Comments on: Introversion and extroversion

By: Aysthete

Aysthete — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 17:34:05 +0000

I find that most actors I deal with, including myself, are introverts pretending to be extroverts.

By: Dave I

Dave I — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:53:25 +0000

People like to talk about introverted traits and extroverted traits, but introversion and extroversion is something that is difficult to point at and identify. People don’t *act* like introverts or extroverts, they *feel* like introverts and extroverts.

I am an extreme introvert. That doesn’t mean I can’t talk to people, or am wary of injecting my opinion into a conversation. In fact, I am often the most talkative person in the room, and I am often labeled an extrovert. But interacting with people wears me out. For every 1 hour of socializing I need about 2 hours to myself to recover and mentally recharge. And I mean by myself —sitting quietly with family or friends doesn’t cut it. I need to be completely alone.

I therefore approach socializing like jogging or going to the gym. I do it because I know that it is good for me, and I generally enjoy myself and feel better about myself afterwards. But I dread the anticipation of it and would avoid it if I could.

Cheers!
Dave I

By: sherm

sherm — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:28:04 +0000

Ella,

Introversion and Extroversion are traits everybody displays. What is interesting is to determine the dominant trait and how this relates to personhood. For instance, I could be an intoverted child, extroverted adolescent and introverted adult. Whenever we try to apply a judgement like this to our totality – we are applying this distinction to what is commonly known as the ’self’.

If we start thinking about the here-and-now; and how the traits manifest themselves – say because the question is like a pebble in your shoe – then it would be good to note how the ‘Ego’ (you living in your everday bubble) is struggling with some sort of un-concious pressure. The unconcious is an interesting concept because if you conciously recognize your introvertedness as dominant – you wont realize how the subordinant trait (being extrovert) is manifested in your personality. You might be perplexed to this trait and how it relates to yourself, others and whether or not your ego can even handle ‘the raw truth’ (for instance you are ‘closested extrovert’ who has this instinctive animal nature that goes out into the world and racks up more hits on YouTube than that ‘Save Britney’ hysteric)…. ummm Just sayin

There are several ways to start drawing conclusions.
1. The reason you are asking the question means you need to work on it;
2. It’s hard coming to terms with yourself when you find out you are being unconciously extroverted because say, you loved the rush of running around with a big stick that made lots of noise. Why wouldn’t you though? It felt good, it was fun, and frankly it beat all other options that you probably had at the time (my guess).
3. If you accept your introversion, then it may be difficult to understand and realize your extroversion – and the deep seated needs behind it – and the other ways to get them met, and to realize that you might be doing them for some stupid sounding reason (like you had pyjamas that had kangaroos on them and this made you feel insecure as a child etc etc…)
4.Ultimately, I feel the goal of being perplexed in this manner is simply ‘your greater self’ trying to master an understanding of how these traits manifest themselves in the many different ways you relate to others – from the pit of your soul – all the way from the deepest connections, to the most mundane of interactions. The calling for a deep relationship with oneself is a need that all humans have, yet it is a pivotal moment when the journey is undertaken to integrate these findings into your personality. It’s growth….
5. On the question of when are you not your real self? I would suggest that you watch “I heart Huckabees” to try and wrestle with that one in a fun and congenial way.
6. Dreams are a great way of relating to the unconcious. If you have a dream where your subordinate trait shows up in a dream character – write it down and describe what its doing, what it looked like, what it said… etc etc. Sometimes these characters don’t even appear as humans in dreams – say for instance a mole that won’t come out of its hole, or a Rooster that won’t shut-up could be very indicative of unconcious traits of extroversion and introversion.
All the best./

By: Pedro

Pedro — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:20:08 +0000

Come on, aren’t we all a bit bipolar? )

By: iHanna

iHanna — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:57:09 +0000

Found your blog via your youtube vidoe on journaling (I’m a sucker for journal writing too) and then came here… I’m a introvert, and I think that because I find my energy when I’m a lone and when I’ve spent time with lots of people I need “down time” to recover and rest.

Take care!

By: brett

brett — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:17:50 +0000

I completely understand what you’re saying here. I consider myself an introvert, yet I teach classes with ~100 undergrads and absolutely LOVE getting up there in front of them each day. There’s a performance aspect to it that I enjoy and feed off of. Lectures are often followed by about an hour of quiet time in my office to recuperate.

I usually feel awkward talking with people at parties unless I know them well.

By: Loki

Loki — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:22:21 +0000

What about the concept of introversion-extroversion with respect to the types of environments which mentally energize a person? In this regard, extroverts are energized by highly social situations, whereas introverts can function perfectly well socially, but find it draining, and subsequently need to recharge in quieter, and perhaps, solitary settings. Where do you unwind and recharge? At a party or on the couch?

By: Hiwatt Scott

Hiwatt Scott — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:15:55 +0000

Andy Warhol had a project once where he would put somebody in a room alone with a camera and just film them. Most people would mug or try to be interesting for a while, but eventually (sometimes 5 minutes later, sometimes an hour) they would stop performing for the camera and just sit there, showing the camera their “real” self. That’s what Mr. I Hate Everything But Still Go To Parties saw. It’s as real as all the other facets of your personality, no more, no less. Whatever your reaction to another person or scenario is, it’s a REAL reaction.
As far as the introvert/extrovert qeustion goes, many people (myself included) can be so introverted that they kinda twist themselves inside out and become extroverted in extreme social situations. I for one am deathly afraid of public speaking, yet I nonetheless found myself performing on stage in several bands. Like you said, many performers are actually very quiet in person. I wil say this: Introverts think so much it makes it difficult to talk/ Extroverts talk so much it makes it difficult to think. Lastly, I have met precious few book readers that are truly extroverted.

By: Mike in NJ

Mike in NJ — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:29:19 +0000

All the benefits of both?!??

I officially hate ambiverts.

By: Mohamad Taufiq bin Morshidi

Mohamad Taufiq bin Morshidi — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:59:08 +0000

What about us ambiverts? Ambiverts are people who think like introverts but communicate like extroverts?

I am an ambivert. I always think of my actions, i like being in solitude and i worry alot, but at the same time i live a social lifestyle of an extrovert where i always go clubbing, hang out with friends, play sports and more.

But being an ambivert has its costs. My ambiversion led people to think me as irritating or bipolar. But i love hanging out with introverts and extroverts. Introverts help me study as a college student, while extroverts keep me in the social status as a DJ.