predicting human behavior | the Wakefield Doctrine

back to basics the Wakefield Doctrine ‘clark in 23 minutes, no re-writing or editing allowed*’ Friday Update… now with Polls!!!!

November 20, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

Seeing how we’re into the Major Holiday Season (Major Holiday Season motto: “no! no need to worry how to feel! we’ve got you covered!“) and, how I’ve promised Kristi an enjoyable Post for that celebration of the rogerian nature, i.e. Thanksgiving, I thought for the next week I would get back to the basics, Wakefield Doctrine-istically speaking. Seeing how this personality theory of ours started out as ‘the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers, lets spend 23 minutes talkin about the personality type that everyone thinks must be quite interesting, (but are secretly glad they are not), clarks…. (get that timer ready)

clarks. the worldview of the Outsider. given that the Wakefield Doctrine is based on the idea that ‘personality type’ is nothing more than the coping strategies that we develop as we grow up, in response to the world that we find ourselves in, is it any surprise that, when considering a person with the clarklike personality type, that we often are reduced to saying (or yelling, in the case of a scott), ‘why do you insist on making your own life so difficult (on yourself?!)”

a clark awakens to a world that is fascinating, interesting, bursting with potential, hostile-in-an-impersonal-way, full of fear as the background emotion. and yet, the clark is (often) very intelligent, creative, funny and… and this is where are clues to understanding these people, compassionate to a fault. All of this is understandable when you can accept that a clark is a person, like a scott or a roger, but believes that they are living in a world that they are not a part of. ( a clark is the only one to make the observation that ‘they are here and the world is out there‘ and genuinely mean it.) a clark spends their waking hours trying to discover the information, to learn, to find out the secret of becoming a real person. (for a clark, everyone else is a real person….all you have to do is watch them! the scotts are active and confident and don’t seem to care what everyone thinks of their antics and rogers… well, hell they fit right in, they are friendly without a hint of fear and they know exactly how to do it (whatever it may be!). clarks know that they don’t know. clarks know that they are missing something. clarks also know (and if you really want to know what it’s like to live in the worldview of the Outsider, then know this), clarks know that they must not be discovered. (clarks rarely explore this aspect of their day… the fear of being in the spotlight, the terror of un-invited scrutiny, the risk of being found out as being people who don’t belong.

clarks have a busy life. clarks are often thought to be: intelligent, ditsy, well-read, obstinant, arrogant, kind, stuck-up, lazy and well-meaning-if-only-they-would-apply-themselves. clarks live their lives, each day an opportunity to maybe, this time, discover how to stop the constant self-criticism, willing to work harder than anyone they can see, looking to the people have come to accept as friends (for most clarks, the bond they feel with their few friends is way, way stronger than the bond they feel with their blood relatives), hoping only to someday find the answer.

…out of time! damn! sorry, guys a subtitle is a subtitle! if you liked this, we can continue tomorrow, otherwise write us a comment and tell us to ‘hurry the hell up and get to the interesting personality types Hey!!!

* except for the intro to the Post. Just wanted to be clear on that… wouldn’t want anyone thinking I was cheating**

** yeah, add, ‘irrational concern and focus on the positive regards of total frickin strangers‘ look at the big brain on the new Readers!

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As astute Readers need not to be told, yesterday’s Post included Comments from FOTD (friends of the Doctrine) zoe and Christine offering insight and advice germane to the topic of yesterday’s Post. As implied* in my Reply to Christine yesterday, heres the Poll! (Anyone else want to contribute…leave it in Comments and I’ll add to the Poll!

* implied aka ‘a clark’s promise‘, this is when. pressed by well-meaning people (i.e. scotts and rogers) to promise to do something good for themselves, clarks will ‘promise’. the difference between this ‘promise’ and what real people commit to is found in the statement of intent (that underlies the clark’s assent to the request). that’s not overly clear, should give you an example…. I got it! you know how scotts and rogers, smile? …and you know how clarks smile (hint: lips pressed to together, the hint of an up-turning at the corners of the mouth, semi-eye contact, until confirmation that the other person was, in fact, smiling) that’s ‘a clark’s promise‘. totally will to go all in, just waiting for full confirmation that we’re not being set up

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

Wednesday’s Task the Wakefield Doctrine (…to learn what I already know.)

November 19, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

So to continue our discussion of the woman and the dog: why make a big/small/any-sized deal out of a mis-perception? Because the Wakefield Doctrine is predicated on the notion that we all live our lives in a reality that is, to a varying, but certain degree, personal. Of course, our little story of the hot and haughty woman driving her dog around in a Mercedes GL550, stopping at a traffic light in Westerly RI only to have the dog turn into a nice old, if not slightly dotty old woman and the driver become a gracious youngish lady out for the day, was meant, entirely for me, it does not prevent us from using it as an illustration of the underlying concepts, principles, tenets and assumption of our little personality theory. Yet the insights that are part and parcel with this 5.7 minute section of an otherwise normal and mundane day, are available to all who would avail themselves of it. This is because, if the Wakefield Doctrine is about anything, it is about perspective. In my case, what I derived from this experience is, in part:

as soon as I ‘decided’ that I was looking (in my rearview mirror) at a woman of (probable) wealth who was also quite attractive, I reacted in a defensive (and therefore, emotional) manner.* The value of perspective, to those of us employing the Wakefield Doctrine as a tool to enhance our understanding of the people in our lives, is found in our better understanding how the world appears to us. I would say that the most important value in it’s use is the opportunity to become more accepting of ourselves.
the dog in the passenger seat, reflecting my affection for dogs on to the driver, resulted in my being willing to excuse her, her socio-economic superiority and, ‘realize’ that she might not be as haughty as I first thought (though her hotness was never in doubt)
to see a dog turn into an old woman is not nearly as impressive as it is to see a dog (where there really and actually was a woman) in the first place and neither matter, it was the effect of my perceptions on my emotional response that matters
finally, …. no! the Wakefield Doctrine does not expect us to collapse into intense introspection every time we notice something odd in the world, and no, my noticing (and reflecting upon all that is being described) does not require one to become focused only the three worldviews and the impermanence of reality or run out and buy a Mercedes GL550, it does expect you to remember that:

the Wakefield Doctrine is not an Answer * the Wakefield Doctrine is a bunch of fun and interesting Questions * the Wakefield Doctrine does not tell how to change the other person * the Wakefield Doctrine is a fun way to look at the world around you and offer a perspective * the(se) perspective(s) are what the Wakefield Doctrine is really all about…. discovering and understanding ‘how I relate myself to the world around me?’ …..and no, it is surely not all struggle and work, conflict between the old and the new, it is the simple realization that you don’t need to learn or otherwise acquire new information or knowledge to become a better you, you simply have to see and accept the ‘better you’ that is already there.

ya know?

* major little point here: despite my being a clark, the ‘why’ of any of the events, observations, inferences, assumptions, reactions and conclusions are not important. The value in what is being described is, as the old saying goes, “…the benefit is not what is seen, the benefit is knowing that what is being seen is special”

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

Monday Morning the Wakefield Doctrine (“hey! it’s an experiment…and just like in those ‘B’ movies, I’m experimenting on myself”)

November 10, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

we all remember this from our undergrad ‘Abnormal Psych’ class, right?

Lets try a little experiment this morning. Two things first:

It’s been established (or, at very least, admitted to) here that, once I’ve engaged in the normal everyday demands of work and family and such, the supply of post-worthy words dries up faster than a 67 year old’s honeymoon
the Wakefield Doctrine is about learning about myself (as much as it is about seeing into the thoughts of you and the other people in my world¹)

So here’s what we’ll do: I’ll write a couple of hundred words about the value and use of the Wakefield Doctrine on a typical Monday morning. I’ll stop writing, take a quick shower, get dressed and start my work day². After an hour or so of work, I’ll come back here and ‘re-write’ this post. Let’s see if this ‘oh-my-god-can’t-you-see-how-incredibly-useful-and-fun’ theory of personality accounts for any change in my day.³

(Here we go)

the Wakefield Doctrine is a perspective on the nature of the world (and the people and things and events that make it up). Properly applied, the Wakefield Doctrine allows me to know more about ‘the other person’, than I have any right to know. With the Wakefield Doctrine, I am way, way less likely to find myself saying, “Now why in the world would they say/do such a thing?! I really thought I knew them better than that!”
As to how I go about ‘knowing more about you than you know about yourself’? All I need do is observe and (correctly) infer how you are relating yourself to the world around you. Are you acting like an Outsider? Do you sound like you are experiencing the situation as would a Predator or are you simply comfortable with the situation, as comfortable as a Member of the Herd? Once I know that (about) you, I can anticipate not only how you will react to a situation or interaction, I can get a glimpse of the world as you are experiencing it. This last is the most challenging aspect of the Wakefield Doctrine. Knowing that the other person (may) be perceiving the world differently than I am, even though we are both in the same room, hell! there’s no one here in the break room except you and me and all we’re doing is talking about the job we both have (the same job) and yet….somehow, you are reacting to it in a way that is totally at odds with the way that I would! that is the power of the Wakefield Doctrine

…oh yeah, the other part? If I want to… I can see parts of myself in a new light. This is not always such fun, but I can if I choose. The thing that this Wakefield Doctrine says to us is, ‘hey, you’re experiencing the world as (a clark or a scott or a roger)…. you have the right and the capability to see the world, experience the world as do ‘the other two personality types’…so don’t worry about:

not understanding (hey clark!! 2/3s of life is not about understanding or knowing or figuring out shit! but don’t let your brain trick you… you got this!)

not being ready (scott! yo… sure you’re always quick ….you’re even as smart as all them, don’t give it a second thought, what they seem to think they know that you don’t know? doesn’t matter…’cause you do!

nope, they’re not talking about you, roger… and even if there are moments when you think you can’t continue your efforts, that everyone has turned away, it’s not true. don’t give it a second thought

…alright. that’s what I have while I am still in ‘simple clark‘ mode.

stop back later this morning and lets see how it looks after I’ve had to engage in the ‘real’ world for a couple of fun-filled hours!

1) ok, it’s still about that, but I’m trying to establish my premise, so cut me some slack, ok?

2) meaning, I’ll check my email, do a couple of things, go to the office, check a couple of things and then come back to this Post…oh, probably around 9:55 am

3) no, I do believe you are that trusting! lol…. as a matter of fact, no I don’t think of what I’m writing as the product of a writer, telling whatever story I choose… I actually think of this as a record of my experiences, somehow converted to public display mode

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

‘on self-improvement and falling in love’ the Wakefield Doctrine ‘sometimes change is not enough’

November 6, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

Was talking to Denise on the phone last night, and the topic of change and self-improvement become the focus of our discussion. What has stuck with me (through the night, into this morning) is: in order to successfully change, requires that we ‘fall in love’ with (the proposed) new way to: view earning a living/approach helping the children/trying to get along at work/give our spouse more room for their own interests/stop worrying about things that cannot be controlled.

We’ve all had the experience of wanting to change something about ourselves, our lives, how we do things.* We know for a fact that change would be beneficial, we even know how we should act and sometimes… hell, if you’re reading this, often we start acting differently/stop ourselves from indulging in (the bad habit, self-defeating strategy), only to find ourselves reverting back, to the old way. And…and! to make matters worse, this reverting to the old way happens even after we’ve experienced success. We actually lose the weight, stop mumbling, resist the urge to hide and yet… before we notice it, we’re acting like always. Back to the same old pattern. What the hell??!

To know that we should improve ourselves is rarely ever enough to produce permanent change. We need not only find and know and understand the ‘better way to….’ but we need to ‘fall in love’ with this new thing. The ‘new way’ of acting, of living, must produce its own benefit, its own reward, it can’t be simply ‘a relief from a negative’. Our way of acting must be a source of energy in our day.

‘to fall in love‘ with the your ‘self-improvement’ implies that you’ve found a way to have a relationship with this new way (this alternate way of living). It cannot simply be acting a certain way because you hate the old way. Like ‘being in love’, you give without requiring a return, and, as a result (let’s just leave the explanation of why this is the way it is, as one of Life’s mysteries), you get back more than you give.

Permit me to provide a certain personal element. Writing this blog is an example of what I mean. sort of. I did not set out to ‘write a blog’… I set out to write about/present/explain the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers (aka the Wakefield Doctrine)… as a result, there has never been a day when I have not wanted to write a blog Post. And, (very odd, if you knew me personally), it did not/does not matter if I have 3 visits or 7,390 visits to this blog. The ‘change/self-improved’ activity/habit/way-of-dealing-with-life is it’s own reward.

ya know?

(running out of time…will return later in the day).

* New Readers? not to be a buzz kill, (well, actually we do not feel bad about being a buzz kill, at least in this regard), but though the Wakefield Doctrine is awfully powerful when we are trying to change something about ourselves, if you’re thinking ‘finally something that will work on him/her/the kids/the boss/the-girl-of-my-dreams/the-man-who-would-make-life-worthwhile/ the family dog’s annoying habit of barking at 3:30 am’ sorry. ‘the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not them’ Just don’t work that way.

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

TToT (LXXII) the Wakefield Doctrine (‘Nosce te ipsum’ vs. ‘γνῶθι σεαυτόν’) no! not nearly as weird as it may sound…wait a minute…. nah, never mind, out of the mood now)

November 1, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

Sure, at first glance, the Title of this week’s TToT Post may cause an average Reader (of blog Posts) to:

stop and think, ok… there’s something on the mind of this guy, clearly he’s gone to a lot of trouble to not only lot up a fairly common Latin saying, but he’s got a couple of Greek words in there… ok… I’m in, never know what I might learn
stop and say, “hey! what the hell! Latin we’ve seen at this place…Greek, not so much! Hurry up! whats the hook!?”
stop and feel, “this time, he’s gone too far. Sure obscurely famous sayings (well, famous saying done without transliteration) are pretty common in this blog… but 2 (nearly) dead languages in the Title, this time I doubt he will be able to get away with… and this much ‘set up’ and not even into the 10 Items…. I think I’ll stay around for a while, might be fun.”

Might be fun, indeed!

This is the TToT Post that we participate each week and I’ll get right to it. (Be interesting if, given the intro to this Post, that I have anything left to write! (which reminds me a an ‘adult joke’ that involves a young bull and an old bull standing on a hill, looking down at the herd of cows… it’s ‘cute funny’, and clever and such, but it is also a (false) argument favoring the clarklike view over the scottian worldview)… seeing how we’re into this fairly odd frame of mind, lets make this joke Item 1

1) a young bull and an old bull are standing on a hill overlooking a herd of cows. the young bull says, “hey! look at them all!! lets run down and get one” and the old bull replies, “no, lets walk down and get them all”

2) since everything on, (a TToT List), should be ‘things that we are grateful for’* I will designate ‘the Wakefield Doctrine’ as the sub-gratitous item associated with #1

3) I might as well state the obvious, the Wakefield Doctrine, in it’s increasingly varied manifestations and expressions and application, is a constant Item on these Lists

4) (along with the Doctrine) I should also list Phyllis and Una and work, as constant items. This, the designation of ‘constant item’, is not intended to diminish their gratitudosity, rather it is meant as a short-hand to account for them, on weekends like this weekend, when the theme of my TToT is a little extra tenuous (If I could do a ‘set list’ like Christine and Dyanne and Kristi and Val (and a number of the others) do each and every week I would totally be in heaven. They not only ‘make sense’, but they provide a context (to a real person’s life) that adds to reading of (their) TToT list each week.

5) …and then, there are these lists. (I actually tried to tell a joke to a real person in the course of work this week past)… I was in a house and the Owner said, ‘and this light switch, I have no idea what it’s hooked up to’ and, naturally, I remembered a Steven Wright joke,

“I recently moved into a new apartment, and there was this switch on the wall that didn’t do anything…so anytime I had nothing to do, I’d just flick that switch up and down…up and down…up and down….Then one day I got a letter from a woman in Germany…it just said, “Cut it out.””

6) In answer to the question forming in the minds of some readers (I will not name names, zoe and Lizzi and Denise (and a number of others), I have no idea of how to tie these jokes together into a coherent theme… wait a minute…

7) of course I’m grateful to the other Readers who are encouraging a better understanding (and appreciation) of the nature and character of the Seven Guard Virgins. (we will not say anything risqué about how they spend their time, especially when there is an affront to spirit of the TToT, as some might interpret this here Post here, in answer to those who might be thinking, ‘you know, I have often wondered how the SGV deal with the shenanigans that some of these writers are…er writing” allow me to simply say, “college dorm…Thursday night…after last exam, but before having to leave for the semester). As a part of this Item I would thank:

Cyndi Calhoun for letting us know that there were, in fact, Seven Guard Virgins
zoe for taking on the rather challenging job of being the gate-keeper/judge/final arbiter on all who would appeal to the Seven in the form of a dance (of entreaty)
Sarah for coming up with the rather cool sobriquet: SGV
Lizzi for letting them stay at her house, when they’re in town ( ‘gwan with ye now, stop by the flat anytime… crumpets and tea and all’)

8) …things that help me (re)focus on my effort to complete the book project. (I’m grateful to Molly, a friend of the Doctrine from early in these pages, who reflected that: a reluctance to express a goal clearly, or to do so in a manner that is too self-effacing, is to work against one’s own interest. (well, that’s how I’m remembering it. I bet it was more direct and clear, when she said it.) In any event, I try to keep that insight in mind when I talk about the Wakefield Doctrine book (project).

9) oddly enough, I am taking encouragement from the increasing number of ads on TV and radio that I see, (or hear), for self-improvement programs. Always a staple of the back pages of print magazines, there’s this one, luminosity (that’s been on tv a while) and just this week I heard one about a similar product from the fine folks at rosetta stone ( motto: ‘look at how plain these people in our commercials are! don’t you admire us for thinking you’re all… well, plain!)

10) Alright the unifying theme to this week’s TToT!! (I want to express my gratitude to anyone who has made it this far. muy buena! Thank you!) it (has to be) this: the difference between clarks (who know the Doctrine) and clarks (who do not know the Doctrine) can be seen in which of the two ‘interpretations’ of the famous saying that I be using in my Post title: know thyself (with gratitude to wikipedia for the trail of information they always provide, I am choosing to believe that clarks start with the original use (the greek expression), but with the Doctrine are able to not only stop up to the more modern understanding of this phrase, but are able to move beyond it. That is to say, ‘know your place’ to ‘learn more’ to ‘know yourself’ to ‘accept yourself’ (yeah, I better cite the wikipedia reference here). Well, this has been an interesting early Saturday morning!