Innies and Outies

My apologies to those who, having read the title, were hoping for a navel extravaganza. It was just too cold to find participants.

Old joke: “There are two types of people in the world: Those who divide the world into two types of people, and those who...”

Well, these baskets seem to hold water anyway: Introverts and extroverts.

This isn’t about shy vs. bold people, or misanthropes vs. maniacs. “Rather,” as Jonathan Rauch explains in his charming manifesto Caring for your Introvert, “introverts are people who find other people tiring. Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone.”

You know who you are. We’ll call you Innies and Outies.

We Innies (yes, I’ll admit it) can find ourselves too cozied-up in the Hobbit-hole. I don’t know what it would feel like to be an Outie, but y’all seem to have all the fun!

So what happens when you mix and match Innies and Outies?

My daughter (I have so many!) was studying basic genetics and showed me a simple tool called a Punnett square. I also vaguely recall a Gestalt psychology concept of a “third field” as the separate personality resulting from a couple’s relationship. Heartily misapplying these tools in the service of pseudoscience, relationships between introverts and extroverts left to their own devices might result in:












Well, at least the II and EE couples can share rides and disk space.

In the IE and EI couples, the extrovert may not get the introvert’s need for space, and the introvert may not understand the extrovert's itch to get out there and mingle.

I think that a relationship between an Innie and an Outie can be wonderfully enriching when both are open-hearted. Not to change their core personalities, but for each to guide the other in experiencing (if briefly) the joys of solitude and the fun of social frolic that they might otherwise avoid.

Statistically, Innies are fairly likely to have an Outie friend, which (according to my calculations... scribble, scribble... carry the two...) should happen often: Innies, like anyone else, are more likely to be befriended by Outies, who are likely to befriend more, uh, friends of all kinds.

Lucky for us Innies indeed.

Another old joke:
Rock Star: “...Dunno. Guess I’m just not very introspective.”
BBC Interviewer: “Why do you think that is?”

--WF

p.s. Okay, you talked me into it: