CULTURE and the introvert

CULTURE-the products and by-

products of man's creative imaginataion, amassed in a tradition covering thousands of yearsis so broad in its social meaning that we can seldom do more than regard a few of its facets at a time. Yet we frequently make the effort to see these facets as parts of an organized whole, and in doing this we become more and more impressed with what this culture reveals of man's inner, spiritual nature, and of man's potentialities for future development.

The chief obstacle to our grasp of cultural values as they relate to human evolution is our difficulty in seeing the physical environment and our own biological natures in proper perspective against the cultural forces which in this age have come to shape the course of human experi-

ence.

For many of us, the external object, the outward physical result, the "immediate actions and reactions of mind or body, these things appear to constitute the "real" world. In general, we have not yet learned to live comfortably or realistically in the universe of natural and social principles, of ideas and ideals, which underlies all of our immediate sen sations. Thus, the natural universe, together with our own biological and social evolution, seems often to be the aftermath of chance rather than the result of constituted design; and our efforts to bring logic into our personal and social lives are frequently tinged with a sense of futility-with a vague impressing of essential disorder which may possibly sweep aside all human plans.

Yet ever since humanity discovcred itself to be a creative and self-

R. H. Crowther

determining agent in this world, man's mental and emotional life has come to be governed more and more by inner visions, hopes and plans, and by his own calculated actions. The history of religious and philosophical leadership is the history of minds who have valued the realities of man's subjective nature, and who have sought to inspire humanity at large with the sense of spiritual principles of which all immediate forms and activities are the product. Man is, so far as we know, in the unique position of being able to realize in himself the nature of both creature and Creator. According to religious authority it was with this character that man was endowed to begin with; and ever since, human progress has reflected the extent to which we can expand our consciousness into the ultimate reaches of experience which this character makes possible.

If this background of ideas is acceptable, then many of our modern psychological terms stand in need of serious revision. Psychology, in its effort to follow the methods of the exact, or mathematical sciences, has been constantly embarrassed by the fact that analytical and statistical methods, which have produced such superb results in our mastery of molecules, atoms, electrical energies, and even of many elemental phases of organic life, are inadequate to solving or even classifying the subjective problems of personality and behavior. Terms and concepts which at first seemed to have meaning, or at least convenience, in describing psychological data, have had to undergo a continual process of redefini-

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tion. Moral and ethical values, at first ignored because they lay beyond the limits of analytical and statistical processes, are now coming into greater prominence, and there is taking place a gradual integration of psychological and religious ideas. This seems an excellent omen, both for the ethic of psychology, and for the ultimate efficacy of religious truth in molding the destiny of man. The two fields still appear to be widely divided. however, and new knowledge is being looked for which can bring about their eventual unity.

For the homophile who is interested in both religious and scientific values, there is an interesting relationship between the terms "introvert' and "invert". As commonly understood, the introvert is one who is preoccupied with subjective experiences, as distinguished from the apparent, external universe and his relationships to it. Usually the term "introvert" is applied to those in whom this tendency outbalances it's opposite-those, therefore, who tend to withdraw from external realities into fantasies, and into non-social or even anti-social attitudes. By this usage, introversion has come to be synonymous with a somewhat defective or limited personality. However, introversion, from its basic definition, contains two very distinct aspects. There are introverts who become preoccupied with subjective values with ideas, interpretcbecause of tions, principles etc., positive interest and also capability in dealing intelligently with subjective material. At the other extreme there are those who are driven into a morbid and purposeless inversion, merely because of inability to cope with the objective universe, or to relate themselves successfully to the objective realities of social experience. It is clear that culturally

productive members of society can arise only from the former class.

In relation to sexuality, there appears to be a very direct, though not necessary connection between introversion and inversion, as the person affected-by the very nature of his disposition-tends to build up and accept erotic images identical with his own sexual character. Obviously, it is these mental images, not the blind sexual impulse itself, which determine a persons's sexual inclinations. Introversion, narcissism, autoeroticism, inversion(or homoeroticism)-all these terms, even while distinct in their special applications, nevertheless seem to be related to one major direction or condition of consciousness.

Whether or not introversion will result in sexual inversion depends upon many factors whose immediate workings are already well understood by researchers in the field. Among these are the degree and type of introversion, the incidence of introvert tendencies in respect to the age of the person, and the family relationships of early childhood.

In judging various aberrations we are sometimes inclined to forget that all of the preconditioning factors of sexual behavior are established in very early years, when the child is not intertested or even capable of understanding sexuality in a realitic way. A child has a highly active mental and emotional life, and keen sensibilities to environment for many "cars before adolescence. Sex, in the adult sense, is not among the countless impulses and sensations of which a child is aware from birth, and which he learns to adjust, one with another, in the natural course of personal development. It appears, in its developed form, into a personality-picture already crowded with memories, associations, knowledge in many forms, cultural leanings, and