SDS 292: Introverts and Extroverts

Kirill: Welcome back to the SuperDataScience podcast. This is another episode with Hadelin de Ponteves.

Hadelin: Hi everyone. How’s it going? I’m super pumped to be here.

Kirill: Super excited to have you here, my friend. And if you’re not up to speed with the previous episodes, Hadelin and I have created multiple courses which have been taken by many, many people on topics of machine learning, data science and others. And also we have another business called Bluelife AI.

Hadelin: Yes. Blue Life AI, which helps companies make massive profits by leveraging AI at no upfront cost.

Kirill: That’s right. At no upfront costs. So basically that means if you have an AI project that you want implemented, we create a customized AI solution for you and you are only charged for it if it actually brings massive value to the business. If it brings nothing, if you don’t see value, you don’t pay anything. That’s our mentality because that’s how much we believe in artificial intelligence.

Hadelin: That’s right. We’re so sure about the power of AI that we are so happy to do this for you.

Kirill: Yup. And today, so in the previous episode, right, the one we recorded just now, you said something about introverts and extroverts and I thought I had to share this. So this might be a quick episode, might be a bit longer. I don’t know. But this one where I want to start. Did I tell you that whole bucket theory, like the jar theory?

Hadelin: No.

Kirill: No? Okay. So the jar theory for introverts and extroverts. So, somebody told me this, a friend told me, it’s like a few weeks or months ago and it really changed my… it really made sense. Like I’ve always been confused and I’ve tried to explain to people what an introvert is, what an extrovert is and how they operate, the different mindsets and so on. But this one explanation makes total sense and I think blows any kind of contradictions out of the water.

Kirill: So imagine everybody wakes up with a jar. Like one of those jars like Winnie the Pooh has for honey. Right? And it’s not for honey, it’s for gold coins. So what an introvert would wake up with is an introvert wakes up… Let’s start with an extrovert. Extrovert wakes up with a jar that is empty. Empty jar, no gold coins. And every time an extrovert interacts with a person, with another human, they take a gold coin from that human and put it in their jar. So every interaction gains them a gold coin that goes into their jar. And the more people they interact with, the fuller their jar is by the end of the day.

Kirill: Now, an introvert, on the other side, on the opposite side, they wake up with a jar full of gold coins. And as they interact with every human they meet during the day, they give them a gold coin. Every interaction is they’ve taken a gold coin from their jar and giving it to another human. So the more people they interact with, the emptier their jar is. And so therefore that shows like introversion, extroversion has nothing to do with your capacity to talk to people, to get up on stage and present. Some of the best presenters, you know, are introverts. And extroverts as well. It’s totally normal for an extrovert to go out into nature and want to be by themselves. But it’s a question of where people recharge.

Kirill: So an introvert by interacting with other people, they might have a lot of fun, get a lot of knowledge and so on, but they cannot sustainably do that for a prolonged period of time for multiple days in a row, because their jar will get empty and eventually they’ll have nothing to give. And they’ll start burning out, they’ll start getting stressed, irritable and so on. They need some time to be alone, to recharge that jar, to gain those gold coins, to put them back in there. Whereas an extrovert on the other hand needs the interaction to fill up their jar. And so for either it’s a balance of how much time do you spend alone and how much time do you spend with other people? How does that sound?

Hadelin: That sounds absolutely great. I love this analogy. Wow. So yeah, to sum up this, this is about recharging your energy. Introverts recharge their energy by themselves. Like they fill up the jar and extroverts recharge their energy with others.

Kirill: Yeah.

Hadelin: Social situations.

Kirill: Both you and I, we know about ourselves. We’re introverts.

Hadelin: Yes, we are. And I think it’s really good to be aware of this, to be aware of what you are because sometimes you get negative energy and you don’t know why. Well, that could simply be because you’re not, well the bucket is too filled in or you need to be alone with yourself. And, I actually realized this recently that I was an introvert.

Hadelin: Two years ago, which, today I’m 30 years old. So for me this was kind of a big deal. And yes, I also got aware of how, you know, you can get some times negative energy, positive energy. And so my inner drive, as we talked about in the previous episode, guided me towards the positive energies and positive energies included, you know, being alone with yourself at some point to recharge and to feel better.

Kirill: How many days do you think you can go not being alone by yourself in a row?

Hadelin: Well, I hope infinitely because once I meet the love of my life, I will be with that person. So…

Kirill: Every day?

Hadelin: Yeah.

Kirill: Interesting. Interesting. I think I’ll still take like one day a month to be by myself.

Hadelin: Okay.

Kirill: Like go to the mountains and just be alone with my thoughts. I think that’s still going to be important for me.

Hadelin: Yes, definitely. I think I’ll do that too, actually. Yes.

Kirill: Okay. Yeah, so, and I agree with you, it’s very important to be aware of that because otherwise you might not notice why you’re feeling maybe worse or more irritable or not the best version of yourself and all you might need is not like, I don’t know, like another accomplishment in your life or to, I don’t know, go to cinema or something. Or go and as you might, think, relax with some drinks with some friends in a social situation. All you might need is actually some time alone or the other way around.

Kirill: Maybe if you’re an extrovert and you’re feeling kind of like groggy or a bit uninspired, a bit under the weather or kind of like not super excited about things, maybe all you need is actually to call some friends and go meet up with them.

Hadelin: Absolutely. And that’s actually what I do. I try to have social situations every weekend. So for example, every weekend I try to see my friends because they are positive energy and also during the whole week, well I had time to recharge myself, being alone with my thoughts. So, I try to balance that the best I can. And yes, I’m looking forward these social situations.

Kirill: That’s a good point actually. So that even for introverts it’s important not to always just be by yourself.

Hadelin: Oh no, that would be bad I think.

Kirill: You can get caught up in that, right? I’ve spent like three weeks by myself almost not leaving the apartment. You know, like when we work on a new course or something like that. But that’s also unhealthy because even though you kind of recharge and you feel recharged, you’re not getting social interaction.

Hadelin: Exactly. Well a good example when I made one course per month, well I was super happy to make the course also because I knew that at the end of the month I offer myself a full weekend of social interactions, nature and you know, fun activities to do without working any second.

Kirill: And the opposite is true as well for extroverts that spending time with people all the time together, especially let’s say two extroverts are in a relationship, right? Like a boyfriend-girlfriend, husband-wife, both are extroverts. They might get caught up in the trap every night going somewhere, doing something, meeting people watching movies, going to restaurants, playing games and so on. And not having that time by yourself.

Kirill: So even… and they’ll feel fully energized because that’s how they recharge. But at the same time they won’t have that alone time, which is important for what we talked about it, you know, solitude, getting your own thoughts, mind health and so on. So whatever you are, introvert or extrovert, it is important to be aware of who we are and also important to, do both, but understand that you’re doing one of them to recharge and the other one you’re doing for healthy mind.

Hadelin: Exactly. Yeah. I think that’s the right balance.

Kirill: Fantastic. Okay. That’s the right balance.

Hadelin: Absolutely.

Kirill: All right. Thank you guys for tuning in and we’ll see you next time.

Hadelin: See you everyone next time.