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"I consider myself an introvert with a extrovert mode that gets turned on when needed." Then please understand that unlike you many others aren't introverts by

by hannob 10y ago

"I consider myself an introvert with a extrovert mode that gets turned on when needed." Then please understand that unlike you many others aren't introverts by choice. They can't simply "turn it off".

paulcole 10y ago
Saying, "I'm an introvert" isn't an excuse to avoid interacting with others. Learning how to spend time in a group is a valuable skill, especially for introverts.
- noobiemcfoob 10y ago
  Unless the course is about training group communication skills, etc, the fact that it is a good and useful skill has no bearing on its use for instructing other topics. The point of a course is to teach you a topic, not teach skills outside of that topic. This was the worst with instructors and professors who felt they needed to teach you some life skill along with calculus. They'd fail to notice a large number of other professors were doing it too. Then you have 5 different people all convinced and trying their hardest to ingrain group communications skills right alongside advanced topics. Meanwhile, I'm crying inside as I struggle with 5 different group projects - not because of the material, I could do each of these projects alone with only moderately more time - but because of the awkwardness of forgetting everyone's name and those details about each of their personal lives they want to talk about for the first 15 minutes of every meeting. Take your life skills and write a self-help book. I just want to learn some integrals.
jordanlev 10y ago
I think there's a misunderstanding of what introversion is... it's not just "being shy" versus "being outgoing", but rather (as the article and lots of other commenters have pointed out) about what recharges your mental energy. So it's kind of like saying "make sure you spend some time each day doing that strenuous activity so you get more used to it". Just like someone would say "go to the gym and work out a few times a week". Just because one person isn't as physically fit as another, doesn't mean the less-fit person shouldn't get any exercise at all.
- ashark 10y ago
  I entirely fail to relate to this analogy. Boring/not-boring matters so much more than "is this an extroverted or introverted activity?" as far as draining my mental energy that the latter doesn't even register. I would never think: "doing some boring solo work will totally recharge my batteries after that equally-boring meeting I just got out of". Is it truly common to operate that way?
  - jordanlev 10y ago
    You are probably then close to the middle of being an introvert vs. an extrovert. If you ask someone who very much considers themselves an introvert (like myself), the answer would be "I would SO much rather do boring solo work than sit in a boring meeting", and actually doing boring solo work would probably be the thing I most look forward to after a boring meeting. If you ask someone who strongly identifies as being an extrovert, I think they'd answer the other way: after some boring solo work they're probably craving some human interaction, even if it's in the context of a boring meeting.

by hannob 10y ago

paulcole 10y ago

Saying, "I'm an introvert" isn't an excuse to avoid interacting with others. Learning how to spend time in a group is a valuable skill, especially for introverts.

noobiemcfoob 10y ago
Unless the course is about training group communication skills, etc, the fact that it is a good and useful skill has no bearing on its use for instructing other topics. The point of a course is to teach you a topic, not teach skills outside of that topic. This was the worst with instructors and professors who felt they needed to teach you some life skill along with calculus. They'd fail to notice a large number of other professors were doing it too. Then you have 5 different people all convinced and trying their hardest to ingrain group communications skills right alongside advanced topics. Meanwhile, I'm crying inside as I struggle with 5 different group projects - not because of the material, I could do each of these projects alone with only moderately more time - but because of the awkwardness of forgetting everyone's name and those details about each of their personal lives they want to talk about for the first 15 minutes of every meeting. Take your life skills and write a self-help book. I just want to learn some integrals.

jordanlev 10y ago

I think there's a misunderstanding of what introversion is... it's not just "being shy" versus "being outgoing", but rather (as the article and lots of other commenters have pointed out) about what recharges your mental energy. So it's kind of like saying "make sure you spend some time each day doing that strenuous activity so you get more used to it". Just like someone would say "go to the gym and work out a few times a week". Just because one person isn't as physically fit as another, doesn't mean the less-fit person shouldn't get any exercise at all.

ashark 10y ago
I entirely fail to relate to this analogy. Boring/not-boring matters so much more than "is this an extroverted or introverted activity?" as far as draining my mental energy that the latter doesn't even register. I would never think: "doing some boring solo work will totally recharge my batteries after that equally-boring meeting I just got out of". Is it truly common to operate that way?
- jordanlev 10y ago
  You are probably then close to the middle of being an introvert vs. an extrovert. If you ask someone who very much considers themselves an introvert (like myself), the answer would be "I would SO much rather do boring solo work than sit in a boring meeting", and actually doing boring solo work would probably be the thing I most look forward to after a boring meeting. If you ask someone who strongly identifies as being an extrovert, I think they'd answer the other way: after some boring solo work they're probably craving some human interaction, even if it's in the context of a boring meeting.