Tone Scale in Full
1. A scale of human emotion. The full scale ranges from negative 40.0 all the way up to positive 40.0. From the most negative emotions at the bottom to the most positive emotions at the top, this is the most-used gradient scale in Scientology.
If you are new to the Tone Scale, the abridged version will probably be more useful to start with.
The Tone Scale is one of the most important tools an auditor has. When auditing a preclear, an auditor gauges the preclear’s tone level. Knowing where a preclear is on the tone scale helps an auditor and case supervisor determine what processes can be most beneficial to the preclear.
Understanding emotions and how they can apply to people or situations takes a lot of practice and knowledge. This scale may raise more questions than it answers at first glance.
Each level of this scale is referred to as an Emotional Tone or Tone Level or Affinity Level.
Why the word ‘tone’? In physics, tone refers to the vibrations of things. Each tone level has its own vibration that corresponds to the physical universe. (Ref: Tape Lecture Number 5904C08)
The Tone Scale is meant to be used. Not just in auditing, but in daily life. Anyone can benefit from learning about the tone scale. Doing so helps one understand and predict the behavior of the people around them better. This understanding can enable better and more meaningful relationships with the people in your life.
Tone Levels can apply to short term or long term scenarios:
Social Tone Level refers to the more polite veneer people use in social interactions when it isn’t considered appropriate to get into deeper interactions.
Acute Tone Level refers to a temporary Tone Level caused by circumstances. For example, a normally happy person will experience sadness when someone they love dies. And a normally sad person can experience short-term happiness when they get a raise. Acute Tone Levels generally last somewhere between minutes and days. Then the person will revert to their chronic tone level.
Chronic Tone Level refers to a person’s habitual tone level in most areas of life. A person may not obviously exhibit this tone in daily interactions.
Band or Range on the Tone Scale—people will move on the tone scale within a narrow band or range. Sometimes one refers to a tone level by saying something like, “James is in the anger band,” or “Julia’s tone hovers in the conservative range.”
Examples of Tone Levels in life:
A. Linda likes to play it safe in the workplace. She doesn’t want to rock the boat, but she wants to do a good job. She’s not brave or confident enough to innovate or make suggestions to improve things, but she can learn what her boss wants and provide that. At work, Linda is at a tone level of Conservatism.
When Linda goes home, she takes care of her mother who has Alzheimer’s. Understandably, this is a tough situation for Linda to deal with. She may rotate through emotions like Resentment, Despair, and Grief over her mom’s situation and feeling trapped caring for her mom. The longer the situation with Linda’s mom goes on, the more likely it will start to effect Linda in other areas of life. Her overall tone level will start to drop, so she may get bored or even angry with customers.
B. Jacques, like so many of us, acts a little higher-toned when he goes to social events. He comes across as Cheerful and Enthusiastic. But after the evening comes to a close and Jacques goes home, a more realistic tone level reveals itself. Jacques harbors some unhappiness from his childhood and takes it out on his family at home. In his home environment he often snaps at his kids impatiently and treats his wife with disdain. Sometimes, he even screams at them until they cower away. Jacques’ tone level toward his family is Hostility and occasionally drops to Anger.
If an auditor started working with Jacques, they might uncover some causes of his unhappiness. Because Jacques’ own father used to verbally and physically abuse him and his mother and siblings, Jacques has an underlying tone level of Fear that affects everything he does in life. After some auditing that addresses these childhood incidents of abuse, Jacques begins let go of the underlying Fear and no longer feels compelled to treat his own family so poorly.
In order to best understand a person or situation, you want to determine their Chronic Tone Level.
The Tone Scale in Full is below. To learn more about the Tone Scale, a good reference is The Chart of Human Evaluation. Column A gives you the numbers associated with emotions. Columns F and G are good for initial study. For in-depth information on the 0-4 range of this scale and all the columns of The Chart of Human Eval, read Science of Survival (SOS).
40.0 ….. Serenity of Beingness
30.0 ….. Postulates
22.0 ….. Games
20.0 ….. Action
8.0 ….. Exhilaration
6.0 ….. Aesthetic
4.0 ….. Enthusiasm
3.5 ….. Cheerfulness
3.3 ….. Strong Interest
3.0 ….. Conservatism
2.9 ….. Mild Interest
2.8 ….. Contented
2.6 ….. Disinterested
2.5 ….. Boredom
2.4 ….. Monotony
2.0 ….. Antagonism
1.9 ….. Hostility
1.8 ….. Pain
1.5 ….. Anger
1.4 ….. Hate
1.3 ….. Resentment
1.2 ….. No Sympathy
1.15 ….. Unexpressed Resentment
1.1 ….. Covert Hostility
1.02 ….. Anxiety
1.0 ….. Fear
.98 ….. Despair
.96 ….. Terror
.94 ….. Numb
.9 ….. Sympathy
.8 ….. Propitiation
.5 ….. Grief
.375 ….. Making Amends
.3 ….. Undeserving
.2 ….. Self-Abasement
.1 ….. Victim
.07 ….. Hopeless
.05 ….. Apathy
.03 ….. Useless
.01 ….. Dying
0.0 ….. Body Death
-0.01 … Failure
-0.1 … Pity
-0.2 … Shame
-0.7 … Accountable
-1.0 … Blame
-1.3 … Regret
-1.5 … Controlling Bodies
-2.2 … Protecting Bodies
-3.0 … Owning Bodies
-3.5 … Approval from Bodies
-4.0 … Needing Bodies
-5.0 … Worshiping Bodies
-6.0 … Sacrifice
-8.0 … Hiding
-10.0 … Being Objects
-20.0 … Being Nothing
-30.0 … Can’t Hide
-40.0 … Total Failure
(Ref: HCOB Tone Scale in Full, 25 SEPT 1971RB)
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