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Tuesday -the Wakefield Doctrine- ‘The Land of Nod, clarks and personal realities…’

October 8, 2019 By clarkscottroger

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

“The LORD said to him, If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged seven times. So the LORD put a mark on Cain, so that no one would kill him at sight. Cain then left the LORD’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” (Genesis 4:15-16)

“But I’m a superstitious man. And if some unlucky accident should befall him – If he should get shot in the head by a police officer, or if he should hang himself in his jail cell – or if he’s struck by a bolt of lightning, then I’m going to blame some of the people in this room, and that I do not forgive. But, that aside, let me say that I swear, on the souls of my grandchildren, that I will not be the one to break the peace we’ve made here today.”

— Vito Corleone

Seeing how today is Tuesday¹. Lets talk about predominant worldviews.

The Wakefield Doctrine is based on the notion that we, all of us, experience reality as a personal affair. Nothing too extreme, no fair claiming super powers in your reality, (that for some reason is not demonstrable to anyone else, at least for the moment), just the obvious: when you stand at the bus stop in the morning, no matter how true it is that the physical destination is the same for all the other kids, that yellow monstrosity is carrying you to a place that they will not quite experience².

The Wakefield Doctrine maintains that all people are born with the potential to experience the world in one of three ways. We call these distinct realities, predominant worldviews³. Now, here’s where the Doctrine steps away from the majority of ‘personality theories’. The traits, characteristic behavior and idiosyncrasies I exhibit are not due to childhood drama, trauma, left out on the porch, pampered by the family retainer or exalted by both parents. They (the style of my interaction with the world) are the best strategies I could come by as a child learning to negotiate my surroundings (both physical and social), given the character of the world that I was experiencing. This, poor posture, tendency to mumble, desire to avoid the spotlight is the style most suited to survival in the kind of world in which I grew up.

What kinds of worlds are we talking about? Glad you asked! We all find ourselfs, way young, in a world of one of three characters:

the world of the Outsider. clarks: the person who is inclined not to be in the spotlight, works hard, avoids credit, too intelligent for their own good and wicked creative (in a wtf sort of way) best friends of a scott, persistent friend of a roger.
the reality of the Predator. scotts: don’t let that word, ‘Predator’ distract you, instead think…. Tasmanian devil, but friendly (most of the time), fiercely loyal friend, high-cost enemy, they (both male and female) put the Capital ‘S’ in Sexy
the life of the Herd Member. rogers: next time you’re flying at thirty-five thousand feet, thank the rogers in the world for their stubborn insistence that the world (at least for them, and, fortunately the machines they build) is quantifiable and reliable, rogers are the reason there is a Bible (as a bunch of words, not to be confused with whatever inspired it).

Thats all the time we have today.

…the Biblical reference? That is both the power of the Wakefield Doctrine and the fun of the process (when one embraces said theory of personality). The phrase stuck in my mind for a critical few seconds this morning. Now the Bible is like the biggest cardboard box of blogpost ideas in the universe. I mean, its got everything and…and! almost always there be clarks, scotts and rogers. Them what wrote the Book, they be all about using three inter-dependent/complimentary/reinforcing qualities.

So why am I suggesting that the Land of Nod is referencing clarks? Stay tuned!

1) In the realm of workdays, sometimes referred to as Tuesday the Meek; weekday favored by clarks

2) with the exception of the other clarks who are hidden in the clumps of pre-adolescent social chaos, like rabbits in a field of tall grass, there if for no other reason than its the best place to hide.

3) no, no special reason other than its kinda cool sounding, if not entirely Hoyle Approved use of language⁴

4) thanks to Q. Tarantino for that line. In fact the whole Divine Intervention scene at the end of Pulp Fiction is worth clicking on the blue linked words. (Warning! Occasional f-word but, surprisingly, no violence)

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: psychology of personality, relationships, the Wakefield Doctrine, three personality types

Monday -the Wakefield Doctrine- “Morning thoughts with Cynthia…”

October 7, 2019 By clarkscottroger

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

As much as my primary focus in these pages has, of late, been writing stories, (both Six Sentence Stories and TToT stories, arguably both fiction*), Friend of the Doctrine, Cynthia, wrote a comment yesterday that is surely an opportunity to reflect on our little personality theory.

Ms. Calhoun, she writes,

It’s a good time of year for talking about the Stanley. Ooh, did you stay in it, or what it a day trip? I love haunted house shows, and ghost story shows this time of year. Now? It is a clark-thing? Not sure. That depends on whether you like fun scary shows, too. Or not.
It’s been a good journey, this modicum of not posting. Ah, I won’t have a post for tomorrow, I don’t think, but I will have a goodly amount of fodder for when I do post – soon. It’s just been nice to have a bit of a break. And you’ve seen that I’ve started a new lil project that I’m quite enjoying. You know me…I rest a bit and then start something new. Story of my life. I’m not sure what aspect of the three worldviews that compels me to come up with new projects for myself all the time, but here we are…any tao te ching for your tea time discussion today?

Let’s get to work!

(Quick Note for New Readers: three personal realities result in the development of three distinct ‘personality types’. Everyone has one, and only one predominant worldview (clark, scott or roger). However, we all retain the potential of ‘the other two’, sometimes to a level where that influence is quite apparent. There is a rule called, the Everything Rule, that states, ‘everyone does everything, at one time or another‘. What this means is there are no ‘only a scott would do that’, or ‘that is completely a rogerian job’. A clark, could be a cop. The thing of it is, ‘being a cop’ manifests differently in the personal reality of a clark than, for example, a scott (who, btw, are totally the best at being a cop in terms of the qualities useful in this occupation being so in sync with (the) qualities… celebrated in the world of the Predator (i.e. a Scott). You know, driving real fast while making a lot of noise, chasing fleeing people, shooting off guns… scotts is real good at that kinda stuff. If you want to know more, read the other parts of the blog or just ask. Back to Cynthia.)

Enjoy haunted houses? Of course, the Everything Rule suggests we consider first how an entertainment like ‘a haunted house’ manifests for the three… you know those shows on TV with titles like, ‘Real Haunted Houses of the Genuine Kind’ and ‘Sincerely Talented Hunters of scary and dramatic Haunted Houses’? (found on either the History Channel or the Science Channel because ….what the &*&$#, ya know?) the people in these shows are rogers. The people in the haunted house exhibits and displays, where someone or something jumps out at you to add to your enjoyment? scotts. The people who are drawn to a haunted house, especially those like the Stanley Hotel, well, here’s a hint: ‘You know, there is no proof that ghosts do not exist, you never know!’ lol

The topic offered by our friend that is most intriguing and will require me to return to this post later in the day. This is due to the fact that it, (the topic), being so appropriate to a discussion of the Wakefield Doctrine that my available time at this moment, (8:12 am), permits me only to pose/frame a question.

I’m not sure what aspect of the three worldviews that compels me to come up with new projects for myself all the time,

Of the three worldviews, we’re looking for the one in which the central feature is manifested by a drive to learn and a need for novelty… which of the three… hmmm

(Will be back in the afternoon. Jump in with your commentationing at any time)

* in no way intended as anything but positive, as a clark, I not only view reality as fiction, but as a WIP in which, sometimes, the author nods off and I get a shot at the keyboard

3:08 pm

…got a minute. Being a Monday mid-afternoon, allow me to continue as we look at Cynthia’s questions and how the Wakefield Doctrine might afford you of one more view. (This is, after all, the core mission/ambition of the Wakefield Doctrine, to make available one more way to perceive reality.)

The new projects syndrome our friend refers to is surely one of the classic good news/bad news aspects of the world of the Outsider (clarks). The good news is that it is a manifestation of one of the creativity of clarks.** the bad news it’s a process in the service of an un-satisfiable need. We create in order to find. Unfortunately we are trying to find something that doesn’t quite exist, at least not in the form that we have in our minds.

** true creativity as found in the reality of clarks is to bring into existence things that did not exist otherwise. this, in distinction to the creativity of rogers and scotts** In rogers, creativity manifests as reassembly, re-configuration of things already in existence, This is evidenced by the tendency of rogerian artists enjoying more commercial success than clarklike artists. scotts? well their creativity pretty much springs from their ability to direct the attention of those around them…. “Hey! Look! Its something you’re never seen before!”

** who said, ‘That’s the Everything Rule again!’? Very good.

https://youtu.be/X5r1ub00btE

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: psychology of personality, relationships, self-development, the Wakefield Doctrine, three personality types

Tuesday -the Wakefield Doctrine- ” Of time and energy, why there never seems to be enough of either in the day.”

June 25, 2019 By clarkscottroger

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

Today we are out to gain a new perspective on the matter of ‘there aren’t enough hours in the day’ problem that many of us experience.

But, wait. Before we wade into the rhetorical morass of theories of reality, life and how we relate ourselves to the world around us, what’cha say I (re)tell you the story of the beginning of the Wakefield Doctrine?

In the early 1980’s, Scott* worked at a music store in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He was the only full-time salesman and (also) ran the store’s repair department. In addition to musical instruments, the store provided repair services for a wide range of electronic equipment, including tape recorders and other audio equipment.

One day I happened to stop by the store to visit. While there, a young man walked into the store, went directly to the ‘repair department’ where Scott and I were talking and without preamble placed a ‘duel cassette recorder’ on the counter. A duel cassette recorder was designed to allow one cassette to be copied directly to another, what today we would call, making a back up. The controls on this ‘dubbing recorder’ consisted of two sets of tape recorder controls: Volume, Treble and Bass. Where it differed from a single recorder was that it also had a Master Volume control. As the name implies it controlled the volume level, for both recording and playback. The tape recorder that the customer placed on the counter appeared to be new and showed no signs of damage or abuse. I stepped back and Scott looked up and said, ‘What can we do for you’? The customer said to Scott, “This thing is brand new, it worked for a couple of days, then it stopped working entirely. I can’t figure out what’s wrong”.

Scott looked at the device for a second, then, without a word, reached under the counter, brought out a roll of black electrical tape, and, tearing off a 2 inch piece, taped over the Master Volume control (after returning the dial to it’s highest setting). He then slid the device back over the counter and said, “There, it’s all right now.”

The guy asked to plug in the recorder. Taking a cassette from his pocket he put in the machine and ran it through it’s paces. Satisfied that his ‘broken tape recorder’ now worked like new, he thanked Scott and walked out of the store, a totally satisfied customer.

My reality shifted. For reasons not clear to this day, although I observed what scott saw as to the nature of the problem with the dual cassette recorder, I realized that the character of Scotts solution implied a reality, a ‘context’ that was clearly different from mine. At that moment I accepted that the personal reality that I experienced was not necessarily the one that of anyone else. That the manner in which Scott perceived the ‘problem’ was fundamentally different from the way I witnessed it.

From that moment, standing in a small music store in Pawtucket, I’ve been observing the behavior of others knowing that what they are experiencing is not necessarily that which I am, I try to understand, “What kind of reality does this person exist in?”

Lets return to today’s topic, the matter of ‘the curious shortage of time’. Think back to a day when you were eighteen or, even, twenty-three years old. Remember, if you can, the variety of activities you engaged in on that day. Maybe you were in school, perhaps you’d already started a family and were exploring the imagined world of adult life. I am willing to bet that the number of tasks were greater than the count from your average day last week.

Counter-intuitively or not, the older we get, the less variety in the demands on our time.

A better (and more instructive) way to say that is ‘The older we get, the demands on our time become fewer, in part because our perception of (our) capacity to meet the energy requirements of the tasks that would engage us.’ We feel we only have enough energy for what our current life demands. (No, ‘we were younger’ is not a valid response.) This is not simply physical energy we’re talking about. It is how, as we age we settle into routines. Routines for the average day, whatever they may be. And we practice these routines until we can do them in our sleep. We effectively commit all the energy we possess when we wake up in the morning to these routines.

…maybe, for those of us feeling like there isn’t enough time in the day, it isn’t excessive demands on our time, or even a lack of sufficient energy, rather it is an (unconscious) claim on all our energy for the routines that dominate our days.

* yes, the Scott in the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers

…’cause the Doctrine believes any attempt to think should have musical accompaniment.

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: psychology of personality, relationships, self-development, the Wakefield Doctrine, Understanding Human Behavior

TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine-

June 1, 2019 By clarkscottroger

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

Every week for the last six years, bloggers, blog-readers and real people have been coming to the Ten Things of Thankful bloghop to catch the latest in gratitacious reflection and lists of things what made people feel thankful. The format is simple, the intention laudable and the execution…well, lets say eclectic and let it go at that. (I kid. Everyone who sends in a TToT post are of a talent and skill that makes the reading easy and the pleasure inevitable.)

Riding herd on this the blog-that-Lizzi-created, is Kristi. She makes sure the lights are on and the rent’s been paid.

Speaking of Kristi, she’s been a whirlwind of activity and preparation for the Sixthaversary of the start of this here blog here.

1) Una

Dog riding shotgun.

2) Phyllis

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work the ground and care for it”*
Landscape Orientation
*Genesis 2:14-16**
**Bow Wow Edition

3) Wakefield Doctrine: sine qua non, y’all, sine qua non.

4) Una’s Garden (and driveway corn) Garden at the top… photo of the driveway below

Soon to be lined with elephants.*
I’ve planted the driveway corn on the left edge of the above driveway.
Time will tell.
(Portrait Orientation)
*Rogers and Hammerstein

5) Synopsiseses… ayye…fricken…yiiiee! So the path to (traditional) publication apparently includes writing a synopsis. Requested by both agents-to-be and publishers is what makes this exercise unavoidable. What makes it worthy of my ayyiiee is that although the dictionary defines synopsis as ‘…an outline, overview of a novel, screenplay….” most sources place its maximum length at two pages (double-spaced) (Can I get an ayyiiee?) They want to know the primary characters, the significant events, conflicts and resolution and… and, how the major character has changed. Thats all. I did say, ‘Two pages, double-spaced, didn’t I?’ Thats approximately 500 words… five hundred. I will find a way. All because I’ve been driven by a certain theory of personality. (Won’t mention any names, but it rhymes with ‘Wakefield Doctrine’) lol. I sure am glad I’ve been participating in the Six Sent…… hey! a grat item! Lets put this to good use, ….coming in at Number 6!

6) The Six Sentence Story. A bloghop based on writing a story from a weekly prompt word. It’s hook, (the ‘hop, not the word), being the story needs be Six Sentences in length. It’s hosted by Denise (who took over from zoe ) and I’ve been a participant for years. I suspect my taking liberty with the glue of semi-colons and invoking a certain J. Joyce with my Lego sentence construction, have resulted in developing the beginnings of confidence in the editing process; to take a 500 word story and turn it into a 300 word story, which, of course, as long as there are only six periods, becomes a Six Sentence Story. Where was I? Oh yeah, editing. So all I need to do is think of my synopsis as a huge-ass Six Sentence Story and reduce it down to those words that carry the essence of ‘Almira’ (Girl realized she doesn’t know who she is. Girl (and the Reader) hear the life-story of a sleeping woman. Girl (and woman) understand their life and place in it.) Like that… ‘cept I give away the ending in the synopsis. For the sake of those still reading, I won’t do that here.)

7) THIS SPACE AVAILABLE. Got yourself on the edge of the diving board. Pretty sure you want to dive into a TToT? Inertia starting to glue them feets to the floor? Try this: send us one of your Grats in a comment and I’ll post it right here.

8) Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules) It is the philosopher’s stone for the temporarily (or chronically) blocked TToT post writer. Know you have plenty to write but every time you start, your mind and your inner critic start to wrestle like over-tired six-year-old boys at the end of someone else’s birthday party? Doesn’t matter why, its all about the struggle. There’s a Secret Rule for that! Lets say you are totally in a bad mood, but have participated in the ‘hop for months, everything you think of reads like a sarcastic Paul Lynde. Yes ma’am there is a Secret Rule for that. I’d cite the Chapter and Verse. but…. yep! another Secret Rule prevents that. (Hint: don’t give up, there’s a Secret Rule to get around that too!)

9) Sunday Supplement

10) Secret Rule 1.3 “..the approaching conclusion of a list of things of thankful is, in and of itself, something to be…. you got it!” [ibid. op.cit. etc.]

(some kind of music vid)

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: relationships, self-development, the Wakefield Doctrine

Monday -the Wakefield Doctrine- “…of branded clothing, clarks and learning the language of other realities”

May 6, 2019 By clarkscottroger

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

This weekend’s Wakefield Doctrine call-in* was especially fun. In attendance: Denise, Cynthia and none other than (the Progenitor) roger.

As you would imagine, the topics were varied and diverse. They included:

living at college in the 1970s and the 1990s (me and Cynthia respectively)
the Wakefield Doctrine¹
writing, in general and writing an idea for a time travel story
it, courtesy of a dream involving friend of the Doctrine, Molly, The ‘hook’ of being awoken by the ringing of my cell phone (the aforementioned Molly calling to see what happened to me from the ‘previous evening’) and discovering that I was in my college dorm room in 1973. I could get calls from ‘the future’ but I was still in 1973 and, as we all know, cell phone batteries don’t last forever. (ed.note. “I’m still waiting for my skills to catch up to the idea. The plot is, like, amazing. But, as we all know, and was, in fact part of our discussion this Saturday past, ‘Ideas are easy, execution is the hard part’.
the nature of the three predominant worldviews and the challenge of getting far enough into the reality of ‘the other two’ in order to better appreciate the differences
…this appreciation being the foundation of the ultimate utility of our little personality theory, which is to develop all three aspects within ourselfs
Doctrine branded clothing and such… the first thing we did, back in the before-time, was to have hats made (‘for your damn heads‘). This served two purposes: a) proudly display an affiliation with the greatest insight into personality and dealing with the world and the people who make it up and 2) to identify our predominate worldview (note in the photos, one of the three is stitched in red) then came tee shirts and the last item, (and personal favorite), a college sweatshirt.

Lets see some photation:

There are other examples, since this is a convenient, electronic blog, click on ‘THIS LINK’ and you can see examples of Doctrine clothing (and the people wearing it).

* on the homepage…. upper right, is a phone number and basic instructions

1. the Wakefield Doctrine is a perspective on personality, reality and the people who make up our lives. As a perspective, the Wakefield Doctrine is simply a tool, not an Answer. That being said, as a tool, it is useful, effective and a whole lot of fun.

The basics: we are, all of us, born with the capacity to experience the world in one of three characteristic ways. As an Outsider (clarks), a Predator (scotts) or a Herd Member (rogers). At an early age we ‘settle’ into one of these three ‘predominant worldviews’. We find ourselfs in the world of the Outsider, Predator or Herd Members and proceed to develop our personalities. Here the Doctrine diverts from the model of your everyday personality theories. Rather than fit you into a category on the basis of observed behavior and thereby assigning you a personality type, the Doctrine be sayin: Observe the other person (or yourself) which of the three worldviews is most…. congruent with the style of interaction?’ Is the person (or are you) ‘…Staying on the fringes, doing things way different, but out of the immediate spotlight?‘ ‘Does it look like that person (hey! are you) ‘…looking for a good time… impatiently watching for something to run away or charge you?’ or, how about, ‘Are they everywhere and giving off a friendly vibe and yet, not overly welcoming?’

That is how we do Sunday Supplement Personality Tests (Sunday Supplement Personality Tests motto: “Honey/Homey! Come here, you’ve got to take this test. It has you down to a ‘T‘”)

Enough for today.

Gonna try to write more on this topic in the coming days.

(Yes, everyone has one and only one predominant worldview. We do not lose the capacity to experience the world as ‘the other two’ but thats for a post on self-improving ourselfs.)