If you want to be an extravert, you're likely not an introvert. Vice versa. Therefore the useful part of this thread is actually concentrating on "social skill" rather than temperament. Certainly the lack of an ability to interact with others is a weakness for either type.
The rest of this thread seems to have gone considerably off-topic. Many individuals believe introversion is a problem. I can only assume this is partly due to a difficulty of interpretation, and partly due to prejudice. For a typical person, "dictatorship" may conjure thoughts of oppression and tyranny while "democracy" means freedom. Both of those associations are also wrong, yet it is how we're raised in the West. In time such views may change. For now, it is simply unfortunate the level of intellect wasted by introverts as they trade exceptional insight to meet the expectations of society.
I remember having a very difficult time as a child. I could only have conversations with adults; other children were almost frightening. I went to school expecting to "work", and was presented with full classes on counting apples. Recess consisted of my classmates trying to include me in games such as "pretending to be a lion". Why would I act like a lion? I am not a lion and do not wish to be. Resolving to participate as so adamantly requested, I spent much time thinking about what makes a lion a lion, and as I could not fulfill nearly all requirements, what exactly was expected of me by my peer group. Naturally this is something that would take ages for a socially inexperienced 5 year old. Amongst the continual interruptions, I realized that I could never complete the thought in a reasonable timeframe and was giving the appearance of being completely retarded in the meantime. This was a recurring pattern in nearly every social encounter. It was not until grade 4 that I had a single friend. He latched onto me (much to my dismay) likely because I completed all of the group projects myself and as a result he was no longer failing his classes. It was a considerable burden and incredibly tiring to communicate with him, but over the next few years I was able to learn coping strategies.
To combat the "draining" of social interaction, I simply do not think during conversation. As if to turn off all contemplative thought, I interact on an entirely superficial level. It is very effective, for it seems most others communicate or function in this way; entire conversations can be had by parroting social niceties. I learned to use different vocal tones to give the appearance of emotion. One can leave the impression of being perfectly agreeable, kind, compassionate, even intelligent without actually saying anything important. Of course this leaves much to be desired if you wish the social interaction to be somehow rewarding on an intellectual level; I reserve such interation to written form, as a supplement to my thoughts as if it were a book. In terms of efficacy, this allowed me to work at a customer service job and interact with 200-300+ people per day. Few people know the difference, and it is those people I truly wish to converse with.
Finally, to those who keep asking "is there something wrong with me". First ask yourself the only important question. "Is this a problem?"
My personal feelings on the matter state that no, this is not a problem. I obtain no enjoyment from being present at social gatherings, and would much rather be alone. Certainly this distances me from the average populus and labels me a hermit. I also do not enjoy playing World of Warcraft, yet I do not seek drugs to change that. I seek a different game.
Edited by searchfunction, 23 June 2012 - 08:21 AM.
