There are two major categories of personality types in the world: Simple personalities and Complex personalities. Don’t get me wrong. There are various types of distinct and unique personalities amongst us. Simple and complex personality differentiation is one of many categorizations that are utilized in the study of human mind.
Most of the people in this world are simple personalities. Justifying the proverb “Ignorance is a Bliss,” simple personalities tend to find or rather try to find happiness in the simplest of things. Satisfied -whether forcefully or willfully- in the peaceful yet morose nature of everyday life, they like predictability and don’t like big changes. Consequentially they are less flexible in their behavior and attitude towards life, and tend to ignore and/or oppose whatever doesn’t suit their world view.
On the other end of the spectrum are complex personalities. Defining simply -pun intended-, they are the ones who have a complex nature. Deeply unpredictable and complicated to the core, complex personalities have a tendency to dazzle as well as intimidate everyone around them. To know more about what a complex personality is, check out this link.
More often than not, people with a complex personality tend to excel in one or multiple fields. Owing to their inquisitive and curious nature, they try to get to the depth of their chosen field, and their passion invariably leads them to a place of success. When simple personalities look at these overachieving and ultra-complex people, they are reminded of the unannounced societal necessity for them to excel in their life. As they ponder about in their own seemingly mediocre life, they consciously or subconsciously nurture a belief that they haven’t gained anything worthwhile in their life.
Living in a cocoon of their own point of view, simple personalities spend a better part of their adult life in chasing meaningless and superficial relationships in search of sexual and emotional bliss. Their teens and 20s are spent in enjoying their life and the newfound freedom to the fullest. However, when they are confronted with the most significant cognitive dissonance life has to offer, they hit face-first what people nowadays call the quarter-life crisis. Having achieved nothing of pompous -pompous being the keyword here- significance in their life (according to them) and stuck in a 9 to 5 job, which is both monotonous and repetitive, they subconsciously accept that kind of life as a necessary evil. Even if they rebel, they choose to gracefully crib about the circumstances that didn’t allow them to achieve the success they had envisioned for themselves.
In both situations, simple personalities tend to blame their failures on external factors rather than introspecting and analyzing their own personality traits. And this is where complex personalities come in as the perfect villain for them. A complex personality simultaneously represents what these simplex people wanted to be as well as what they couldn’t achieve.
Complex personalities, instead of relying on external factors, conjure motivation from inside and only do things that excite them. This might make them choosy, but it also makes them passionate about what they do, a trait inherently essential for success in any field. Complex people even ignore distractions of the material world thinking it futile to chase short term gains. They immerse themselves in the ocean of knowledge and come out drenched with new experiences and insights every day. Simple personalities don’t hate complex personalities but what they represent.
It is an innate human response to despise and resist something that you don’t understand or comprehend. Simple personalities do the same. When they realize they can’t relate to complex personalities who, by ignoring the worldly distractions, have managed to achieve so much with their hard work and determination, they start hating them. They know they could have done the same, but it is out of their own laziness, and their fear of what the other person signifies simple people start detesting them, and everything they stand for. They choose to go the easy way, and instead of improving themselves by gaining knowledge, they decide to hate that particular person who reflects their failure. It’s a bitter truth, but that’s how it is.
The behavior and attitude of complex people, doesn’t help either. By default, most complex personalities are inherently introverted and hence engrossed in themselves. This, however, is not the narcissistic obsession that is superficial in nature, for they are engaged in their own thoughts, always pondering on topics they are passionate about. A consequence of this preference is the overthinking factor that is also wrongly misconstrued to be a cause of complexity. It’s actually the other way around. The less subtle effect of this complexity, however, is the preference to be in their own company. Complex personality people are not very social, which makes people around them believe they are moody and have a superiority complex, furthering the rift between the two.
Another factor that widens the chasm between complex people and simple personalities is that the former are control freaks. They are used to doing things their own way, no matter what other people might say. They can imagine what others can’t, and to do so, they create a safe environment wherever they go so that they can imagine and introspect without any disturbance or distraction.
As a combined consequence of all these factors, complex personalities don’t easily find someone like them. This is partly because they are in the minority and partly because being mostly introverted, they don’t even talk to each other. This superficial rudeness and the overachieving nature of complex personalities create a hate-hate relationship between them and their simpler counterparts. We should, however, always remember that this world is beautiful because of the diverse people that live in it. We, humans, are a wonder of nature precisely because of our varied reactions to the same actions. I believe we should try to get past our inherent biases and try to accept the next person as they are and not how we might want them to be.
This goes to all my beautiful readers out there. Instead of finding satisfaction in somebody else’s life, find it in your own backyard, and you will find thousands of reasons to start loving your fellow humans.
Suburban Wordsmith 