Thanks for these insights, @Guy_Tal. This is one of the best articles I have read on NPN, both here and in the older forums. It certainly helped me understand myself a little more and others around me a lot more!
Brilliant article. Iāve never seen the topic explained better in such a concise manner. I am also an extreme introvert and a highly sensitive person. Iāve felt like an alien all my life. Iāve never been a ājoiner,ā but in finding photography, I feel like Iāve found a group of more understanding people.
I always enjoy your writing, Guy, and this is no exception. However, I think that you are a bit off the mark on a couple things here, and I find it interesting that many of the positive comments are by self-identified introverts. This is definitely a good support piece for those folks, but it does not shine a very good light on those of us who may be extroverts. (I believe that both the spelling you use and this one are correct - I prefer the symmetry with introvert for the spelling I will use.)
My first disagreement with you is the sentence āExtraverts thrive on attention and competition.ā If I go to online sites like this or this, enjoying attention is just one of a half dozen or more traits of extroverts mentioned, and being competitive is not mentioned at all . I would contend that there are many ways to enjoy the company of others without competing or drawing attention to oneself. I would also contend that, at least in athletics, there are introverts who are very competitive, and extroverts who are not!
(Go to any citizens 5K or 10K race and you will in fact probably conclude that the competitive runners out front are introverts because they are not talking to each other, while the rest of the pack that doesnāt care about where they finish are having a party together!)
The second thing comes shortly after that, where you imply (you donāt say it outright, but it is strongly implied) that extroverts are preoccupied with gear and introverts with making good images with whatever gear they have. Now what I would support is that if you are riding in a car with an extrovert, they are going to talk about something. And if one is going to talk about photography, it is a lot easier to talk about gear, or special locations youāve been to, etc. than some of the deeper aspects of photography. (I would also place part of the āblameā here on media sources like Luminous Landscape or Outdoor Photographer that have pretty large gear oriented components.)
What is spot on in your discussion is your encouragement for each of us to simply understand ourselves and to structure our experiences to be congruent with our personalities and what we enjoy. That is what I am choosing to take away from this article, and that alone made reading it worthwhile. Thank you for your contributions to this community.
PS I LOVE the image of the bare tree trunks!
Guy, this has little to do with photography but does have to do with introversion. You stated that an introvert tires of a party while an extravert gains energy. I find that sounds, particularly my own seem to resonate in my brain and thatās what tires me, gives a sense of fatigue. If I speak out loud for too long my brain starts to feel numb and the mental sharpness is greatly reduced. I noticed this when I had to give long presentations at work. My question is, is there anything in literature that supports a sensitivity to sound in introverts that is absent in extraverts?
Thank you very much for the additional comments, everyone! Iāll try to respond to the points raised by Gregg and Igor since the explanation may be relevant to both. Before venturing my opinion I feel itās important to point out that one of the great challenges in understanding psychological phenomena is that psychology as a science is still a long way behind conventional medicine, and there is a lot we still donāt know abut the workings of the human mind, including things that shape oneās personality, and we are just beginning to understand some of these topics better by way of neuroscience.
One surprising discovery from brain studies is that introverts and extraverts (yes, thatās a valid spelling and more common in formal writings, although āextrovertsā is equally valid) is that they respond differently to some neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that regulate brain activity (among other things). In particular, two neurotransmitters seem to have a lot to do with the difference: dopamine and acetylcholine. Dopamine is involved in such things as reward and motivation, and extraverts have more prominent dopamine reward systems. Introvertsā dopamine reward system has fewer receptors and becomes overwhelmed faster, which is why introverts may enjoy social activities up to a point before feeling overstimulated, while extraverts can keep on going. Acetylcholine also involves a sense of reward, but this reward generally comes from such things as focused attention and inner reflection, rather than outer stimuli.
Granted, this is perhaps an oversimplified explanation, given that the human brain is the most complex structure we know of in the universe, but it suggests that much of the difference and resulting misunderstanding between introverts and extraverts may have to do with the physiology and chemistry of their brains.
With regards to competition, this is a bit more nuanced. Certainly, both introverts and extraverts may enjoy competitive activities, but for different reasons and rewards. Introverts may gain considerable value (in terms of enjoyment, self-confidence, pride, etc.) from competitive activities, while extraverts are driven more more from the adoration and encouragement of others when they achieve some significant victory. Of course, there is also a difference in preference between individual sports and team sports. So, Gregg is correct that competition in itself may be more an effect than a cause, but the reasons for competing and oneās choice of competition likely will be different between introverts and extraverts.
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Wow, Iām so glad I read this thank you Guy!
I have known for a long time Iām an introvert, but have never given any thought as to itās effect on my approach to photography. Your explanation and examples have changed my whole understanding of why and how I should approach my photography. I have gained a completely new context to the process. It feels like a weight has been lifted, thanks.
Reading this article Guy I thought about when the two of us were walking up into Mosaic Canyon back in January. Two introverts trying to make conversation. We did manage to say a few things but mostly it was delightfully quiet. And I got a few wonderful images of the yellow light when the sun hit that canyon wall. Still working on images from that trip.