The many-winged escape

[quoth_the_girl]

The other day I saw the saddest thing in the world: an overweight, middle-aged man in grungy clothes, standing by the dumpsters of a gas station late at night, scratching at a lottery ticket. Better luck next time, mister. Or perhaps better luck next life; this one does not seem to have been good to you

Comments

[quoth_the_girl]

Yeah, as I mentioned, I didn't agree with all of the generalizations, but I can believe that some of them would be true of the majority of the introvert population (just not me or you, evidently). The article included input from quite a few psychologists, so these are evidently not all her own ideas. I think a lot of the ideas expressed vary drastically depending on where the individual falls on the introvert scale.

I particularly agreed with the differentiation between "shy" and "introverted," but I found these points to also be true of myself:

"Further, their brains are less dependent on external stimuli and rewards to feel good. As a result, introverts are not driven to seek big hits of positive emotional arousal-they'd rather find meaning than bliss-making them relatively immune to the search for happiness that permeates contemporary American culture."
^^The key word there is "relatively," but I whole-heartedly agree, from my own perspective.

"Introverts are collectors of thoughts, and solitude is where the collection is curated and rearranged to make sense of the present and future. Introverts can tolerate-and enjoy-projects that require long stretches of solitary activity."
^^Obviously not all introverts love to sit by themselves and ruminate on their sub-conscious. But, as the article says, it's a different perspective. An extravert finds solitude draining and people stimulating. An introvert finds solitude pleasant, even stimulating, and people to be somewhat draining (depending on where you are on the scale.)

"While extraverts spend more time overall in social activities than introverts do, the two groups do not differ significantly on time spent with family members, romantic partners, or coworkers. Moreover, extraverts and introverts both report a mood boost from the company of others. For introverts, however, the boost may come at a cost."
^^I think this is a kicker, because I love my family and close friend base very much and spend a fair bit of time with them. I do agree with the article that "cognitive fatigue" sets in after several hours. It's kind of the mental version of staying up late to watch a movie you love. You know you're going to enjoy it, but you also know you'll be sleepy afterwards.

"In a series of studies in which subjects were presented with an effortful task such as taking a test, thinking rationally, or giving a speech, introverts did not choose to invoke happy feelings, reports Boston College psychologist Maya Tamir. They preferred to maintain a neutral emotional state."
^^For me, definitely. Many of my associations are emotion-neutral. I don't feel a need to assign it with an emotional value.

"What they discovered is that, for all people, the pressure to be happy actually reduces happiness."
^^I agree with that a lot too. Often, if you're focused on YOUR happiness, you'll be too wrapped up in yourself to really be happy.

Uh, well, that got long, and most probably only applies to me. Feel free to disregard!

[spiritoffire86]

I think you have very good points in your interpretation of the article. The idea of cognitive fatigue is very accurate, for me (and you) at least. However, I still feel that the generalization (her main points) feel like horoscopes. You can find something in them to fit 99% of the population.