Extroversion

John Scalzi did a post on the fact how, despite the fact he's a very sociable guy, he's an introvert. It goes a bit into what he considers the definitions of extrovert and introvert, which happen to be my definitions as well.

Basically, an extrovert is someone who tends to be energized by a crowd, while an introvert is drained by a crowd. For example, I can't do 'social events' on both days of my weekend without wanting to spend Monday in my apartment resting. It's one reason why I stopped going to Gaming Club at Cornell -- between it and Anime Club, I was out my two weekend nights, and I needed at least one for 'sit at home and do stuff without having to interact with other people'.

It's also one reason I like chatting -- because I can focus on other things, and control how deeply I get involved into a conversation much more than I can in real life.

(Incidentally, if I'm quiet in chat, this could be one reason -- I'm feeling overstimulated and don't realize I'm retreating off interactions. Please don't take it personally -- just give me a poke. I'm also not good about trying to explain that I need to log off for fifteen minutes to do something that does not involve me talking (or typing) to other people, because I need to think things over or just recharge.)

Thing is, I like people. I'd get lonely if I couldn't talk to people, and have been known to call my mother just to hear another human voice or to vent about stuff. It's just... people are like oranges. In reasonable doses, they are good for you, but if you overindulge, you end up uncomfortably full and gassy.

Extroversion

John Scalzi did a post on the fact how, despite the fact he's a very sociable guy, he's an introvert. It goes a bit into what he considers the definitions of extrovert and introvert, which happen to be my definitions as well.

Basically, an extrovert is someone who tends to be energized by a crowd, while an introvert is drained by a crowd. For example, I can't do 'social events' on both days of my weekend without wanting to spend Monday in my apartment resting. It's one reason why I stopped going to Gaming Club at Cornell -- between it and Anime Club, I was out my two weekend nights, and I needed at least one for 'sit at home and do stuff without having to interact with other people'.

It's also one reason I like chatting -- because I can focus on other things, and control how deeply I get involved into a conversation much more than I can in real life.

(Incidentally, if I'm quiet in chat, this could be one reason -- I'm feeling overstimulated and don't realize I'm retreating off interactions. Please don't take it personally -- just give me a poke. I'm also not good about trying to explain that I need to log off for fifteen minutes to do something that does not involve me talking (or typing) to other people, because I need to think things over or just recharge.)

Thing is, I like people. I'd get lonely if I couldn't talk to people, and have been known to call my mother just to hear another human voice or to vent about stuff. It's just... people are like oranges. In reasonable doses, they are good for you, but if you overindulge, you end up uncomfortably full and gassy.