> The thread that connects all of this is interest. Introverts have a set of interests that is not conducive to general, everyday conversation, while extroverts do.
This is spot on. I love listening to people talk about their interests because their enthusiasm for whatever they're interested in is usually contagious (at least to me). In my experience, the folks that lean more towards introversion tend to have more niche interests, and I feel like I always learn something new by talking to them.
However, I'm seeing a lot of comments here talking about being "right" or "wrong" in conversations. I definitely lean more towards the introvert end of the spectrum, but I've spent a long time trying to get better at holding conversations. I don't know if it's a consequence of getting older, but I don't have a lot of patience for being corrected on trivial matters. I would never argue with someone about something they have expertise in that I don't, but I once got called out for mispronouncing "tesla" (apparently its "tez-la", not "tess-la"?). The only outcome of that conversation was a strong desire to not talk to that person again and to deliberately avoid saying anything that could have an ambiguous pronunciation.
To be clear, this is entirely context-dependent. Obviously, correctness is important in technical discussions. I'm talking about chit-chatting over a few drinks. If you see conversation as a zero-sum game, everybody loses.
This is spot on. I love listening to people talk about their interests because their enthusiasm for whatever they're interested in is usually contagious (at least to me). In my experience, the folks that lean more towards introversion tend to have more niche interests, and I feel like I always learn something new by talking to them.
However, I'm seeing a lot of comments here talking about being "right" or "wrong" in conversations. I definitely lean more towards the introvert end of the spectrum, but I've spent a long time trying to get better at holding conversations. I don't know if it's a consequence of getting older, but I don't have a lot of patience for being corrected on trivial matters. I would never argue with someone about something they have expertise in that I don't, but I once got called out for mispronouncing "tesla" (apparently its "tez-la", not "tess-la"?). The only outcome of that conversation was a strong desire to not talk to that person again and to deliberately avoid saying anything that could have an ambiguous pronunciation.
To be clear, this is entirely context-dependent. Obviously, correctness is important in technical discussions. I'm talking about chit-chatting over a few drinks. If you see conversation as a zero-sum game, everybody loses.