Silent Influence: The Strength Within Introversion

Susan Cain, a well known and appreciated writer from America in the field of psychology, recently held a speech on one of the famous TED talks and entirely captured me by trying to give the audience an understanding of introversion.

Introversion are traits where a person is more mindful of their own thoughts and feelings rather than their surrounding environment. Have you ever met someone that seemed to be more reserved than others? Someone who tends to keep their emotions private? Someone who is more of a social

Susan Cain’s Ted Talk The Power Of Introverts brought a new conversation to society in how introverts are treated. Five years ago (when this took place) this topic was not very well discussed, which made this piece very eye opening for some. Using Aristotle's appeals: logos and pathos, as well as a comparative argument in her ted talk, Cain persuades viewers that we as a society oppress/shame introverts, not allowing them to strive or be themselves in our now extroverted society. She advocates for a more balanced society that serves both introverts and extroverts instead of just extroverts.

In her article Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic? author Susan Cain addresses many of the preconceived notions society has against introverted people. Cain argues that society tends to favor the outgoing and extroverted and shames those who prefer to be alone rather than socialize. The author utilizes certain writing strategies as a way to change her audience’s original views surrounding introversion. Cain’s use of comparing and contrasting, specific examples, and strong transitions that bridge various ideas to each other make her argument, that introverts are essential to society, much more persuasive.

Susan Cain’s “Power of Introverts” talk was all about the importance of people who are considered introvertly inclined in our society. In her talk, she described first how her family influenced her in being an introvert. Reading is her family’s social activity and that one can roam around through his or her own imagination. She also discussed about her memorable summer camp story where she has discovered the way extrovert people live and tried to shift in this kind of life. With all these changes in her life she never left her introverted life and espoused the ideas that when it comes to creativity and leadership, the society needs introverts and the things where they excel most. She explained that introversion is how one responds to stimulation including social stimulation which is different from a person being shy – the fear of social judgment.

The article “Introversion: The Often Forgotten Factor Impacting the Gifted” by Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig begins by giving examples of how an introvert may behave. The authors continue by explaining that introversion is in not an issue, but a personality type which differs from that of the “normal,” more outgoing and friendly personality type, extroversion. Introverts and extroverts are different personality types, most people fall into one of the two categories. Typically, an introvert’s main focus is in the internal world of thoughts, while an extrovert's main focus is on the external world of people and events. Introverts tend to enjoy alone time, working on their own, and are usually quiet, and extroverts are typically social, enjoy

Susan Cain is an honors graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School. Since graduating Cain has become the chief revolutionary and co-founder of the Quiet Revolution and the co-founder of the Quiet Schools Network and the Quiet Leadership Institute. Cain is also the author of the bestsellers Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, which has been on the New York Times bestseller list for almost three years and was named the #1 best book of the year by Fast Company magazine. The goal of the Quiet Revolution is to unlock the power of introverts for the benefits of everyone which was discussed in the TED talk that is being analyzed in this essay. The TED talk “The power of introverts” has been viewed over 17 million times and was named one of Bill Gates all-time favorite talks. The purpose of this speech was to inform the audience about how introversion is not what most people make it out to be. Throughout her speech, Cain compares and contrast introversion with extroversion and

Extroverts in today’s society are idolized, and people associate different positive characteristics such as attractiveness and intelligence with extroverts. That misconception has caused many introverts to try and become more extroverted in order to fit in with society. However, the book Quiet by Susan Crain informs that introverts posses many strong traits like leadership or intelligence and therefore can be viewed just as highly as extroverts.

In her Ted Talk, The Power of Introverts, Susan Cain speaks at a TedX convention to highlight the extraordinary talents that introverts can bring to a society. She also speaks on how the United States as a whole has shifted from valuing introverts to valuing them less than extroverts, claiming that this should not be the case. Cain claims that introverts should be encouraged and celebrated for the power that they can bring to a society instead of having to force themselves into the extrovert mold that American society promotes.

While most businesses look for an extroverted leader, Susan Cain has a very different perspective. She presented her speech, “The Power of Introverts”, where she explained how introverts are often underestimated. She talked about students who prefer to be alone are seen as an outlier or a problem and that surveys found that teachers feel the ideal student is an extrovert. She does not understand why teachers prefer extroverts since introverts often get better grades, and explains why introverts should not be looked over. Susan Cain’s goal is to inform the audience of the power of introverts, through her personal experiences, humor, emotion and statistics on the subject, and hopefully change the way society thinks of introverts. Cain is an

On the other hand Rosa Parks, Bill Gates, and Albert Einstein show us that this statement goes on and is still true in the real and modern world. One example being Albert Einstein he was an introvert yet a genius, he knew a lot, but kept it all to himself for quite a long while. According to Schocker Einstein did his best work alone. Two more examples being, Bill Gates, and Rosa Parks which were also described as introverts, but they were explained in a different way. They were often described by others as shy and timid. They weren’t loud until they absolutely needed to be. For example, when Rosa Parks had to give up her bus seat in 1955 to a white male. She didn’t exactly scream and yell, but she started a boycott to show that this sort of thing was not okay. Not only these three people, there are other introverted people that are powerful and have powerful impacts on other

An introvert is a person that gathers their energy from within and requires time alone and would prefer to communicate by ways such as email and by writing and maybe texting they seem to prefer not to talk face to face and are not great public speakers. Introverts are often said to be reserved. They are often said to enjoy the quiet and this is what

Introversion was defined as “withdrawn and often shy, and they tend to focus on themselves, on their own thoughts and feelings” (Jung, 1923) Therefore focusing on this personality trait can help to better understand why people tend to be reserved and withdrawn from everyday life. Carl Jung was the creator of the neopsychoanalytical approach, which focused on psychic energy. While Gordon Allport and Hans Eysenck contributor to the trait theory, focused on biology and individualized traits. Jung, Eysenck and Allport focused on extrovert vs. introvert, yet had completely different ideas of how introversion is seen in everyday life. Personally believeing this trait is one I carry, focusing on completely different approaches will bring light to many explanations of why people act the way they do, including myself. By using both case studies and personal work from the works of Jung, Eysenck, and Allport researching introversion should not be a an issue. Although there is a lot of work to do with introversion, through this research one can get a better overview.

Introverts are people who spend time thinking and reflecting before they act. Their motivation is internal, which might end up closing them off from the world around them. Introverts usually prefer one-to-one relationships, and only express intimacy with a few family members or close friends. Introverts also love doing activities that allow them to be put in an organizational position. Occasionally, introverts will shut down and close off from all of those around them. Personally, I believe that is a completely accurate description of myself. I also plan out my days ahead of time, and I love being able to put things together. While I sometimes I think that it is a negative thing, I do tend to close off from my circle, which happens to be very small. If I do get to meet my goal of being a teacher, my introversion definitely yields to potential for problems. Getting out of my shell would be a challenge, without a doubt. That being said, my introversion is mostly geared towards others my age. I am usually very comfortable around people that are older or younger than I am, which makes me believe I would probably be okay. Other than having to overcome the challenge of opening up, being an introvert does have upsides, such as having an urge to get things done.

According to many psychologists and other social experts, there exist two major social behaviors that are widely adopted globally by a person as they mature into young adulthood: extraversion or introversion. Extroverts are expressive individuals who appear to be energized and enjoy seeking activities that involve socialization with others where as a reserved individual (introvert) prefers solitary pursuits where he or she often partakes in a favorite pastime. In her novel Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life is Your Hidden Strength, Laurie Helgoe statistically explores the fact that more than one half of the American populace claims to be reticent and encourages those folks to embrace their natural selves (“Book Details” 1). Introverts