The glory of the disposition that stops to consider stimuli rather than rushing to engage with them is its long association with intellectual and artistic achievement. Neither E=mc2 nor ‘Paradise Lost’ was dashed off by a party animal.
—
Susan Cain’s op ed “Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic?” is one of the more careful considerations of introversion I’ve seen published in the the mainstream media. While the differences in social perception of shyness in men and women is merely implied within the piece (and effectively so, I think) Cain heralds “sitter” behavior as a common trait among many thinkers, writers and innovators. Even more salient, however, is her argument against the tendency—in American culture, most markedly—to misconstrue a predilection for introspection with that of depression or mental illness.
Or, in other words, why should I (or you, or anyone) even consider the possibility of popping a Xanex before a party because you (yes, you—the social masses) can’t effectively STFU long enough to read a book, watch a film, or gaze at a painting for longer than thirty seconds?
Foucault would be proud.
