Pockets of Silence

Analysing the dynamics of group social situations can be intriguing, and one theorem I'm publishing here for the first time today relates to the ongoing battle between extroverts and introverts. Let's explore some different scenarios.

Fill a large room with ten to fifteen quiet folk and the end result is a deafening silence, punctuated with a few abortive attempts at conversation that wither away without support. The best outcome to be hoped for is that a few people start one-on-one conversations with the person closest to them.

The other extreme is a room of talkative types who within seconds will start numerous rowdy conversation threads that fill the space with hubbub.

Now for the interesting dynamic - a mixture of shy and outgoing people. With several extroverts among many introverts, decent talking starts, and even though most people aren't contributing, there's enough energy to overcome that. But there's a critical threshhold, a minimum proportion of extroverts needed to keep the talking going. With only one or two, the bravery needed to overcome the silence may be too great. But if you have just enough, the conversation can flow.

Around each quiet person is a pocket of silence, and around each chatty person is a pocket of chattiness. These bubbles interact and push against each other dynamically as people move around, mingle and new dynamics emerge. Out of these interactions, if too many pockets of silence join together, the talking can halt. Too many listeners all listening to each other doesn't work.

 More to come...