The figure I’ve heard is that 75% of people are extroverts. Not the other way around. Don’t remember where I heard it though.

That was accurate when I did my master’s thesis, which included introversion/extroversion as one of the variables.

A quick, dirty and free instrument can be found at

http://www.keirsey.com/

It’s not the best measure, but easy and quick and fairly accurate.

I really think that practice and expectations make a difference. Having key phrases does make a difference.

All the better. The less they know of me, the less they’ll bother me with their stupid small talk. I don’t give a darn who won American Idol, how to make a casserole, who just got Eagle scout, who is expecting, etc,..

It would seem that you are equating introverts with those who just don’t give a damn about others. If that is indeed your definition, I think it’s erroneous, because I refuse to believe that introverts are inherently less charitable.

It just seems like an extrovert world, because, well, it’s the extroverts who do almost all the talking. :-)

I have a Type A wife who can socialize and converse with anybody in any size group. But I usually stand or sit by myself unless someone invites me to join them. Like you, I love to talk and in a one-on-one situation I can dominate the conversation for long periods of time. But send me to a function with a group of people and would rather stand looking out the window rather than immerse myself with the group. This probably sounds snobbish (and it probably is) but I happen to think that a lot of that socializing is not genuine concern or interest.

I served as bishop of our ward several years ago and it was so much easier to approach people – because I was the bishop and bishops are supposed to do that. Once I lost that mantel it became totally painful to approach strangers.

I love spending time by myself but I fear that sometimes I’m not as productive as I’d like to be. I will admit to watching too much television but I also love to just listen to music. I could sit for hours and listen to my I-Tunes collection. I even think it’s OK to talk to yourself as long as you don’t do it public. But, then again, with cell phone technology I never know who’s talking to themselves or who’s just having a telephone conversation.

I guess blogging is the ultimte opportunity for introverts to come out of their shell and say what’s on their mind.

That was a very uncharitable comment I made in #23 and had a snarky sort of arrogance that I don’t like re-reading.

I also think I probably misread what you meant to say anyway.

So, sorry about that.