Warren Buffett is certainly not an introvert if you've ever seen him speak, and his history also suggests he's not an introvert. He was a door-to-door salesman as a young man.
Introverts can be great speakers and very social beings. It's just that doing so bears a cost that extroverts never understand.
Introversion manifests itself in that interacting with people and presenting yourself in the public will drain your energy levels. Introverts need to recharge themselves alone (or with immediate family only) for a few days after being overly social. If Buffett would just prefer to stay home and do his own things for a couple of days after presenting at each of his quarterly reports, he's likely to be an introvert.
Introvert here, who has also frequently been called a social butterfly. I think the hardest thing for folks to understand is that introverted does not mean socially inept or shy. I love being outgoing, but it also takes a toll on me. I need some quiet (usually alone) time to recharge in between outgoing sessions or I start becoming shy.
Agreed. I think it can be hard to understand that introverts can be very skilled in social situations without being energized by it. The 'centre of the room' personality is very often an introvert, especially if they're good at it.
A lot of people confuse 'extrovert' with 'confident' and 'introvert' with 'insecure'
I've met some very, very insecure extroverts. They'll crack jokes all day and make a lot of noise, then go home and are desperate for company to distract themselves from their own ideas. Met some very confident extroverts, too.
Also met some insecure introverts, people who had social anxiety. Also met some very confident introverts who will go out, shake hands and converse, then spend hours alone going over what they learned while they were out.
Buffett is more extroverted today, he grew up as an introvert.
Per his own biography:
He found it extremely difficult to approach women when he was younger. He simply was unable to do it.
He used to hide in the corner at college parties, and would wait for others to introduce themselves. Once he became comfortable with people or a situation, he could open up.
He was terrified by public speaking, and was completely unable to do it. He had to force himself to get better at it, so he could be effective in business.
He kept heavily to himself growing up, had a couple of friends, and spent his time reading investing books from the public library.
From his own descriptions of his pre-20s youth, he was a classic introvert.
I believe this version of the facts is the correct one. I remember reading that he had taken a Dale Carnegie class on public speaking to help him with doing that. In his own words, more or less, it didn't stop his knees from knocking his fear while he was talking, but it did help him talk anyway while his knees were knocking...
You've repeatedly gotten the definition of introversion wrong in this thread. I personally think it's just another way us humans have invented to categorize eachother but basically introversion has nothing to do with confidence or shyness and everything to do with how you "recharge."
When I'm out socializing, I'm often the life of the party. I was called a "social butterfly" over the weekend at a tailgate. I'm usually the guy at the party or whatever being loud, having a good time, talking to everyone and getting all of them to have a good time too.
I also have no trouble talking to people. I often just strike up conversations with strangers in lines, elevators, just walking down the street, etc. I can approach the pretty girl and talk to her, and not be nervous about it. I can speak in public, and I've been essentially a "door-to-door salesman" (cold calls instead of doors, but you get what I mean).
But, at the end of the day, I need to have my "anti-social" time. I get burnt out on all of the stuff above, and if I do it too much, I'll get annoyed and tired, and end up not being very fun to be around. After too much partying, I need a few nights to just chill at home and relax, maybe with the people closest to me (at most).
I'm outgoing. But I'm also introverted.
Introversion is a quality that can't be (easily) changed. Being outgoing is a skill that one can learn.
I don't see it; the Wiki says introverts are more concerned, and derive more pleasure from reflective activities. None of that contradicts that they can have good social skills - it's just tiring to use them.
>There is nothing in the article the article that says anything about "having social skills but its more effort to use them".
I disagree. If you're looking for an exact 1-to-1 mapping of that phrase to the wiki article, you won't find it. However, you have to read multiple sentences and if you interpret them together, it does say that[1]:
++ Some popular psychologists have characterized introverts as people whose energy tends to expand through reflection and dwindle during interaction.
++ , though he or she may enjoy interactions with close friends.
++ Introverts prefer solitary to social activities, but do not necessarily fear social encounters like shy people do.
I think the wiki article on "introversion" describes me quite well. I would characterize myself as extremely introverted. However I'm not shy at all and I have given presentations at Las Vegas conferences. I have no problem making eye contact with the audience and deliver the talks without stuttering. However, I get more stimulation from seeing a news flash about a gcc compiler beta release or reading a book rather than the typical banter at social situations.
It also takes "more effort" on my part to lubricate social interaction with pleasantries (e.g. "how are you?", "how's the weather?", "how are the kids?", etc) rather than to sit quietly and study two web frameworks to determine which one is better. (Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/602/)
Everyone has social skills, it doesn't need to be said. On the other hand, nothing in the Wiki article says introverts have worse social skills than extroverts. All the article says is that introverts prefer solitary activities and that their "energy tends to expand through reflection and dwindle during interaction", ie., it takes them more effort (=energy) to interact with people (=use social skills).
That "debunking" is mostly one study by one (somewhat vengeful) researcher, and it keeps being referenced in an attempt to relegate MBTI into the same realm as astrology. Neither the MBTI nor the Big 5 has particularly high predictive capacity (not unlike most metrics in the field of psychology), although I would say both are very statistically significant with regard to certain types of predictions. For instance, I would guess that the vast majority of HN users are INTJ or INTP. If MBTI had no predictive capacity, the distribution of types would instead be uniform.
(P.S. please express your disagreement using evidence and reason, not downvotes. Thanks.)
I'm curious - why is that imported to be noted here? Is the extroversion axis description in the OCEAN trait set markedly different from that used in Myers-Briggs?
For humans or any other beings with an obvious conscience Myers Briggs is 100% logical and cannot refuted. Myer Briggs just explains how a conscience being can analyze data.
Introverts can be great speakers and very social beings. It's just that doing so bears a cost that extroverts never understand.
Introversion manifests itself in that interacting with people and presenting yourself in the public will drain your energy levels. Introverts need to recharge themselves alone (or with immediate family only) for a few days after being overly social. If Buffett would just prefer to stay home and do his own things for a couple of days after presenting at each of his quarterly reports, he's likely to be an introvert.