The Power Of Introverts

[highlander]

 

[Tiltyred]

Heh. My firm has just decided they're bringing out a Team concept. *sigh*

 

[meowington]

She's a real classy lady, very inspiring speaker. One of the better TED talks I've seen. She talks with her hands

[MENTION=5723]Tiltyred[/MENTION] : I feel you. Still fighting the open office policy in my firm (to the point where I just moved to an available closed desk by myself ).

 

[small.wonder]

Really great, thanks for posting this! I totally relate to the wilderness thing and the need for schools and workplaces to value solitary work more. It's interesting for the most part that she seems to classify introverts as "people pleasers" and extroverts as stronger characters. I truly believe there are some of each on both sides, like 9 is a compliant introvert and 4 is more independent and likely to speak out (just an example).

 

[Geonat]

We aren't

Julian Treasure: The 4 ways sound affects us | Talk Video | TED.com
(have a look at 1:50 - 2:30 for example)

and weren't alone

"Thus the sun shone on all statues, but only the statue of Memnon gave forth a sound. For this reason Kant, Gœthe, and Jean Paul were highly sensitive to every noise, as their biographers bear witness.13 Gœthe in his last years bought a house which had fallen into disrepair close to his own, simply in order that he might not have to endure the noise that would be made in repairing it. Thus it was in vain that in his youth he followed the drum in order to harden himself against noise. It is not a matter of custom. On the other hand, the truly stoical indifference to noise of ordinary minds is astonishing. No noise disturbs them in their thinking, reading, writing, or other occupations, while the finer mind is rendered quite incapable by it. But just that which makes them so insensible to noise of every kind makes them also insensible to the beautiful in plastic art, and to deep thought or fine expression in literary art; in short, to all that does not touch their personal interests. The following remark of Lichtenberg's applies to the paralysing effect which noise has upon highly intellectual persons: “It is always a good sign when an artist can be hindered by trifles from exercising his art. F—— used to stick his fingers into sulphur if he wished to play the piano.... Such things do not [pg 199] interfere with the average mind;... it acts like a coarse sieve” (Vermischte Schriften, vol. i. p. 398). I have long really held the opinion that the amount of noise which any one can bear undisturbed stands in inverse proportion to his mental capacity, and therefore may be regarded as a pretty fair measure of it. Therefore, if I hear the dogs barking for hours together in the court of a house without being stopped, I know what to think of the intellectual capacity of the inhabitants. The man who habitually slams the door of a room, instead of shutting it with his hand, or allows this to go on in his house, is not only ill-bred, but is also a coarse and dull-minded fellow. That in English “sensible” also means gifted with understanding is based upon accurate and fine observation. We shall only become quite civilised when the ears are no longer unprotected, and when it shall no longer be the right of everybody to sever the consciousness of each thinking being, in its course of a thousand steps, with whistling, howling, bellowing, hammering, whip-cracking, barking, &c. &c. The Sybarites banished all noisy trades without the town; the honourable sect of the Shakers in North America permit no unnecessary noise in their villages, and the Moravians have a similar rule."
[The World As Will And Idea, page 199]

 

[Aleria]

I love her TED talk. It's really accurate describing our world and characteristics. Showed this video to my ISFJ mom and she related a lot as well...

 

[entropie]

Explaining introvert in extrovert to extroverts, what has that to do with the power of introverts ?

 

[meowington]

Explaining introvert in extrovert to extroverts, what has that to do with the power of introverts ?

Yeah that is a good point. For that reason I think only introverts and/or intuitives will really grasp her message.
If you want extroverts to understand introverts, you...uhm wait you can't.

 

[Society]

Yeah that is a good point. For that reason I think only introverts and/or intuitives will really grasp her message.
If you want extroverts to understand introverts, you...uhm wait you can't.

i'm pretty sure i've met botanists who didn't have a jack lantern for a head - understanding something does not require being that something.


thats being said:

Explaining introvert in extrovert to extroverts, what has that to do with the power of introverts ?

in a more recent tedtalk Andrew Solomon said something that can provide an interesting context for this:
"Identity politics always works on two fronts: to give pride to people who have a given condition or characteristic, and to cause the outside world to treat such people more gently and more kindly. Those are two totally separate enterprises, but progress in each sphere reverberates in the other."
in that context, the goal of ascribing "the power of introverts" is not about accurately attributing power or advantage, it's making introverted feeling empowered - inspiring pride.

the bias here is not ill intended or even motivated by fear: on the outside, introversion shares a shallow resemblance with symptoms of depression, not really to a greater degree then you can say extroversion shares some shallow resemblance with mania, but while the difference between extroverted behavior and mania are easily noticeable since the spectrum is external, the difference between introversion and depression are a lot less so, since they would manifest internally. people feeling sorry for introverted family members and friends is not condescension, but it is presumption.

 

[Typh0n]

If you want extroverts to understand introverts, you...uhm wait you can't.

Why not?(this is an honest question)

 

[five sounds]

yeah, i'm an extrovert, and i feel like i understand introverts. i'm not always on their page of course, but i think it just takes really getting to know a few.

 

[entropie]

in a more recent tedtalk Andrew Solomon said something that can provide an interesting context for this:
"Identity politics always works on two fronts: to give pride to people who have a given condition or characteristic, and to cause the outside world to treat such people more gently and more kindly. Those are two totally separate enterprises, but progress in each sphere reverberates in the other."
in that context, the goal of ascribing "the power of introverts" is not about accurately attributing power or advantage, it's making introverted feeling empowered - inspiring pride.

Sure, I didnt think differently.

the bias here is not ill intended or even motivated by fear: on the outside, introversion shares a shallow resemblance with symptoms of depression, not really to a greater degree then you can say extroversion shares some shallow resemblance with mania, but while the difference between extroverted behavior and mania are easily noticeable since the spectrum is external, the difference between introversion and depression are a lot less so, since they would manifest internally. people feeling sorry for introverted family members and friends is not condescension, but it is presumption.

Thats a good point, tho mania and extroversion are equally tough to distinguish, since the spectrum underlies subjective interpretation. If the maniac is charming enough, all critic gets lost.

So I dont know, why introverts would need special treatment now.

 

[meowington]

Why not?(this is an honest question)

What I meant is basically this :
“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” -Elbert Hubbard
Nothing more, nothing less.

I do not want to imply introverts have an advantage. But let's face it : It's actually considered as a disadvantage by folks who will never know better.

“In an extroverted society, the difference between an introvert and an extrovert is that an introvert is often unconsciously deemed guilty until proven innocent.” -Criss Jami, Venus in Arms
Yeah...I googled "quotes introverts"

Of all 4 MBTI dichotomies I lately think introversion / extraversion is the hardest to distinguish. I know someone who came out as ESTP, while he barely even speaks ! And I'm pretty sure I would get typed as an extrovert if I asked my aquintances. So it's a really thin line. And perhaps it's better not to make bold statements on it.

 

[Typh0n]

What I meant is basically this :
“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” -Elbert Hubbard
Nothing more, nothing less.

I do not want to imply introverts have an advantage. But let's face it : It's actually considered as a disadvantage by folks who will never know better.

“In an extroverted society, the difference between an introvert and an extrovert is that an introvert is often unconsciously deemed guilty until proven innocent.” -Criss Jami, Venus in Arms
Yeah...I googled "quotes introverts"

Of all 4 MBTI dichotomies I lately think introversion / extraversion is the hardest to distinguish. I know someone who came out as ESTP, while he barely even speaks ! And I'm pretty sure I would get typed as an extrovert if I asked my aquintances. So it's a really thin line. And perhaps it's better not to make bold statements on it.

Thanks for clarifying, I understand better what you meant now.

I agree that we live in a highly extraverted society, which doesnt necessarily have more extroverts as much as it values extroversion. We value only presentation, appearance, success, dynamism, "go for it" attitutudes and believe it or not, even as an extravert myself, it gets old to hear about...like what about the part of ourselves that wants to draw inward, introspect, understand, gain insight, wisdom etc? Why are these things never valued?

 

[OptoGypsy]

I'd have sex with her for her spunkiness and/in opening up my eyes to how interesting introverts can be (INs)