How Introverts Can Learn to Thrive in a World Created by (and for) Extroverts
In the video, Susan warms up the crowd by telling a story about the first time she was sent to summer school as a nine-year-old. Her parents packed a suitcase full of books for her to read because it seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do. However, Susan was immediately hit by the realization that this summer camp was to be more like a “Keg party without any alcohol” from the very first day. Not only did her fellow campers ostracize her but the “adult” camp counsellors told her to “work really hard” at being outgoing.
Unconscious Bias Shapes How the World Thinks About Introverts (and How We Think About Ourselves)
This story shines a light on a very powerful bias that many people either don’t know about or don’t like to admit has such a strong hold on our lives:
The world has been trying to tell us that being an introvert is wrong, bad, or just slightly incorrect for as long as we can remember!
This bias has been internalized by so many introverts (and extroverts alike) that we’ve adapted to a history of “self-negating choices made reflexively.”
Continue reading The Power of Introverts: a Ted Talk by Susan Cain