Introduction
The constant communication between people involves the evaluation of human beings in relation to how a person has proven himself during it. A significant number of terms are created to describe personal qualities and temperament. One such concept is the introvert and the extrovert. By observing a person’s behavior, people put a label on him that provides a set of qualities from which the individual can no longer deviate. The essay will argue with the concept of the existence of two different types of people’s behavior models, which are introverts and extroverts, using compare and contrast modes. The specificity of comparing the two concepts will be to choose two opposite colors, black and white, as a metaphor for comparison. Despite the conventional wisdom that introverts and extroverts can only have minor deviations from their behaviors, the ancient wisdom of uniting opposites implies their harmony and complementarity, which is important to understanding the actual inner world of the person.
The Introvert Versus the Extrovert Concept
The concept of dividing people into introverts and extroverts is widely accepted and used in society. An introvert is an individual who hides their feelings and avoids active contact with others. In contrast, the soul of society and an extremely sociable person is an extrovert. However, this essay aims to prove that such judgment is based only on one-time human behavior, does not reflect their inner world, worldview, and character, and is superficial. From the point of view of neuroscience, as McAdams et al. state, “personality can be considered to encompass all reasonably persistent psychological individual differences” (80). However, the external circumstances that influence human behavior are an essential factor influencing these differences. Many people overlook it, defining a person as an introvert or extrovert.
The Question about the True Temperament
A person’s temperament is given to him at birth and is difficult to change, but to do that, it is necessary to understand the starting point. In the book, Quiet Kids: Help Your Introverted Child Succeed in an Extroverted World, the author, Christine Fonseca, gives a definition of human temperament. According to Fonseca, “temperament is defined as the traits affecting a behavior that a person has at birth” (8). However, in this book, the author describes the change that has taken place in her as she grows older. Fonseca says that although she was a shy and alienated child in her childhood, she did not like school and her peers; in the future, she became a sociable person and chose a job that involved constant interaction with people (Fonseca 8). It is possible to assume that a person can live all their life but never know their proper temperament. Therefore, even with scientific biological proof that temperament cannot be changed, it is crucial to understand that to discuss this issue, it is necessary to know precisely what temperament is in humans.
Gradients of colors. Mode of Compare
The color gradients of black and white reflect the stereotype of thinking about introvert and extrovert concepts. The first step in the comparison is to compare these concepts based on black and white. This comparison method will demonstrate a stereotype in thinking, which manifests by a clear definition of the person and by putting on them an appropriate label, introvert or extrovert. Introverts will be marked as black and extroverts as white. To talk about a person in just one of two concepts would be to place a person in a single-color spectrum. For example, speaking of a person as an introvert, one will assume that this person cannot have colors other than black, light black, and dark black. In contrast, extroverts will have an exclusively white, light white, or dark white range. This well-established opinion about characterizing a person by the first or second concept reflects the division of the personality into black and white, with changes only in some shades.
Yin-Yang. Mode of Contrast
In contrast to simple gradients, the contrasting union of colors in the Yin-Yang symbol will be an essential step to disavow the division of people only into introverts or only extroverts, such as black and white. The concept, based on the color comparison, however, assumes a different perception of the human being as a symbol of Yin-yang. A feature of this approach is the contrast of extroverts and introverts not as opposite concepts without the possibility of borrowing colors from each other but as complementary features harmoniously combined in one person. Each of the two concepts may borrow the pure color of the opposition rather than being just a gradient of itself. It is important to emphasize that the symbol of creative unity of opposites in the Universe, Yin-yang, implies not only the proximity of opposite colors but the borrowing of them from each other, which is expressed in black and white dots.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to emphasize that the concepts of introvert and extravert are two basic definitions of human beings in the modern world. However, the questions and examples dealt with in this essay call into question such an unequivocal distinction between people and their behavior. Through the use of color-based metaphors and the Yin-yang symbol, compare and contrast modes were used to contrast the two concepts and define their features in the context of one individual.
Works Cited
Fonseca, Christine. Quiet kids: Help your introverted child succeed in an extroverted world. Routledge, 2021.
McAdams, Dan, Shiner, Rebecca, and Tackett Jennifer. Handbook of personality development. Guilford Publications.