The best layman explanation I have heard is that extroverts are "recharged" by being around others whereas introverts recharge by being alone. For example, I really like being around people, but the idea of not having time to myself to recharge can be exhausting.
That's a good step 1.
Step 2 is realising that introverts often do get energised by one-on-one or small group socialising, or socialising in a more meaningful way around a real shared interest.
Step 3 is realising that the concept of introversion/extraversion generalises past social interaction to preferences for levels of external interaction / stimulation in general. So for example, some people may not be super-sociable, but may love lot's of external physical stimulation (music/lights/exercise, etc), others may love to be exposed external ideas (or alternatively have a preference to only be exposed to small amounts of these things).
^ This is the notion of introversion/extroversion captured by the MBTI / Jungian Type Theories, where Extraverted Feeling (Fe) roughly function corresponds to the popular notion of extraversion, but there are also Extraverted Sensing (Se), Extraverted Intuition (Ne) and Extraverted Thinking (Te) functions which present differently.
I guess color me immature with an inferiority-complex bigotry.
And that's okay. I'm not sure why this had to involve a sermon on immaturity and—of all things—bigotry.
I didn't know that going in and about halfway through I remember thinking China must have a lot of amazing Chinese sci-fi writers because the ideas in the movie reminded me of the vastness of Liu Cixin. Then afterwards I look up more info and find out it's based off of a short story of his.
Of course it is, lol. Great movie.
I would include talking to a person about their life as meaningful conversation. But lot's of extraverts like to chatter about nothing at all. Like, they literally cannot let there be a silence. (because it helps them think / keeps them stimulated).
To introverts that's infuriating, because they can't think while the chatter is happening, and they are over-stimulated.
I love priority-preserving pauses, maybe even with explicit priority-yielding tokens, but there are so many people that just take any pause in the conversation as their opportunity to seize priority and keep it, and this is what produces the culture of babblers and chatterers. Silence is a resource devoured by the tragedy of the commons.
Some people need you to shut up, in order to think their own thoughts. And when they are not allowed to stop and think, they get angry and frustrated with you. So pause. Take a breath. Take another breath. When that silence starts to get uncomfortable for you, that other person is still assembling their meaningful contribution to the conversation into a sentence. Hold it just a few more seconds... aaand... let them speak.
Is there any actual support for this theory besides its status as an internet meme?
But for both of us, even having a drink after work with people is super exhausting and we just want to go home and relax, while an extrovert would be depressed staying alone and needs to recharge by having fun with people.
Drat.