Have
you ever been told it’s all right if while at a party you like to occupy a quiet
corner to avoid socializing; that it’s okay to feel troubled by underrated
emotions like doubt and fear; that maybe you were overlooked for a promotion
because your colleague had the ‘right personality’ for the role; that there is
nothing wrong with you if you feel overwhelmed by some social situations and
take time to come to terms with them? Susan Cain argues, in Quiet, all this
means you are blessed with the personality syndrome that some of the most creative
and revolutionary thinkers have (or had): introversion.
Quiet
makes a strong case for introversion (or introverts) by passionately arguing
that it’s the introverts who were behind some of the greatest achievements of
the human race (like the theory of relativity) and equally acerbically
ascribing some of the problems in modern times (like the subprime mortgage
issue) to our tendency to overlook introverts and place problems that require
deeper insights – which are more likely to come, according to Cain, from
introverts - at the service of exTaketroverts.
But
is the barrier separating introversion from extroversion so simple? Aren’t we a
bit of both? A person who is gregarious while among friends can be reserved among
strangers. A person who is generally lighthearted can be surprisingly
insightful, in some situations. Haven’t we seen many shy and reserved types
excel in professional areas which are considered exclusive domains of
extroverts?
Cain
doesn’t challenge the theory of Carl Jung who said there is no such person as
absolute introvert or extrovert and such a person would have his place only in
a mental asylum…She says we share cross traits of introversion and extroversion
and your personality type depends on which side of the divide the traits that
are intense in you fall. To add nuance to this line of argument, she interviews
people belonging to both personality types and also draws from her personal
experience as an introvert.
However,
Susan doesn’t restrict her research to interviews and personal experience, but delves
into the scientific aspect of her subject, too – and establishes beyond doubt
that introversion is a biological characteristic we are born with and not
something we acquire during our lifetime. Children who are very alive to their
environment – high reactive types - turn out to be introverts whereas those
with low sensitivity to their environments become extroverts, low reactive
types. Although introverts become more outgoing as years go by, they remain introverts
at the core.
Courtesy
of the high premium we place as a society on extroverted traits, Cain informs, there
are many who hide their introversion and masquerade as extroverts only to wake
up to their real selves when they meet with a crisis . Not only society at
large but even corporations overrate extroverted traits and extroverts are
misconstrued as ‘natural leaders’, an error of judgement which caused the
subprime crisis where those showing risk taking capabilities (an extroverted
trait) where put in positions of leadership and decision making overlooking
those less inclined to take risks or prefer taking calculated and thoughtful
risks instead of plunging headlong into something they know little about.
Cain
interviewed children of migrants coming from eastern cultures and concludes
that, unlike in the west, extroversion is not prized so much in the east
(especially in Confucian cultures) where silence is considered golden and
observation of hierarchies (age-based or social) appreciated. (It reminded me
of a Time magazine article which said that one of the reasons democracy doesn’t
flourish in Asia is that there is too much insistence on unquestioning respect
for people in positions of power - like a teacher, a ruling family or an older
person – which runs contrary to the very idea of democracy which bases itself
on questioning.)
The
introverted children Cain interviewed, in some of the most prestigious American
institutions, mostly said they wanted to be extroverts to be more in sync with
how their institutes want them to be.
Being
an introvert herself and being very proud of being one, Cain sometimes reads a
little biased towards introverts. Almost all the introverts she interviewed and
mentions in Quiet are either stupendously successful (like Steve Wozniak, Steve
Jobs etc.) or hold promise for success (like those migrant children) – sometimes
reading like a motivational book for introverts rather than an analytical
effort on the subject.
Cain
looks at cultures other than American but very briefly and broadly – and thus misses
a point or two about her subject. For example, in India, as in America, extroverted
traits enjoy greater social approval than their introspective counterparts, but
the virtues of quiet are not altogether overlooked.
These
are the two flaws I found in what is otherwise a spectacular book.
