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Personality and language focus

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beano
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 Message 17 of 28
23 October 2013 at 9:31am | IP Logged 
People use terms like extrovert and introvert but you can't possibly pigeon-hole human personalities in a black-and-white manner. Very few people will be at the extreme ends of the spectrum, the idea of an "extrovert" being a 24/7 party animal who talks to everyone with supreme confidence and never doubts himself is based in myth. The vast majority of people will feel at ease in certain situations but not so much in others.
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tarvos
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 Message 18 of 28
23 October 2013 at 10:48am | IP Logged 
beano wrote:
People use terms like extrovert and introvert but you can't possibly
pigeon-hole human personalities in a black-and-white manner. Very few people will be at
the extreme ends of the spectrum, the idea of an "extrovert" being a 24/7 party animal
who talks to everyone with supreme confidence and never doubts himself is based in
myth. The vast majority of people will feel at ease in certain situations but not so
much in others.


That's not what extravert and introvert mean. Extravert (with an "a") means that you
are charged up by social situations, whereas introvert means you have to recharge your
batteries afterwards. They have absolutely zilch to do with how many people you talk to
- there are plenty of super talkative introverts around that have no problem
establishing connections. What makes them an introvert is that it drains energy to do
so! I have no problems talking to people, I make contact quite easily in fact (so easy
that some people think I already know everyone when I enter the room). I don't. That
doesn't make me an extravert, it makes me not shy. Shyness is something you can
overcome, introversion is a part of your character.

And I am an introvert because being social drains me, it doesn't energise me. I can be
the life of the party if I want to and get everyone's phone number. I just don't really
care enough to do so, but if I have to I will walk up to anyone.

It's ideal because I can stock up on good solitary time to do my own activities but
it's useful because I can approach more easily (I used to be bad at approaching people
but it's a skill you can learn!)

Edited by tarvos on 23 October 2013 at 10:50am

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beano
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 Message 19 of 28
23 October 2013 at 10:56am | IP Logged 
tarvos wrote:

I make contact quite easily in fact (so easy
that some people think I already know everyone when I enter the room). I don't. That
doesn't make me an extravert


Don't you mean an extrovert (with an "o")?
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tarvos
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 Message 20 of 28
23 October 2013 at 11:18am | IP Logged 
No. Extravert is spelt with an a.
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beano
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 Message 21 of 28
23 October 2013 at 11:22am | IP Logged 
tarvos wrote:
No. Extravert is spelt with an a.


You can be an extrovert, but not an extravert.
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tarvos
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 Message 22 of 28
23 October 2013 at 11:27am | IP Logged 
Dictionary says both are right apparently.
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montmorency
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 Message 23 of 28
23 October 2013 at 11:36am | IP Logged 
I was hoping to keep out of the spelling debate, but my older printed Concise OED gives
"extrovert" and not the other one. Wikipedia, on the other hand, seems quite ambiguous
on the subject. If English were logical, it probably should be the other one, but
English is....English.

Away from that, I'm quite interested in the idea of people being defined on whether
they find social contacts energising or draining.

I'd put it slightly differently and say that certain people seem to have the ability to
energise other people because of their positive personality, whereas other people
simply seem to drain other people, and people learn to avoid them.


There are some people I love to meet, and others I avoid like the plague.


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tarvos
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 Message 24 of 28
23 October 2013 at 11:46am | IP Logged 
montmorency wrote:
I was hoping to keep out of the spelling debate, but my older
printed Concise OED gives
"extrovert" and not the other one. Wikipedia, on the other hand, seems quite ambiguous
on the subject. If English were logical, it probably should be the other one, but
English is....English.


I checked some online dictionaries and they gave me both. I prefer extravert because
then it makes actual etymological sense. (In most other languages it's also written
with an "a")

Quote:
Away from that, I'm quite interested in the idea of people being defined on
whether they find social contacts energising or draining.

I'd put it slightly differently and say that certain people seem to have the ability to
energise other people because of their positive personality, whereas other people
simply seem to drain other people, and people learn to avoid them.


That's an interesting discussion, but that's in my opinion more the degree of how
people inspire others or how they are emotional vampires. Extraversion and introversion
only refer to the characteristics of the person themselves, what you describe is how
people's behaviour affects OTHERS. That is a completely valid point but totally
separate from a personality discussion.

However, I agree that emotional vampires are people I would probably avoid like the
plague. But I seem to encounter very few of those?





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