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

*just in case you forgot which blog you clicked on…

Surely this internet is every bit a Charles Atlas ad for clarks the world throughout (younger clarks? the photo at the top of the post should get you started.)

Hey! Just a minute, before you read any further. There are certain premiseses appurtenant in the most fundamental sense to the use of the Wakefield Doctrine as a tool for enhancing one’s variety of perspectives and self-improving oneself, and they are:

1. the Wakefield Doctrine is gender neutral
2. the Wakefield Doctrine is age and culture neutral

Perhaps expanding on this will also serve as an outline of our little personality theory.

The reason we can say, ‘the Wakefield Doctrine is gender neutral’ is that each of the three ‘personality types’ are descriptions of the personal reality one is experiencing. This is not a list of qualities, traits and characteristics of any individual, like all those other mix ‘n match, which-personality-type-do-you-hope-the-score says-you-are. (thats right, I’m looking at you, Oscar Meyers Briggs and Stratton schedule. INFP this.)

The Wakefield Doctrine proposes that we, all of us, grow up (and most importantly), develop our abilities and strategies for survival in one of three characteristic worlds, aka personal realities. They are:

• the reality of a clark (the Outsider)
• the world of a scott (the Predator)
• the life of the roger (the Herd Member)

In simplest of terms, it is the nature/character of the worlds we grow up in that determine the way we interact with the world and the people that make it up.

This means that, when we use the Wakefield Doctrine to better understand people, we first observe their behavior with an eye towards understanding how they (the other person) are relating themselves to the world around them. Using the three personality types as a lens, we determine which (of the three) their acts and attitudes, beliefs and intentions are ‘clearest’. (You know, how, when you’re at the eye doctor and they make you look through that round-periscope thing and then change one lens at a time “Is this clear? Now, is this clearer than that?”)

You watching and thinking, “On the basis of the way that person is interacting with (fill in the blank) is it more consistent with being an Outsider(clark) or a Herd Member(Roger)”. Continue your observationing. Now they’re talking to the person (fill in the blank), “Is that conversation sensible from a scott(Predator) or a clark(Outsider)?”

The Wakefield Doctrine is all about acquiring an appreciation of ‘how I relate myself to the world around me’*

Charles Atlas? I identify more with the guy in the drawing. But it is my relationship to world as an Outsider that is useful to know, not gender. We’re lifeforms first, then clarks, scotts and rogers.

And….and! there’s this thing here called ‘the Everything Rule’ which states: ‘everyone does everything at one time or another’. This serves to remind us that, sure a roger could get sand kicked in his or her face. Hell, a scott could get sand kicked in his or her face. How they relate themselves to this occurrence is very different.

Thanks and a shoutout to Denise over at girlie. She posted an old Doctrine post on the Facebook and it jump-started this here post here.

* as always, I will say, ‘We said, how I relate myself to the world around me’ we did not say, ‘How I relate to the world around me’

Big difference, yo.