Labels

An actual conversation I had:

'So called "Progressives" are destroying this country because they don't know what they're talking about."

'Well,' said I, 'What do you mean by "Progressives"?'

'Progressives. Don't give me any crap about what that means. If you accept a label, then you accept all of the things with that label If you are a Progressive, then you are one. I don't care what else you think you are and no one else does, either. That's what happens, man."

I was a little lost in this 'conversation'. It wasn't so much con-, as in with, but just versation on the part of my companion. He wasn't much of a listener.

In a way, he had a point: people assume a lot with a label. If you get labeled something like extrovert, then people expect you to be talkative, outgoing, gregarious, annoying, et cetera. However, it isn't like anyone has much control over the labels that get stuck to them. Sometime we do, but I cannot help being labeled introvert by most people, even though I think I am more of an extrovert.

Those labeled don't tell very much in the end. They are a simplification of a very complicated thing. 'Extroversion' is a collection of traits, each one could have nothing to do with others. Most of them come together in a suite we can put in one building (one word), but it is not always the case.

See: I am an "extrovert"

• I never like being alone.
• Ever. "me time" is not something I particularly care for, though I tend to have a lot of it (maybe that is why, though)
• I like talking to people.
• I really rather love talking to people
• Even if it is about things I don't like
• I enjoy crowds, even.
• Being with people energizes me.
• Getting attention stimulates me.
• Interacting with others is complicated and intriguing.
• I don't get very embarrassed by attention.
• Conflict is entertaining.
• I like to "be where the action is"
• I really prefer working with others.

Some might call me an "ambivert" because:

• I am Not enthusiastic, talkative, gregarious, or assertive
• I am very contemplative
• I like to write. And to read.
• I like hiking and running too
• But I really like doing them with others.
• I am Not skilled at social situations. I am never the "life of the party".
• I look and feel like an introvert.

If I am around a lot of people, doing a lot of things all the time and having fun, I don't need as much sleep. It's only happened to me a few times, but I'm not even tired. I cannot wait to get up and go do more things. But I don't get this very often because I don't make friends quickly, I fear that they tire of me. I act like an introvert; I sorta think like an introvert.... But those strong traits of an extrovert--gets their energy from others--makes me deny ambiversion.

I'm just an incompetent extrovert. And a somewhat incompetent introvert. I don't spend enough time and focus on anything to be a prolific enough writer to make a living at it. Partially from a sense of perfection, I suppose. I've written a lot right now because I'm not going back over it even once to make sure it is good. I'm just gonna let it be what it is. Like a true blogger: just telling people about me. Which is not really what I want to do, here. I am more interested in ideas than what is happening to me.

And so the point: you cannot assume anything about anyone just because of a label that you find stuck to them. You don't know where it came from or what it means. Labels are simplifications. "Mean", "Democrat",  "American", "Left handed". Even things like "Yellow" and "B-flat". Reality is a spectrum. B-flat is a little range of sounds, Yellow a rather bigger range of colors.