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

I just (finally) found the youtube-posted song ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’* and looked at the photo of the composer and, …hey, that guy a clark?”

Now, new Readers, they be thinking, ‘What?! I just waded through 1408 posts about the characteristics of the three worldviews and he’s saying he can tell by looking?!?!’

Well…. yeah, guess I am saying that.

sometimes, with some people, most often with multiple photos that are good enough to see the eyes, one can. and by ‘one can’ I don’t just mean me. I mean you. Hear me out.

… Show of hands…. clark?

lol

Admittedly it’s tough to pick a predominant worldview on the basis of a single photo and get it right. However, the principle that underlies the more studied approach to figuring whether a person is a clark(Outsider), a scott(Predator) or a roger(Herd Member) is, at it’s heart is based on the same question: How does this person (say, Edvard Grieg) relate himself to the world around him?

You need to know as much about the relationship of the individual to their worlds, as possible. In particular, how do they perceive it, how do they react to it and how do they feel about it. And a person’s eyes, well, how much more of an insight (into) how ones see the world than the focus of their eyes, the intensity of their gaze, the orientation of their field of view? Lets consider all three:

1. clarks (Outsider) by the most fundamental measure of their relationship with the world around them, clarks view it ‘from afar’.  clarks live in a) their heads and 2) the future. And, while they recognize the wisdom of staying aware of their surroundings, it is just not their first priority. Plus, there’s that little matter of fear. If there’s a fingerprint to the nature of a clark’s expression while observing the world around them, it is fear. That little extra in the corner of the eye, the seeking of the escape route, the wary scanning for ambush, the hesitancy when things get too active. Our boy Edvard, he’s had more than one paper clip hit him in the back of the head.
2. scotts (Predator) … like you’ve ever seen a lioness, standing between her cubs and a throng of cell-phone wearing, rapid-pass flashing tourists, appear to be distracted. yeah, sure. scotts are, in this case, very easy to spot. It helps to have a video or, if you’re feeling all Marlin Perkins, in person. Look at their eyes. Are they ever not paying attention to the world around them? I didn’t think so. No predator does. And, here’s where the Doctrine really gets fun, if the person you believe is relating themselves to the world around them as does a Predator, why wouldn’t you expect them to look the part?!
3. rogers (Herd Members) the most difficult of the three, at least to spot from a photo, (or in person with the sound muted). A roger shows an active interest in their surroundings, however, unlike the Scott, their first concern is not detecting prey and larger predators. They are not viewing everything from afar, as does the clark, ready to bolt at the first sign of the threat of scrutiny. No, a roger is a member of the herd and what do members of herd spend their time looking at? Someone?  Thats right! Other members of the herd! (A little more in-depth: they are not merely observing those who are members of their heard, they are calculating their own position, relative to a hypothetical and highly-desired center. Of their herd. They’ll be there or they’ll be square and anyone will tell you, there are no corners in a head.

So…. get out there and identify your friends and family, coworkers and fellow students! The more you practice, the better you get.

as a child, this song, used in a cheesy production of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, this song was the essence of scary. foreboding threats, not quite expressed. you know, the world to a clark.

lol

* way, way more difficult than it sounds, to find the correct version of the tune