Open Mike I: Introverts and Extroverts

["Open Mike" is the often off-topic Editorial page of TOP, wherein Yr. Hmbl. Ed. goes a-ramblin' on topics diverse and sundry.]

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Holed up
As of yesterday evening, more Americans have died of COVID-19 since February 1 of this year than died in Viet Nam. Casualties in Viet Nam spanned approximately 19 years, whereas COVID-19 has inflicted the same number of casualties so far in three short months.

Remember, anything that you can do to help slow the spread of the contagion helps everyone, so hang in there if you're able to. I've been holed up here for months, not socializing and only going out for necessary errands. But then, I'm very lucky: I work for myself, I already worked online, I have savings, and I have a pleasant place to shelter, with plenty of room. And I'm an introvert anyway. I'm acutely aware that many people are not so fortunate and that "sheltering in place" is a hardship for them. These include: people who were living hand-to-mouth, dependent on their next paycheck for cash to live on; people who have lost their jobs or seen dramatic slowdowns in their work; extroverts, who find being alone for extended periods of time draining and discouraging; people in jails, old-age homes, and homeless shelters; people with too many people confined to too small a house; people with various physical, mental, or emotional deficits who have lost part or all of their support structure; people who are stuck away from where they want to be and find it difficult to travel; and people whose necessary jobs place them in harm's way. There are other difficulties. I have a friend whose mission in life, you might say, has been almost entirely stripped away. He seems to be adequately sustained in terms of his physical needs, but losing his sense of purpose, his sense of usefulness, is proving challenging for him.

The thing I regret about my own situation is selfish and trivial: I wish I had my own pool table here. Because, man, I'd be practicing four hours a day during this b*tch. It would have been the perfect thing to keep me entertained, occupied (preoccupied too, instead of thinking too much), and on my feet. You know what they say: Oh well.

I'm not dwelling on that, certainly. As I say, I know I'm among the lucky ones.

376 masks?
I still don't have a #@$! mask, which is a problem, since the Governor has mandated that everyone in our State has to wear a mask in public. I wear jury-rigged ones made of the sleeves of T-shirts, which are very likely substantially useless except that they provide the appearance of conformity. I have ordered—get this—376 masks(!) online, but none of them have arrived yet.

That high number can be explained. Two months ago, I got online and ordered two lots of N95 masks, 160 per lot, and directed that they be shipped to my nurse friend. I thought I was being pretty clever. Later I was notified of a little catch—the delivery date would be as late as June 1. Even that date, I realize now, is probably dubious. I could have cancelled the order, but what the heck—I let it stand just in case it ends up working. She works in an intensive care unit, so the purchase won't be depriving medical personnel of the masks. Then there's a set of five masks I ordered off Etsy a month ago—the owner of the company has been in touch, and they're backlogged, of course—and the 50-pack of paper masks I ordered and are supposedly en route, and finally a reusable mask I ordered from MaxMax yesterday. Dan says he will mail that one today, but cautions that the mail has been taking longer than usual.

Carl Jung 101
My 86-year-old Mom's memory unit in Cambridge has seen two cases of COVID-19 so far, one a patient and one a staff member. My doctor brother is cautiously optimistic for her: her residence is pretty high-end, well-staffed and well-funded, and they have a reasonably spacious facility. They're taking appropriate cautions.

For many years my mother was a career counselor. Halfway through, she realized that many people get stuck in their careers because of unresolved psychological issues (an example might be someone who gets into conflicts with his bosses because of underlying resentments toward authority figures), so she got a certificate in counseling from the Washington School of Psychiatry so she'd be legitimately credentialed to counsel people with such problems. One of the tests she administered measured introversion and extroversion, which must be among the psychology pioneer Carl Jung's best-known concepts. She used to say that the best description of an introvert was somebody who "charges their batteries" when they're alone and expends energy when they're with other people, whereas an extrovert is the opposite, someone who charges their batteries when they're with others and expends energy when they're alone. Being an extrovert doesn't mean you don't like being alone; it's just that you probably don't want too much of it. As an introvert, I like being with other people a lot, but I definitely have my limit. If I have to socialize intensively for three days I'll be running on empty by the end of that time and desperately need some alone time. (Photo Shows used to be hard on me when I was an editor: I'd be energized the first day, maintaining during the second day, and thoroughly depleted and tired of the crowds by the end of the third day*.) Extroverts feel relaxed and comfortable in company. They can spend time alone, and might even enjoy it, but they reach their limit at some point and need to seek out others again.

The danger of introversion is that you live too much in your own head, too much in "your own little world" as the saying goes, and thoughts, impulses, and preoccupations can turn into obsessions because there's no one else to provide reality checks. The danger of excessive extroversion is that you can lose yourself—you see yourself only as others see you; you're defined by relationships. It's important for strong introverts to force themselves to make contact and create intimacy as a corrective, and it's important for strong extroverts to engage in introspection once in a while and get to know themselves away from the context of their many relationships. I always wanted to be a teacher, and it would have been the perfect occupation for me: I would have had a certain amount of forced contact with people, but within the context of structured relationships. It would have counterbalanced my natural introversion and any tendency to isolate.

Extroversion to introversion appears to be a spectrum rather than a state. You can actually be in the middle, neither one nor the other, in which case you probably think the whole concept is bogus. Or you can be a mild introvert or an extreme one, a mild extrovert or an extreme one. Finally, we can change over time. I'm not sure anyone could go from one extreme all the way to the other, but I've definitely gotten less introverted over the years: I used to be further from the midpoint and now I'm somewhat less so.

Stay-at-home and stick-in-the-mud
Even so, I'm finding "sheltering in place" to be almost...enjoyable. I've ratcheted up my attention to what you might call life hygiene—housework, living according to schedule, cooking—and I've made an effort to call and talk to someone at least once a day, or socialize with random neighbors on the road in front of my house where it's easy to stand eight feet apart. But I'm very mindful that some people are not finding it enjoyable, at all, but are suffering because of their apart-ness and alone-ness. For them, it can rise into the vicinity of an existential crisis...or descend into depression.

One last fun fact on the topic: introverts tend to understand extroverts a lot better than extroverts understand introverts. Some extroverts just think there's something wrong with introverts, and can tend to not like or trust them. Boo on that! God made all kinds of us, and there's nothing wrong with introverts. Where else would the tribe gets its solitary mountain men, its toll-takers (yes, even seeing thousands of people for four seconds at time, that's still a job that requires strong introverts), its spelunkers, its lighthouse keepers, its space-station astronauts—or, ahem, its writers? There are lots of occupations and activities that require people who can stand to be alone.

In my life, though, I think this is the first time that being an introvert has ever been socially advantageous. About time it came in handy.

Although I wish it had never happened, and I hope it will be over soon.

Hang in there my friends, and be safe and be well,

Mike

*I've related this story before, but I love it so I'll tell it again. At the Photo East show, my predecessor, the late David Alan Jay, who was a more extreme introvert than I am, would get intensely tired of being "on" for all the people who were chasing him for one reason or another and making demands on his attention, whether it was readers or authors or friends or manufacturers' reps (everyone wanted a "minute" with a magazine editor back in those days at the shows). So he would go to the Darkroom Innovations booth, where our friend Fred Newman had his gigantic 20x24 view camera on display. David would get under the dark cloth behind the enormous camera as if he were taking a look through the groundglass...and then he'd just stay there! Half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour—he just periodically needed to be alone for a while. It was his hideout right there on the show floor. You could be standing ten feet from him and not realize he was there. Makes me laugh, thinking back. R.I.P. David.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Comments

[Jonathan]

On the subject of introverts, if you have not already done so I can highly recommend Susan Cain's book Quiet.

[Albert Smith]

I'm fairly introverted. Before this event, I'd spend 23 hours a day in my house... now only one extra hour, easy!

I do go out in early A.M. and shoot around town which is allowed in my area. There is no interaction with any other people, just a cool ability to shoot naked cityscapes.

When this is finished I hope I haven't acquired too much static inertia which will make me even more agoraphobic.

[Dori]

"I wear jury-rigged ones made of the sleeves of T-shirts"

That won't offer as much protection. I'd consider fashioning something that incorporates filter from AC/HVAC (MERV 12+ would be best) or vacuum bag filter. See for example here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL8n_zJk3_Y

This is a nice article:
https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-homemade-mask-material-DIY-face-mask-ppe.html

[Dori]

Sorry Youtube link with I think better instructions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6d3twpHwis

[Eric Brody]

Like you, I am rather fortunate in this most unfortunate of times. I have a spouse with who I get along, am retired, have adequate funds, and have an obsession, photography, which keeps me busy. There have been days I have literally not left my home, but also do have a small fenced yard in which I can get fresh air. I do daily walks with my wife and rarely see people with masks. When I ask people whom I am able to ask, they say walking outside is low risk... but they always wear masks when in stores. I am not sure this makes sense, any of it. I wish I were in Sweden or New Zealand. My issue is that I am over 70 and even in Sweden I would be quarantined. There's not enough discussion of the different paths we could be taking. The Swedes say they are slowly building herd immunity, Lloyd Chambers feels we're punishing the 90% of people for whom this would be no worse than a bad flu, for the others. I have absolutely no idea what is the correct thing to do. You?

[My feeling is that the best we can do is prevent the medical system from becoming swamped and overwhelmed, and that we need to protect medical personnel. Those two things go hand in hand. So I think flattening the curve is the best strategy. --Mike]

[Dori]

"Lloyd Chambers feels we're punishing the 90% of people for whom this would be no worse than a bad flu, for the others."

Absolutely, but this so called "bad flu" has already killed more Americans in 3 months than the Vietnam War which lasted 19 years. And we have an under count on COVID-19 deaths as many people that die at home or nursing homes from it aren't tested posthumously. Btw, this soft-closing would not have lasted as long as it has (or will) if we had a more stringent quarantine and a swifter response at the onset. That's why we're all suffering, not because of those 10%.

[Patrick Dodds]

2nd vote for Quiet by Susan Cain. Very interesting and thought-provoking read. I think only us introverts will ever read it though...

[Pak Wan]

3M do have a reusable mask that can be disinfected (including the filters). This is their technical bulletin for the NHS recommending the mask and filter combination.

Unfortunately, they do look very intimidating!

Pak

https://www.3m.co.uk/intl/uk/ohes/segments/healthcare/(9666a)OH_ReusableTechBulletin_lft.pdf

[Bill Poole]

Hey, Mike -
I am quite a bit further toward the introvert end of the spectrum. The idea of asking people on the street if I can take a photo (a la Peter Turnley, whose work I love) fils me with anxiety. So I wonder if you might consider a corollary: extroverts are more likely to be "street" shooters; landscape and still-life shooters may fall toward the introversion end of the spectrum. Of course, your experience and knowledge of the field might suggest otherwise.

[Tom R. Halfhill]

I agree with Mike's opinion that we should flatten the contagion curve to protect hospitals and medical personnel from becoming overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. Consider that this strategy helps anyone who needs urgent medical attention. If the hospitals are overwhelmed and you arrive at the emergency room with some other medical condition -- whether it's an illness, an accident injury, or a crime wound -- a harried doctor will have to decide whether your life is worth saving versus someone else's.

Most Americans aren't expecting such a harsh but necessary triage. It already happened in Italy. In the U.S., the state of California is distributing guidelines to help hospitals make that difficult decision, should the need arise. It's based on a point system that considers several factors. If you lose, you lose.

[Yonatan Katznelson]

``So I think flattening the curve is the best strategy.''

Or bleach...

(I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

[Graham Smith]

"I wish I were in Sweden or New Zealand"
Or Australia? Population 25 million, 6750 infected, 90 dead and 25% of those deaths are from a few "hot spots" that should have been prevented [aged home, cruise boats].
We have not yet got the virus beaten but should it continue our medical people will now be able to handle it.
"Lloyd Chambers feels we're punishing the 90% of people for whom this would be no worse than a bad flu"
What about the 10% for whom this would be far worse than a bad flu. Surely the greater number of people who are exposed to "a bad flu" then increases the risk of the more vulnerable catching it?

[Ilkka]

Another way of looking at it. 3,350,000 Vietnamese were killed during the war with USA. In contrast, no one in Vietnam have died of this virus (270 have been infected). To be fair, it was also a civil war so not all died because of the USA, but probably most did. To be also fair, the number of virus deaths depend heavily on number of tests so may not be entirely accurate, but it is sure that the numbers in Vietnam are very low.

[Merle]

I found this interesting: https://www.printyourmask.online

Be sure to read the OSHA publication on how face masks work.

[James]

Hi Mike,
I am intrigued with the way you wrote Vietnam as Viet Nam.
I don't think I have seen that before. Is it significant?

[Either is correct. "Vietnam" is more usual in the U.S. and Britain and "Viet Nam" is used by the UN. In Vietnamese it's "Việt Nam." --Mike]

[Brian V.]

I had a similar experience regarding ordering masks. Ordered a box of 30 disposables a month ago that never seems to have shipped even though a tracking number was provided. Amazon is refunding my money. Here we're now required to wear a mask when entering an essential business. I was lucky to find the besillyproject (https://besillyproject.com/) which is a group in Minnesota making cotton surgical masks--for each one you buy they donate one. We got ours within a week. There is no choice on fabric pattern and the difference between male and female masks seems to be a slightly larger elastic ear band on the male one.
I'm lucky that my wife and I are both moderately introverted and have a large enough home to find some alone time together.
Stay safe.

[Peter Croft]

I've been a strong union man all my working life, simply on the idea that teamwork is good in almost everything. I've battled governments trying to tell us that "unions bad, individual bargaining with employer good". (Ah retirement, being able to drop the stress from that!)

It's made me think - in virtually every form of life and work, we work better as teams, collectively. Especially when bargaining for wages and conditions. Blind Freddy can see this.

But strangely, the one area where teamwork is not needed is the creative arts such as writing, painting, composing, maybe sculpture, and photography. In all these, the end product comes from the mind, requiring very little in the way of materials or outside help. Odd.

Yet, you couldn't work without your computer, which was the result of huge teamwork. You couldn't photograph without your camera, ditto. An author couldn't publish without a printing press and all that teamwork. And so on.

Personally, I'd call myself mostly an introvert (and hence this lockdown makes little difference to me, living alone). When I go photographing, I have to be alone. My mind has to be fully engaged on the photograph before it's taken. I can't be talking to someone at the same time. Being an introvert is part of being creative. Of course, some of the greatest creators are beyond introversion into the weird end of the spectrum, as we know. I don't admit to that.

[John Gillooly]

I'm getting a bit confused about "flattening the curve." It was sold in, like you mention here, as a way to slow the spread of disease in order to help the hospital system be less overwhelmed. We were promised inundated hospitals, lack of ventilators and doctors deciding life and death based upon lack of supplies, beds, icu's, etc. I am in Boston, objectively one of the hardest hit US cities. We have been in the surge for a couple weeks now - probably a bit beyond any apex. The doomsday scenarios, fortunately, did not come to be. The goal of flattening the curve was achieved. Hospitals managed and currently almost all have excess capacity even while we are still in the surge. We were never under the impression that flattening the curve was going to lower the number of infections long-term - it was simply to spread the infection rate over a longer period. Now we are told we can't reopen because the virus will begin to spread again. Yes, we know that. That's not what flattening the curve was about. I feel like it was a bait and switch. Won't we be in the same position a month from now, three months from now - even 9? If we are not reopened soon, we are in 1933 - by our own doing. There are significant societal consequences, health and economic, that come with that. Sweden will not face additional waves. They are absorbing the disease in a natural way and front-loading illness and death from Covid19. It is a very serious pandemic. People are going to die and that is very sad - sadder still for those who lose loved ones. We are very fortunate though that this disease does look to be far less lethal than originally estimated. And while we have seen some rare cases of death to young and those without co-morbidities, the average age of death is 82. My guess is that a year from now, the Sweden covid19 death rate (currently at about 5x that of Norway, Finland and Denmark, will look very similar to other western nations, but without the economic disaster. Regarding the comparison with deaths in Vietnam, I think that is a bit of headline sensationalism. I believe the average age of death of a Vietnam soldier was 19? That person is robbed of approximately 60+ years of life. I'm not saying some lives are worth more than others. But I bet you can't find an 82 year old that wouldn't sacrifice their own life in the place of their 19 year old grandchild? These are tough times, but I think we need to have deeper and more honest discussions.

[Ray Maines]

Also worth mentioning is that any given person, either introvert or extrovert can be shy or outgoing. I view myself as an outgoing introvert. I can be almost as outgoing as any other person at the party, but I'm drained at the end and wish the party would have ended 45 minutes ago.

[Dwight]

You're going to like the mask from MaxMax.com. It's comfortable and effective. Just don't stretch the strap as far as you would when using a surgical mask. They break easily.

Unfortunately, you can't look down with the mask in place. That's not a problem unless you are nearsighted and like to look under the edge of your glasses when reading labels at the store. The mask will not be useful for dentists because we look down so much.

[Paul]

No specific insult to anyone, but if someone compares this to "a bad flu" they are instantly ignorable. That was a really stupid argument a month ago. At this point it's criminal.

A better comparison would be aerosolized AIDS. Not very accurate but somewhat closer to the point.

Based on current deaths during a generalized somewhat effective lockdown of 2k per day we are looking at about 750k deaths for the year. Without a lockdown, who knows? Seems like well over a million are likely. It will be people you know and care about, if it isn't already.

Just the facts.