Understanding Human Behavior | the Wakefield Doctrine

Monday Reprint -the Wakefield Doctrine-

November 15, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

The best thing about the Wakefield Doctrine:

The worst thing about the Wakefield Doctrine:

The part of the Doctrine most in need of better understanding:

The aspect of the Doctrine that is damn near perfect:

As we wrote in October of 2012

Lots to cover, not a lot of time to do it.

Semi-elevator pitch: the Wakefield Doctrine is a tool for understanding the behavior of people in our lives. the Wakefield Doctrine is predicated on the idea that everyone grows up and develops in one of three worldviews (or personal realities, if you prefer) and it is the nature of these worldviews that determines what we call personality types.

(Put another way): if you grow up in a reality that is best characterized as the world of predator and prey, then your way of dealing with such a world will, by and large result in what we describe as the scottian personality type: action-oriented, quick to react, aggressive (socially and any other -ly you might care to name), fun, cruel, mercurial (but not temperamental), gregarious (but not ‘a joiner’) opinionated (but not driven by dogma), a decisive leader (but not given to thinking-through consequence), a great joke teller (but always ‘pushing it’… making the jokes more and more until nearly everyone walks away), a killer entertainer (but cannot bear to be out of the limelight), very giving and charitable (but forgetful), spontaneous ( yet calculating)… but this personality is all that it is because you have grown up in and are, in fact, at this very moment experiencing the world as would a predator in the world of predator and prey.

(Yes, you should have taken your One-a-Day Allegory Supplements this morning! too late now…stay with us, the worst is over…. and you’re correct in finding that little statement more disturbing than re-assuring!)

(Put a second way): those of us who have experienced the world as an Outsider, (ever since we can remember), will not only have social strategies that are meant to allow us to try to fit in, but at the same time (and seemingly in contradiction) maintain, even celebrate our status as the non-member, all the while searching for the knowledge, the information, the clue, the insight that will allow us to understand ‘the World’ and by doing so, become a part of it! (in the meantime, however) we will remain ever curious, marking no fact as insignificant, quiet (in a loud sort of way), creative in a very… creative way, intuitive (while maintaining that we are not like them…wtf?), good teachers, especially of the young (who we hope have not yet learned to recognize us as the outsiders), the epitome of the homemaker (so self-less as to make you wonder what we hate about ourselves), funny (provided ‘they’ listen closely enough to hear us), ruthlessly fierce defenders of what(ever) might be dear to us (yet tolerant to abuse, provided it is ‘only us’), giving (spoiled by the lack of a capacity to take). This is how the worldview of the clark is recognized and once known, much about what goes on inside the mind of a clark becomes clear… for a minute

(Third way)? …rogers is the term (and is the word) used to designate the personality type that results from being alive in the personal reality (aka worldview) that is best described as the world of the herd. Not derogatory in any manner, other than the obvious, this personality type accounts for the majority of the population, for reasons not yet established. But thank god we have them…. the rogers, not the reasons! If you have grown up and matured into an adult experiencing this worldview, we will all recognize you because you are totally certain of how the world works (and when it acts unexpectedly then it is clearly someone’s fault), you are the people (of any and all cultures) who organize and maintain tradition and are multi-handily responsible for the rise and fall of civilizations, the reasons for war (but not the cause of peace), you build the airplanes (and regulate the industry), you create documentaries (yet insist on romance), you re-write and edit history (but cannot tolerate any variation) you love: labels (as long as they are yours to apply to others), instructions (provided they guarantee a successful outcome), authority (as long as you get to impose the sentences), the old (but hate the new), to celebrate your home (as long as there is a family tree). rogers give us continuity (but lack creativity)

OK! lol sorry, got off on some kind of side track!
To close: we all have the capability to experience any of the three worldviews, it’s just that we are in one of the three pretty much all the time. The good news? If you want to self-improve yourself, the Doctrine totally has your number.

(Did someone say, “man on man, what the hell was that?! I need to clear my head, if only there was some music that would do this for me!”)

ed note: we considered editing the post to alter the sequence of the the sections on scotts and clarks. for reasons lost in the tangled bedcovers of Time, they were in the order: scotts, clarks, rogers rather than the now conventional clarks, scotts and rogers.

on second thought, screw it… lets read it as written, not sure who let the roger out just now… you’ll be ok.

Music vid. Hey, we have it stuck in our heads, so why not share the tuneage

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: the Wakefield Doctrine, three personality types, Understanding Human Behavior

ttt…TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine-

November 7, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

We are surely in the time of year, here in coastal southern New England, when we separate the men-from-the-boys… the women-from-the-ladies…. er…the tender feet-from-the-Eagle-Scouts (eww worse)… wait, gimme a minute. (ok, you’ll hate this prozeugma ), It’s a time when the distinction between a clark with a secondary scottian aspect and a scott with a secondary rogerian aspect becomes graphically clear.

When it comes to writing a post of Ten Things of Thankful (TToT), the autumn season, imho, puts an inordinate strain on our capacity to feel gratitude. Never a overwhelmingly obvious personal quality, the cold temperatures and inhospitable conditions, combined with the sun setting at four o’clock, (and racing towards noon with every passing Fall afternoon); I’d say, among clarks-who-write-grat posts, the time of year is like juggling eight, pissed-off tarantulas.

1) Una. Who, while comfortable at virtually all temperatures, is not, however, a fan of rain. (ok, just a little non sequitur(ish) but it’s true. Having the extra-long coat is probably the reason. The photo at the top of the post illustrates the primary reason our dogs have been my role model. Sure, she knows that snow turns into water eventually, but….snow deep enough to create speeding-dog-wakes-and-plumes?! Eternity in an hour, yo.)

2) Phyllis. Way more tolerate of the lower ranges of temperatures than we are. She does not, however, share our enjoyment of the higher, now sadly left in the previous months, heat range.

3) the Wakefield Doctrine. Everyone knows that the Wakefield Doctrine is gender and culture neutral, we figure it’d be waste of a TToT theme to not mention that the Wakefield Doctrine takes no position on the seasons of the year, vis-à-vis any proclivity of the three predominant worldviews: clarks(Outsiders), scotts(Predators) and rogers(Herd Members) towards a certain time of year.

4) Six Sentence Story a place to read short-short-(really short) story(ettes) and a place to learn and practice one’s own abilities.

5) Serial stories: ‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘ and ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘

6) The library project, Part II Now that we have removed the stump. the next step is to level the 14×16 area where the structure will be place (once they’re delivered crushed rock to form the base.

7) the Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules) The BoSR/SBoR is not simply license to ignore convention, run roughshod* over the practices and processes emloyed (and exhibited) by the participants. Beginning with the founderini, Lizzie it has been a virtual Philosopher’s Stone (for some of us).

8) the spirit and tenor of this collection of bloggers who view the process as a win-win, not matter what some of us come up with for content. This attitude is what make this the ‘hop what it is.

9) something something

10) Secret Rule 1.3 Because what kind of bloghop would this be if’n we didn’t have Secret Rules. We’ll tell you back up in Grat 7

* interesting, the term dates back to the 1800’s when the nails that held the iron shoe would be left long, projecting from the hoof. This resulted in better traction for the horse and more damage to the undesirable that the horse rider felt the need to ride over. Hence the historical designation ‘Age of Enlightenment’.

music

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: relationships, the Wakefield Doctrine, Understanding Human Behavior

Wednesday -the Wakefield Doctrine-

November 3, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

Quick follow-up on the reference, in yesterday’s post, to the use of the Wakefield Doctrine in self-improvementhood.

The core idea to the Doctrine is personal reality. Specifically one of three: the reality of the Outsider(clarks), the world of the Predator(scotts) and the life of the Herd Member(rogers). These comprise the context against which we develop strategies and learn how best to negotiate the path of our lives.

Outsiders(clarks) come to realize they’re apart from and otherwise, (apparently), different from those around them. Being a reality of the rational, (clarks, think) they set out to discover what it is that everyone else appears to know that bestows membership. clarks suspect they missed the class on belonging, (class on belonging motto: ‘Welcome to the Club’)
Predators(scotts) listen to their bodies, as the world doesn’t encourage reflection and self-examination. They’re not disappointed. The joy of the chase leaves no extra energy for introspection, and it, (introspection), providing no added speed or power, is set aside for the moment. (scotts act) They don’t feel exception for being the way they are, instinct focuses the mind quite sufficiently. Life is… well, it is. Anyway, there’s no time to waste, only time to chase and avoid being caught. (scottian world motto: ‘Hey! What’s that? Chase it!)
Herd Members(rogers) feel good. The world around them makes sense. Besides being full of things, (and people, principles and institutions), they accept their membership and take satisfaction that their Club Member jacket has neither a number nor an expiration date. rogers gladly accept the charge in life to discover the Right Way and instruct all others in what they’ve discovered. (rogerian worldview motto: ‘Life is Good’)

So, what does this have to do with self-improvoisity?

Hold on… one more concept (or two)

So, for the Wakefield Doctrine, personality type is simply a label for the style, set of strategies, a person has learned and practiced in on of the three personal realties. In a sense, each of us have the best and most effective of personality types, given the reality in which we exist.

The thing is, we never lose the potential to experience the world as do ‘the other two’. (We grow up in one and only one of the three personal realities.)

…time’s up for this Wednesday. Check back in a couple of days.

Tomorrow is Six Sentence Story day and we get to read the latest installment from ‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: self-improvement, the Wakefield Doctrine, three personality types, Understanding Human Behavior

Toosday -the Wakefield Doctrine-

November 2, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

We have mentioned the fact that, as a tool for self-improving oneself, the Wakefield Doctrine is without peer, have we not?

(Hey! You ever wonder why it is we say, ‘the Constant Reader of the Wakefield Doctrine is either a clark or a scott (or roger) with a significant secondary clarklike aspect? Of course you have. Wait! Come back! Don’t click away… we’re just kidding. Everyone is invited to read and take what they can from this place of ours.)

Ok, already, enough with the asides! So, before I try to write an effective introduction to today’s reprint, there’s a youtube channel you’re gonna love. (As an aside, this guy is a master of the segue to commercial. While we get that sponsors are how folks can afford to spend the time creating content, most are ham-handed, “Now a totally Dissonant Word from Someone You won’t be Clicking On, commercials. HAI is so not like that. This channel is made for clarks (and those with secondary clarklike aspects).

Do us a solid, if, after watching a few vids, you’re inspired to leave a comment, tell ’em the Wakefield Doctrine sent ya. Click: Half as Interesting

ok…

Shall we continue on to today’s Reprint? From August 18, 2014

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

Lizzi has this thing she does, from time to time, where she writes provocative and engaging story that seems to be about herself, only to inform the Reader, at the very end, that ‘this is fiction’.

Today’s Post is sort of like that…except in reverse (or maybe, converse). The story that follows is real enough, however the ‘point’, or ‘lesson’ or even ‘moral’ of the story may not be immediately apparent. And,

Yesterday I had a property that had a heating air-conditioning system emergency. An air-handler in the attic malfunctioned and water (condensate from the ac) was leaking through the ceiling into the bedroom below. I tried, without success, to get the plumbing and heating company to answer my calls to make a weekend service call, unfortunately they were nowhere to be found. Staring at the water dripping off the hardwired smoke detector in the bedroom ceiling I realized that I had to do something. I decided to turn off the power in the house, as house was on a well, at least I could prevent any additional water from adding to the problem. The air-handler sat in a metal pan, in order to contain any condensate created when the system was in cooling mode. The pan was overflowing, the source of the water dripping through the bedroom ceiling. My plan was simply to empty the pan. Access to the attic was by a pull-down staircase. I took a plastic drinking cup and a 5 gallon bucket, climbed the stairs, flashlight in hand, and starting bailing out the water. There was a lot of water. At least 5 trips down the stairs, with a full bucket. Now, the thing about pulldown staircases is that they have normal shaped steps from the bottom to about 3/4s of the way up, where they, (the steps), become more like ledges. You can put your full weight on them, you just can’t stand on them the way you normally do with stairs.

The operation took about 45 minutes. It was successful, provided the definition success was, ‘less water available to leak through the ceiling now than there was before I started’. I left the property and returned to my office. Getting out of my car at the office I felt my legs do that ‘tremor’ thing, you know, over-exertion total muscle exhaustion. (Like when you were a kid and someone dared you to do 50 knee bends as fast as you could?). Mind you this was the first time, (that morning), I felt that way. Each of my trips up and down the attic ladder, flashlight providing the illumination, with 5 gal bucket in one hand, were anything but tremory. In fact, each step I took was very deliberate as I did not underestimate the potential of slipping and falling out of the attic of an empty house.

But as I walked across the parking lot, I felt like I had run 8 miles. And I laughed (I am, after all, a clark). I laughed because I could see how effectively I limit myself.

Like most Readers, I try to stay healthy. I understand that exercise is a necessary component to a healthy life style and I make periodic efforts, in good faith and with sincere intentions to stay in shape. Nothing unusual there. (And) when I am in exercise mode, I will work hard, striving ‘to feel the burn’, whether it requires 30 minutes on a stationery bike or, of late, my two mile ‘run’, I am trying my best to exercise my muscles. Yet, prior to yesterday, I can’t remember the last time I felt that my legs were made of rubber. Tired out, winded, tight feeling in back of legs, sure, but rubbery? no. Clearly I have been nowhere near the limits of my physical strength/condition/capacity in a long, long time. And I was not aware of it.

That was the insight that made yesterday’s work adventure worthwhile. What we tell ourselves, about ourselves is, by and large, intended to maintain the status quo. The insidious-ness of this is that not only can I have ‘good intentions’…. (stay healthy-exercise! learn more-study! find romance-take showers!) but I can ‘take action’… (run 2 miles- boy that was tough! get a B- hey my studying paid off! find true love-I can get used to a person who uses double negatives!). All without knowing my true capability/capacity/talent really. Because of the tales we tell ourselves.

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

Re-Print Monday -the Wakefield Doctrine-

October 18, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

Being Monday, we thought, ‘Lets pick a post at random* see what that gets us.

What that gets us is a pretty comprehensive explanation of the Doctrine, in general, and, while I didn’t take the time to actually read the post before copy-swiping it, rogers, in particular. What say I paste it and see what it is the god of random would have us read?

(New Reader alert. The primary value and biggest challenge for those of us who would use this here Doctrine here? To understand and appreciate how we relate ourselves to the world around us and to translate between our predominant worldview, (‘personality type’), and the ‘other two’, respectively. It’s the goal of the Wakefield Doctrine, as an additional perspective, to provide a tool for our understanding how the the people we encounter today are experiencing the world of our day.)

From July 29, 2014:

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

Seeing as, this Summer, we have not a few Readers who are quite conversant, (some even approaching fluent), in the Wakefield Doctrine, I thought I would try a series of posts that focused on real life situations.

New Readers? the Wakefield Doctrine is simply a perspective on life that offers (an) insight that is unique, useful and fun. The Wakefield Doctrine is not an ‘Answer’, rather it is a ‘what if’ question applied to …well, applied to everything! Learn to use this Wakefield Doctrine and you should never again hear yourself say, “My god! I don’t believe they just said that! I really thought I knew them better!” All that is required is a confident sense of curiosity and a healthy imagination. Everything else will follow, provided you are able to accept that:

there are three worldviews (personal realities) that everyone lives their lives in, regardless of age, gender, culture or patience

these three are: the world of the Outsider(clarks), the reality of the Predator(scotts) and the life of the Herd Member(rogers)

we are all born with the potential to live in one of these three, which we do by age 5 or so, however, we never lose the capacity to see the world as do ‘the other two’

through reading the Posts and the Pages (of this blog), you learn the characteristics associated with each of the three personality types sufficiently to recognize them in the people around you

by observing the behavior of the people in your life you will be able to infer how they ‘relate themselves to the world around them’

that’s all you need to get started. (Tip: when trying to decide which of the three personality types a person is, immediately throw out the ‘yeah, no frickin way‘ worldview, that will leave you with only two to compare and contrast.) Read the Posts and, especially, the Comments, as these are from people like yourself who stumbled across this blog and didn’t have the good sense to keep moving on. (Encouragement: If you are still reading this, your chances of ‘getting’ the Wakefield Doctrine have risen from 0 to 47%. and…and! if you read three more Posts and come back here and still find the Doctrine intriguing, then we want to hear from you, so write us a Comment. Your initial impressions are important to us, they would be appreciated.)

Case Study #1

rogers.

(with) rogers, we can often see what, for the partial purpose of being confusing, is a certain… quality that we call their Expression.* (This) Expression is the objective edifice of a roger’s personality, it is their ‘purpose’ to/within the Herd. Often it manifests as (an) occupation or profession, (scientist, accountant, prosecuting attorney or judge). It can also be an avocation or hobby (i.e. cabinet making, stamp collecting, genealogy or ship-in-bottle builder). It, (this Expression), can even be something as fundamental as: keeping house, maintaining a family life or staying in touch with relatives (near or far). a roger, as a Rule (ha, ha), does not consciously set out to find and develop an Expression. (This is not to say that there is not a predisposition to a certain type of activity that becomes their Expression, it’s just that they are not thinking, “Now… what do I want for my Expression”). Having said that, there are certain values, qualities, characteristics necessary in this Expression. For example, a roger’s Expression must be perceived both as a value to others (in the Herd) and a manifestation of the virtue of disciplined effort (on the part of an individual). One way of confirming (a roger’s) Expression is the ‘everyone knows’ test. ‘Walter is such a talented woodworker, everyone knows how good he is’ or ‘Martha is so focused on family, anyone who meets her senses that right away’

In Case Study#1 we have a roger with an Expression of musical talent, technical musical skills, music. This means, very simply, that had you the capability of visiting this roger at any time throughout his life, you would have seen a guitar somewhere in the scene. The circumstances (and the guitar) might be different at various times, but it would always be there.
I need to introduce another concept at this point: context.
‘Context’ is (a) reason, (it is) the need, the opportunity that roger would have in his life, (at any given point in time), to manifest his Expression. This/these contexts might consist of being a member of a band, or having a recital as part of a class in a community college, it might simply be helping a friend, (filling in for an absent musician). The key to these contexts is that there is a need, for roger to play. And, this need, is from those around him, not simply a subjective demand to play, (which, in turn, is a different aspect of the Expression) . ( If you are now thinking, ‘ …you’re talking about the Herd, right? the people around him who are identified as Herd Members?’ very astute! good!)

…what happens when there cease to be contexts?

(to be cont’d)

(hey, I wrote most of the above yesterday. When I got up this morning, I thought… ‘jeeze! clark you better spice that Post up! Everbody be snoozing by paragraph 2!! ‘cept for zoe and that’s only cause she a professional…. any good teacher or presenter…. or speaker-in-front-of-more-than-one-person-er knows that!!

so here are three jokes, please insert them in the place of your choice in today’s post

Julius Caesar walks into a bar. “I’ll have a martinus,” he says. The Bartender gives him a puzzled look and asks, “Don’t you mean a ‘martini’?” ” Look,” Caesar retorts, “If I wanted a double, I’d have asked for it!”

So Jesus walks into a bar and says, “I’ll just have a glass of water.”

A blonde(clark), a brunette(roger) and a redhead(scott) were stuck on an island for many, many years until one day they found a magic lamp.
They rubbed it hard and out popped a genie. He said that he could only give three wishes so since there were three girls, each would get one wish. The redheaded scottian female went first. “I hate it here. It is too hot and boring. I want to go home!” “Okay,” replied the genie. And off she went. Then the brunette rogerian woman went. “I miss my family, my friends and relatives. I want to go home, too!!” And off she went. The blonde clark started crying and said, “I wish my friends were back here!”

* to be confused with a ‘rogerian expression’, which is a form of rhetorical aggressiveness (usually spoken, but possible as the written word) that is characteristic of this worldview.