Introversion Is Nothing To Be Ashamed Of

Asim Nabi/Staff Writer

As I age, it has been difficult to be an introvert whether it’s work, school or in public. A wallflower is seen by people as someone who is nihilistic, narcissistic and owned by their own thoughts. 

I deny the claims of anyone seeing an introverted person as an egoistic one. 

Since I can remember, it was often the little things that made me stand out from the masses. The teenage conundrum of having fun and partying all night was not in my area of interest. I was a lonely person who was denying all the requests of socializing only to be labelled as an egocentric and disinterested person. 

For the most part our culture is biased towards the introverts. We think ill of them and regularly try to dehumanize them with labels such as anti-social and in need of therapy. We are not either of them, but when it comes to socializing, we are often selective.

We the introverts tend to lose our energy when we surround ourselves with masses of people who are not at all aligned with our interests. We need me-time to recharge ourselves, we need to journal to make our life easy, we need to sit with ourselves to sort out all the problems, we can never be the person that other people expect us to be if they compared us with other extroverts. There has never been a thing that was wrong with us but society always seems to reward the extroverted guy who can laugh all the time, even at unnecessary jokes. 

The theory of relativity, the theory of evolution, Tesla, the glowing of an electric bulb—all were accomplished by people who were not party animals but introverts. Humanity’s greatest achievement, whether from Steve Wozniak’s invention of the apple computer to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, was heavily achieved by introverts.

As the science journalist Winifred Gallagher writes: “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.”

Our classes and school are trying to reward the extrovert. Classrooms have an open design with a huge emphasis on working in teams and collaborating on countless projects. Kids who prefer to work by themselves don’t fit in. Research by educational psychology professor Charles Meisgeier found that the majority of teachers believe the ideal student is an extrovert — even though introverts tend to get higher grades, according to psychologist Adrian Furnham.

The same story continues with the work culture of ours where open spaces are a norm, with no respite from the noise and gaze of co-workers. And introverts are routinely passed over for leadership positions, even though research from the famous management professor Adam Grant at Wharton Business School, shows that introverted leaders often deliver better results.  They’re better at letting proactive employees run with their creative ideas, while extroverts can unwittingly put their own stamp on things and not realize that other people’s ideas aren’t being heard. 

The need for balance is important when it comes to productivity and creativity.  Charles Darwin took long walks alone in the woods and emphatically turned down dinner party invitations. Steve Wozniak invented the first Apple computer alone in his cubicle at Hewlett Packard. 

The fellow students who see themselves as strange, per se, should realize that there is something special about them. They don’t have to change for anyone out there if they are an introvert. 

If you’re an introvert like me, don’t try to disguise yourself as someone who you are not. You don’t have any disorder, it’s just the way you are designed. Enjoy being who you are.

Featured image by Mercado Viagens on Flickr.

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