format_quote Originally Posted by
Abz2000
Introversion and extroversion depends heavily on the society a person is a part of.
The Prophet :saws: could be considered an extreme introvert in makkan society as an orphan in a social atmosphere where he couldn't bring himself to fit in - this can be seen from his playground personality as a child, and his tendency to apend ages in solitude in a cave away from the city and other humans as an adult. However, as he began to gather people around him who were willing to think and see from the point of view that Allah :swt: gave him and was able to make a positive difference in society - he was amongst the most forthcoming and social beings of his time, although he did retain an amount of shyness in his personality.
So it's useful to keep different means medians and modes in mind as we read articles by people who are trained to compartmentalize and deduct huge parts of the overall equation as part of their "practical" working baselines, since what is considered as practical in one human's -or community of people's- limited sphere of evaluation could be nothing more than absurdly theoretical or nonsensical in a different set of circumstances, with each individual and circumstance being unique.
Allah demonstrates this to us in the fact that He tells us that "min kum mu-min, wa min kum kaafir", as one categorization, yet in the beginning of surah al baqarah, He gives us various categories of people to think about - with the descriptions given applying to different sets of people in different circumstances.
As someone who's worked in filing and also sold computer parts which I'd have to find in one box out of many, and advertise in the least number of categories possible in order to save on fees, I can certainly tell you that the ability to do individual word searches on computers is a lot easier, but even then, it's easy to miss an item or range of items due to a similar item having a different name.
That's why we humans have court hearings on an individual basis and have judges and juries spending weeks or months to reach a verdict despite the cost in resources and time even though it would have been much cheaper to get computer software to check off a list of categories and send a bus to pick people up for the category of prison or the gallows like the skynet program in terminator salvation. Or the criminal and immoral system of red flagging and sending drones.
Very true and I appreciate your input on this :)
There seems to be assumption here(on the thread, not your post) which isn't fair, however. The assumption is that everyone who takes these tests and explores psychology, does it through western teachings and takes "results" as a complete guide. Also, the assumption that we are all brainless and allowing an algorithm to dictate our life. Basically, no respect or the benefit of the doubt that any of us possess any kind of intellect and that's pretty sad.
When I first responded to the OP here, I warned to not become attached to the labels given, this is because we are meant to develop grow throughout our lives and we have the ability to improve our characters. No one person can tell us "this is how you are and that's how you are going to stay", know what I'm saying?
Some of us have studied for many many years and have done so independently, away from institutionalized schooling and have studied from Islamic sources as well (there is such a thing as Islamic psychology which is far superior than anything Freud ever brought to the table), however, we cannot unload all this knowledge and information on everyone, especially if they are not looking for that information.
There is also the assumption (it seems like) that we are using some magazine quiz or something silly. Granted, the link provided here is a bit of an oversimplified version (as well as sugar coated version) of what the real personality examination is, it still goes into decent detail and it doesn't tell you "This is how you are" it simply highlights your strengths, and weaknesses and suggestions as far as how these personality aspects would work in different careers based on the information provided by the person taking it. This doesn't go against any Islamic teachings at all as Allah and his messenger have made it clear that people have different gifts, strengths and weaknesses.
Going back to what you were saying, that results will vary in different circumstances, that's not what personality typing is about at all. If you are a person who is very sensitive for example, no circumstance is going to change that aspect of your personality. YOU as the sensitive person, will have to learn to control that aspect of your personality and change it according to circumstance.
As far as introversion and extroversion, I'm unsure why or how it is implied among people that a person is either one or the other like black or white. I am very introverted, but I give speeches, I do workshops, and I participate in catering lol. Most people would label me as extroverted, but I simply am not if you consider all of my other personality traits and most importantly how I feel about it all. Extroverted people enjoy, genuinely enjoy, being out, socializing, planning big events and it comes easily for them. For an introvert, it will take time to prepare and plan and recovery time will be necessary afterwards.
There is real science behind all of this, which is why bringing assumptions and predispositions into a discussion doesn't really work. It results in harsh judgement and rejection of others.