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Besides... implying that extroverts don't have traumatic social experiences? Statistically speaking, extroverts should have many times more such bad social expe

Besides... implying that extroverts don't have traumatic social experiences? Statistically speaking, extroverts should have many times more such bad social experiences simply because they have many more total social experiences. If that's your argument, then it boils down to extroverts evidently being able to "get over it" much better than introverts.

smsm42 10y ago
I think the point is not that introverts don't have bad experiences, but that it's not those experiences that make them introverts, being an introvert is just a quality like being a right- or left-handed.
- ethanbond 10y ago
  Sorry, I'm agreeing with the parent comment and adding a corollary that the grandparent comment implies that extroverts don't suffer social trauma.
xabotage 10y ago
In my case at least, I absolutely believe the ability to "get over" bad social experiences can turn someone into an introvert or extrovert over their lifetimes. For example, no amount of conscious effort allows me to let go of bad social encounters, so instead I have a treasure chest of repressed memories over several years (my brain likes to pull one out at random late at night just to torture me sometimes). Further social interaction always puts me at risk of accumulating more bad experiences that can't be let go, so as a result I have to work extra hard whenever I talk to strangers or acquaintances to overcome the anxiety and "perform well". Around close family where I can be myself, social interaction is not exhausting and I feel like an extrovert. In other words, perhaps inability to "get over it" leads to social anxiety which leads to taxing social interactions which leads to introversion (...which leads to suffering). Doesn't necessarily explain introversion for all people, though.
- dan00 10y ago
  > In my case at least, I absolutely believe the ability to "get over" bad social experiences can turn someone into an introvert or extrovert over their lifetimes. I'm pretty sure that's not the case. One shouldn't mix introversion, shyness and social anxiety. It might be easier to develop social anxiety if your're an introverted or shy person, but you can't overcome your introversion like you can overcome your social anxiety, they're just completely different things.
  - noobermin 10y ago
    Right. I like anyone have my share of bad experiences, however, I am not shy at all, I am not afraid to talk to people, I just don't prefer it because it taxes on my energy.

smsm42 10y ago

I think the point is not that introverts don't have bad experiences, but that it's not those experiences that make them introverts, being an introvert is just a quality like being a right- or left-handed.

ethanbond 10y ago
Sorry, I'm agreeing with the parent comment and adding a corollary that the grandparent comment implies that extroverts don't suffer social trauma.

xabotage 10y ago

In my case at least, I absolutely believe the ability to "get over" bad social experiences can turn someone into an introvert or extrovert over their lifetimes. For example, no amount of conscious effort allows me to let go of bad social encounters, so instead I have a treasure chest of repressed memories over several years (my brain likes to pull one out at random late at night just to torture me sometimes). Further social interaction always puts me at risk of accumulating more bad experiences that can't be let go, so as a result I have to work extra hard whenever I talk to strangers or acquaintances to overcome the anxiety and "perform well". Around close family where I can be myself, social interaction is not exhausting and I feel like an extrovert. In other words, perhaps inability to "get over it" leads to social anxiety which leads to taxing social interactions which leads to introversion (...which leads to suffering). Doesn't necessarily explain introversion for all people, though.

dan00 10y ago
> In my case at least, I absolutely believe the ability to "get over" bad social experiences can turn someone into an introvert or extrovert over their lifetimes. I'm pretty sure that's not the case. One shouldn't mix introversion, shyness and social anxiety. It might be easier to develop social anxiety if your're an introverted or shy person, but you can't overcome your introversion like you can overcome your social anxiety, they're just completely different things.
- noobermin 10y ago
  Right. I like anyone have my share of bad experiences, however, I am not shy at all, I am not afraid to talk to people, I just don't prefer it because it taxes on my energy.