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What Is Introversion?

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The term "introvert" and "extrovert" were coined by the early 1920's Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. The general definition were that extroverts were focused on the outer world while their counterparts, introverts, were focused on the inner world. Throughout the years since his discovery, introversion in particular has been diluted and has lost its meaning. In modern society introversion and shyness are lumped in the same category. Introversion as define by the Merriam Webster Dictionary is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life." Shyness however is the act of feeling awkward and tense in social situations in worry the person might embarrass themselves; introversion …show more content…

In laymen terms, self esteem is not what makes up an introvert, it is how they process and receive energy. An introvert can be seen a phone battery. They have no problem being in social events or hanging out with a group of friends, but as the day goes on, their battery will start to run low and they will eventually become drained. Drained to the point where they will become physically exhausted and say little to no words to their counterparts, hence why they can be misunderstood as anti-social. Keep in mind introverts are big thinkers and spend a lot of time in their head, and when they spend hours and hours in social situations that involve them to be present and out of their imagination, they will more than likely retreat back into their mind and do what they do best, and that is to "think." Many will assume that they are unemotional or mad due to their lack of words, but in actuality, an introvert could be thinking the happiest most random thoughts, but will have a clever poker face to conceal that. Either way, the world may never know what is going on an introverts headspace. Continuing that statement, when an introvert is officially drained and they are pretty much at 2% on a phone battery scale, they need to recharge. Obviously most introverts cannot recharge as fast as a phone, some may need a few hours and others may need a few days to a even a week. Recharging simply involves them being alone …show more content…

Their brains are literally wired differently than their extrovert counterparts, they process, receive, and view information from a completely different perspective that is overall essential to society. And not to say one is better than the other, because that's not the case, but both introverts and extroverts bring something unique and important to the table. Introverts have more blood flowing in their anterior thalamus and frontal lobes, which is the region of the brain that solves problems, recall events, and make plans. Whereas extroverts have more blood flowing in areas such as the anterior cingulate gyrus, which deals with interpreting sensory data. Discovered in a 2012 Harvard University study, Introverts have thicker and larger gray matter in their prefrontal cortex, which is a part of the brain that correlates to decision making and abstract thought processes. Extroverts have less gray matter which accounts for their risk-taking and their capability for living more in the

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