…and in here, you can’t see if we’re looking at you strangely or not! 
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I think Dan is an introvert who does a very good job of acting the opposite
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On here… I would say no call can be made. To keep the cocktail party analogy, he is the host… so goes where beckoned and does what is needed. Not much time for interaction. And since everyone is here as “his guest” he has a natural tie to them, so it would remain impossible to identify as introvert or extrovert, since in most interactions it is more of a 1 on 1 or a presentation, rather than a joining of a group.
In public… I don’t often bother to read people. But if I had to, then by mannerisms observed when he is talking in the presentations I have seen… Dan is a pretty hard and heavy introvert by natural inclination, but knows how to kick on the extrovert mode as required (which most introverts figure out, especially those who need to as a job)
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I definitely agree with your observations. Introverts do not have to “dial it up” to speak to a group or one-on-one when it comes to a topic they are passionate about and where they are in control. The passion for the topic just spills over into the information exchange. In that situation the introvert looks like an extrovert.
Way back when I was still in public accounting with Ernst & Whinney (now KMPG) I taught the week long sessions about the firm’s audit approach to the juniors. During the sessions, my enthusiasm for the material just rollled out with animation and passion. However, in the daily end of day mixers, I was barely about to interact with these same people.
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Hard to pin that guy. @dan comes off as extrovert, but I’m not sure that isn’t a practiced skill.
He has been dragged by his dreams down a long hard road where people skills are necessary to get directions. His book made it clear to me that he has been down that road and back.
Personally, I can’t imagine asking someone for millions of their dollars to back my idea, so it’s clear he wears the front-man hat well. 
Please pardon us Dan while we entertain ourselves speculating on what makes you tick… 
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Y’all can always take a Myers-Briggs type test to find out more about your personalities.
Here is a link to a free test: https://www.16personalities.com/
Unlike other online tests of this sort, there is no need to offer up any personal information, including an email address, to get results. The results, plus an explanation of them, are offered at the end of the test.
I just took the test, the results were accurate for me (I’ve taken this style of test many times before in line with my job).
At the end, there is a list of famous and fictitious people that share the same personality traits. That’s pretty fun.
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Holy crap, I have taken many such tests before, but this one nailed me so perfectly it was kind of uncanny! Not sure if you went through the whole report (its 9 or 10 pages worth), I am what they call a Mediator (INFP), which I apparently share with William Shakespeare, J. R. R. Tolkien, Tom Hiddleston, Julia Roberts, Lisa Kudrow and Johnny Depp; I like that, because I respect and admire many of those folks! 
I was going to ask if anyone else wanted to share their results, but am now thinking that a large outpouring of discussion on this test might be better suited for a new thread of its own.
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Great topic, and I love the cocktail party analogy. Funny though, I don’t think of the Glowforge community site as even being old enough for necromancy (that is, reviving a long-dead thread). To me it’s not really even dead unless it hasn’t had any activity for a year or two.
Unlike a regular cocktail party, the cocktail party that is an online forum is one that goes on over long periods of time. Some might be pretty active and checking weekly or even daily, while others may only visit monthly… or every few months. And as you also mentioned, some people will only pop in when they’re looking for specific answers to specific questions.
I’m involved in a few other communities, and I don’t mind a mix of new and old discussions. I personally think that if an old discussion has run its natural course there’s nothing wrong with starting a new thread (especially considering many users won’t read the replies if there are many or most of what they see is old), but that’s just me. If I don’t have the time or I’m just popping in to find an answer, I’ll usually make use of search to find answers and don’t mind if someone answered it last week or last year. 
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As for this community, there is only one other forum I’ve been involved in similar to the community we have here. It was a photography forum called Photozo. Still exists but it has changed. Several years ago it was a large group of people sharing photos, critiquing and giving advice. Beyond that many of us became friends and even though we had never met before some started having meet ups and making trips all over the world just to take photos with each other.
I see son of that happening here and it makes my heart sing!
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This is an eerily accurate followup to the actual test. It’s different versions of ‘hell’ based on the personality types. If you do start a new thread, it’s a pretty fun addition to the discussion, because what sounds genuinely awful to one person is not that bad or fine to another.
For example, my sister’s is that she has to do a big project with no guidance. Uh… that may belong in my heaven.
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Personally, the only thing I find uninviting or intimidating around here is topics that have loads and loads of responses, that you don’t catch at the beginning. Sometimes there is a lot of offtopic chatting that you have to scroll through to follow the main discussion, but I think it’s normal for conversations to meander and just part of joining a group, any group, that existed before you arrived. I’ve probably learned just as much from the side topics as from the original question and it’s answer.
I wouldn’t necessarily say all of that is small talk. There’s something between small talk and completely on-topic, factual answers. If people are just looking for FAQ with informative answers, they can certainly get that. But then, if that’s all they’re interested in, whether introverted or not, a forum isn’t really some place they’re likely to spend much time anyway.
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I do agree with you. He has the power of a great listener, as any good introvert.
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Well, that was fun! Any other ISTJs here?
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Anybody read "Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking?"
Fabulous explanation of introvert/extrovert. I type more than I talk. In a large crowd, I am frequently in a corner trying to hide or finding a conversation with somebody I am comfortable with or a topic I care about.
Online, though, in this forum, I work the room.
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Hmm… I think I am currently in a cynical mood, so that probably flavors it a lot.
Tried to take the test, and I really do not like the questions. Not that I could think of any better questions though. But I can FEEL my current mood influencing my answers dramatically. Especially since a lot of the questions are what you “tend” to do, or your personal assessment of things.
And some questions fail to allow you to opt out. Like asking if Dreams focus on the real world or not. I do not remember any of my dreams, ever. Supposedly everyone does dream, and I can vaguely recall talking to people about dreams I have had moments after waking. But I never remember dreams more than the time it takes to get breakfast. Later it asks if you contemplate the reason for human existence often… which nudges out anyone who believes they do understand that reason from having an appropriate answer (you don’t often consider it means something different when the reason is you don’t care, or the reason is you already know).
I mean… it asks if you rely on your experience more than your imagination… how do you have an imagination that is not based on experience?
Hopefully the results take this kind of thing into account, and realize that your answers are more what you wish you were than what you really are, and may depend on current mood. Hopefully you also are not penalized for rarely picking the extreme agree and disagree options (since not wanting to commit to those extremes is a personality trait itself, not a damping of all other personality traits).
Anyhow, jaded and cynical me of today got INTP-a. Which they title as Logician. And that absolutely describes me when I am feeling this way, and likely does most of the time. Hell, this take-down of their whole setup is support enough of that assessment, and I was writing all that drivel above while taking the test, so it isn’t like the results flavored the diatribe.
Being more intuitive than observant is a surprise. A balanced tactics feels nice.
Anyhow… normally with these kinds of tests I read through all of the possible results to see how easily I can convince myself that I identify with each one of them. And just like a good horoscope, typically anyone can identify with every result. At least some of the time. And since they are mostly written up to put you in a favorable light, people will focus on those times when they could identify that way than those when they cannot. (I look forward to reading the personal hells alternative. That may be better to help focus on what you “really” are)
EDIT: Okay, looked at the hells, and had a IRL LOL situation:
I dropped out of the Physics PhD program for exactly that reason. All of the local faculty are working on minutia, and the specific professor I had stuck myself with was eternally absent, which led me to figuring out the subject through research journals, and all of the ones I was finding were making me question the author’s credentials, rather than illuminating me about the topic at hand.
So… I have lived through my personal hell, and fortunately was wise enough to leave it. Sadly looking at my opposite profile of ESFJ… that would also be hell for me.
A link at the bottom of the hells took me to “What each type does at a party” which was amusing:
Other than needing to smoke weed in order to do such a thing… That is the kind of thing I can easily do.
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I believe you have it in one. I’m of the opinion everybody is a naturally introverted it’s just that some have learned to fight this down
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Point should be made to ASK the search bar first lol.[quote=“printolaser, post:6, topic:2173”]
Crowds recharge her batteries, they drain mine
[/quote]
I despise concerts, hate conventions, and parties bore me (except free food. free food good). throw me into a one on one conversation and I’m golden for the next three days: jumping from scientific to metaphysical to political discussion. and the Glowforge. The Glowforge will probably be thrown into the conversational mix.
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I can bear the crowds if it’s someone I really want to see in person. So pumped for Flight of the Conchords this summer, two times! Chicago, then Red Rocks in CO.
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I saw them several years back. It was amazing! They put on a great show!
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