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Way off. Maybe it fits some, but is far from definitive "introvert". Maybe some are fear-driven, but author seems to miss the point that many (most?) introverts

Way off. Maybe it fits some, but is far from definitive "introvert". Maybe some are fear-driven, but author seems to miss the point that many (most?) introverts just LIKE solitude, communicating thru contemplative mediums, are more about doing than talking, and just find smalltalk insufferably boring/pointless. Post sounds more like a non-introvert trying to understand & explain, having concluded "well, they're just afraid of disruptive contact with others." No, we just don't like expending resources on the uninteresting.

Cthulhu_ 12y ago
Yeah, I'm not even sure how much it applies to the author himself; IIRC, Rands was a team leader for a long while, doing more with people than with - for example - code and notebooks.
- blazingfrog2 12y ago
  After a long time at Apple and then Palantir, he recently started as Head of Engineering at Pinterest so, yeah, a team leader. http://recode.net/2014/06/10/pinterest-hires-long-time-apple-execs-to-lead-engineering-and-product-design/ http://recode.net/2014/06/10/pinterest-hires-long-time-apple...
thisGuysAccount 12y ago
Gotta agree that it's way off "introvert" and way closer to "person with control and boundary concerns, trying to define 50% of the population's behavior" I'm not really an introvert, but I seem like one. It's because I have a _lot_ going on, and parts of it require quiet time to do.
gr3yh47 12y ago
Technically introversion just means that being social is more energy expensive and being alone is how you recharge. Habitual social avoidance is something different altogether
noxn 12y ago
I'd think this fits people with ASD/Aspergers. I have such a diagnosis and I thought it fit me pretty well.
- lutusp 12y ago
  I have to mention that Asperger's is no longer an official diagnosis -- it's been dropped from the DSM for an excellent reason (too easy to assign the diagnosis to nearly anyone). This will all change when we begin explaining mental illness, rather than describing it as we do now.
claudiusd 12y ago
The OP clearly has Social Anxiety Disorder, also known as "social phobia". The result is introversion, but the cause is a psychiatric issue. You joke, but the OP is likely legitimately afraid of making eye contact. It's too bad people with Social Anxiety (like me) are just told their "introverted" or "shy" their whole lives. Social Anxiety is a very real psychiatric disorder that should be identified and treated in people like this.
- lutusp 12y ago
  > The OP clearly has Social Anxiety Disorder, also known as "social phobia". Has anyone considered that giving an empty name to a description adds nothing to the conversation? Until the day Social Anxiety Disorder shows up in an electron micrograph (pics or it didn't happen), it's something that psychologists made up, like Asperger Syndrome (now abandoned) or homosexuality as a mental illness (abandoned in the 1970s). The fight against homosexuality as a mental illness was terrifying to watch. Many professionals appeared before hearings wearing masks, to argue against this addition to their oppression, before psychologists finally realized their disease mongering was causing real harm and removed homosexuality from the DSM. With Asperger's it was exactly the opposite -- it was an attractive diagnosis, everyone wanted it, such that psychologists finally realized they had created a monster lacking the clear definition that might have brought it under control.
  - CocaKoala 12y ago
    I wouldn't describe it as an illness, but Asperger Syndrome is absolutely a thing and I'm not sure why you think it's abandoned. It's an attractive diagnosis because it gives jerky nerds an excuse to act like a jerk, but (just like so many things), the fact that it's over-self-diagnosed doesn't mean that there aren't people with legitimate problems. Edit: Ah, I guess you're saying that it's "abandoned" because the diagnosis is no longer "You have Aspergers Syndrome" and now "You fall somewhere on the autistic spectrum"?
    - lutusp 12y ago
      > I wouldn't describe it as an illness, but Asperger Syndrome is absolutely a thing and I'm not sure why you think it's abandoned. Excuse me? It has been abandoned -- it was voted out of DSM-5 (the current version), by the same people who voted it into DSM-IV. It is gone. Read more: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/05/autism_spectrum_diagnoses_the_dsm_5_eliminates_asperger_s_and_pdd_nos.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa... Quote: "You Do Not Have Asperger’s" Simple enough? The reason it was abandoned is because it was widely abused by opportunistic therapists to exploit people who think mental illnesses can be made up without benefit of science. > It's an attractive diagnosis because it gives jerky nerds an excuse to act like a jerk, but (just like so many things), the fact that it's over-self-diagnosed doesn't mean that there aren't people with legitimate problems. Yes, and the fact that "vapors" is no longer accepted as a medical condition doesn't mean no one gets cancer -- it means there are fewer quacks practicing medicine. > Edit: Ah, I guess you're saying that it's "abandoned" because the diagnosis is no longer "You have Aspergers Syndrome" and now "You fall somewhere on the autistic spectrum"? Yes, exactly as though someone now says, "You're more interesting than the average person" instead of saying, "Your're queer and need therapy." Yes, there is a difference.
mreiland 12y ago
pretty much how I feel about it.

Cthulhu_ 12y ago

Yeah, I'm not even sure how much it applies to the author himself; IIRC, Rands was a team leader for a long while, doing more with people than with - for example - code and notebooks.

blazingfrog2 12y ago
After a long time at Apple and then Palantir, he recently started as Head of Engineering at Pinterest so, yeah, a team leader. http://recode.net/2014/06/10/pinterest-hires-long-time-apple-execs-to-lead-engineering-and-product-design/ http://recode.net/2014/06/10/pinterest-hires-long-time-apple...

thisGuysAccount 12y ago

Gotta agree that it's way off "introvert" and way closer to "person with control and boundary concerns, trying to define 50% of the population's behavior" I'm not really an introvert, but I seem like one. It's because I have a _lot_ going on, and parts of it require quiet time to do.

gr3yh47 12y ago

Technically introversion just means that being social is more energy expensive and being alone is how you recharge. Habitual social avoidance is something different altogether

noxn 12y ago

I'd think this fits people with ASD/Aspergers. I have such a diagnosis and I thought it fit me pretty well.

lutusp 12y ago
I have to mention that Asperger's is no longer an official diagnosis -- it's been dropped from the DSM for an excellent reason (too easy to assign the diagnosis to nearly anyone). This will all change when we begin explaining mental illness, rather than describing it as we do now.

claudiusd 12y ago

The OP clearly has Social Anxiety Disorder, also known as "social phobia". The result is introversion, but the cause is a psychiatric issue. You joke, but the OP is likely legitimately afraid of making eye contact. It's too bad people with Social Anxiety (like me) are just told their "introverted" or "shy" their whole lives. Social Anxiety is a very real psychiatric disorder that should be identified and treated in people like this.

lutusp 12y ago
> The OP clearly has Social Anxiety Disorder, also known as "social phobia". Has anyone considered that giving an empty name to a description adds nothing to the conversation? Until the day Social Anxiety Disorder shows up in an electron micrograph (pics or it didn't happen), it's something that psychologists made up, like Asperger Syndrome (now abandoned) or homosexuality as a mental illness (abandoned in the 1970s). The fight against homosexuality as a mental illness was terrifying to watch. Many professionals appeared before hearings wearing masks, to argue against this addition to their oppression, before psychologists finally realized their disease mongering was causing real harm and removed homosexuality from the DSM. With Asperger's it was exactly the opposite -- it was an attractive diagnosis, everyone wanted it, such that psychologists finally realized they had created a monster lacking the clear definition that might have brought it under control.
- CocaKoala 12y ago
  I wouldn't describe it as an illness, but Asperger Syndrome is absolutely a thing and I'm not sure why you think it's abandoned. It's an attractive diagnosis because it gives jerky nerds an excuse to act like a jerk, but (just like so many things), the fact that it's over-self-diagnosed doesn't mean that there aren't people with legitimate problems. Edit: Ah, I guess you're saying that it's "abandoned" because the diagnosis is no longer "You have Aspergers Syndrome" and now "You fall somewhere on the autistic spectrum"?
  - lutusp 12y ago
    > I wouldn't describe it as an illness, but Asperger Syndrome is absolutely a thing and I'm not sure why you think it's abandoned. Excuse me? It has been abandoned -- it was voted out of DSM-5 (the current version), by the same people who voted it into DSM-IV. It is gone. Read more: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/05/autism_spectrum_diagnoses_the_dsm_5_eliminates_asperger_s_and_pdd_nos.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa... Quote: "You Do Not Have Asperger’s" Simple enough? The reason it was abandoned is because it was widely abused by opportunistic therapists to exploit people who think mental illnesses can be made up without benefit of science. > It's an attractive diagnosis because it gives jerky nerds an excuse to act like a jerk, but (just like so many things), the fact that it's over-self-diagnosed doesn't mean that there aren't people with legitimate problems. Yes, and the fact that "vapors" is no longer accepted as a medical condition doesn't mean no one gets cancer -- it means there are fewer quacks practicing medicine. > Edit: Ah, I guess you're saying that it's "abandoned" because the diagnosis is no longer "You have Aspergers Syndrome" and now "You fall somewhere on the autistic spectrum"? Yes, exactly as though someone now says, "You're more interesting than the average person" instead of saying, "Your're queer and need therapy." Yes, there is a difference.

mreiland 12y ago

pretty much how I feel about it.