4 ms·

as an alternative, i've heard these definitions of introvert / extravert: an introvert is someone who recharges their social energy by going off somewhere fami

as an alternative, i've heard these definitions of introvert / extravert: an introvert is someone who recharges their social energy by going off somewhere familiar and likely alone. An extrovert is someone who recharges by going off to be with lots of people and commotion. ...what i like about these definitions is that neither are anti-social. both can be "the life of the party" or "the quieter ones". ...is more about where your charging cradle is.

gadders 12y ago
That fits better with me as well. I'm not shy, or socially awkward, I just quite often would rather be at home reading a book to relax instead of "socialising".
- PeterWhittaker 12y ago
  Ditto: I tell jokes, stories, laugh with friends and family, and jump in to jump-start gatherings that seem inappropriately quiet(1)... ...and then I go clean up the kitchen, because I really, really need to get away from everyone. At work, it can be similar: A long productive meeting, lots of good stuff accomplished (planning, design, what-have-you) and BAM! my buffers are full, I need to get away, recharge my batteries and drain those buffers. Many others want to keep going, I want to be away from the world. For at least a few minutes. (1) Yes, "inappropriately" is subjective, and yes, mistakes are made - but fewer mistakes are made than gatherings enlivened - and memories are always made!
  - gadders 12y ago
    Business trips are the worst. You spend all day in meetings in people and then they (entirely good naturedly) invite you out for a meal in the evening. No thanks. I'd rather be sitting in my hotel room in my underwear eating room service and reading my Kindle.
epochwolf 12y ago
This fits better for me. I have two modes: I can either be "the life of the party" as I am right now. I try to spend most of my weekends out with friends, never being alone and I get antsy when am faced with a weekend alone. I spend my weeknights relaxing and cleaning. Or give me a project I'm interested in, and you won't see me during the weekends for months. I'll be content to go out for a meet or two during the week but any large block of time will be consumed by my hobby. No matter which extreme I'm in, I need a quiet place and a solitary activity to recharge. When I'm the life of the party, it's quiet week nights alone. When I'm on a project, it's the in the evening on the weekends after working on a project all day.
runevault 12y ago
I've felt the same way for a long time, after I heard it from somewhere (I forget where). For example, some of my coworkers think I'm an extrovert because I can be super social/engaged/draw other people out of their shell/etc, but they don't see when I get off work I go home and disappear from the world to recharge from all that.
gdrulia 12y ago
and what if you find things like small talk the most boring thing in your life which simply steals your energy in such big chunks that you can last only couple short conversations, while there is nothing more powering in your life than having a great debate, and it doesn't really matter much whether it is with your friends or strangers. I have always found people classifications slightly weird thing, not because there is something fundamentally wrong with it, but because of how majority of the people perceives them. We tend to simplify things in our heads, and most of us start to treat these classifications as a final explanation to things (using as a labels), without remembering that when it comes to classifying people (especially their character), classification at its best is nothing more than a guideline and should be treated cautiously. Well at least this is how I see the world and people around me.
- andyidsinga 12y ago
  people classifications are mos def hard. at the extreme end, i once heard someone say "there are two kinds of people in the world : those who say there are two kinds of people and those who don't."

gadders 12y ago

That fits better with me as well. I'm not shy, or socially awkward, I just quite often would rather be at home reading a book to relax instead of "socialising".

PeterWhittaker 12y ago
Ditto: I tell jokes, stories, laugh with friends and family, and jump in to jump-start gatherings that seem inappropriately quiet(1)... ...and then I go clean up the kitchen, because I really, really need to get away from everyone. At work, it can be similar: A long productive meeting, lots of good stuff accomplished (planning, design, what-have-you) and BAM! my buffers are full, I need to get away, recharge my batteries and drain those buffers. Many others want to keep going, I want to be away from the world. For at least a few minutes. (1) Yes, "inappropriately" is subjective, and yes, mistakes are made - but fewer mistakes are made than gatherings enlivened - and memories are always made!
- gadders 12y ago
  Business trips are the worst. You spend all day in meetings in people and then they (entirely good naturedly) invite you out for a meal in the evening. No thanks. I'd rather be sitting in my hotel room in my underwear eating room service and reading my Kindle.

epochwolf 12y ago

This fits better for me. I have two modes: I can either be "the life of the party" as I am right now. I try to spend most of my weekends out with friends, never being alone and I get antsy when am faced with a weekend alone. I spend my weeknights relaxing and cleaning. Or give me a project I'm interested in, and you won't see me during the weekends for months. I'll be content to go out for a meet or two during the week but any large block of time will be consumed by my hobby. No matter which extreme I'm in, I need a quiet place and a solitary activity to recharge. When I'm the life of the party, it's quiet week nights alone. When I'm on a project, it's the in the evening on the weekends after working on a project all day.

runevault 12y ago

I've felt the same way for a long time, after I heard it from somewhere (I forget where). For example, some of my coworkers think I'm an extrovert because I can be super social/engaged/draw other people out of their shell/etc, but they don't see when I get off work I go home and disappear from the world to recharge from all that.

gdrulia 12y ago

and what if you find things like small talk the most boring thing in your life which simply steals your energy in such big chunks that you can last only couple short conversations, while there is nothing more powering in your life than having a great debate, and it doesn't really matter much whether it is with your friends or strangers. I have always found people classifications slightly weird thing, not because there is something fundamentally wrong with it, but because of how majority of the people perceives them. We tend to simplify things in our heads, and most of us start to treat these classifications as a final explanation to things (using as a labels), without remembering that when it comes to classifying people (especially their character), classification at its best is nothing more than a guideline and should be treated cautiously. Well at least this is how I see the world and people around me.

andyidsinga 12y ago
people classifications are mos def hard. at the extreme end, i once heard someone say "there are two kinds of people in the world : those who say there are two kinds of people and those who don't."