at bottom :- On 12/12/2017, Sean Whitton <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Russ, <snipped>
> > (I'm deliberately avoiding the term 'extrovert' because (i) I am really > not sure what it means; and (ii) I want to discuss a much more specific > dichotomy which is probably not all of extroversion, namely "those who > have no difficulty with new people" / "those who do".) > > -- > Sean Whitton > Dear all, 2016 was my first debconf (and first international trip to boot) and the first where I even gave a talk. I don't usually have an issue with that as I usually have an idea both the topic and the kind of audience I'll be talking too. There are few chances like what happened in debconf where I had assumed a novice audience to be faced with experienced pros. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-sqZFAkGxk I was able to fake that confidence/bluster and only I know how I did that. Given that I gave a talk (perhaps) people might have had this idea I'm an extrovert But in many instances I am opposite of that especially when you are in unknown land and you are unsure of the etiquette that govern social interactions. To give a very generalized example, if you come to India, you will find many indian men and women holding hands together or even putting arms around each other. This doesn't mean they are homosexuals but they are displaying brotherhood and bonding. I do not subscribe to the idea that just because you are older, you are wiser theory. In fact it is easier to feel more out of step as you are older as your tastes change. For instance, I find more solace in sufi and 60's, 70's songs than in dance numbers of recent vintage. While I'm bad at remembering names, there was a young french couple who literally took me under their wing and spelled out which probably was baby stuff to them (etiquette manners etc.) but to me made it whole lot secure and whole lot of fun than otherwise I would have been. In fact I became so close to them, it was literally heart-breaking for me when we had to separate on the last day of the conference. I and few of the Indian team-mates did hear some snide remarks from people about how the Indian group was always together. It was probably for us about not having to think about personal spaces and things like that and that familiarity also played a huge part emotionally for the group not going insane. At least for me it also provided a great emotional anchor. I do subscribe to the idea of 'I'm interested in' and 'Talk to me about' . While I don't think I personally would use 'Talk to me about' which would indicate expertise 'Interested in' I find is easier to learn and share both knowledge and sharing as both are equals in that exchange. I also find 'extrovert' and 'introvert' to be big labels and in fact am more happy with the in-betweeness. It seems crazy but we have mood-swings and at times we feel adventurous, other times not. At the end, even Laura Arjona has been extremely helpful many a time in understanding view points as e-mail (for good and bad) doesn't provide enough emotional context. -- Regards, Shirish Agarwal शिरीष अग्रवाल My quotes in this email licensed under CC 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com EB80 462B 08E1 A0DE A73A 2C2F 9F3D C7A4 E1C4 D2D8
