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

comic panel by R. Crumb

The Wakefield Doctrine is…

I have, of late, renewed my determination to write ‘the Wakefield Doctrine book’ and the quotes that start at ‘the’ and extend to and include ‘book’, should serve as an insight into the success of this endeavor.  The problem is similar to the relation between being a chef and the enjoying of food. Everyone and anyone can find ingredients and flavors, spices and sauces, vegetables and an endless supply of soup stock, and  everyone and anyone can recognize a few (or many) of the possible combinations of these things as being ‘tasty’… the chef is one who has the skill to deliberately combine the many parts and subject them to many conditions to produce a specific food experience.  That’s kind of what I’m running into today. I used the word ‘endeavor’ because I have that word in my vocabulary and I liked the sound of it. I have lots of words in my vocabulary and not only do I enjoy the sound a pretty damn wide variety of words, I have a certain belief in my right to use whatever word I choose, just because it’s fun or exciting or adventuresome.  lots of spices… lots of ingredients    And with this internet, I have the keys to the biggest, most professionally equipped kitchen in the history of the damn world!  …lots of pots, pans, braziers and whisks.   and I have a killer dish in mind.  Like nothing else on the menu.   but …I’m not a chef!

you want to know how appropriate my little metaphor (or allegory or demi-fuckin-glace I’m trying to pass off here) really is?

I just spent an hour trying to complete the sentence: the Wakefield Doctrine is….

and I managed to type a couple of good thoughts on paper…something to the effect of how the Wakefield Doctrine doesn’t regard ‘personality types’  as a collection of observed and/or reported traits and habits and shit, rather the Doctrine maintains, ‘personality type’ is simply the aggregate of all coping mechanisms and social strategies that a person develops and acquires as they grow up and live their life…. and these  mechanisms and strategies will reflect the character of the world as the person experiences it. I know, I know… not bad for a start, but then I try to add the idea of the relation (of the individual) to the three world views and how the Doctrine offers… and we have all three worlds available but one….   You’ve all seen the classic, single pane comic  showing a writer (usually at a typewriter) a waste paper basket over-flowing with crumpled up paper?  lets substitute   ‘keyboards and monitors in a pile in the corner of the room.  that’s my morning today.  discouraging, right?

wrong!

it’s worse!

if it was just the crumpled up sheets of foolscap* then I could just get up and decide to re-learn to play the guitar or maybe take up golf or find another way to spend my ‘free time’.  but it’s the Wakefield Doctrine…. it’s my gift (un-deserved) and it is my master (not deserving)  and the reason I’m going with the dramatic turn here and why I say ‘it’s worse’,  is that I just got up for  a second coffee and as I stood in the kitchen,  staring at the kettle on the stove (come baby!  I like to watch!) the thought jumped into my mind:

“what is the Wakefield Doctrine and it’s three personality types?  why its your evening television news team!  the Anchor person is a roger, the sports person is a scott and the meteorologist is a clark”

and I smiled….   (“…honey where did I put that box of new keyboards?”)

*godamn!  who spilled the oregano?