Quiet

[C.W. Sims]

I have recently started a book, almost done with it, called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking and I find it quite fascinating. I was a Psychology major when I first started college several years ago, but left the field. I still find it intriguing and when I saw this book at the local library I decided it was worth a read.

It is a study of the Introvert personality, and its place and impact on the extremely extrovert centered society we, at least those of us who are Americans, live in. It explains a lot about what causes introversion, such as high reactive tendency towards stimuli, and also explains a bit about the opposite, low reactive tendency towards stimuli, and why these two things cause someone to become an Introvert or an Extrovert. It also discusses things such as a study that determined that a child reactions to stimuli as an infant can be quite telling as to what kind of personality, i.e. introverted or extroverted, they will have as an adult.

Has anyone here ever heard of or read this book? Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts on the topic of introversion? Basically I just wanted to start a thread to get people talking about it. It is truly a fascinating topic when you get into it.

[Shell B]

You should, in my opinion, dedicate a portion to people who are only sometimes introverted. I am an extrovert in general, but I can become introverted at the drop of a hat.

[C.W. Sims]

Actually I do believe she discusses that at least once or twice, but it's quite late and I might be confused, haha. But yeah, I think she does talk about that. She also stresses that people should never consider themselves a "true" extrovert or introvert because such a person would likely need to be in an institution due to their inability to cope with society and society's inability to cope with them.

[jonb]

I think you're making a simple mistake here, I know the grass will always seem greener on the other side of the river, but I think you underestimate the difficulties experienced by people who are introverted, that gnawing self doubt that eats into you before every word you make. You have no concept of how much I suffer as an introvert, these words have to be literally torn from my body screening. I'm just a little wall flower and you should be tender with me.

[C.W. Sims]

Not sure if you were joking there, or not. But as an introvert myself, that's why I even picked this book up. It is also the reason I find it such a fascinating read.

[jonb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_-2v2HN30
Could this be our song then?

[Napoléon]

I'm introverted up until the point I've had one too many jagerbombs, from then on, I'm the life of the party.

I am pretty interested in what makes me like that psychologically I suppose, but I'd say it's mainly down to surroundings and the kind of childhood you have.

[C.W. Sims]

I'm introverted up until the point I've had one too many jagerbombs, from then on, I'm the life of the party.

I am pretty interested in what makes me like that psychologically I suppose, but I'd say it's mainly down to surroundings and the kind of childhood you have.

You are partially correct, and partially incorrect, how's that for some word twisting haha. Anyway, a study done over the past decade or so determined that many children exhibit signs showing they will be one way or the other almost from birth, and those findings can be used to accurately predict what sort of personality the person will exhibit as a teenager. I haven't finished the book, so can't say if the study has found anything out about adults or not, but I have gotten far enough to say they brought those same children back in as teens and they followed the patterns extrapolated by the findings of the studies they were in as infants.

---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_-2v2HN30
Could this be our song then?

Not sure I'm quite introverted enough for that... haha.

[Zen Badger]

I was quite introverted as a child and then I discovered motorcycles.

It was all downhill from there

[Angrboda]

I don't know what relevance this has, but context (set and setting) and other environmental factors seem relevant. I have strong social skills, but I'm basically rather shy and introverted. I can socialize like an extrovert, but what's going on inside, I suspect is radically different. In pure, unstructured social situations, like a party, or an informal get together, I feel like I'm being asked to do a dance which I don't know the steps to. I literally feel confusion about what I am supposed to be doing. (And dating is out of the question. The idea of courting someone's friendship, from acquaintance to familiar, leaves me stammeringly terrified.) This past year I have joined a social networking site that helps people organize get togethers based on common interests. If the get together is purely social, I'm greeted by my introversion and social anxiety. But if the get together is for the purpose of discussing ideas or a book, my introversion drops completely, and I forget myself, engaged in the ideas and the debate or discussion. (Indeed, I've noticed lately that I have a tendency to be aggressive and combative in such situations, somewhat to the detriment of the shared aim. I need to work on that; I'm so busy arguing, that I tend to lose that self/consciousness which helps make the didactic experience useful and satisfying for all.)

Anyway, I tend not to read things unless driven by one of my groups. However, I've in the past been skeptical of books about the value of introversion, because, quite simply, a lot of those kind of books out there are just pure crap. Trait psychology is tricky enough business without authors whose books are 99% pseudoscience. Perhaps this book is different. Your description leaves me with some optimism that it might be. However, prior experience with the emptiness of most such books leaves me more than skeptical; I'm downright cynical about its prospects.