Published on:
4-September-2024
Written by:
Mohana Prabhakar
Reading time
2 minutes
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Neither E = mc^2 nor Paradise Lost was dashed off by a party animal.
Quiet by Susan Cain has been in my TBR for months, and finally, I took a chance and finished it last night (June 2021). Seriously, I felt so relieved and happy to know it's okay to be sensitive and different!
We live in a world that constantly glorifies charming, fast-talking, so-called confident humans but looks at us, the silent, empathetic, sensitive humans, with pity. What we fail to understand is that we need both types of humans to survive. This book is a must‑read for introverts on the road to self‑discovery and self‑awareness and for extroverts to understand introversion.
Note: This book is not against extroverts but rather the extrovert idealism and how disastrous it is to value one personality type over another.
The author, Susan Cain, divides the book into four parts.
Part 1 - The rise of extroversion-ism and the historical bias against introverts
Part 2 - How our biology defines whether we become an introvert or extrovert
Part 3 - How culture plays a role in shaping our personality
Part 4 - How to love, work as an introvert and how to raise an introverted child
3 things that stood out to me were,
- Collaboration doesn't always work, whether it's at the workplace or educational institution. It's essential for everyone to work individually to produce the best ideas and possible solutions for a problem.
- Shyness doesn't come from introversion but from a fear of negative social judgment. So you can be introverted and not shy at all. But you could also be a shy extrovert.
- Free trait theory: We all have the ability to change our personality within a limit, i.e. extroverts can act as introverts and vice versa if it's crucially needed.
Finally, don't think of introversion as something that needs to be cured or changed. We need to embrace that introversion is a part of who we are and embrace our lives + career accordingly.
So, to my pseudo-extroverts, it's time to be Quiet :)