Identity.

I hate the classification of human behavior as introverts and extroverts.

In fact, these classifications and definitions have got people more lost with their identity than having peace with it.

Let me explain.

Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, first coined the terms “Introvert” and “Extrovert” in his 1921 research work, “Psychological Types.”

That was his attempt to organize and categorize human behavioral patterns after observing natural tendencies of people who weren’t aware of these classifications.

His work has received great praise, of course, but many people in this age of information have misinterpreted his message, that might be stifling them from the inside.

And I wanted to share what I had in my mind about human behavioral classifications and the potential negative impact that definitions can have on the intangible experience of being human.

Here’s the point:

A scientist observing how birds naturally fly and classifying their patterns, versus someone studying those classifications to try to fit into a specific flight pattern, are two vastly different experiences.

One is self-expression. The other is performance.

And people need to realize these definitions are observations and they're not broken if they don't fit in. They’re a lens to understand oneself and the world around them, and not a manual for human behavior.

They’re observations. Not tutorials.

Jung was describing what he noticed about people who were already being themselves—people who had a true inner connection. Not creating a prescription for self-expression.

When you start with the category (like introvert or extrovert) instead of starting with your actual experience, you end up performing the category rather than expressing what's actually there.

This is why definitions stifle the self (and why I hate them). Instead of experience turning into observations, which just happened to get defined, you start from the definitions themselves and force the real experience.

These taxonomization gave us more ways to feel confused about who we are instead of giving space to just… be. They gave us anxiety on deciding what box we fit in, rather than realizing the boxes were created by someone just like us—probably to pay their bills.

Thoughts.

Thanks for reading.

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