A colleague recommended a book about introversion on my Facebook page. I haven't read the book, but there is an excellent TED talk by the author Susan Cain which I guess covers the main points. She's very interesting, and the introverts among you will all be nodding your heads in agreement. I think I've blogged on this subject before, but it's one that is close to my heart.
Probably most people reading this will be introverts; blogging is an introvert's paradise. Extroverts are too busy doing stuff to spend long hours reading other peoples thoughts on a small screen. Here on the blogosphere introverts are in their element. We can communicate our ideas slowly and revise our words if need be. We can do it alone; no need for group input. We don't have to shout at the top of our voices to be heard (so ill-mannered). It's my opinion I'm advocating; this is my blog and I don't have to take anyone else's say so for what I say. Others can comment, but I can cut them off. Ah, the power. It's great to hear from other introverts, too. Yes, we are normal. We are not sociopaths or psychopaths or suffering from depression, just because we like peace and quiet.
As Cain asserts, the "extrovert good, introvert bad" judgement does huge harm to our society and to our selves. I married into a family of extroverts. They hated me and thought I was sick. I hated them and thought they were noisy and shallow. (Someone once told me that I read too much. I wish I'd replied "well, you breathe too much"). I've worked with extroverts. They can't understand me and I can't understand them, but I usually come off worse, because I am the one who's judged as 'not normal' by the standards of the society we live in. Extroverts are the ones who get the jobs, often jobs they can't do or are not qualified for, because they put on a great act for the interviewers. My boss likes me to collaborate with people. I hate this. I want to get the work done on my terms, in my own way, without having to factor in other peoples quirks and biases, and water down my stuff to fit with the feelings and opinions of others, which I inevitably do, because introversion is rarely consonant with self-assertion. So any good ideas are buried, while the extrovert herd hurtles on to destruction. I'd like to form an introvert support group, but I know no one would come; on club nights we'd all stay home with a good book and the beverage of our choice.
I read recently (yes, read) that babies are now being diagnosed with depression. I'll bet this is the quiet babies, the ones who are not always crying and demanding to be fed, the ones who are quite happy to contemplate the mobiles hanging over their cots. They'll be the introverts, and now introversion is going to be medicated away, right from the first weeks of life.
And that is very scary indeed.
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