[ht_th]

> I've really been surprised at what an effect its had on me socially.

One of the odd things that happened is that I've become more extrovert when I do meet people. To off-set working alone at home, I volunteer two days a week at the local hackerspace to socialize. That has been a blast.

[kleer001]

Exactly.

A girlfriend way back when introduced me to the term "People Batteries." As in it takes energy to be around people. Some people get energy from being around other people and some from being alone. If you're the alone type those batteries still fill up. I think that's a much better model than people being extraverts OR(and only or) introverts. We're more complicated than that.

[krylon]

That is a very interesting idea, one that I can relate to.

On the one hand, I do enjoy being around other people most of the time. When I spend too much time by myself, I feel like I am loosing proportion of my own life, like what is good or bad about my life at the moment. Sharing other people's lives helps me keep perspective. Also, a good deal of the time, it's just damn interesting.

On the other hand after a certain amount of time, I also need some alone-time to unwind. And when I've had my share of social interaction, I am happy to spend more time on my own than many people I meet at work.

[ngoel36]

That means you might naturally be an extrovert. Extroversion, by definition, means you gain energy from other people. I'm a Myers-Briggs "E", and this can be the equivalent of a powerful drug. I can forget to eat, even defer sleep if I'm around people who are interesting enough. Sometimes, though, this does stop me from getting any work done...