1. The first corner of the triangle is called affinity. The most basic definition is the consideration of distance, whether good or bad. The word affinity is used with the triangle to mean love, liking, or other emotional attitude with the context: "degree of liking". Under affinity we have the various emotional tones of the Tone Scale (at right) which is integral to a person's behavior and to their degrees of "liking".
2. The second corner of the triangle is reality. Reality could be defined as "that which appears to be". Reality is fundamentally agreement. What we agree to be real is real.
3. The third corner of the triangle is communication. Communication is the solvent for all things--improving affinity and reality OR dissolving and destroying same.

The ARC Triangle is conceived to be very spacious at the level of serenity and completely condensed at the level below apathy (the level of inanimate matter--nothing, no affinity, no shared reality, no communication).

Affinity, Reality, and Communication are the basis of the Tone Scale. The ARC Triangle is not equilateral, rather affinity and reality are very much less important than communication. Among the ARC Triangle laws, a communication to be received must approximate the affinity level of the person to whom it is directed. If there is a wide variation of affinity and reality, the communication will be ineffective because A, R, and C rise and fall in unison. It is impossible for a "conservative" or "enthusiastic" personality to effectively communicate with a "covert hostility" or a "fear" personality, and vice-versa. There must be a common affinity and reality for communication to be effective.

A serene person has large capacity for life and great affinity for all of life--recognizing things as they truly are (reality) and communicating easily--both comprehending and effectively (without misunderstandings) sharing thoughts with others who are high in tone.

A conservative person typically has some skepticism and may even "reserve judgment" in dealing with some people, but generally is able to share the "reality" expressed by others at or above his tone using fairly effective communication.

At antagonism and below, a person, to varying degrees, will not trust others and may even invalidate them or may work against affinity by lying (the lowest form of communication, promoting an irreconcilable difference in realities).

Descending "down tone" is the result of a "dwindling spiral"--a phenomenon of the ARC Triangle whereby when one breaks some affinity, agreement in reality goes down a little bit, and then communication goes down (perhaps as an argument:ANGER--or even lying:FEAR or COVERT HOSTILITY). This break in affinity makes it impossible to get affinity as high as it was before... thus a little more loss of affinity with further reduction in reality (radically different perceptions of the same situations) and further reduction in communication (yelling and lying). This is the dwindling spiral in progress until it hits the bottom which is no positive affinity (no love), no communication (silence or via non-verbal), and no shared reality (no relationship).

People who are low in tone (including liars and manipulators of facts) become incapable of communication, even though they may "talk". They do not understand the reality that a higher tone person is attempting to share (perhaps so fearful as to be incapable of comprehending reality or so insidious as to be trying to manipulate circumstances). They also are ineffective in communicating their own thoughts such that their statements may invalidate the other person or may suddenly "change the subject" ("Oh yeah, well what about..."). These individuals may seem erratic, and their "talk" be peppered with bizarre references or lies trying desperately to avoid the obviousness of their wrongness. The worst examples of this can be seen in neurotic or even psychotic persons intermingling wildly irrelevant chatter in any attempted discourse (such people may be labeled schizophrenic, or worse).

Another key characteristic of such a low-toned person is that they expect they always should be forgiven without any requirement that they correct or amend their wrongs and their promises are not typically trustworthy. Additionally, the high-toned person has an expansive and far more accurate view of reality while the low-toned person has a distorted, very limited view of reality, drawing conclusions that they would not deduce if their understanding of reality was not aberrated. Since A, R, and C rise and fall together, the ability to communicate and share a common affinity is impossible between such persons and a correlated gulf exists between them in perceptions of reality.

A key factor is the lower toned person's desperate attempt to be "right" (see other essay) in the face of what they perceive to be an "attack". In this case, the higher tone person must diffuse the situation, perhaps even by complete withdrawal, so that the lower tone person can be "right" without further degradation. With the end of communication and irreconcilable realities, there may be the loss of any positive relationship. Repairing such damage can only occur with a rise in tone, though a future repair may never restore the original level of ARC nor the original relationship.

As people or whole nations descend down the tone scale, effective communication becomes more and more difficult and things with which they can find agreement become more and more solid (perceptions and concepts are nearly impossible to agree, only borders and clinched fists). Thus we have friendly discourse high on the tone scale, with arguments/penalties as we go "down tone", descending to fights/skirmishes, ultimately arriving at war at the bottom of the tone scale.

On the personal level, the dwindling spiral leads to differences in objectives, arguments, invalidation, lies, and loss of affinity and reality such that no relationship can exist.

On the national level, when the affinity level equals hate, the agreement of reality is limited to solid matter and the communication is bullets and bombs.

You see, lively and endearing communication exists at the highest level of the tone scale where affinity is a grand degree of "like" and reality is nearly perfectly shared with other people's perceptions of the universe in which we live. And at the other end of the tone scale, communication occurs even in the absence of spoken words. Non-verbal communication is also communication, and on the personal level can be a divorce proceeding handled by lawyers or on a national level can be weapons handled by soldiers.

What is needed for improving ARC? A rising tone level. One must rise above FEAR in the direction of SERENITY seeking the most spacious and beneficial ARC Triangle. This may take a long time and is impossible without assistance, but the benefits can begin immediately because along the way, one will find improving happiness in life, better understanding of reality, and more accurate reception of other people's efforts toward communication as well as one's own continually improving methods of communicating.

Where to begin? Start with The Emotional Tone Scale and Science of Survival by L. Ron Hubbard

See also: Tools for Life, Psychiatry Exposed, The Way To Happiness, Emotional Tone Scale, Ethical Living, Confusion in Work and Life