Scott Lee talks about introversion vs. extroversion, how it relates to independent art, and his hopes to unite the power of the introverted artists to express their powerful ideas and expressions.
Transcription:
Hey guys, it’s Scott with Barton Ct. Productions once again. It’s been a very interesting night for the 2008 election. Barack Obama has been elected as the new president of the United States. It’s a very interesting development, but we’re not gonna talk about politics in this voice blog, no sir, no ma’am. And we’re not going to talk about what I support either. And we’re not going to talk about who I voted for. Don’t worry - it wasn’t McCain, if any of you are anti-McCain people, but it also wasn’t Obama. I’ll leave it at that, but for those of you who know me you know what I support and know who I voted for.
But moving on - I’m reading a book right now called Introvert Power by author Laurie Helgoe. She’s a PhD, a doctor, of sorts. Anyway, she brings up a very interesting idea, but first let me talk about the difference between the idea of introversion and extroversion. Introversion is basically the concept of viewing the world from the inside, the inner self, inner ideas, and then moving outward, where as extroversion is sort of the opposite. Extroverts, people who are based on the external, they get energized from interacting with the outside world. So, those are your party people. Those are the people who get out there, they show up at parties, and they have a great time meeting new people, interacting with people - that energizes them, where as the introvert might be sort of drained from this whole process.
But I bring this up because I think that most artists are introverted. They hold a strong introversion with themselves. Artists are thinkers, powerful thinkers at that. And I think that this company has an interesting road ahead of it in what we’re going to do, because I think we’re going to end up being able to unite a lot of people - both artists themselves and people who love the art that is being produced by these artists a lot more than we ever anticipated, and here’s one reason why:
There is a characteristic in people’s personalities that is a lot more dominant than you probably actually know. A lot of people think that introverts, people that are shy, people that thrive off of spending time alone in their thoughts are in the minority. The truth is, there is a lot more out there than you would ever think. Originally we thought that maybe a quarter to one third of people were introverted, the rest were extroverts…or at least the rest were more leaning toward extroversion, but a personality test called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, it’s been used for the past few decades at least by psychologists, measures partially introversion and extroversion. Introverts actually make up up to half, or up to 57 percent of the total population.
This might explain why, even in a society based off of getting out there, having social value, meeting people, always being with people, or the you know, the ‘more the merrier’ whole philosophy of everything - this might explain why it’s still very hard to start a conversation with a complete stranger. It’s very hard for people to connect one on one sporadically, spontaneously, because every other person out there is probably introverted.
And artists, I know, are mostly introverts for a number of reasons. One of which, artists want to connect on the basis of ideas, and introverts by definition, this is what they do - they thrive off of connecting mind to mind, not necessarily person to person. So this company is going to do something amazing, I think. I anticipate that it will. When we start doing this promotional tour, I think we will discover this. There’s a lot more people out there than a lot of people ever thought that are going to become passionate about what it is we’re doing.
Because it’s not just about the fact that we are presenting artwork of all different mediums that you would normally never see and that’s out of the mainstream - it’s not just about that. I mean yeah, that’s what independent is, but it’s also about the fact that ideas in general…are something…ideas are…how do I say it? People have a greater capacity to be passionate about things than they probably realize. So much of it happens automatically. But we want to know and teach people out there, not just automatically, they have the ability to become passionate, to learn to be passionate about some of these things that we’re presenting to them.
The documentaries that we’re creating, the art, the music, the books that we are likely to release in the future…all of these products are not just products - they’re not just things to sell. They’re a way to connect. These artists that are largely introverted are going to be able to connect with people as they join us to become united under a single banner, a single flag, if you will. Because these individuals, these introverted individuals, who are artists, are not likely, by definition of their very personalities, they are not likely to get out there and promote themselves as individuals.
But we’re going to do it and we’re going to do it in all different ways. Some of which, is already tailored toward the introverted. We’re on these social networks right now, I’ve already talked to many of you on Snapvine who are introverts. Snapvine is the service that is delivering these voice blogs to you right now. A lot of you out there I’ve already talked to.
I’m going to talk to a lot more of you. We’re looking for you. We’re looking for those people that are like you, because you’re out there, we know you’re out there, and we know that you’re going to make a big difference. And we want your stuff. We want your work, and we want to work with you. Because you have a bigger role to play than you probably know. Artwork and creativity needs a revolution and we want to provide it to you. We want to provide it for you.
And that is our mission.
Sounds a little bit like a political speech. [Laughs] But anyway, thank you for listening. This has been a very long voice blog. Just wanted to express some of those thoughts, get them out, and hopefully I’ve organized them well enough so that you really do get what I’m saying.
You can visit our official website at www.BartonCT.com. This is Scott from Barton Ct. Productions, make a difference.
Hello Scott — Thanks so much for your interest in my book, INTROVERT POWER: Why Your Inner Life is Your Hidden Strength. I resonate with what you say about artists. The reliance on inner sources of inspiration–or interpretation, the enjoyment of working in solitude, and the love of the blank slate with its freedom to express what’s inside: all these features come naturally to the introvert. In fact, I found that as I was writing about introversion, I was also writing about the creative process. Extroversion is also a part of the creative process, and we each have both capacities (but, as you note, one becomes dominant in influencing the personality), BUT all creative people suffer when extroversion (the yang function) is encouraged and introversion (the yin function) is discouraged. We need introversion to allow us to dip down into the vast creative stores of imagination, originality and repressed truths (artist are often masters of releasing the repressed). I am heartened to see the forging of new, introvert-friendly forums for support and visibility. Feel the power! Best, Laurie Helgoe