predicting human behavior | the Wakefield Doctrine

TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine- Saturday

May 20, 2017 By clarkscottroger

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

Una stands guard. The bottom third of the photo shows 3/4s of the letter ‘a’, the dirt making up the left and top curves of the letter have been dug out. To the bottom right is a rusted-red wheel barrow, the handles pointing back towards the camera, there are black grips on the ends of the handles. There is dirt in the wheelbarrow, it is brown and has lighter brown clumps for stuck-together soil. Leaning against the front left edge of the wheel barrow is a shovel. The working end of the shovel is in the trench that forms the letter, it is leaning at an angle like if you raised your left arm from against your side out, maybe eighteen inches. The shaft of the shovel is red and the end has a black rubber grip. The middle and top of the photo are of the letter ‘n’ and ‘U’ (we’re at the bottom of the word looking up). There is a certain black dog sitting guard. Una is facing away from the camera and sitting upright on her hind quarters at the inside top of the letter ‘n’. Her coat is lighter black on her back, shiny and her tail shows out behind her.

You know, I’m coming to appreciate how much reality is a process, as opposed to a product. (The latter supposition underlies the remarkable perseverance and the near-tragic inability to capitalize on the passing good fortune that most clarks encounter with a frequency that would make a pessimist doubtful and optimist suddenly agnostic).

In any event, this is the Wakefield Doctrine’s TToT post. Hosted by Josie every weekend, we’re all invited to contribute and/or share examples of the people, places and things that have caused us to feel the emotion of gratitude. It, (this bloghop), is fun and interesting. Many correspondents are remarkably skilled in (the) concise, orderly and direct presentation of their experiences. These writers have that gift of conveying, in simple terms, complex emotional experiences. Fortunately there is also room for those of us for whom the challenge of conveying emotion is all too daunting; by predisposition, mood or predominant worldview, we find the emotional side of the world something of a cypher. Relating an experience of gratitude can often be difficult, as we are usually not always paying attention to that side of the psyche.

Enough of the introspection. You want Ten Things that make me say, ‘hey! that was interesting.*’ Here:

1) So, you’re thinking, ‘Sure you’re saying you’re a clark. Last week’s instance of the story of digging a lot of dirt out of the ground and moving it from place to place was fun, and certainly suggestive of one born to the reality of the Outsider, but we want more proof.” Well, here is the wheelbarrow I’ve been using for the Una garden project. (It was a gift from Phyllis’s father when we bought the house in 1990. It, the wheelbarrow, was getting a bit old then.)

old metal wheelbarrow. it’s body torn from metal fatigue, the single wheel at an angle out of true.

2, 3 and 4): (i.e. My work / coastal community / me to drive around.

5) ‘Home and Heart (a Sister Margaret Ryan novel)’. Chapter 9 will be out tomorrow morning, at the latest. (Teaser: Sister Margret is encouraged to return to her childhood home on Tulip St, in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Since it is Sister Bernadine who did the encouraging, her trip is a surprise to no one. What she finds as she walks through the door is something else entirely.)

6) The soil reclamation phase of the Una garden project is complete. Totally grateful to be done with that part, sorta. it has been good exercise.

7) Phyllis and Una

8) something tomorrow? maybe…

9) the Wakefield Doctrine because with a proper of understanding of this perspective on people and such, one would have been able to correctly identify the gardener in our tale of dirt and plants-to-be as a person who grew up and developed the social strategies and coping mechanisms that would them a fighting chance of thriving, while living life as an Outsider. ya know?

10) SR 1.3

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: personality types, predicting human behavior, the Wakefield Doctrine

Six Hundred Character Word Sentence Story -the Wakefield Doctrine-…

May 4, 2017 By clarkscottroger

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

the scene from my office window: 4 lane highway running right to left in the foreground, framed by my window. across the road a triangular building and to the right of that, a strip mall. top half is blue sky with grey and white clouds

This is Wednesday and that, up there, the title? Totally a Wednesday title. The thing is, I like to get started on writing my Six Sentence Story on Wednesday, even knowing that, the chances are, whatever I write here will not end up be my official entry. It’s just helpful (to me) to have words on the page before the deadline. Like walking through the door to a party or meeting that’s mostly strangers. You see someone you know, and, even if you can’t stand ’em, you’re like, ‘thank god, someone who I can pretend I’m talking to.’

(“Yes, you, down in front. You have a question? Why don’t I just start on the Six Sentence Story and finish it before Thursday morning? Good question. Sometimes I do. But not that often, as my writing time seems to be the morning, as opposed to the afternoon or evening.”)

I have the word. The prompt word. It’s the kernel, it’s the essence of inspiration, the nascent glimmer of a beautiful scene, up ahead in the near, far distance. Our host zoe, trusting her sense of the sublime, scouring the dictionaries from seven continents to find the perfect word to start us on an incredible writing adventure. And the word? Well, the…

“The word is….. chicken.”

“Am not!”

“I think ya are.”

“Well, you just wait.”

“I am waiting.”

“Hold on, gimme a minute…ok watch this.”

(“Please stay on the line, what is the nature of your emergency.”)

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: predicting human behavior, psychology of personality, self-improvement, the Wakefield Doctrine

Toosday -the Wakefield Doctrine- ‘of new chapters and old reprints.’

May 2, 2017 By clarkscottroger

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

a gazebo at the end of a wood-plank walkway, chainlink fences on either side. two outdoor benches are on the left and one on the right, about halfway to the end. the bushes along the walk and the sky suggest a seaside location. (that would be a correct suggestion)

Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 of ‘Home and Heart‘ (a Sister Margaret Ryan novel) is out, available and can be read at jukepop. com

Thought I’d do a reprint post.

Hey, do you know that despite the fact that the Wakefield Doctrine does not base its inferences and predictions on the results of a ‘What’s your favorite color’, ‘If you could be any microorganism which would you be’ or even, “Someone has you cornered in a dark alley and, on the top of the garbage can next to you are three items: a hand mixer, a bent-corner copy of ‘Candide’ and…. what would you need to combine with the other two so that you could leave the alley as unscathed as you might desire?’

You know, those kinds of personality quizzes. The type of questionnaire that once was found in the back of magazines that never had an offer of subscription, lately is found on whatever secret pages in ‘the Facebook’ that give rise to postings that include the statements, “And then what happened will leave you shocked…” “And their comeback left them in…. (try shock)” or “I got (fill in the blank), that nearly always prompts one person to say to another, “Come here! You have to take this test, they so have your number!” (At the Doctrine we call these personality assessments, ‘club-shaped mirrors’.

(July 18, 2013)

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

I was ‘talking’¹ to Considerer last night.

me: “Considerings (the blog) has been real busy…you’re getting good reviews”

Lizzie: “It has been indeed! At some point I’m hoping to reach a tipping point and snag a few more members/followers/groupies… I have been pleasantly surprised, because I am trying to take your advice and learn rogerian (see my new tab when you get a chance)”

me: “damn, I hate to see you spending all your time re-inventing the axle! You have the Doctrine down to the point that you should be out there pushing the boundaries of (our) understanding.”

So I told our newest DownSpring, write me a question (about the Wakefield Doctrine) and I might use it as a launching point in an effort to present where the hot topics and current challenges are in our efforts to learn, use and have fun with the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers.

(here’s Lizzie’s Question):

‘How you came up with such a thorough Doctrine. And whether or not all the Doctrine views are ‘but only through the eyes of a clark‘, in which case,what might the other views think (or would they?)”

My Answer: ‘No’

The Wakefield Doctrine is predicated on the idea of personal reality. Simply put, the totality of your experience of the world around you is more than the aggravation² of objective facts, (who, what, where, why and when). Reality involves interpretation of the external ‘objective’ world. Nothing earth-shaking there. The Doctrine is concerned with, ‘how we relate ourselves to the world around us’. No one should have a problem with that as a starting point. The Wakefield Doctrine holds that there are three characteristic worldviews (those personal realities we spoke of just now). Since the Wakefield Doctrine purports to be a personality theory, we have three personality types. The difference between us and the mainstream personality systems that immediately appears, is that the Wakefield Doctrine is not particularly concerned with the individual (as a source of information to determine personality types) per se. Rather, the primary goal of a person employing our Doctrine is to infer which of the three worldviews are being experienced. If we correctly infer that a person is living in, (and has grown up and developed in), the personal reality that we call, ‘that of the Outsider’ then we have what we call a clark. (and so with the respective worldviews of the Predator and the Herd).

Where the work of the Wakefield Doctrine currently lies, is in our efforts to develop a language that can be understood by an individual (from) the perspective of any of the three worldviews.⁴
The three worldviews are different. They are different in terms of how they require a successful ‘inhabitant’ to relate to them. This is a qualitatively, fundamentally, scrumptiously different difference (between the three worldviews). Lets go with the bullet points:

clarks live in a worldview (in which) the individual is an Outsider. if you are an Outsider, what is the first thing that occurs to you to do? what quality/capability/capacity found in (a) human being is best suited to this task? And while you are engaged in this effort what would you fear and what would you hope for

scotts live in a worldview (in which) the individual is a Predator. what is the first thing that occurs to you to do? (now to expand on the line of reasoning we followed with clarks), how you describe the world to another person is a function of how you relate yourself to the world (that) you find yourself in, (we call this ‘how the worldview manifests’), from the perspective of having the world of the Predator to relate yourself to and, given the range of human expression available how would you be inclined to express yourself to those around you?

rogers live in the world of the Herd, the nature of the world for the person who lives in this worldview is relatedness what would it be like, to look around at the people and the places and the things and the activities and the past and the future in a context in which everything (and everyone) is connected in some way?

The challenge of creating a ‘common language’ lies in the fact that in languages there are sounds and there are concepts that are exclusively the domain of one’s context, environment …world and is not necessarily even possible in the other two worldviews. And it is surely these ‘exclusive/characteristic/native’ concepts, that are critical to understanding/acting in/feeling the true nature of the three personal realities. For better or worse, the Doctrine maintains that we are all heir to the three ways to experience the world, so our job is to learn, understand, identify with, feel and do something with each of these distinct, though somewhat in common worlds.

We talk about our initial efforts to understand/act/feel the three worldviews as acquiring fluency. Only reasonable, no? You have three cultures that have only the biology of their inhabitants in common and you want to create a language that allows productive interaction between the three…first thing you better do is become fluent in each native language. Then find common ground. Then…then! try and convince those stubborn bastards that not only is this a good idea, but they will be better off once they learn to save the lava-walking and the witch-burning for their once-a-year culture celebrations and stand acting like the evolved people that we want to hang out with (and we promise to stop mumbling and hoping to be forgiven).

Any questions? Outrageous acts? Overwhelming Feelings?

(oh yeah!! new Readers? clarks think…scotts act and rogers feel. If you have the kind of mind that enjoys playing with ideas and you have the sharpness of intellect that you will see when you look at Cyndi (the brilliant young clarklike female currently known as Cynthia) and Considerer and the others you might just get something out of this!)

1) actually I was typing…not one of the more effective ways for me to communicate

2) a rogerian expression³

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: personality types, predicting human behavior, psychology of personality, relationships, the Wakefield Doctrine, Understanding Human Behavior

TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine-

April 30, 2017 By clarkscottroger

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

The new ‘garden’ in the form of three letters cut into the turf of the side lawn. In dirt brown against the green grass, ‘U’, ‘n’ & ‘a’ spells, Una, of course

It’s Saturday when I type (the beginning of) this post. It may very well be Sunday when you read it. This is, of course, the Ten Things of Thankful bloghop. Originated by Lizzi Lewis, (still not admitting that CS is her great-uncle), now curated by Josie Two Shoes, it is a ‘place’ in the virtual world where people of (similar) mind and good intent gather each week for an exercise (in the cultivation) of gratitude, (both the attitude, outlook and emotion). If you’re new to the TToT, allow me of say, this is a serious effort for many, however, rarely is the word ‘serious’ intended as ponderous and humorless, which is so not the case. Sure there are rules, but they’re Secret! (lol the best kind!) The Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules) has more blank pages than full, the ideal ratio. (BoSR/SBoR’s motto: “…in a jam? not sure if you can use an event or situation, stuck for items to make the Ten, not feeling overly grateful? There’s a Secret Rule for that! and if you can’t find it, make it up! just try to stick some op. cits., paragraphs and such, and if you can, whats really cool are [t]hose really odd [p]arentheticals.“)

Anyway.

1) the photo above is this year’s garden, pre-plants. Will be vegetables such as tomatoes and possibly celery, (clearly a great deal of thought has gone into what it is to be grown in this here garden here. but then, the fun was in the digging.)

2) the next photo is also yard related. we had a large tree fall in the woods this winter* Unfortunately it fell across one of the path/trails that Phyllis and Una like to walk. And so, chainsaw in hand, I’ve been cutting up limbs in order to clear the area and return the path to walkability.

a large, apparently (because we are told, not that we can see) double-trunked pine tree, lying in the grown in a woods of much smaller and thinner pine trees. most of the branches of the fallen tree have been cut and, towards the end the trunk is a pile of cut limbs, showing green of the pine needles against the mostly brown of the trunks and old needles carpeting the ground.

3) As should be clear by now, the dog and the human are kinda central to my world. Phyllis and Una always merit mention.

4) At the end of the afternoon of dragging tree limbs, sweating and such, I offer as Grat Item #4: “I’m grateful for not being confined to a hospital bed.” (Though kind of obvious, being the clark that I am, I’m better able to experience the emotion of gratitude when it’s couched in simple and somewhat un-sophisticated terms, i.e. I’ve been confined a hospital bed in my past. Physically working well past my comfort range and sweating and all is way, way better.)

5) the Gravity Challenge. It’s good to have something relatively uncomplicated to do every morning (except Sundays). And what it is I do to fulfill that need is post the readouts of all the Graviteers that (have) sent in their photos. It’s fun and encouraging (to each of us, in a very specific, but different way) and I’m inviting you to join us. Questions can be directed to any of the Graviteers: val, kristi, lisa, may, sarah or joy.

6) Working on Chapter 6 of ‘Home and Heart‘ (a Sister Margaret Ryan novel). Come join in the adventure. I say, ‘adventure’ in that my approach is ‘seat-of-the-pants’ writing, applied to a serial format. As a result, I don’t know where the story is going, until we get there. Which adds a certain, shared excitement among those of us following the story.

7) The Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers) if for no other reason than, if I know the other person’s predominant worldview, I have sense of how they are experiencing the current situation. By being aware of the perspective of the other person, my range of responses not only increases, it likely includes the one that will produce the reaction I am after.

8) You know whose TToT post are really kinda excellent? Pat’s over at ‘A season and a Time‘ I write often about how I admire those who can write a TToT thats organized and direct and all. Pat does that, but she adds something extra, a sense of narrative; you totally get the feeling of being there. this is cool, as she most often writes of adventures and occurrences in the week prior. Very much glimpse into a life, which, if there is one thing that this virtual world provides better than any other medium, it’s the privilege of being invited, for a brief time, to share the world as another person has experienced it. Plus, she’s on the opposite coast. I totally identify with the Pacific Northwest, myself being on the Atlantic Ocean.

9) (left open for the chance Sunday Odd and/or Profound.)

10) Secret Rule 1.3

* yes, it is my favorite joke that, by definition, I treat myself to, on the occasion when I’m within hearing distance when one of the tree falls to the ground. I always jump up and say, (to no one), “I heard that!”

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: predicting human behavior, psychology of personality, relationships, the Wakefield Doctrine

Tuesday -the Wakefield Doctrine- “…agents provocatrice“

April 25, 2017 By clarkscottroger

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

Sure, everyone in the ‘sphere, will, from time to time, write a post because of a cool-sounding word (or phrase). In this case, ‘agents provocatrice‘. I came across the term, (the feminine of agent provocateur), while wandering the the internet in search of information, (biographical and otherwise), on the characters in my current book, ‘Home and Heart’

Well, since you asked, while the ‘Everything Rule’ reminds us that clarks, scotts and rogers are capable of being agents provocateurs (and provocatriceses), we’d all agree that our Brethren of the Herd, rogers, would be inclined to be the most effective agents.

New Readers are saying, “Wait, what? How can he make that statement! We need to know how that conclusion was arrived at, and we need to know now!”

Ok..ok!

We have the ‘Everything Rule’ because there are certain elements of life that seem to be made for one worldview* over the other two. You know, being a CPA or a surgeon, a politician (actually two are suited, scotts and rogers, depends on whether the politician in question is exciting or inspiring), elementary school teachers, girls gym teachers, cooks, chefs, priests or carpenter (finish or rough, another double choice); while this is just a sampling of careers and avocations that life offers, it’s easy to be taken by how many are an ideal fit for one worldview over the other. Nevertheless, a clark can be a cop, a roger could be a stripper (one gender**: totally, the other…no way!) and a scott is capable of being a priest.

While the nature of the worldview of any of the three might result in personal qualities, traits, strengths, tropisms and interests that make success more likely for one (than the other two), that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. And, since I’m trying to keep this post short, let me point out that that last sentence describes the foundation of the Wakefield Doctrine. It is our efforts as individuals to contend with the reality that we grow up in, that produce our ‘personality types’. I am good at being odd, mumbling when I speak, dressing creatively and seeing things that are not always there, because I grew up in the reality of the Outsider. I wasn’t born this way. I had to develop these skills to make it, as best I could, given my circumstance. My scottian friends are very quick to respond, loud and comfortable in front of an audience, totally aggressive and don’t seem to be bothered by not necessarily knowing what the hell they’re doing, only because, as little tiny babies, they looked up and found themselves in a (metaphorical) savannah with predators and prey all around. My rogerian friends? lol If you ask them, they’ll tell you that they are the way they are because that’s the only way a person could be. And they’re be right, (god! they’re always right…lol. I kid my rogers). They, as children grew and developed the interactional skills, coping strategies that were most effective in a world where there were Rules, (to learn or ignore) and Limits (to be exceeded or hidden) and, most of all, a place where people belonged.

Thats why we don’t have quizzes and profiles, tests and screenings.*** It doesn’t matter what you think your personality type is. What matters, all that matters, is ‘how you relate yourself to the world around you’.

Speaking of today! Two, (not one, two!) Chapters of ‘Home and Heart‘ (a Sister Margaret Ryan novel) are out on the jukepop! Hurry over, theres still time! (Ask the reader who came late to ‘Almira‘ what I mean. lol “oh! I see you’ve already written 33 Chapters! And, they’re, what 3800 words each? I’ll get back to you.”) Heck! this, the second of the Sister Margaret Ryan series, is much easier to read. Come on down! I could use the votes. (jukepop has a system of comment and vote) Here are the links:

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Thank you.

*what others might call ‘personality types’. We don’t. Because, well, because we’re better than they are. At least in terms of having elements, (to our theory), that can be used for self-benefitting yourself, even if you don’t use the whole thing.

**never hurts to remind Readers, new and experienced, alike, the Wakefield Doctrine is gender and culture neutral (sure, go ahead and ask me how that can possible be)

*** actually we do, but only because one of our scottian friends insisted. lol

oh yeah! almost forgot #wakefielddoctrine (thanks, Cynthia!)