I versus E: It's not how much you talk, but how you talk.

[Brendan]

Recently, several managers from my store went to a national conference for managers of our particular retail chain. Part of the conference involved group activities based upon MBTI. Our store has four assistant managers and a general manager. Two assistant managers are ENTJ, one ESFJ and one INFP. The general manager is an INTJ.

Oh, how I love my job

Being that I'm fairly close with my managers, I was shown the personalized type descriptions they received at the conference. Something struck me. Introvertism and extravertism are not based upon how much you talk.

I've wondered about this before. There is no doubting the fact that I am an extravert, yet it's struck me several times that I communicate easily less than 1% of what goes through my head. How could I verbalize any more? My thoughts and synapses move incalculably faster than my interpersonal communication can, to the point that stumbling over my words when I speak is a more than regular occurance, and I am no simpleton. This seems obvious now that I verbalize it, which brings me to the point:

The biggest indication of an extravert is not how much they talk, but how much they "think out loud." An introvert will come to a conclusion and then express it, while an extravert is prone to changing their minds mid-sentence. "Putting it out there" for an extravert is comparable to taking a shuffled deck of cards and placing them all face up on a flat surface, making their organization quick and easy.

Thoughts?

[Usehername]

I like your theory.

Though I do think extreme E and I will hold to the old theory. I'm also pretty sure I've read this idea somewhere before.

[PinkPiranha]

Canada will assimilate us all and make this moot, Brendan.

[Usehername]

Originally Posted by PinkPiranha

Canada will assimilate us all and make this moot, Brendan.

Your fascination with my homeland makes no sense. It has actually kept me up at night trying to figure out why it makes it into such a large proportion of your jokes. Is it a political theory you're waiting a few decades to see play itself out? Do you wish you were Canadian? Do we Canucks have some sort of je ne c'est quoi that allures you? Do we all have some communal handicap that you can see and we can't? Was this a joke that got a lot of laughs that you keep using because it works, and every time you use it it's funnier because of this reason?

I somehow am amused by it but my inherent xxTxness makes for many a as I fail in my attempts to completely understand your actions.

[animenagai]

i don't know if i can speak for all the extroverts out there, but i definitely think out loud. during class discussions and such, i find myself always going 'so therefore x is true. though i guess you can make a case for y since...'.

i say what i'm thinking a lot of times even when there's no body else to talk to. time after time i find myself with my headphones on, reading stuff on the computer thinking that no one else is there. my sister will walk in without me knowing and do her own thing. since i don't know she's there i'm not afraid of what other people think of me so i think aloud. then i hear someone yelling 'stop speaking to yourself!' and i crunch up half laughing at myself, half in shame. she does a very good impression of me doing this too . 'wait a moment, ashrfoajn asjhoasfnaos... but... NO! wait... WHAT? but ashrfljasjg and ashfjoiadjhg... *GASP!'

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Usehername

Your fascination with my homeland makes no sense. It has actually kept me up at night trying to figure out why it makes it into such a large proportion of your jokes. Is it a political theory you're waiting a few decades to see play itself out? Do you wish you were Canadian? Do we Canucks have some sort of je ne c'est quoi that allures you? Do we all have some communal handicap that you can see and we can't? Was this a joke that got a lot of laughs that you keep using because it works, and every time you use it it's funnier because of this reason?

I somehow am amused by it but my inherent xxTxness makes for many a as I fail in my attempts to completely understand your actions.

It probably has more to do with the fact that poking fun at Canadians is something of an American pastime lolz.

[PinkPiranha]

Originally Posted by Usehername

Your fascination with my homeland makes no sense. It has actually kept me up at night trying to figure out why it makes it into such a large proportion of your jokes. Is it a political theory you're waiting a few decades to see play itself out? Do you wish you were Canadian? Do we Canucks have some sort of je ne c'est quoi that allures you? Do we all have some communal handicap that you can see and we can't? Was this a joke that got a lot of laughs that you keep using because it works, and every time you use it it's funnier because of this reason?

I somehow am amused by it but my inherent xxTxness makes for many a as I fail in my attempts to completely understand your actions.

See my blog!


Sorry for the derail, Brendan.

[EJCC]

Brendan is 100% right. There is no doubt about it whatsoever. I'm an E, but I'm kind of shy around people I don't know, and when I socialize for long periods of time for many days in a row, I feel the desperate need to be alone. But... when I talk, I talk without thinking a whole lot. I'll often bring up a point and have zero evidence in mind to back it up, and know it, and have to literally say "wait a sec, let me think" in order to make my point and (partially) regain my dignity. Plus, I've always known that I write more eloquently than I speak. I give your theory an A+

Now the train is back on track.

[Thursday]

valid theory.

[INTJMom]

Originally Posted by Brendan

...

The biggest indication of an extravert is not how much they talk, but how much they "think out loud." An introvert will come to a conclusion and then express it, while an extravert is prone to changing their minds mid-sentence. "Putting it out there" for an extravert is comparable to taking a shuffled deck of cards and placing them all face up on a flat surface, making their organization quick and easy.

Thoughts?

That's an interesting theory worth thinking about.