The Struggle Is Real

[sunkacola]

isn't the two social interactions a week JamieMarc suggests a very small amount?

For some people it would be a small amount. For others it would be just right. For others it would be too much. Again, I don't think any value is found in statements like that, nor are they meaningful. There is no one standard that applies across the board to everyone in every situation in life!

believing we are introverts can make us just that, so it can be a self-limiting belief.

This is a statement that indicates a judgement on being an introvert...that it is not a good thing, or that not being an introvert is preferable or less "limiting".

There is not a thing wrong with being an introvert. And it is not "limiting". It limits human interaction, sure. But if you do not need human interaction very often in order to be content with your life, then what is limited? If you are not a person who goes hiking or walking or camping, are you "limited" because your exposure to nature is limited? If you don't have a dog are you "limited" because you don't have the joys of dog ownership? You get my point.

Human interaction is not the be-all and end-all or the thing that everyone needs. For some people it is stressful to have too much, and it is absolutely possible for twice a week to be too much.

it seems good to avoid using self-limiting "preconceptions" like this.

Self-limiting preconceptions are always good to avoid. But it is also limiting not to have a mind that is open to accepting all choices in human life and expression, both physically and emotionally/mentally, without judgement.
(again, assuming we are speaking of people who do not do harm to others or attempt to push others to be like them).

If you think that knowing one is an introvert is a self-limiting belief, then knowing one is an extrovery is equally a self-limiting belief. I do not think either one is. There are as many different ways of viewing the world, and of expressing oneself, and of what any individual needs to feel comfortable or happy. I don't agree with judging others who are not like me, or who happen to be in any minority of the population, whether that minority is 25% or 1%.

I think that judging others is self-limiting.

 

[sunkacola]

hmmmm the more i think about these things, the more i realize how many characteristics and behaviors I have prematurely assigned as negative

This has been a common phenomenon among human beings. For centuries, anyone who experienced the world in a different way from what was considered the Norm, was considered mentally ill and locked up in horrible conditions, kept away from other people, which deprived them of the opportunity to contribute positive things and deprived others of the opportunity to learn from them.

These days, Autism spectrum people, for one example among many, are known to often be highly intelligent and interesting people. They are writing books about their lives, and are now seen as people who simply have a different way of being in the world, not a way that is limiting or lesser or an illness or even unfortunate.

The same is true for many other ways that are not experienced by the majority of the population; they are now being seen as different but not lesser. This is something I find extremely gratifying, as I have spent my adult life taking opportunities presented to be to try to help people to see these different way as being just that - different, not bad.

I am so happy that these days the majority pf people, at least in this country, see this more clearly. It's one of the things I go back to in my mind as being a true positive of our life in the late 20th and early 21st century, when all the bad things start to crowd my mind. There have been many very positive advances, at least in some places, in people's ability to accept others as they are without slapping judgmental labels on them.

 

[Phil62]

Well, i can notice that this subject is unleashing passions! And that's great! I will not venture to "philosophize" on this subject with you (unfortunately I do not have the intellectual capacities) but I would like to bring you my modest reflection all the same:

Thank you and a big thank you to my ancestors for having both had a first social interaction which made it possible to unite you and which, over the generations made up of social interactions, allowed me to live my life on this planet! Again thanks to you !

 

[JayCS]

For some people it would be a small amount. For others it would be just right. For others it would be too much. Again, I don't think any value is found in statements like that, nor are they meaningful. There is no one standard that applies across the board to everyone in every situation in life!
This is a statement that indicates a judgement on being an introvert...that it is not a good thing, or that not being an introvert is preferable or less "limiting".
There is not a thing wrong with being an introvert. And it is not "limiting". It limits human interaction, sure. But if you do not need human interaction very often in order to be content with your life, then what is limited? If you are not a person who goes hiking or walking or camping, are you "limited" because your exposure to nature is limited? If you don't have a dog are you "limited" because you don't have the joys of dog ownership? You get my point.
Human interaction is not the be-all and end-all or the thing that everyone needs. For some people it is stressful to have too much, and it is absolutely possible for twice a week to be too much.
Self-limiting preconceptions are always good to avoid. But it is also limiting not to have a mind that is open to accepting all choices in human life and expression, both physically and emotionally/mentally, without judgement.
(again, assuming we are speaking of people who do not do harm to others or attempt to push others to be like them).
If you think that knowing one is an introvert is a self-limiting belief, then knowing one is an extrovert is equally a self-limiting belief. I do not think either one is. There are as many different ways of viewing the world, and of expressing oneself, and of what any individual needs to feel comfortable or happy. I don't agree with judging others who are not like me, or who happen to be in any minority of the population, whether that minority is 25% or 1%.
I think that judging others is self-limiting.

I agree with all this 100%.
But it sounds as if you have misunderstood the core phrase:
"believing we are introverts can make us just that, so it can be a self-limiting belief"
is not about being an introvert, and it doesn't say that being introverted is self-limiting, it isn't judging in any way.
It is about people only partly or not at all introvert believing they are introvert and becoming it more, altho it might be useful or desirable for them to have and groom their extrovert traits. I've been in (long) life situations where I've been pressured to be more introvert and others pressured to be more extrovert. And neither was good for me.

Being flexible, "non-binary" in a non-gender sense, is surely something we can also all agree on just as much as being one or the other or both to equal parts is something not to be judged.