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

Part Tue in our impromptu series, ‘How Real is Personal Reality, Really?”

We once came up with a scenario involving a clark, a scott and roger that, grounded in the ‘real’ world, served as an illustration of what we mean by personal reality.

Can’t find it among posts in the archives.

Guess we’re just gonna have to write it again.

(Yeah, who was that who muttered, “Good Luck Finding the Original Author”?  Extra credit to that Reader! But that’s an entirely different post)

Picture a large town/small city. Large enough for sidewalks and fire hydrants but small enough for there not being a classroom science film strip: Blood, your body’s superhighway’… moderate traffic with maybe 30 percent available parking on the street where our scene takes place.

Our three Illustratinum* are standing on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street from a restaurant. The restaurant is part of a city block, meaning no parking lot in front of it, simply a row of large, plate glass windows in the wall that runs along the sidewalk. Until, that is, the last third of the facade. The entrance is set back from the sidewalk, creating something of an alcove. There is a line of people waiting to get in. From where the next-to-enter patron is standing (the line’s final order created by stanchions with red velvet ropes strung between), it continues along the sidewalk at least twenty-three people in length. Some of the people are reading the Day’s Menu, (pasted to the inside of one of the plate glass windows), others are talking and a handful are simply waiting for the social peristalsis to bring them to their desired goal. Lunch in a popular restaurant.

Our MCs: a clark (Outsider), a scott (Predator) and a roger (Herd Member) are standing, shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the restaurant and the line of would-be diners.

All of this is to set up the question (the answer being the proof) of ‘What is Personal Reality and Is It (really) Real?’

Certain presumptions about our scene: all three agreed to meet for lunch, the choice of restaurant and the time.***

The question, based on a good understanding of the three predominant worldviews (aka personality types) of the Wakefield Doctrine:

1. what is the clark thinking
2. what does the scott want to do
3. how does the roger feel about everything (starting with the long line)

One hint:

• clarks be thinking, ‘Shit.. any chance to get these two jamokes to accept Burger King as a substitute venue, if not, how about arranging for the fire alarm to be tripped’
• scotts is way, way smiling at the prospect of a hunt (think wildebeest, gazelle and flock of overweight chickens having a convention), zeroing in on the weakest (read:uncertain and hopeful) person among those on the sidewalk for the first attempt cut in line
• rogers beaming, Life is surely good and his/her role here and now as the center of most wonderful, spontaneous Herd is assured, can’t wait to share the joy with all the people who turned out for his/her arrival

There ya go!

*faux¹ Latin for the three characters who represent the principle being illustrated

1) French for ‘come on! you can get it from the context’, Readers!**

**credit for the line goes to the writers of ‘The Good Place’ Tahani to the group about some British idiom

*** total extra credit to any thought balloons rising focused on ‘agreed’? ‘choice’? and ‘time’? lol