as true? To the degree that you would USE ARC as a gimmick to get them to change their agreements in alignment with your own? How horribly provincial. How so very 21st century! It is just another tool in the arsenal of modern materialistic competetive Man.
I can supply an endless stream of examples, from any aspect of life. Scientology or not. People "subconsciously" know how to use and abuse ARC, whether they were ever trained in it or not.
The purpose and use of ARC, even in Scientology, is to CREATE some sort of "understanding" in another person along some lines that YOU desire. Watching how the Church, since the early 1970s, and previously through reading what Hubbard did and how, has "applied" the concept of ARC made it clear and obvious to me how it was and remains LARGELY a TOOL of MANIPULATION.
Why do people feel a bit slimy around MLM groups, various over-the-top New Age groups, even folks like Tony Robbins. First, because the AFFINITY is so contrived. We all love each other. We all want the best for each other. We all want the "best lifestyle possible" for each other. The AFFINITY greases the machinery. I have experimented with this many times. I just mock up affinity for somebody, and IMMEDIATELY my comm and comments are more readily accepted. Of course, if you pay attention, notice what the other person "agrees with" (their reality), and gear the content of the communication along those lines while gently adding in what you WANT them to AGREE with, well it is a wonderful "tool".
But, don't mistake WHAT this tool actually is.
ALL understandings are arbitrary, relative, and biased in SOME WAY. There is no "correct", "good" or right "understanding". Put a Scientologist, a Muslim fanatic, an electro-shock therapist, a sociologist and a born-again Christian in the same room. The "understanding" of each is VERY different. There is no inherent value or meaning in the term "understanding". There are as many understandings as there are grains of sand on all the beaches of Earth. There is no value in the concept of "understanding". People commonly make THAT mistake. Whenever there is any "understanding", there is WHAT is understood. The WHAT and HOW anything is understood is FAR more important, especially in understanding the behavior of people, than the fact of any purported "understanding".
UNDERSTANDING! Oooohhhh! We all want "understanding". Give me that "top-notch" UNDERSTANDING. Lay it on me! What the fuck does the word even mean? Really? Honestly? In the end it means something VERY different to each person who makes the mistake of thinking about such concepts for more than a few seconds. LRH tricks you, as do MANY others, into adopting a conceptual system of meaning, that forever traps you from the exact moment you accept it.
There are ONLY, for me, "understandings" that most closely align with accurate observations of the related topic. The only affinity I need to "understand" ANYTHING, is my own willingness to be in the SAME SPACE as SOMETHING (true meaning of the term affinity), so that I can be there and observe what is going on.
Because ARC so much depends on "communication", usually through WORDS, it is largely a semantic artifice.
But make NO mistakes about it. It IS a TOOL used to control and manipulate the UNDERSTANDING of others. When I see any person mocking up oodles of artificial affinity, like the Jehovah's Witness ringing my doorbell, or the pretty gal trying to get me to take a personality test at some Scientology location, I see someone trying to SELL ME SOMETHING. They are "being nice" to grease the lines of communication, so that I might "agree" with whatever it is they want me to agree with, finally, so that I come to the UNDERSTANDING he or she desires of me.
Like so much of Hubbard's "data", it is applied in such a contrived manner. Just as he wrote it. Just as he intended it.
YUCK!
I find the concept of ARC useful, as a tool used to observe how various people and groups develop their own unique "understandings" about life and reality. Always realizing that these "understandings" are for the most part horribly slanted, biased, loaded with fixed ideas, and fundamentally arbitrary. When and if you get to an "understanding" that has abandoned and relinquished all bias, fixed ideas, beliefs and opinions, well it is no longer actually an "understanding". Or, at least so far from what exist in the heads of most human beings.
There is NO correct, valid, right "understanding", because any "understanding" exists in the temporary mind, based largely on some incomplete conceptual framework, of a temporary human being, on a temporary planet in a temporary universe.
The only valid way to "understand" anything is to get out and OBSERVE. That BYPASSES any need for communication in words. Also, words are loaded and VERY tricky, and are NOT the things they describe or talk about. Another reason Hubbard never described the useful aspects of General Semantics, is probably because it helps strengthen a person AGAINST the manipulative use of ARC (which Hubbard depended upon).
If you want to explore this thing known as Affinity, just go out, mock it up HARD, and aim it at everybody, equally, with no aspect of how YOU can or will use it to change somebody else's mind in some manner. Just go out and channel the inherent LOVE of the Universe, and aim it abundantly at all creation.
:dance2:
But, drop the "bringing about understanding in others" aspect of it all. ARC uses "affinity" as a way to improve manipulation and control by greasing the line of communication. As with so many aspects of Scientology, it is often horribly contrived and phony. Affinity, as practiced by Scientology and many Scientologists, exists and is inserted into the mix ONLY to shape and direct your "understanding" along some desired path. While involved in the group I was never comfortable doing such things, although looking around I saw MANY others who had absolutely no problem with it at all.
There can be "higher" and more inclusive applications of "affinity", but you will rarely find them in Scientology. The use of "affinity" in Scientology is largely a "tool". LRH talks about "bringing understanding to the people's of Earth". What he ACTUALLY means is tricking and convincing other people to accept, adopt and believe the Scientology paradigm, through the use of ARC. "Bringing understanding to the people's of the Earth" should be examined from a viewpoint of "levels of abstraction". And, WHAT "understanding"? That slogan of Hubbard's is loaded, as it tricks you into READING INTO IT your own wonderful notions about what it means. But really, it doesn't mean anything. Not outside of what I described above.
I think that people familiar with the concept of ARC can "understand" what I am describing above. I suspect that the above essay might be able to be used to help some take a step further away from the entrapment of Scientology. As always, copy and paste, send it and post it wherever you'd like.
Mystic Disclaimer: The tulpa/apparition known as L. Ron (LIPS) Hubbard never actually existed. He was an empty vessel, animated solely by dark forces. He was never "alive". So, any discussions of him, the organization he created, or the subject he was involved in are meaningless.
There is no inherent "meaning" or "value" or "correct use" in the "symbol" of ARC. That is something that people who "study" or read about ARC ASSUME, INFER and breathe INTO the notion. It doesn't exist there on its own. People who assume and infer that are glaring wonderful examples of how Scientology does what it does to believers.
It kills me how so many people ASSUME such a thing. Assuming that there is some inherent "goodness" or "meaning" in the concept of ARC. There is NOT (other than what YOU read into it). But, it isn't actually there at all. NOT AT ALL.
ARC = Understanding (LRH definition)
It can be ANY understanding. Please duplicate THAT fact. Simply, one mocks up AFFINITY, sends out some communication along the lines of some set of agreements (i.e. reality) to FORM an understanding in the receiver. The content of all of that can include ANYTHING. The concept is entirely value-neutral.
ARC operates everywhere, at all times, as a simple mechanical rule. It has no "goodness" or "badness", like a gun - it is HOW it is used. Yes, it can be interesting to examine various groups and behaviors with an understanding of how this thing known as ARC functions.
When you observe how children are taught strict fundamentalist Islam in Madrasas in Pakistan, you are observing ARC in action. There is much "love", "validation" and "likingness" aimed at young children (students). Affinity is the glue that holds anything together. The communication is relentless, as the kids sit rocking reading the Muslim texts, and the reality is formed by the agreement that is built up by incessant contact with the same type ideas and beliefs. The understanding? Well, it is what it is depending on WHAT is agreed with.
The concept of ARC is entirely amoral. It has NO slant, other than what the starry-eyed newbie Scientologist reads into it.
The notions of ARC resulting in SOME type of understanding can easily be applied to the world of advertising and PR, and whether those who practice in these fields know it in these terms, they USE "ARC" to manipulate and control the behavior of their target audiences. Madison Avenue techniques involve an endless intention and practice to develop communications, while often trumping up "affinity", that involve attitudes, ideas and beliefs that they want you to AGREE with (thus creating a "reality"), so that your UNDERSTANDING results in you handing over your hard earned dollars. Scientology, has also used it in THAT same exact way since Hubbard began the subject.
Take the notion of "hard sell". The reg sits there with his or her pack of relevant LRH issues. The reg smiles at you. The reg jokes with you about your kids. The reg really builds up that AFFINITY. You like and enjoy how it feels! Now that the comm line is GREASED with affinity (artificial or real, it doesn't matter), then the reg pulls out the "content" of Communication. "The fight is long and hard", "you are a big being", "dragons on the Bridge", "making an OT", and on and on and on, feeding you with an endless stream of "data". The purpose of all of that, of course, is simply to get you to Understand within a certain framework, so as to get whatever it is that they want from you. You come to AGREE with the various ideas, you BUY INTO the set of agreements and go along with the "realities". Understand, any reality is arbitrary. It is a mock up. There is nothing inherently right or wrong, of any value, in ANY mock up. So, you come to "understand" the "hard fight", "the heavy odds against all Scientology", "the evil nature of the world out there", "the wonders of the Scientology Bridge", and when you finally come around to UNDERSTANDING all of that, then BANG, the reg can get you to separate yourself from your hard earned dollars.
Any person who uses ARC on you desires for you to understand reality in a certain slanted manner. There is no other reason. Why? So that he or she can get whatever it is that he or she wants from you (that can be anything; sex, money, drugs, rock and roll, etc). Having ANY concern at all for whatever any other person agrees with is a FLAW of EGO. From a strict Buddhist or Taoist viewpoint, it is an additive. It is entirely artificial. Caring about what other people accept as true? To the degree that you would USE ARC as a gimmick to get them to change their agreements in alignment with your own? How horribly provincial. How so very 21st century! It is just another tool in the arsenal of modern materialistic competetive Man.
I can supply an endless stream of examples, from any aspect of life. Scientology or not. People "subconsciously" know how to use and abuse ARC, whether they were ever trained in it or not.
The purpose and use of ARC, even in Scientology, is to CREATE some sort of "understanding" in another person along some lines that YOU desire. Watching how the Church, since the early 1970s, and previously through reading what Hubbard did and how, has "applied" the concept of ARC made it clear and obvious to me how it was and remains LARGELY a TOOL of MANIPULATION.
Why do people feel a bit slimy around MLM groups, various over-the-top New Age groups, even folks like Tony Robbins. First, because the AFFINITY is so contrived. We all love each other. We all want the best for each other. We all want the "best lifestyle possible" for each other. The AFFINITY greases the machinery. I have experimented with this many times. I just mock up affinity for somebody, and IMMEDIATELY my comm and comments are more readily accepted. Of course, if you pay attention, notice what the other person "agrees with" (their reality), and gear the content of the communication along those lines while gently adding in what you WANT them to AGREE with, well it is a wonderful "tool".
But, don't mistake WHAT this tool actually is.
ALL understandings are arbitrary, relative, and biased in SOME WAY. There is no "correct", "good" or right "understanding". Put a Scientologist, a Muslim fanatic, an electro-shock therapist, a sociologist and a born-again Christian in the same room. The "understanding" of each is VERY different. There is no inherent value or meaning in the term "understanding". There are as many understandings as there are grains of sand on all the beaches of Earth. There is no value in the concept of "understanding". People commonly make THAT mistake. Whenever there is any "understanding", there is WHAT is understood. The WHAT and HOW anything is understood is FAR more important, especially in understanding the behavior of people, than the fact of any purported "understanding".
UNDERSTANDING! Oooohhhh! We all want "understanding". Give me that "top-notch" UNDERSTANDING. Lay it on me! What the fuck does the word even mean? Really? Honestly? In the end it means something VERY different to each person who makes the mistake of thinking about such concepts for more than a few seconds. LRH tricks you, as do MANY others, into adopting a conceptual system of meaning, that forever traps you from the exact moment you accept it.
There are ONLY, for me, "understandings" that most closely align with accurate observations of the related topic. The only affinity I need to "understand" ANYTHING, is my own willingness to be in the SAME SPACE as SOMETHING (true meaning of the term affinity), so that I can be there and observe what is going on.
Because ARC so much depends on "communication", usually through WORDS, it is largely a semantic artifice.
But make NO mistakes about it. It IS a TOOL used to control and manipulate the UNDERSTANDING of others. When I see any person mocking up oodles of artificial affinity, like the Jehovah's Witness ringing my doorbell, or the pretty gal trying to get me to take a personality test at some Scientology location, I see someone trying to SELL ME SOMETHING. They are "being nice" to grease the lines of communication, so that I might "agree" with whatever it is they want me to agree with, finally, so that I come to the UNDERSTANDING he or she desires of me.
Like so much of Hubbard's "data", it is applied in such a contrived manner. Just as he wrote it. Just as he intended it.
YUCK!
I find the concept of ARC useful, as a tool used to observe how various people and groups develop their own unique "understandings" about life and reality. Always realizing that these "understandings" are for the most part horribly slanted, biased, loaded with fixed ideas, and fundamentally arbitrary. When and if you get to an "understanding" that has abandoned and relinquished all bias, fixed ideas, beliefs and opinions, well it is no longer actually an "understanding". Or, at least so far from what exist in the heads of most human beings.
There is NO correct, valid, right "understanding", because any "understanding" exists in the temporary mind, based largely on some incomplete conceptual framework, of a temporary human being, on a temporary planet in a temporary universe.
The only valid way to "understand" anything is to get out and OBSERVE. That BYPASSES any need for communication in words. Also, words are loaded and VERY tricky, and are NOT the things they describe or talk about. Another reason Hubbard never described the useful aspects of General Semantics, is probably because it helps strengthen a person AGAINST the manipulative use of ARC (which Hubbard depended upon).
If you want to explore this thing known as Affinity, just go out, mock it up HARD, and aim it at everybody, equally, with no aspect of how YOU can or will use it to change somebody else's mind in some manner. Just go out and channel the inherent LOVE of the Universe, and aim it abundantly at all creation.
:dance2:
But, drop the "bringing about understanding in others" aspect of it all. ARC uses "affinity" as a way to improve manipulation and control by greasing the line of communication. As with so many aspects of Scientology, it is often horribly contrived and phony. Affinity, as practiced by Scientology and many Scientologists, exists and is inserted into the mix ONLY to shape and direct your "understanding" along some desired path. While involved in the group I was never comfortable doing such things, although looking around I saw MANY others who had absolutely no problem with it at all.
There can be "higher" and more inclusive applications of "affinity", but you will rarely find them in Scientology. The use of "affinity" in Scientology is largely a "tool". LRH talks about "bringing understanding to the people's of Earth". What he ACTUALLY means is tricking and convincing other people to accept, adopt and believe the Scientology paradigm, through the use of ARC. "Bringing understanding to the people's of the Earth" should be examined from a viewpoint of "levels of abstraction". And, WHAT "understanding"? That slogan of Hubbard's is loaded, as it tricks you into READING INTO IT your own wonderful notions about what it means. But really, it doesn't mean anything. Not outside of what I described above.
I think that people familiar with the concept of ARC can "understand" what I am describing above. I suspect that the above essay might be able to be used to help some take a step further away from the entrapment of Scientology. As always, copy and paste, send it and post it wherever you'd like.
Mystic Disclaimer: The tulpa/apparition known as L. Ron (LIPS) Hubbard never actually existed. He was an empty vessel, animated solely by dark forces. He was never "alive". So, any discussions of him, the organization he created, or the subject he was involved in are meaningless.
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