4 ms·

This topic is always popular here on HN. A pain point even. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=561311 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=561311 http://news.

This topic is always popular here on HN. A pain point even. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=561311 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=561311 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2657554 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2657554 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2345552 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2345552 However most of these submissions do not sit well with me as they try to glorify introversion as some sort of superpower or an exclusive club, and contain a hefty dose of ego stroking.

moonchrome 15y ago
Also it's coming from social sciences, a thing most of the people nodding in approval would be extremely skeptical (and rightly so IMO) especially if it was opposing their beleifs - at least that's my impression/my initial reaction. Confirmation bias is bad. Still I think most of us are also repulsed by the inane "brainstorming sessions", forced "teamwork", etc. and that's an important point, I work best alone/when I'm not getting distracted.
panacea 15y ago
"A pain point even." I wonder if that's because of the HR/interview/need-to-network thing. Those on the more introverted side of whatever social mound you may want to define, are as good as, if not better at actually solving problems and producing results as those who network and team-huddle and facebook etc. It's a "pain point" precisely because there's no reason a somewhat 'introverted' individual should be organisationally penalised for their personality traits when they 'bring the goods' regardless (or even in excess of requirements).
- bh42222 15y ago
  I really hate the implication that being an introvert means you are not as good at interviews or HR type networking. I am an introvert. I have a huge professional network. How? Simply by being nice to people and caring to build a network! And I know plenty of extroverts who have a much smaller network than me because they tend to burn bridges when they leave companies, because being an extrovert doesn't keep you from being kind of a dick. And as hackers we are often stubborn and passionate about objective truth and I think these HR/networking problems have nothing to do with introversion. I think introversion is being used as an excuse. And I suspect a lot of introverts are either not introverts at all, or have entirely separate issues in addition to being introverts. Certainly a lot of what I read about introversion has nothing to do with it, but is clearly about social anxiety. It's a "pain point" precisely because there's no reason a somewhat 'introverted' individual should be organizationally penalized for their personality traits when they 'bring the goods' regardless (or even in excess of requirements). That does not happen! The only way I can imagine that happening is if you are an introvert who happens to be a professional party host, or maybe sales. But introverted personality traits do not get you punished professionally if you do any kind of intellectual work like programming! What ever punishment you're seeing, I'm guessing it's due to social issues entirely apart form introversion.
  - panacea 15y ago
    The implication is that on a bell curve, you're worse off on one side... that's all I'm "implying".
ChrisMac 15y ago
I agree. I've been following Hacker News for a while, and I've noticed whenever one of these, "Introverts are actually misunderstood geniuses, Extroverts are really shallow and stupid"-type articles appears in a magazine, it'll probably appear on this site. Still, while I don't agree with the Us vs. Them attitude, it does seem like a big concern that there's such a big well of introvert resentment out there, that these articles can so consistently tap into. The comments to these stories are always pretty predictable too, on this site and others. There will be a ton of disgressions on what the word introvert really means. Some people will talk about how it's a false dichotomy. A couple of bitter people will agree with the anti-extrovert sentiment of the article. Some posters will share their story of how they changed their supposed core orientation, etc etc.

moonchrome 15y ago

Also it's coming from social sciences, a thing most of the people nodding in approval would be extremely skeptical (and rightly so IMO) especially if it was opposing their beleifs - at least that's my impression/my initial reaction. Confirmation bias is bad. Still I think most of us are also repulsed by the inane "brainstorming sessions", forced "teamwork", etc. and that's an important point, I work best alone/when I'm not getting distracted.

panacea 15y ago

"A pain point even." I wonder if that's because of the HR/interview/need-to-network thing. Those on the more introverted side of whatever social mound you may want to define, are as good as, if not better at actually solving problems and producing results as those who network and team-huddle and facebook etc. It's a "pain point" precisely because there's no reason a somewhat 'introverted' individual should be organisationally penalised for their personality traits when they 'bring the goods' regardless (or even in excess of requirements).

bh42222 15y ago
I really hate the implication that being an introvert means you are not as good at interviews or HR type networking. I am an introvert. I have a huge professional network. How? Simply by being nice to people and caring to build a network! And I know plenty of extroverts who have a much smaller network than me because they tend to burn bridges when they leave companies, because being an extrovert doesn't keep you from being kind of a dick. And as hackers we are often stubborn and passionate about objective truth and I think these HR/networking problems have nothing to do with introversion. I think introversion is being used as an excuse. And I suspect a lot of introverts are either not introverts at all, or have entirely separate issues in addition to being introverts. Certainly a lot of what I read about introversion has nothing to do with it, but is clearly about social anxiety. It's a "pain point" precisely because there's no reason a somewhat 'introverted' individual should be organizationally penalized for their personality traits when they 'bring the goods' regardless (or even in excess of requirements). That does not happen! The only way I can imagine that happening is if you are an introvert who happens to be a professional party host, or maybe sales. But introverted personality traits do not get you punished professionally if you do any kind of intellectual work like programming! What ever punishment you're seeing, I'm guessing it's due to social issues entirely apart form introversion.
- panacea 15y ago
  The implication is that on a bell curve, you're worse off on one side... that's all I'm "implying".

ChrisMac 15y ago

I agree. I've been following Hacker News for a while, and I've noticed whenever one of these, "Introverts are actually misunderstood geniuses, Extroverts are really shallow and stupid"-type articles appears in a magazine, it'll probably appear on this site. Still, while I don't agree with the Us vs. Them attitude, it does seem like a big concern that there's such a big well of introvert resentment out there, that these articles can so consistently tap into. The comments to these stories are always pretty predictable too, on this site and others. There will be a ton of disgressions on what the word introvert really means. Some people will talk about how it's a false dichotomy. A couple of bitter people will agree with the anti-extrovert sentiment of the article. Some posters will share their story of how they changed their supposed core orientation, etc etc.