The Challenges of Being an Introvert

That's right, you read that correctly. While many of my friends I've met out here may not be at all surprised to see me label myself as an introvert, anyone that's known me for more than one or two years knows that I'm as talkative as they come. To any new friends that may somehow stumble on this post; note that it's introvert, not shy. Let's talk about the distinction for a minute.

Introversion and Extroversion are not the same as shy and outgoing. They have to do with the way that the person processes their environment, emotions and thoughts. Sometimes they relate to what the person finds value in (i.e. going out and "partying" with no meaningful interaction vs. staying in or having a one on one conversation). Most, if not all, of the world's greatest thinkers have been introverted (guess which one most reality TV stars are...). They process their environment internally and consider it carefully. As a result, they are able to see and interpret stimuli differently than their extroverted counterparts. Naturally, they are much more satisfied in an empty room by themselves than an extrovert who would become quickly bored and under stimulated.

One of the challenges for introverts is that extroverts have a leg up in the reproduction game, as they are more apt to go out and meet people, are less likely to overthink themselves in social situations and so forth. As a result, scientists estimate that about 75% of the population is extroverted. And this means that society is geared towards extroverts. So while the extrovert may get bored from too little stimuli alone in an empty room, the introvert has the opposite response when forced into a overly stimulating environment by extroverts. Introverts tend to shut down in loud and crowded spaces, where there is simply too much happening for them to process. It's not a choice, it's just a natural reaction of an over active mind.

But extroverts, being unthoughtful and introspective, will often times assume that there must be something wrong with the introvert that he/she doesn't want to do the same things that the majority does. They will try to coax the "shy" introvert out of their "shell". This is about as effective as trying to coax a turtle to fly by the way, for those that have been on the other side of this. Introverts don't need the approval of the crowd to be content so peer pressure like that isn't usually effective anyways (to a certain extent, it is on young introverts that don't realize that there is not, in fact, something wrong with them, but that's another discussion).

But when put into an environment that is less stimulating, say a dinner party or a group of a few friends, introverts will often surprise people. They can be quite intelligent, well spoken and are often very insightful.

Ideally the world needs both to succeed as they both have important roles to play in history and society as a whole. Let's hope this generation of introverts can carry the torch of understanding to our extroverted brethren and keep the light of human reason and ingenuity shining for the next generation.