Extroverts v Introverts Part 1

This is an interesting article about introverts here.

The particular part I enjoy about it is the Extroverts v Introverts section. Lets have a look at these ideas now.

1. Extroverts talk first and think later .... Introverts think first, and talk later. 

I remember watching the sitcom Friends a few years ago. One of the characters Chandler said that he got really frustrated because he would always think of the comeback to someone's barb the following day. I can relate to this because it has happened many times where someone has said something and I couldn't think of the comeback until 24 hours later.

Introverts do like to think first which can be a bit of a problem in today's extroverted society because if an introvert hesitates then the extrovert needs to fill the gap with some kind of noise. It is like when you hesitate at the traffic lights for 0.5 seconds, the person will let you know about it with their horn


2. Extroverts are skilled at talking .... Introverts are skilled at listening.

All of the literature says this to be true however I know that I am not the best listener in the world and it is definitely something that I need to work on and would hazard a guess that a lot of people out there have to work on their listening skills too.


3. Extroverts are energised by other people .... Introverts are drained by other people. 

This is Introvert/Extrovert 101. We are energised different ways and people on each side of the spectrum need to remember this. Extroverts, remember that introverts are not being anti-social, they are just being true to themselves by staying at home tonight rather than having the beer with you.


4. Extroverts talk out their thoughts ... Introverts ponder their thoughts.

I think that Introverts think too much. Sure they may be contemplating everything but you can only think so much about something before you need to take action. An example of this would be this blog post. I was thinking and thinking of a topic today and I literally couldn't think of anything. If I had my way I would still be thinking of something but I knew that I had to start to write something and as they say once you start, the ideas flow and you can get on a roll.


5. Extroverts are easy to read .... Introverts are hard to read

I suppose this one comes down to the dog v cat argument. Where dogs are very sociable and just basically want your attention, cats are a little bit harder to understand. They want you attention when you don't want to give it and they run away from you when you want to give their attention.

Because introverts are not as out there as the extroverts of this society we think they are difficult to read however this isn't always the case as an introvert will tell you something totally profound and you will wonder where it has come from but in all honesty it has been there the whole time.


6. Extroverts are friends with everyone .... Introverts are friends with a select few

All I can say to this one is Yes, Yes, Yes. You see it many times, the extrovert will have a party and there will be 700 people there. God knows how the birthday person knows everybody's names and whether they get around everyone in the night but from an introvert's point of view there seems to be a lot of air kissing and hugging going on and probably not a lot of in depth conversation going on either.

There it is six of the extroverts v introverts list. I'll talk about the remaining 6 from this article tomorrow.