Throughout our lives, we’ll meet a variety of people. Some of them will talk until they are hoarse and keep people entertained for hours, others will be talkative at some periods and not at others, and there will also be those who may not contribute much to a conversation, but are guaranteed to be the most amazing listeners.
Yet these people are treated with caution; they are misunderstood. Most introverts will have lost count of the number of times people have said ‘You’re quite quiet, aren’t you?’ or ‘You should speak up a bit more.’ From someone who knows a lot of introverts, it’s safe to say that these sorts of phrases grate like a new piece of chalk squeaking its way across a blackboard.
Having inhabited the Earth for around 4 million years, it seems astounding that people still can’t get their heads around introversion. There is a stigma surrounding it that we haven’t been able to move away from. All too often, those who don’t say a lot or who prefer to listen rather than fill the space with the sound of their own voice are written off as ‘quiet’ ‘shy’ or too arrogant to view social interaction as a valuable use of their time.
“The introvert is intelligent, creative and the perfect listener for all your relationship woes.”
The introvert is intelligent, creative and the perfect listener for all your relationship woes. They are often looked down upon in the adult world thanks to assumptions that they don’t enjoy communicating/engaging with others, or going to social functions. Many are under the impression that they are timid and unable to speak up for themselves or, as previously mentioned, are arrogant and consider interaction to be beneath them. Such assumptions are rarely accurate. Someone who is truly ‘shy’ for example, is labelled such because they lack confidence, and harbour a fear of looking silly or being, ‘wrong’ by behaving a certain way. A true introvert is perfectly capable of interacting with others, but can find extended periods in the social environment draining. Whereas extraverts revive themselves among people, introverts recharge their batteries by spending time alone.
“it can be so damaging to people’s self-esteem and confidence if they are constantly told that they are too quiet”
I say this partly for the reason that there are a lot of perks to being an introvert. Often, their intelligence exceeds that of extraverts. The people who say less are more likely to be stimulated by learning rather than socialising. So, if there is someone in your seminar/lab group who doesn’t tend to contribute much, you can bet that there are a whole jumble of intelligent thoughts and ideas whirring around in their heads.These are easy assumptions to make, and no one is to blame for having them, but it can be so damaging to people’s self-esteem and confidence if they are constantly told that they are too quiet, or that they ‘should be more like… (insert more outgoing person’s name here).’ This treatment is something that neither extraverts nor ambiverts have to go through, and it is grossly unfair.
“there are truly a whole lot of benefits to spending some quality time with yourself.”
Of course, it wouldn’t really work if everyone was an introvert; likewise if we were all extraverts then we’d all be talking over each other! There is room in the world for all personality types, and it is likely that there are more than just three. We just need to stop trying to put people in boxes and see the exceptional nature of all the personalities in our lives. And despite what were may automatically think, according to ARRP magazine, being quiet is actually good for your brain. This is because it gives your mind a chance to wander and reflect, to build on ideas and make them a reality.
As Albert Einstein states, ‘The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.’ This isn’t to say that you should live like a hermit to maximise your brain power, but there are truly a whole lot of benefits to spending some quality time with yourself. As one of the most famous physicists of our time, Einstein was a known introvert, along with Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln and Meryl Streep. I think it’s safe to say that none of these people got to where they were/are by talking everyone to death.
Faye Price
Source used here.
Featured image courtesy of jess_war via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
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