predicting human behavior | the Wakefield Doctrine

Tuesday the Wakefield Doctrine (the worst best day of the Week)

January 28, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

Hey! It’s Tuesday!! (“...the day of week that starts out making you feel confident that you can meet the demands of your life, only to force you to admit that, like it or not, you must submit to whatever demands your world has in mind for you… and the next hiding place is 4 frickin days away!” yeah, that day of the week!)

If yesterday’s Post could be thought of as being ‘the back cover’ of the book, (‘the Wakefield Doctrine ‘you can drive, but you can’t hide”), then we need to write the Preface today.

the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers) is the product of a lifetime of effort to make sense of the world and (the behavior of) the people in it. From the first time it occurred to me to sign a Birthday Card to a member of my immediate family using my first and last names, (I couldn’t have been more than 5 years old), right up to about an hour ago, I have worked towards finding ‘the Answer’. Up until the moment that the core concept of the Wakefield Doctrine appeared before my eyes (the ‘Eureka Moment‘), I did what most people of my predominant worldview does: lay low and watch for clues, gather information and try not to stand out too much. It is kind of amazing how resourceful we are when we don’t think too much and (we) rely on our instincts, that silent voice that says ‘uh oh… freeze’. It is not that I was completely successful in getting through early life in stealth mode, but I saw enough on a daily basis, to bring home to me that I:

was ‘apart from’ everyone around me. they knew my name and where I lived and everything, but no one among them gave the slightest indication that they knew how I felt

did not seem to have feelings the way that the people I observed had; sure I got mad (frustrated), I got happy (hopeful), I even got sad (hopeless) but it never seemed to be the same thing the others were doing

did not realize until a minute ago, how ingrained this emotional …’separateness’ of mine actually is, until I noticed that I just used the word ‘got’ instead of ‘felt’ ….damn! is this a Doctrine or what?

was not always noticed as an Outsider, and to blend into the background provided me with the best vantage point from which to observe and learn

came to believe that my expectations were almost always exaggerated, at least when I permitted myself to imagine a change in my life… I would not just be like everyone else, I would be better than everyone else

also realized that while I did not enjoy being in the spotlight, I would not permit them to ignore me and so I learned to influence the friends that I acquired at various stages of my growing up

was convinced that once I discovered what I didn’t know, (that everyone else did seem to know), then I could become a real person

and so, until I experienced the moment of insight in the music store in Pawtucket, I lead a fairly normal life. (lol, no! it’s ok I’m laughing too… ) (ok… that’s enough). Just because I had a certain insight in the early 1980’s does not mean that the Wakefield Doctrine sprang into being, complete with clarks, scotts and rogers. Well, actually it was the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers, right from the beginning. The critical insight was that, maybe we all live in a world that is just ours, in a certain way, personal to us, a personal reality. Now, I never felt that this required any major leap of faith, or that being personal meant that my world had exotic and strange creatures and abilities…. er, wait a minute. I think it sort of does imply that.

In any event, I spent the next 20 years or so with the idea that there were three personality types, three ways of experiencing the world and I watched and learned the the different ways that these three types seemed to relate to the world. More and more I would talk about ‘those scotts!’ and ‘jeez how do the rogers do that’ and ‘poor clark, she needs to step outside of herself for just a minute, it would not be as hopeless as she believes!’ Then in 2009 the decision was made to write a blog and the rest is semi-current history.

there is a saying around here, ‘the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not for them ‘

it seems that most people, upon reading about (in a magazine), hearing about (on a television show) or chatting about (on ‘the Facebook’), a new personality theory simply can’t wait to try it out on: their boyfriend (who is not as wild as your parents think), girlfriend (who if only she would tone it down, and not be so….so, your friends would love her), husband (who works hard and is a good provider, but when he gets into that silent, not-depressed-but-not-happy mood, you want so much to be able to do something), wife (who sometimes, you know she can be so kind but then, out of nowhere she lashes out, usually at the person who least expects it, maybe she won’t do it so much), boss (who can be such an asshole but then, at times when it is just the two of you talking, seems to be so interested in your ideas) …all because people love personality theories for two reasons:

it confirms what they want to believe about themselves
it offers an excuse to try to change the other person

the Wakefield Doctrine does neither of these things …

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

Monday Morning @ the Wakefield Doctrine “I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand,Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain.”

January 27, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

No special significance to the subtitle to today’s Post. Just such an all around wonderful song. Although I’m not a lyrics or poetry guy, I sometimes a catch an extra sense of the interaction of the words in the lyrics a song. I was thinking, ‘I’ve used this in Posts more than 6 times before‘, but as I hear the words in my head, I’m thinking… suppose there’s a young Reader out there who has not actually heard Warren Zevon? Would they get the fun of the lyrics, would the internal rhythm of the words have the same impact, simply reading them?

the Wakefield Doctrine is a unique, fun and effective tool for understanding the behavior of the people in our lives. It is a way of looking at the world and how we relate ourselves to the people, the places and the things that make up our daily lives. The Wakefield Doctrine is focused on this relationship. The ‘starting point’ of the Doctrine is the nature/character of the personal reality that you grew up in, (that) formed the context for your learning about the world as a child and is, in fact, the arena in which you come to grips with the challenges of life. For the Wakefield Doctrine, your ‘personality type’ is not simply a label for the aggregate of your likes and dislikes, habits and obsessions, fears, phobias or true beliefs. For the Wakefield Doctrine, your ‘personality type’ is simply the best and most appropriate responses, strategies, accommodations and coping skills, given the nature of the reality that you grew up in and are living in today. Learn the characteristics of the three worldviews (personal realities), correctly infer which of (these three) a person is living in and you will know more about them than they know about themselves.

Learn the character of the reality of the Outsider (clarks), the life of the Predator (scotts) and the world of the Herd (rogers). Once you have learned the common reactions and responses of these personality types to everyday situations, you are ready for the fun part! Watch and observe the people around you: your First Period (math) Teacher who always wears the same jacket and tie on Mondays, the girl at the gas station/convenience store, the one who seems nice and friendly enough but sometimes laughs even though you haven’t said anything, the nurse who tells you to ‘take off all your clothes, put on the gown, (the open part towards the back) and the doctor will be right in’, (with the Doctrine in mind), you will notice how re-assuring her ‘ no-questions-are-necessary’ manner is and how she has a way of asking personal questions that you don’t feel embarrassed to answer. Everyone one you encounter today will be responding, reacting to, adapting and coping with the same circumstances that you see around you, except….. except! for some of the people in your day today, the world will be one in which they are Outsiders; these are clarks, and they will be trying not to be noticed and yet will hope that you appreciate how hard they work, even though they know they are doing whatever they are supposed to do…a little differently; (and as you make your way through the day today), taking the kids to daycare or basketball practice, you will encounter people who are not just ‘un-shy’ but are, somehow, hungry! these people seem to be thriving on everything that is going on around them, scotts live in the reality of the Predator and so everything they do is direct, full of energy, amusing and frightening… you like them and yet, there is something about their obvious confidence that makes you think about the childhood tale of Little Red Riding Hood… (and even at the end of your day, tonight) you might look around where you spend your nights and realize that some people are so reliable (in their demands) and so consistent (in their expectations) and yet… these people/children/spouses/TV personalities are those who grew up in a reality in which they have always been included… always a part of and, as members of the Herd, they know that there is a right way and a wrong way, they are rogers.

See how simple and fun this Doctrine is? Everything and everyone around you is available to help you practice the Wakefield Doctrine.

Two warnings:

the Doctrine is a tool, it is not (an) Answer. It says nothing about right and wrong, good or bad, or This is the Way… a tool just a tool
the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not for them… the Doctrine has nothing that you can use to make the people in your life: behave, quiet down, appreciate you, learn to get over their fears, stop being such a nag…
if you continue learning the characteristics of the three worldviews, you will become ‘fluent’ in the Wakefield Doctrine and that will be cool…unfortunately, well before that happens, you will start to see the clarks and the scotts and the rogers in your life around… that’s kinda cool too, the only thing…. you will not, even if you decide this Doctrine is dumb or stupid, …you will not be able to not see the clarks and the scotts and the rogers around you…just thought I should warn you before you get in too deep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpYBT0XyvA

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

Friday Surprise the Wakefield Doctrine (yeah, I know… with this damn Doctrine thing, the number of times you’re actually surprised?…way down!)

January 24, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

Sunshire Awards Part II

(There are certain protocols to be followed when receiving this recognition. In her Post Wednesday, Lizzi tells us that we are to: answer the 7 questions she posed, reveal a certain number of ‘quirky’ things about myself/the Wakefield Doctrine and nominate others to receive the award and require them to answer a new set of Questions. Fine. I answered the 7 Questions in yesterday’s Post. I will now proceed to discharge my duties, subsequent to completing the process.)¹

“…Offer 7 interesting/quirky/random/obscure facts about yourself * Answer the 7 questions posed by the blogger who nominated you * Nominate [mutable number of] other bloggers to receive the award, posing them 7 new questions.”

I will direct your attention to the wording of Liz’s nomination, Clark Scottroger – The Wakefield Doctrine
…why no, I don’t have to do more of a ‘setup, do I? (what I like the most about you Readers of the Wakefield Doctrine blog, is that you are as quick (and often quicker) than I am… so lets have some fun)

(mutable number) of interesting/quirky/random/obscure facts about the Wakefield Doctrine:

clarks will often ‘decide’ that they like someone who they barely know and proceed to create a relationship… this, of course, simply means that the clark acts friendly, confident and open (with the ‘target person’), clearly accessing their own scottian and rogerian aspects
scotts, for all of their being the most confident and self-assured (of the three), when confronted with overwhelming opposition will ‘retreat’ to their rogerian aspect before they will retreat to the clarklike aspect
rogers lets say there is a major snowstorm, goodly accumulation, oh I don’t know, 6 inches? but the day of the snow storm is the day of the garbage pickup (the trash cans have to be place at the end of the driveway) will the roger in the household decide: a) they won’t be picking up today ’cause of the storm, b) the priority is to get the garbage cans to the curbside first and foremost, even though the driveway (that leads to the curbside) has not been shoveled, will drag said cans into (approximate) position c) wtf? wait, it’ll take a little to shovel the drive, they don’t pick up until the afternoon, in any event!
both the progenitor scott and progenitor roger were (and remain) accomplished musicians, however scott is also artistically gifted
there is a ‘Pete Best’ figure in the pre-pre-theory of clarks, scotts and rogers
what the hell! I looked up Pete Best, for an image, y’know and they guy was a scott! never realized that… interesting
everyone has all three worldviews as a potential, everyone ends up growing up and developing in one of these three, leaving the other two nearby, but not everyone has a significant secondary or tertiary aspect…it’s there, but they are simply a clark or totally a scott or such a roger… so don’t feel you have to determine a person’s secondary or tertiary aspect

There! Done! One thing left to do. I’m supposed to pick seven people to receive the award (located at the bottom of this Post) and pose a whole new set of questions for them to answer! however, I’m going to break the Rules a touch.

I’ll list seven people I know and like. I’ll pose a fairly obviously contrived list of questions that they are expected to answer, but will be offering an Alternative…to answering the questions…in their blog Post

Jean at ‘Snap out of it, Jean! there’s Beading to be done!’ (yeah, just one of things we like about her)
zoe at re-written (hey, if you’re not up to it, let Skip write the answers!)
roger at Secessionist Rag ( as a progenitor it’s about time he got to do some of the work that goes with the title)
Christine (like we even need to tell you which Christine!)
Stephanie Life Unexpectedly

The Questions: 1) how did you feel in the middle of writing your first Post; 2) your first boyfriend/girlfriend, a clark or a scott or a roger; 3) you’re on a desert island and the cannibals are spotted paddling those weird out-rigger, tree-trunk canoes (yeah, this is that episode of Gilligans Island) and you have a choice of the other person with you on the island, who would you prefer? clark or scott or roger; 4) which of the ‘other two’ worldviews are you most uncomfortable swapping with…

The Alternative: we used to do ‘interviews’ with people a couple of years ago. The way it would work was that I would arrange a time and open the Saturday Night call in number and the person would call and, from my car driving around, I would ask them questions. (the resulting video would be of my hat and dashboard and the voice of my guest). As your Alternative, you could accept the invitation to do an interview… think about it.

(Stephanie? you might want to consider the Alternative, as the cost of a phone call would probably be just a bit under $5,789.34…lol)

TONIGHT the Wakefield Doctrine presents, ‘when the cat’s away Video Chat’!!!

I need to ask if anyone with a personality out there would please sign the list below so that I can invite you early. Lizzi is on vacation and there is a risk that I will be standing around the vid chat with a tray of jelly-on-ritz crackers acting as the host (for you older readers, visual: Fred MacMurray, Andy Griffith, Mr. Rogers and Tyler Durden serves canapés ) Leave us a Comment if you can attend, I’ll be sure to send the invite out to your google+ account!

1) I am grateful that Lizzi has seen fit to invoke the Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules) to allow a certain degree of….personal interpretation of the Rules and such, no less a follower of this Authority, I will be making certain modification to the rules, procedures, provisions, requirements and stipulations of the aforementioned Sunshire Award… but, I can’t be specific as to which Rule, as is only proper, according to the Secret Rule I am following.

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

Mid-Week Jumble …the Wakefield Doctrine (“so, you think you have what it takes to participate in this little personality thing, do ya?”)

January 22, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

(thanks out to Jean (gin-nay) and zoe and D and L and them) You, dear Reader have, no doubt, that voice that clarks have as a constant companion, the one that says, ‘hey dude…they’re laughing, quit while you’re ahead, man! you’re only making it worse.’) Hearing from the aforementioned people in the last Post, definitely makes a difference to me. Of course, now I get to continue with this adventure, and you Readers? you have only yourselfs to blame.

So you think that you’re a clark¹

Having a morning of fantasy hangover. Thats where, say yesterday, I found myself in the mood for a good fantasy. Having some time, seeing how it was snowing and all, I set up a fun fantasy and hit ‘Play’. Sat back (metaphorically speaking, of course) and entertained myself for a few hours. Trouble is, this morning comes and it’s time to get back to work and I’m all, “..ok it’s time for work, but what say we run the last chapter (or two) of yesterday’s ‘show’. …and I’m like, “er clark, time to go to work. put away the stories, ya gotta focus here, dude”.

hey! anyone (else) do that?²

A bunch of interesting things goin on out among our friends…

Christine has a new recipe!

Don’t Ever Say I Don’t Listen to My Readers

Denise is busy channeling ‘Ghost Story’ and has a good Halestorm vid

Yes. “Here’s to us….”

zoe …well, not exactly yesterday but still

IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS…

…and…she not only had a Post… but it was a Guest Post writing gig

Wacky Wednesday – it’s ME!!

alright time for me to go relocate the amassed frozen water

1) new feature: I don’t admit this to everyone, but… there are times when I think to myself, ‘wait a minute, clark this can’t be right. sure I know what my worldview is and I’m comfortable ascribing (it’s) characteristics to the world at large (as being a description of the worldview of a clark. But maybe they’re all just saying they agree because… they’re humoring you and such’** So I thought, lets really push the envelope and see how good this Doctrine-based insight into the character of your personal reality really is….

** ego? in a clark? yeah, but we have the weakest of egos!!

2) no, roger I don’t mean have a fantasy or daydream… this is an order of magnitude more… involving! but hey! thanks for coming and playing our little game, if you go with Starr³ here, she’ll show you out and make sure you get your gift before leaving.

3) well, how fuck should I know? I got ready to hit ‘publish’ and she was there… you tell her that she can’t play lol

‘of taxons and commas’ the Wakefield Doctrine (“… it is still Saturday, right?”)

January 18, 2014 By clarkscottroger

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

‘Driveway and Dog’

I cannot believe I just threw away 497 words that was a draft post. Totally threw it away, I couldn’t even justify leaving them, (the 497 words), as a ‘strike-through-content-left-on-Post-to-form-launching-point-of-the-actual-Post’, something that I have done in the past.

But enough about me! You’re here because: a) you are a participant in Lizzi’s Ten Things of Thankful bloghop and have decided to read a whole bunch of the ‘other’ Posts or 2) you have stumbled badly in your killing-time-in-the-blogosphere and found yourself at the Wakefield Doctrine. This is our contribution to the TToT bloghop.

In any event. After I threw the 497 words down on the ground, I went back to bed. Lying in bed with Phyllis and Una, the thought occurred to me, ‘hey what about taxonomy?’ Needless to say, I started to get excited! Of course! I’ll break my life (at least the last 7 days of it) into simple categories and, ….and!! use bullet points!!! the thing should write itself!! (it would not hurt to wish me luck at this point. I mean, sure, I finished the Post and all, I know how it all turned out, but you, the Reader does not…know at this point. So before continuing, if you have a moment, think of your Writer, athletic and well toned body standing on a small hill in the middle of a field, yelling and waving, “Hey Readers!! up here!! I think I’ve found the way out!! Come on!!” and without looking back I run down the far side of the hill, heading towards some jungly looking woods in the distance. (Think Wizard of Oz running through the field of poppies or whatever the hell it was and they almost make it to the Emerald City.)

This week, the things that I am grateful for/are, in the following categories:

Work:

having work, a profession that I enjoy and have done for long enough to acquire the experience that allows me to do what I do competently but not for so long that I am tired of it
part of my work involves driving in my car, which has always been one of my favorite things, as it is, in a sense, sort of a portable/moving living room… comfortable seat, entertainment from the radio or the scenery as I drive along
grateful for the difficulties I encounter it the course of doing my job, odd as that may sound.
I had a former client stop in the office yesterday, I had his house listed last year. We were not able to get it sold and the listing expired. However, he felt comfortable coming to my office because he needed some help with information required to refinance the house and I was, in fact, able to help. I liked the…. I guess I would call it a compliment, or whatever it was that was implied by his coming to me for help, even though it did not involve selling his house.

Home:

comfortable home, environment is semi-rural which means that when we (the family unit) are at home, there is a degree of privacy which is kinda nice
that other than one snow storm, the winter has been dry (or at least snow-free)…we have a pretty long driveway (not as long as, say, Christine’s, which from the Posts I read, is crazy long), but longer than any of the other driveways in the neighborhood. I have resisted buying a snow blower so it is all shovel-by-hand whenever we get a storm… wait, let me get a picture!
technology! that I was able to stop this typing, get my phone and take 6 or 7 photos and email them to myself and use one in this here Post here, how cool is that?
modern heating systems. We have a wood stove on the lower level of the house, it’s one of those with the glass doors so besides being an additional heat source, it has the aesthetic appeal of a fireplace. The thing is, the amount of work necessary to produce a state of ‘not cold’ in the house using wood as a fuel! no, I am totally grateful for the thermostat-based heating systems

the Virtual World:

we had the Friday Night Vid Chat last night. I really enjoy this form of social interaction with people. As is often cited in these grat lists (mine and others), I really get off on the fact that I am able to meet people who, without the medium of the internet, I would never, ever have met.
Cyndi’s Comment/Question/Follow-up-that-provided-it’s-own-answer (see Comments in this Post)
had some technical talk last night, …grammar!! (god! if my 19 year old self could hear me now! “hey! young clark!! women and the proper use of commas and semi-colons someday that is going to be the high point of your week!”)
that I am not, in fact, being the least sarcastic in that last item.

there! and without having to invoke a single Secret Rule! (thanks for the reminder, zoe).

Welcome to the newest Co-host, whose identity we managed to un-cover, despite Lizzi’s best effort to keep us all in the dark!*