EP41: Not an Introvert. Not an Extrovert. Perhaps You’re an Ambivert?
EP41: Not an Introvert. Not an Extrovert. Perhaps You’re an Ambivert?
Mirrors, Not Cages — Part 2
I could hardly sleep for two nights straight researching for this episode, and it was so worth it.
Ben and I dig into ambiversion, the personality type that’s basically the middle finger to Jung’s whole introvert/extrovert binary. I think that’s how psychologist Edmund Conklin felt when he coined it in 1923, and four years later Kimball Young came for Carl Jung, too, for building a framework most people don’t fit into.
It’s suggested that most of us are ambiverts, and most of us have no idea what that actually means beyond “I’m kind of this, but kind of that, but not this, nor that” when trying to select an answer on a personality quiz. So we break down what Ambiversion really looks like: being the loudest person in the room and then needing three days of total silence to recover, reading a room not to people-please but because switching costs real energy, and why “flexible” isn’t the same as “indecisive.” Ben also drops a metaphor from The Bear about being the sand between the rocks that’s going to live in my head for a while.
What We Get Into
- The 1920s clapback: how ambiversion got named as a direct challenge to Jung’s binary
- Real ambivert traits
- Ben’s “sand between the rocks” take on what it feels like to be the bridge between people
- The actual cost of flexing between introvert and extrovert energy, and why it’s not free
- Burning the “ambiverts are just indecisive” myth
- Why ambiversion isn’t the “I don’t know” answer on a quiz — it’s a real orientation
Quotable Moments
“None of these personality frameworks are a cage. These are mirrors.” — Lyndsay
“I’m the sand. I am what’s connecting these rocks.” — Ben
Listen If You’re Into
Personality psychology, psychology history, finally having a name for feeling like both, or sibling banter with actual heart underneath it.
Stay Unfinished. Go take the quiz, argue with your sibling about whether you’re actually an ambivert or just being difficult, and remember none of these labels get to tell you who you’re allowed to be.
Connect with Lyndsay / The Unfinished Human®
🌐 Website: https://www.TheUnfinishedHuman.com
📺 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theunfinishedhuman
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunfinishedhuman/
🕯️ Free Ritual Journey: https://www.theunfinishedhuman.com/the-descent/
🌀 Ritual Journey: https://theunfinishedhuman.gumroad.com/l/VoiceReclamation
🎧 Insight Timer Meditations: https://www.insighttimer.com/lyndsaytoensing
Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: 7RNPQD1TO7FNEDR6
