The "fear of being vulnerable", or "showing my limitations as a human or engineer" are so secondary to the emotional drain of having to be that close to a person all day, every day at work, they don't even show up on the horizon of concerns.
Pairing is incredibly useful and valuable, but doing it all day would be hell.
If someone told me that they wanted me to pair for the majority of my day, or even the majority of code I wanted to write, the first thing I would pair on would be a letter of resignation.
As an introvert myself, strong disagree. I (and introverts in general, to my knowledge) don’t have any trouble interacting with people in small group settings when those interactions are focused on ideas. The problems come with large group settings and small talk. Pairing is in the first category, not the second.
The "fear of being vulnerable", or "showing my limitations as a human or engineer" are so secondary to the emotional drain of having to be that close to a person all day, every day at work, they don't even show up on the horizon of concerns.
Pairing is incredibly useful and valuable, but doing it all day would be hell.
If someone told me that they wanted me to pair for the majority of my day, or even the majority of code I wanted to write, the first thing I would pair on would be a letter of resignation.