UUUinfinity's interests blog

“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me … they live in their heads. They’re almost like artists. In fact, the very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone …. I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone… Not on a committee. Not on a team.” Mr. Wozniak

They’re extroverted enough to exchange and advance ideas, but see themselves as independent and individualistic. They’re not joiners by nature.

SOME teamwork is fine and offers a fun, stimulating, useful way to exchange ideas, manage information and build trust.

But it’s one thing to associate with a group in which each member works autonomously on his piece of the puzzle; it’s another to be corralled into endless meetings or conference calls conducted in offices that afford no respite from the noise and gaze of co-workers. Studies show that open-plan offices make workers hostile, insecure and distracted. They’re also more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, stress, the flu and exhaustion. And people whose work is interrupted make 50 percent more mistakes and take twice as long to finish it.

Privacy also makes us productive.

It was how much privacy, personal workspace and freedom from interruption they enjoyed. Sixty-two percent of the best performers said their workspace was sufficiently private compared with only 19 percent of the worst performers. Seventy-six percent of the worst programmers but only 38 percent of the best said that they were often interrupted needlessly.

Solitude can even help us learn. According to research on expert performance by the psychologist Anders Ericsson, the best way to master a field is to work on the task that’s most demanding for you personally. And often the best way to do this is alone. Only then, Mr. Ericsson told me, can you “go directly to the part that’s challenging to you. If you want to improve, you have to be the one who generates the move. Imagine a group class — you’re the one generating the move only a small percentage of the time.”

Conversely, brainstorming sessions are one of the worst possible ways to stimulate creativity.

The reasons brainstorming fails are instructive for other forms of group work, too. People in groups tend to sit back and let others do the work; they instinctively mimic others’ opinions and lose sight of their own; and, often succumb to peer pressure. The Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns found that when we take a stance different from the group’s, we activate the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the fear of rejection. Professor Berns calls this “the pain of independence.”

The one important exception to this dismal record is electronic brainstorming, where large groups outperform individuals; and the larger the group the better. The protection of the screen mitigates many problems of group work. This is why the Internet has yielded such wondrous collective creations. Marcel Proust called reading a “miracle of communication in the midst of solitude,” and that’s what the Internet is, too. It’s a place where we can be alone together — and this is precisely what gives it power.

MY point is not that man is an island. Life is meaningless without love, trust and friendship.

And I’m not suggesting that we abolish teamwork.

But even if the problems are different, human nature remains the same. And most humans have two contradictory impulses: we love and need one another, yet we crave privacy and autonomy.

To harness the energy that fuels both these drives, we need to move beyond the New Groupthink and embrace a more nuanced approach to creativity and learning. Our offices should encourage casual, cafe-style interactions, but allow people to disappear into personalized, private spaces when they want to be alone. Our schools should teach children to work with others, but also to work on their own for sustained periods of time. And we must recognize that introverts like Steve Wozniak need extra quiet and privacy to do their best work.

Gosh I’ve been wondering about this as well; society, schools and jobwise they require you to be extroverted…pressured to or else you get left behind and/or have no friends. Like me.

I don’t feel like introverts are being appreciated/valued in Australia either from my shoes and not saying extroversion is bad but why am I being discouraged from being an introvert in this society? I like to cooperate and all that too! I’m just not interested in what most people are interested in. Still, I’ve been mostly focused in being myself but it doesn’t mean the pressure isn’t there, especially when you want to get going in life but you don’t fit to their standards because you’re not outgoing/extroverted enough. /vent

**read the whole article in the link as I only copy-pasted things I felt was important.

walkamongus:

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

Hey, you wanna know me? Read this.

UUUinfinity:

Well sometimes I’m a *small* thrill seeker but yes. This rings true for me mostly.

Terribly lonely and misunderstood by people I come across unfortunately.

I do agree that talking to people more is needed on my part but if I can’t see common ground, it’s difficult, especially when I’m not usually interested in what the majority of people like. Being pressured indirectly to change completely and “be more like others” doesn’t help. Still, alongside the couple of distant friends I have, I shall keep trying in finding true companions, those who don’t mind and respect who I am, who I can depend on and who I can be silly with. Here I am being hopeful.

(via fiendxclub)

Cintiq 21UX—someday, when I’m rich [as if] I would get the latest version of this D:

emmyc:

blacklikemehreen:

Every time I’m reminded of this bullsh*t rant’s existence, it makes me want to swear off of men completely. I don’t want to believe that any guys really believe this crap but I know for fact that some do and it’s horrible.

Let’s start off with the glaring problem: the idea…

hahaha this is exactly something I was thinking of recently and something I’d love to tell a couple specific dudes

I hate it when clingy weird guys chalk up all their rejections to “NICE GUYS NEVER GET THE GIRL. THAT MUST BE IT. GIRLS JUST WANT JERKS.” No, dumbass, clingy insecure guys never get the girl.

Truth is, ladies love a good guy who genuinely is nice, polite, friendly and is his own person! WHO EVEN KNEW

My thoughts

After reading the original post linked above….I think I more or less agree with the points made. I’ve discussed this topic before in earlier posts too.

But I don’t believe all males are like that. Just that they’re hard to recognise until they let their guards/masks/pride/ego down and show their genuine, honest side.

Problem is, you can’t even tell whether they’re genuinely being your friend, just wants you for lust but playing the friendship card, is actually interested in you, using you for the moment, don’t really care what they’re doing, playing mind games or they’re really just “joking/bluffing/overly friendly/that’s how they treat everyone” in the first place overall. It really depends on their upbringing as well as personality—how serious they are through their actions, behaviour and attitude to others.

It’s probably just me but it is absolutely confusing to me! [Not saying that women aren’t confusing either though!! Could arguably be more confusing even!]

I think it applies to females [and in some cases in a different, subtle, indirect way]; I’m not trying to be gender-biased in my generalisations.

EDIT SIDE NOTE: Okay now there’s a “Nice Girls” version of the “Nice Guys” song here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYINphnv0Q8&feature=feedlik  [their version of “Bad Girls”: extreme makeup, treating the males like trash, dressing up in extremely revealing clothes( I think?), not listening to males, using males like slaves, gossiping/talking a lot, becoming who they’re really not, too focused on materialistic things, dieting to extremes, fickle in what they really want, verbally/physically abusive—something like that]

BUT there’s zillions of other kinds of people out there. No one is perfect, we are all different and I respect you for being you. I’m just rambling on thoughts of my own in my efforts to understand others, what I’ve observed and have been led to believe [so far].  So, I don’t think I can read minds of any gender, let alone men haha.

But back to the creepy things that men do— now I don’t want to think about my own awkward, creepy, and some disturbing experiences…