Poll : Are You An Introvert Or An Extrovert.

This does highlight how you try to approach introverted people in stamps especially if they are new to collecting. You may be lucky to get them to go to a show or a club meeting. Many can be shy and need to get acclimated.

Stamp collecting can be a mostly solitary hobby so it is a natural fit.

Interesting statement.

As a card-carrying introvert, I have a couple of observations to share. I have a fairly small circle of very close friends, and I have always found it interesting that they are mostly extreme EXTROverts. I don't know why that is. Is it because everybody just likes the Life of the Party, and I am like everybody else in that respect? Or is it more that we are complimentary? And then I gotta think: what do I bring to the table for them? Rather than pick at that scab too much, I just accept that so many of my friends are extroverts.

I bounced around from industry to industry (mostly due to boredom, but occasionly due to epic failure) until 13 years ago when I became a machine programmer and tooling inspector for an aerospace manufacturer. Early on, we were all subjected to a Myers-Briggs-like evaluation, and we were taught how to deal with people of the varying categories. My employer values people in all the categories. I am good at what I do. I get satisfaction from knowing that I am contributing to the success of my department and the company. About the last thing I want is personal praise, but there are those around me that have some pathological need to do so anyway. That just makes me uncomfortable. My point is: real success comes if an introvert can learn to live in (and find their niche in) an extrovert-ruled world. If you interact with others as you would like to have them interact with you, you will probably have problems - an introvert interacting with an extrovert as if he is an introvert just won't work, long-term. We are all different, and real success (and happiness, too, I suppose) is only possible if we learn to deal with others as they are, rather than as we are.

Yup, an introvert I am. But it's weird, because I channel extroversion as needed - I'm very comfortable speaking at the podium to a room full of 500 people. But put me in a circle with a half dozen extroverts, and I can't keep up. Not surprised at all that I am a born-again stamp collector.

I would classify myself as an introvert who has learned how to be extroverted (and enjoy it) as needed. For instance, very comfortable with public speaking. As we go through life and interact with people socially, in jobs, etc., we all (well, almost all of us) figure out how to function in society in a way that works for us.

For generations in America, extroverts have been idolized and seen as the ideal people. Introverts were considered inferior. By the way, Asian culture is opposite....But I think this "extrovert ideal" described in the book "quiet..." is becoming a past phenomena. Social media, computers etc have allowed introverts to suddenly become perhaps the superior species. I always envied my guy friend extroverts in college who could walk into any party and get phone numbers, hook up with girls. These guys were in the center of the room and the life of the party. Well guess what.? No one goes to party or bar to meet women anymore. They hook up on dating websites, set up by computers, in their bedroom alone at night. I tell my wife that if I was in my 20s now, I could have a date every week and never have to open my mouth. My computer would set it all up. I would be a stud.

For me it is like two different hats. In areas I walk in I need to discern how am I going to get my message across. Which hat do I wear and how often do I need to change it.

This I talk about is in the face to face-many or a single but mostly many.

In the written word of communication I do not have ...... Am just me.

Definitely blue here, with a greenish tinge.

That doesn't mean that I can't come out of my shell, if I have sufficient impetus, particularly evidence of a shared interest. Case in point: The last time I was in Japan, I was walking to the Tokyo Sky Tree and saw a motorcycle repair shop with a couple of pictures of my favorite Japanese pop group in the window. I thought that was interesting and certainly unusual, but I continued on to my destination. When I was heading back to my hotel, the repair shop was closed, but someone was still working inside. I went to the door, apologized for the intrusion, and asked the guy if he was a fan of the group. He jumped up, "Hai! Hai! Hai!" and invited me in. We spent the next half hour chatting about our favorite songs, favorite members, concerts and events we had attended, etc.

Interesting thread to say the least. As a somewhat introverted person (definitely recharge ye olde batteries by being alone) I've found it frustrating that many extroverts don't understand why someone would want to be alone. But certainly see why stamp collecting appeals to myself and apparently many other introverts; rather enjoy having an album, a pile of stamps and Scott catalogs all over the place and nobody else around.

Of course, nobody fits any one neatly prescribed box. I loved being a platoon sergeant in the Marines back in the day; definitely not something for a quiet non-aggressive type; just wanted a few hours of quiet time at the end of the day.

I have seen this question on a lot of platforms lately.
Certainly I WAS an introvert or painfully shy until I get married. I think I had no real interest in asserting myself until I had a wife and children and I had a duty to look after their interests more than my own.
I think that was a work in progress until in 1998, the Internet came along and I became more assertive or maybe it is just having responsibility and stepping up to the plate. When you have to speak at a parents or elderly relatives funeral or two sons weddings, then it leads to going to a Texas university and giving a 2 hour lecture to my best friends post-grad class and while in some ways that was 5,000 miles from home and easier, it was I suppose the last step on the journey from Introvert to whatever I am.
People say I am anti-social but I am really just un-social.
I have a wife, sons, daughters in law, grandchildren and extended family and just have no need for any other inter-action.
The world is half full of people who are not like me....and thats bad.
And half full of people exactly like me. And thats worse. Much worse.
Social Media seems full of people who say they are depressed but I actually think they mean "lonely".
Depression seems like a health issue and therefore acceptable.
Loneliness is a taboo subject...its a social stigma that few will admit.
Whether any form of collecting is "solitary" or just an expression of loneliness, I dont know. But it seems a good idea to have hobbies and occupy a mind.

Great post FJH,
I find this thread absolutely fascinating, members are so brave in openly telling how their lives are. Bravo!



That's a classic comment, loved it.

When I first posted, I expected perhaps a 60/40 split, due to our hobby,
(and I guess, most passionate hobbyist, would be in the main, solitary most of the time, it's an integral part of the pastime)

I didn't expect it to be so one sided.

I did. I've participated in numerous "collecting" hobbies over the decades (stamps, coins, currency, comic books, sports cards, rare/imported CDs, vintage audio equipment), and the majority of collectors frequently share similar personality traits, regardless of the specific type of collectible:

1. Highly intellectual
2. Very meticulous, frequently bordering on OCD
3. Socially awkward
4. Introverted, preferring solitude or at minimum a spouse/partner and/or small groups of friends to large social groups

The more specialized/focused the collector, the more intensely these traits tend to be exhibited.

Obviously there are exceptions, and not all collectors exhibit all 4 characteristics listed, but as a general assessment of collectors vs. non, I believe it to be accurate.

Just my personal observations and opinions; nothing scientific to back it up.

I am a bit of an odd balance of both. Well really not a balance but I am definitely an introvert by nature. I am the person who could live 1000 miles away from civilization in a rustic cabin without a single person to talk to for extremely long periods of time and just occupy myself with labouring and my thoughts and observations.

In my real world however, I have to be extremely extroverted and run my retail automotive business out on the front desk with 4 phone lines going on my ear at all times with people 5 deep in front of me waiting to talk. I have not a minutes peace away from people for 8 to 10 working hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week and I come home to my small forested acreage with my wife of 23 years who I love dearly and spend the rest of my waking hours with her doing hobbies, property work, etc.

The only time of the day I am ever alone is driving my 200km per day commute. People think I am nuts for doing this daily but it is the only time I have solitude and can organize my thoughts or simply decompress. It is something I look forward to every day to help keep my introverted mind happy and somewhat satisfied. I think it is why I have been sucked down the rabbet hole so quickly upon inheriting my grandfathers stamp collection. I find I sit down and start organizing and inspecting, researching and admiring and in what feels like a blink of the eye, and entire day has passed and I never even noticed. So therapeutic! I have been a collector over many things my entire life but these stamps satisfy an ever deeper craving I think. Pretty rad!

I chose to be an engineer 50 years ago as I got to work with things and not people. My hobby was first stamp collecting, and genealogy a bit later. But a bit over 20 years ago, I chose a job that forced me to work across teams and suppliers - had to pretend to be an extrovert. After a while it kind of sticks, but I still enjoy doing things by my lonesome when I can - like stamp collecting. It's good therapy.

Im introvert and my favorite quote - In terms of like, instant relief, canceling plans is like heroin. John Melaney. https://quotesdepo.com/qt-in-terms-of-like/