We’ve known for a long time that John McCain is introverted, that is, he is an interior person… likely his first thought about most anything is, No… until he thinks things through. Then the No may rapidly turn to a Yes, or a Not now, or a Maybe later, or a Right away.
Young introverts, to varying degrees depending on the development of the person, are the ones who think of the greatest retort… three days after the moment for saying such has passed.
Older introverts learn to respond immediately but, sometimes by just bookmarking the discussion, saying, I’ll get back to you on that. Meaning, what you brought up is important: I want to think about it thoroughly. Interior considerations come first.
I’ll speak here generally about introverts and extroverts: An introvert’s strengths are that they often consider each different layer of an issue carefully, are not impulsive in saying yes to every tasty idea, are reliable; will be where they say they will be, are often thinkers who come up with ideas that others could not see before, but now find great merit in.
The downside of the introvert generally, is that they sometimes seem cold; they are not excessively effusive. Their humor is often quiet, droll, dry wit. Some people mistake them as standoffish, when in fact, the introvert is just quietly thinking to themselves.
The introvert is often the quintessential shy person… not shy as in excessively worried about what others are thinking of them, but shy as in wanting to put their thoughts completely together before they say them aloud. Not reluctant, but rather with a timing that is very different from persons’ who are extroverted.
Joe Biden, incidentally, is a grand extrovert. Obama is more introverted than his wife, Michelle, who is more extroverted.
Sarah Palin is an extrovert. Generally, extroverts think Yes to most possibilities, instead of ‘No, wait, no way, give me ten days to think it over.’ That doesn’t mean they enact each new idea or take every invitation; it just means they relate to ‘out there,’ to ‘the world,’ very easily, with open arms, one might say– As opposed to introverts, who relate to the interior self, to questioning, weighing, before they jump in with enthusiasm.
An extrovert is known for pouncing and blurting, a charming trait amongst children and adults often enough too. Art Linkletter made his fortune by exploiting that ‘say in the moment out loud whatever thought passes through you,’ on his show Kids Say The Darnedest Things… wherein little ones would blab about normally private familial circumstances… much to their parents’ feigned or real dismay.
An extrovert appears as though they have tons of cordwood to burn, often sleep less than 8 hours a night, are not as fatigued as others are after a long and arduous toil.
Extroverts tend to want to know how it will end well. Introverts tend to want to know how we will get there in good stead or better.
Extroverts are often quite showy, life of the party kinds of people, witty, often urbane, expressive and dominant.
Introverts are quieter, want to have ‘good reasons’ to go to parties, laugh at jokes but sometimes think too hard to tell them well, are often deep in heart, and have patience and tolerance for matters not being complete ‘right now.
The extrovert, by contrast, often wants it, demands it be done, yesterday. Impatience and a certain kind of brittleness about deadlines, getting things done, moving things along, can dog an extrovert who is ambitious.
The tortoise and hare are good examples of introverts and extroverts, except in the world of typology, both win. They just have very different ways of getting to the finish line. The deep introvert’s solution might be more thorough and lasting, The deeply extroverted person’s solution might be more inspirational and imaginative. The introvert may sometimes look quite elegant, measured, definitive in action. The extrovert, far more open-ended.
Jung said that the individuation process– becoming a true individual– was based on several factors: One being that a person separate from the collective way of thought, the pre-supposed gyre of one’s culture –and instead investigate for oneself what to value and believe, what to set aside.
He also mentioned that the introvert becomes mature by learning a certain amount of extroversion—relating to the outer object/ person/ event… that the extrovert comes into full power by learning a significant amount of introversion—relating to the interio9r of thought, considerations, trajectories, fact-based outcomes.
The reason Sarah Palin is likely to fade back soon, is that a showy extroverted person can overshadow a quieter introvert. There appears to be something in our human natures that likes stimulation, excitement, being roused. Extroverts accomplish that well…
There is also something in our human natures that seems that it likes competence, solidity, rootedness, and introverts have that natural quiescence.
Since the ticket is McCain-Palin, not Palin-McCain, I would imagine she is savvy enough to see that her more flashy style ought not eclipse McCain’s more quiet but strong currents.
Oddly, it is similar for Obama and Biden…Biden the showy extrovert has to watch that his gleam and leap doesn’t swamp the leaner and more reflective Obama.