A Case For Introvert Rule

A long time ago, I posted on introversion, specifically about the longer acetylcholine pathway through which we run thing through.

Longer Introvert Acetylcholine Pathway

Reticular Activating System: Stimuli enter her where alertness is regulated. Decreased in introverts.

Hypothalamus: Regulates thirst, temperature, and appetite. Turns on the Parasympathetic (Throttle-Down System: Conserve Energy) in introverts

Anterior Thalamus: Relay station – sends stimuli to frontal lobe and turns stimuli down in introverts

Broca’s Area: Speech area where inner monologue is activated

Frontal Lobe: Where thinking, planning, learning, and reasoning are engaged

Hippocampus: Attuned to the environment and relays to long-term memory

Amygdala: Emotional center, where emotions are attached to thoughts in introverts

Versus the shorter dopamine pathway:

Shorter Extrovert Dopamine Pathway

Reticular Activating System: Stimuli enter here where alertness is regulated. Increased in introverts.

Hypothalamus: Regulates thirst, temperature, and appetite. Turns on the Sympathetic (Full-Throttle System: Expend Energy) in extroverts

Posterior Thalamus: Relay station – sends increased stimuli to amygdala

Amygdala: Emotional center, where emotions are attached to actions in the motor area in extroverts

Temporal and Motor Area: Movement connects to working memory (short-term). Also the center for learning and processing sensory and emotional stimuli

Those of us who are acetylcholine dominant will work towards the goal; the dopamine dominant will, despite how much he may or may not assent to the goal, will stop working towards the goal as soon as the dopamine reward is triggered. Since the dopamine dominant get their fix from socialization, they tend to get their fix by showing up, and diverting resources away from the goal and towards social events.

Again, the issue of vital importance here is to realize that the dopamine dominant may well think the ultimate goal is awesome and they really want to see it happen very, very much, but they simply cannot provide it their full support.

Now, this does not mean you necessarily want just any introvert to rule, but this does point out why principled based governance never goes mainstream. First, principled base governance is the creation of the acetylcholine dominant. Someone, somewhere, was no doubt obsessing over some other goal (often some goal others think is completely loony) and he came across this obstacle to his goal- crappy government. So, he, or eventually someone similar to him who was loony enough to be obsessed with this governance issue, developed some principles. This is the libertarian or similar character. Unfortunately such models fall completely on their face because of the dopamine dominant. They may assent to the principles, but when they have power in a government, they are actually satisfied- i.e. they get their fix- pretty much immediately, and they shall arrange it so that resources are aimed at getting another fix very soon.

Or to put in another way, if you let the dopamine dominant rule, they turn everything into a status game. Indeed, we have this American myth that leadership can be taught, and people go to classes that mostly consistent of things like neuro-linguistic programming and how to be more charismatic. Everything gets diverted to socializing and these psychological games.

But the acetylcholine dominant don't even notice status, until it gets in the way of getting things done. Then we get quite angry about it, especially if we've toiled away in collaboration with someone to find out that not only we can we not achieve our goals because they've spend all the assets on partying, but now we have this mysterious disease of low status. Among the dopamine dominant, we might as well be speaking a different language- indeed, the only way to inject a dose of reality into modern systems is via introvert consultants. The status aware appear to defer to consultants, but they cannot, for some unfathomable reason, hear the exact same truth from the guy that actually keeps things moving within the hierarchy. Unfortunately, with consultants, you can't know whether or not you are actually going to get introverts. You may well get more foolishness.

In more explicitly hierarchical times, the status was a more fixed thing, and, additionally, your local lord or lady had to administrate land, people, debts, etc... The need for administrative skills that would leave things in a more or less functional state into the third or fourth generation was noticeable. Thus, if a task was to be done, either an aristocrat would take it on, and face losing status if he did not achieve, or he would hire someone and that someone would very likely be a the introvert obsessed with whatever the goal was. In any case, status games were less likely to get out of hand.

Now, one may well get a different version of foolishness with introverts- you sort of have to check to make sure the goals are similar, and their feet are firmly rooted in reality, but in an organization where introverts rule, the organization is going to stay true to its goal, function, or purpose.