The Science of Personality

Had read a very interesting article on introvert vs extrovert but it's relatively not a new topic anymore lol. However, the article introduced a new class 'ambiverts' who is roughly half of an introvert and half of an extrovert. Just would like to point out two major points in the article that I find is interesting - you can read the complete article here.

Before we go any further, it’s important to point out a significant distinction. When Carl Jung coined the terms “extrovert” and “introvert” in the early twentieth century, he emphasized that introverts aren’t necessarily shy or insecure—nor are extroverts necessarily empathic or loving. The distinction between the two, Jung wrote, lies mainly in the fact that introverts get exhausted by social interaction, while extroverts get anxious when left alone. Introverts need solitude in order to recharge, while extroverts draw energy from socializing; “either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show.”

Harvard psychologist Randy Buckner found that people who identify as introverts tend to have larger and thicker gray matter in certain areas of the prefrontal cortex, a highly complex brain region associated with abstract thought and decision-making. People who identify as strongly extroverted, on the other hand, tend to have thinner gray matter in those same prefrontal areas—which hints that introverts tend to devote more neural resources to abstract pondering, while extroverts tend to live in the moment. 

I drawn to agree with the writer here. I frequently find myself staring off into space thinking about a multitude of stuff that may/may not be related to what I am doing - and from these blank-off sessions, I often get pretty good story ideas (not comprehensive though, I still have to fill in plenty of parts in the stories that I thought of). I like being alone with my computer or in my room/house and I don't like crowded places (like that time I was in KL central and there are just SO many people around - I hated that) unless I'm occupied by something else that takes my mind off the people part - like a book fair lol :P

When I joined the world of postgraduates, I was driven purely by interest (and slightly by the chance of getting patents so I can live the rest of my life without working lol~), but now I see that, although I'm still very driven to read up on the latest scientific discoveries and making sense of them, I'd rather stay at the sidelines and be reading about these stuff than be actually in the field and trying to get something to work lol. Nonetheless, being in a lab means I'm quite isolated from the rest of the world lol so I have my solitude but not my happiness.

Sigh... just finish my work and graduate out from here. If I have to work, I'd rather have some money to pay myself off lol.