Metalanguage

To be an introvert means to have a high-reactive amygdala. The amygdala acts as a filter for incoming information from the senses. It processes about four billion bits of data a second sending it all to the subconscious mind and only 2,000 bits of data to the conscious mind. Since the brain is evolutionarily obsessed with energy conservation it only fires about ten percent of neurons at a time as to not overwhelm the conscious mind. But if you’re an introvert you get a bit more than 2,000 bits of data sent to your consciousness. This is why introverts are easily overwhelmed. They are bombarded by more sensory information and easily get mental and emotional fatigue. But this also makes introverts better observers than participants in social situations. They are highly acute to detecting metalanguage.

Metalanguage, as I am applying the term here, are the silent bodily cues people communicate subtlety and often unconsciously. Like masked sarcasm, slight eye rolls, twitching mouth corners, clenched fists. These silent cues are easily missed by the average person, but for an introvert these cues can seem like they’re being silently shouted.

With this established I can sum up a past relationship as thus: