Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine ( the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers ). People keep saying, “why don’t you get more ‘high brow’ and appeal to the finer sensibilities of the blog-reading public? Huh, why don’t ‘cha?”
Thanks to Progenitor roger and (Friend of the Doctrine) Denny Lyon and (a friend of her’s) thats exactly what we will do today!
An aphorism (literally “distinction” or “definition”, from the Greek: ἀφορισμός, aphorismós, from ἀπό + ὁρίζειν, apo + horizein, “from/to bound”) is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form.[1]
The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates. The oft-cited first sentence of this work (see Ars longa, vita brevis) is:
“Life is short, [the] art long, opportunity fleeting, experience deceptive, judgment difficult.”
So now that we know what the hell an aphorism is, we can apply it! You know, like a mirror* to the Wakefield Doctrine’s three personality types and acquire a better understanding of what they mean. First up, (we will try to attribute source as clearly as possible), lets start with:
The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple. (Oscar Wilde)
For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him, he must regard himself as greater than he is. (Goethe)
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. (Aristotle)
I am therefore I scream. (Unknown**)
A person starts to live when he can live outside himself. (Einstein)
Now, wasn’t that all uplifting and all? Of the above aphorisms, some are associated with one of the three personality types, and some are associated with all three. Can you spot them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LedUjMuTR7Q* no, that’s a metaphor…this is different!
** yeah, you’re right! that was the Wakefield Doctrine
About clarkscottroger
Alright, alright!
Just to start the ball rolling, the following from Aristotle is most closely associated with clarks:
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Anyone?
(and some have said that the ‘Comment Environment’ here at the Doctrine is off-putting, intimidating even! Can’t imagine how anyone could get that impression!)
Um, there is no ball rolling…
That Albert was quite an impressive clark, yes?
With the one quote** excepted, I initially thought that all quotes could be attributed to clarks but then I looked again at Mr. Goethe’s words and found myself imagining a roger speaking them.
Oscar Wilde: definitely a clark. For a clark nothing is simple. There is no black and white. Go back and re-read the quote. Enough said.
Goethe: I’ll leave that one to our readers. Come on. Don’t be shy.
Aristotle: rogers. (flashback: can’t help but think of Progenitor roger on our last Saturday night drive live call-in. He was putting together a fuckin telescope!! But I digress).. rogers are willing to consider the ideas presented by others. Doesn’t mean they agree. But they will not argue. There is acknowledgement but not necessarily agreement. They live by and create history. They are the silent worker bees maintaining the survival of the Queen bee. Rogers are the maintenance men/women of the machine. Maintaining and creating all that is logical and, in fact, essential to the continuance of the herd at large. Without rogers there would be no tradition, no history. Just as Aristotle made an impact on logic, metaphysics, mathematics that still hold true today, rogers are the Aristotles of tomorrow.
Unknown: duh
Einstein: those clarks. If only they could get outside of their own heads. There is the incessant reflection on life, on all that is. The thought process of a clark is a mystery yet to be solved. There is a painstaking effort to attain knowledge of all that is elusive. And there is that little matter of a sense on belonging. It was generally believed by many that Einstein was crazy. His painstaking efforts to quantify the frickin’ universe left him quite distant, even outcast by others. No matter. He (Einstein) was a fuckin genious. Likewise, clarks tend to distance themselves and may at times seem aloof. But they are by no means stupid. Clarks are just doing what clarks do. Thinking. Not so unlike Einstein, therein lies a different thought process. How the hell could a clark not live outside of himself when there are alternate realities to pursue. Think timelines, string theories.
thank you both for the insight into these little sayings that we all know should signify, but (if we are honest with ourselves) know that they don’t mean shit….cause if you can understand them, then you already have the insights that they purport to convey and if you don’t (understand them, or worse or genuinely impressed by them) then you wouldn’t understand anyway…
power and insight are never a gift, they can only be taken,,,
(stick that in yer thesaurus, Brainiac)