MyGiftedLife.org

It's not so much about levels of energy, but about needs and your expectations of return on your social investment. No autonomous animal is social because society depends on having its members dependant on it for survival.

The needs of gifties change, sometimes spontaneously. I could come in here looking for an intelligent conversation and end up helping someone understand something instead because his need is greater than mine. Or maybe I've had a really awful day and I need some TLC or even a frivolous distraction and my need seems greater to me than hearing someone ramble on about their day. One can only ignore one's own needs so much before collapsing, so yes, one's expectations for an exchange are important. There has to be a good match between interactors' expectations and an agreed currency, be that goods, services, or ideas.

Not getting what you came for is a downer - and that's draining, whether you're an extrovert or an introvert. What we value is determined by that biochemical orientation. Introverts value recognition for solving problems and new ideas to add to their tool sets. Extroverts value social status and the ability to use tools to affect their world. But let's remember that we can move, and that in doing so, you can fool yourself into accepting almost indefinite delayed gratification. It's the only way to survive in a greedy world without resorting to outright violence. In summer, there are producers and consumers. In winter, some hibernate, some migrate. I'm glad I'm not built to have no choice which, and I'm not about to be told that I have to go down with the ship of fools.

I do think some people are born like that, having seen children who are opposites from the very beginning. However, I don't think it means that no one can change for various reasons. We're dealing with a few different mechanisms of brain function as well as socialisation. Some mechanisms do react to both internal and external stimuli (changes in brains from PTSD are a strong example) and others react to changes in usage patterns.

I think it would be worth doing a variety of studies on intro/extraversion and giftedness, simply to try to differentiate which mechanisms might be most strongly involved. I suspect there are going to be some heavy organic involvements, such as increased latent inhibition, etc, and I think the results might be interesting from many perspectives, including evolutionary.