KRC

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KRC: Increasing Knowledge, Responsibility and Control in a given area leads to a greater ability to remain at cause over that area.

KRC is an acronym used in Scientology that stands for Knowledge, Responsibility and Control. They are discussed together and are typically represented in a triangle in a manner analogous to the ARC Triangle. Knowledge, Responsibility and Control have an important interdependent relationship. To the degree that a person has all three of these things present with regard to a given area, endeavor, situation or subject, that person will have an increased ability to remain at cause over the situation. When one or more of these elements is missing or deficient, a person will have a decreased ability to remain at cause and will tend instead to find him or herself in the position of being the adverse effect of the situation.

KRC is a fundamental concept in Scientology. So important and frequently recurring that it could reasonably be termed a pillar of the philosophy, though it is not referred to formally as such within Scientology doctrine.

The Concept of KRC

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KRC: Increasing Knowledge, Responsibility or Control in a given area leads to an expanded ability to increase each of the other two with regard to that area.

This concept of being 'at cause' vs being 'at effect' is a core principle within Scientology. It should be noted however that the ability to be the effect of the environment is an important aspect of individual ability as well. Many auditing processes and auditor training routines are aimed at increasing an individual's willingness and ability to non-compulsively gain Knowledge of, take Responsibility for and effectively exert Control over elements of his or her environment.

Additionally, each of these three elements feed positively into one another, such that increasing knowledge in an area leads to the ability to take increased responsibility which leads to an ability to better control a given area or undertaking. (This cycle can be initiated with any of of the elements and need not begin with increased knowledge.) The fundamental point being that increasing any of these elements with regard to a given endeavor will lead to an ability to be more at cause and less at effect. Conversely a decrease in any of the elements will tend to lead to a corresponding decrease in the others and ultimately lower one's ability to be at cause in a given area.

So the presence or absence of KRC will lead to a person (or being) being 'at cause' to the degree that they are present, or 'at effect' to the degree that they are absent.

It is taught that as a person increases in his general ability level he expands his ability to utilize both ARC and KRC in increasingly broader scopes of operation. In fact, if one were to assert that the point of Scientology is to assist the individual toward having KRC and ARC in the fullest possible sense extended to the broadest possible areas of effect, one would be right by most every estimation.

KRC in Scientology Symbols

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KRC as an element of the Scientology 'S' and double triangle

The upper triangle in the primary Scientology symbol (The 'S' and double triangle) represents KRC. It is depicted as interlocking with the lower triangle, which represents ARC and both are entwined by the serpentine letter 'S' which stands for the Latin word 'scio-' meaning, 'I know'. It is taken from the infinitive 'scire' meaning 'to know'. Church of Scientology doctrine defines scio as 'knowing in the fullest sense of the word'. Whenever the two triangles appear together, the uppermost is the KRC Triangle. The KRC Triangle is nearly always depicted as hollow and should not be confused with the 4 tiered yellow and green triangle, which is the symbol for Dianetics.

KRC: a simple example

By way of illustration consider the following Scenario:

Ramesh has just started a new job as a software test engineer. He arrives on the job and quickly discovers that he is falling behind his collegues. He is not able to be as productive as his manager needs him to be. His manager begins to express disapproval in increasingly strident terms. Ramesh is in trouble. He has become the adverse effect of his job. After a quick inspection of the situation he realizes that he doesn't KNOW what is expected of him. He also realizes he doesn't KNOW how to use several important pieces of testing software.

A candid meeting with his manager gives him knowledge of what is expected and a week of late nights with his nose buried in the manuals gets him up to speed with the necessary software. Before long he is finding more bugs than an aardvark, the boss is happy and he is on his way to a promotion.

Having accepted Responsibilty for his job, Ramesh was able to acquire the Knowledge he needed to be able to Control the software necessary for him to keep the boss happy. In an upward spiralling fashion, this will allow him to accept increasing responsibility at work. When he in turn acquires the necessary knowledge he will be able to expand his scope of control toward further promotions. Instead of being the adverse effect of his job, Ramesh is now at cause.

This is a rather oversimplified example of KRC in action.

KRC across the dynamics

A very important goal in Scientology is increasing a person's abilites 'across the Dynamics'. Within Scientology the totality of a person's existence is divided into 8 areas of ever-widening scope which are collectively called The Dynamics. These divisions serve as a way of dividing life into manageable chunks that can be addressed individually and successively. The Scientology Dynamics are - from 1st to 8th: self, family, groups, mankind, living things, the physical universe, spirits and infinity (god). In Scientology the individual seeks to gain the ablity to apply KRC first over oneself (1st dynamic) then into and across one's family (2nd dynamic) continuing outward in this fashion, in increasingly wider scopes of operation, toward attainment of full KRC across all eight dynamics.

References

• Hubbard 1991. Scientology Management Series - Volume 2 (Hardback). Bridge Publications, Inc and NEW ERA Publications International ApS. ISBN 0-88404-673-7. Page 232; HCOPL 18 FEBRUARY 1972 (Executive Series 8) -- THE TOP TRIANGLE

• Hubbard 1975. Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary (Hardback). Bridge Publications, Inc and NEW ERA Publications International ApS. ISBN 0-88404-037-2. Page 224; keyword: KRC Triangle.