Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

there’s an old saying, “Man is the only creature that could turn a window into a mirror.”

When we think about instincts, most of us accept, without argument, that all humans have an instinct for self-preservation and (an instinct) to reproduce. Among the other basic human drives there are some that may be controversial (instinctive altruism) and others, so commonplace as to not be given a second thought, (the fear of loss/hope of gain which is the paradigm underpinning all marketing). There are two drives, that while not of such a fundamental origin as the urge to reproduce or the overriding need to preserve one’s life and well-being,  that do account for some of the appeal of the Wakefield Doctrine. They are:

• a desire to know of ourselves (for many of us, this is the more accessible framing of the actual question of ‘why we are here, what is the purpose of life’)
• a desire to grow and develop and become more….’successful’ (in whatever terms one might measure success)

Yow!*

As the asterisk above (and, therefore below¹) indicate, the original scope of this Post has been lost to the night, I will however, give you the Friday-morning-need-to-get-to-work-because-the-day-job-is-so-very-necessary, version of the two concepts referred to in our Post’s subtitle:

1. personality types quizzes and surveys… the most ubiquitous form of mind-candy, they are always there…in waiting rooms and bus stations, the front rack at that checkout counter, left on the bench of a bus kiosk… we can’t resist. ‘What type of animal/vegetable/famous literary character are you!!?’ they shout from the pages of ‘the Facebook’… ‘know your inner self‘, the title whispers from the magazines that everyone knows and no one admits to subscribing to, and…and the most deadly of them all, ‘Are you compatible/ who is your perfect lover/ are you the best for your spouse…20 Questions reveal all!’   this last is where the Wakefield Doctrine sets itself apart from any other personalty theory (at least any of them that have quizzes… lol,  no!  we do!  here  click here but you have to promise to tell us how you did afterwards). We have a saying, ‘…the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not them.’  We say that because the second thing a person who stumbles upon a personality quiz will say is, “oh honey!  come here, you really need to take this quiz!! It’s so insightful!” We call this phenomenon, ‘the club-shaped mirror’, for reasons that I could have explained to you yesterday, had you been riding shotgun as I drove through the countryside on the way to work…. oh well, maybe there’ll be a left-over letter before this ‘Endless-and-Aggravating April Bloghop Challenge’ finally stops!
2. ‘You can’t step in the same river twice‘  (a) famous old dead guy saying, have always loved this insight.  (Hey! want to hear something semi-funny? I was typing this bulletpoint and mistakenly typed, ‘you can’t stay in the same river….’   lol…. I love when stuff like that happens!)

To work. Sorry about the, (fill in a metaphor for building up expectations and stopping mid-point, appropriate to your own personal/cultural context), the ideas represented today are scattered throughout the Posts of the blog, someday I really need to spend a week (or two) and put some ‘orderly’ in this here blog here.

* can anyone else identify with getting an idea for a Post…no, not simply an idea, hell! we all get ideas for Posts, no, I mean get a feeling that the idea is really, really…. good/fun/valuable and the feeling itself is the driving force as you race to write it all down?  Unfortunately  since your writing time is limited, you’re forced to leave a ‘beginning’ on paper and come back to it later? And, then, when you return hours later, even though you recognize the thoughts and ideas that would surely become one the best Posts you’ve written, you’re like,  ..ok and then ?  Thats where I am at this moment. I still believe in the idea/theme of today’s Post, but the feeling, the energy, the enthusiasm is somehow missing! Of course, if you’re a clark, you know that that’s not the worst part of this phenomenon.**

** you really want to know?

1) one of the very old principle underlying man’s un-ending efforts to understand the world (… does that remind anyone, other than me, of a certain characteristic worldview? )