The Lenore Thomson Exegesis Wiki
What is the difference between an introverted way of orienting yourself and an extraverted way of orienting yourself?
To answer this question, we'll look at what it means to even say, "I am here."
Imagine that you're walking around in a town that you've never visited before, maybe in a foreign country where they don't speak your language. You've been wandering around a while and you've lost your bearings. How do you find out where you are?
You look around and find a street sign. It says, "Kunststoffstrasse".
Ok, you are on Kunststoffstrasse. Knowing that, do you know where you are?
You might still feel disoriented because you don't know where Kunststoffstrasse is. So you pull out your city map. At last, you find Kunststoffstrasse on the map. Now you know where you are. Or do you?
From an extraverted point of view, you get your bearings by finding things that are right here: things that you can see right now. The street itself is your reference point. You can find your way around simply by relating other things you find to that reference point. You don't need to know the whole layout of the city to navigate in this way. You walk around, you notice things, and gradually you learn more and more about the city.
From an introverted point of view, you get your bearings by relating the things that are right here to something complete, which you carry around within yourself. Unlike the city streets, which are outside yourself and that you can never fully "know", the map provides a vocabulary of meanings that exist entirely within yourself (or at least on the map). From an introverted standpoint, you only feel oriented when you relate things to a map.
This example uses Si to illustrate introversion--orienting oneself by a vocabulary of stable meanings that you relate tangible things to--but the principle applies to all the Semiotic Attitudes.
The above gives us enough to frame some definitions to make an interpretation of what Lenore is saying:
Introverts are people who primarily orient themselves in an introverted way. Before they get into something, they want something analogous to a map in order to find their way. Once into something, they'll want to frequently stop and consolidate their understanding in the form of some kind of map. Without some kind of map by which to tell "where is here?", they feel disoriented.
Extraverts are people who primarily orient themselves in an extraverted way: they get their bearings by looking at what is easily perceivable here and now. For extraverts, directions are meaningful only if they relate to present circumstances. They feel somewhat disoriented by extended examinations of maps: maps (especially of a more abstract kind) are not easily perceivable and do not relate in an obvious way to what is easily perceivable right now.
Of course, everyone uses both introverted and extraverted ways of self-orienting at different times.
An introverted understanding of something is self-contained: it is a purely mental world. An extraverted understanding of something is inherently relative to some part of the world.
This difference shows itself in a common philosophical difference regarding whether we can "know" what electricity is. From an introverted standpoint, you only feel like you "know" what electricity is if you can find something that you can fully define in terms of concepts that you can hold independently of your experiences with electricity. From an extraverted standpoint, of course you know what electricity is: it's that stuff that powers the lights! From an extraverted standpoint, you "know" what it is if you can point to it.
Q. Doesn't the distinction illustrated above have more to do with the matter of Sensing vs. iNtuition (rather than with Extraverted/Introverted) ? isn't it typical of "S" (regardless of whether they are "I" or "E") to have their understanding grounded in "what is easily perceivable here and now"? isn't it characteristic of "N" (be they "EN" or "IN") to "prefer" the more abstract notion of "street as represented by a line on a map" to "street as these buildings and traffic lights and shop signs"?
Perhaps, one way to resolve this is to find an IS and an EN and ask them. :)
A. The above is a subtle idea, so I can only ask you to read it again. It uses S to illustrate the idea, but don't get confused by the fact that S is being used as the example. I think it would be a lot harder to illustrate with other function attitudes. The key idea is whether you orient yourself by a map (i.e. something self-contained and mental) or by the territory (the real, concrete world, so the meaning cannot be understood by looking at the map alone, and yes, that definitely applies to Ne).
Regarding asking an IS and an EN, most probably would not be able to answer, or even understand the question, any more than a kitten can explain how it knows who its mommy is. It takes an outside perspective on how one's perspective works to be able to describe it. Indeed, the purpose of this wiki and probably of Lenore's writing is to build up the kind of conceptual vocabulary that enables a person to be able to think of and answer questions of this kind.
See also: Semiotic Attitudes, Semiotically Disoriented.