Actually I resonated with what he said a lot. I'm a loner but I crave interaction.. but not interaction in large groups, and I don't like talking about trivial topics most of the time. My ideal interaction is with 1-2 others.

I also resonated with the OP. I'd rather learn about something, or someone, in depth (rather than piecemeal).

Somewhat analogous to PG's 'Wealth' essay (which was referenced yesterday by a commentor on HN), people who have startups are choosing to do a lot of work in a smarter way over a more concentrated period rather than, let's say, work 50 years for the Post Office, getting a slow pay out. In the same way, I would argue an introvert isn't the "Post Office"-type, as it were.

I'd like to add that I don't have a whole lot of interest in talking to people I don't know. This is probably because it's connected to trying to get to know one or more people in a group/social setting. If we're just going to talk for 5 minutes, even 10, I'm not sure what we're going to gain from that. There's always that line between whatever you deem is investment and reward. There's also inorganic vs. organic ways of meeting new people and being put in a room with strangers isn't my idea of organic. Turning the tables once again, try putting me in a room of (preselected) strangers who each have some/several things in common with me and, all of a sudden, inorganic doesn't matter as much.

I'm not even sure what the "interaction in large groups" is supposed to be? Even on a party, usually you only talk to 1 to 3 people at a time. If you don't like floating around the party like a butterfly, just find a comfy couch somewhere.

I don't understand why the author and it's supporter are so bent on drawing a black and white picture of other people, like either they enjoy large groups or single interactions? What if most people "enjoy" both - larger groups are usually just a tool for finding small groups to interact with.

Talking to people in a party, vs really being one-on-one with them is different for me. When you're in a party, I feel you have the pressure to talk about "fun", casual topics vs deep discussion. Simply because of the context of the situation.

There are better parties out there my friend.

I am not blaming the party, my friend.

I am.

That pressure might be completely in your mind. Also one-on-one meetings might not always be deep, either.

I'm going to guess you crave non-trivial interaction. Small talk isn't fulfilling... it's deep thought provoking/inspiring discussion you crave?

That's not an interesting question to me.

Nevertheless it's an important question because the whole article is framed as being about introversion. The dislike of smalltalk is at best a loose correlation. Extroverts can equally dislike small talk.

You can define it however you wish. Look it up in the dictionary to find your answer.