Introverts in a Social World

This was an early draft for an article I wanted to write for my school paper, but it ultimately went another direction. Still, I would hate for it to just sit  there on my computer, so I decided to share it here. Let me know what you think of it!

Humans are pretty social beings. Out of all the animal species, we are the only ones that are capable of complex language. This has allowed us to efficiently communicate thoughts, feelings, concepts, basically anything, to each other in a relatively short time; pretty amazing when you think about it. As a result, our society has evolved into one which values those who are outgoing and social more so than those who possess a more reserved nature: introverts. As one of those introverts, I feel that I should speak up for those of us who feel stuck in an increasingly social world.

Of course, no one is ever completely introverted or extroverted, but for those leaning more on the former end of the spectrum, communication can be rather difficult. Though this does not apply to all introverts, there are a lot of us out there who feel socially uncomfortable, or anxious, more often than we’d like to be. Unlike extroverted individuals, introverts don’t become energized when they engage in conversation, in fact, quite the opposite happens. The more we socialize, the more drained we become, and after a while we have to be left alone to recharge our batteries before we can get back out there and face other people. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that introverts don’t enjoy company; we just prefer them in smaller doses, and in smaller groups.

A lot of people mistakenly think that introversion is a choice, when really it’s more of a personality trait that you’re born with. People are born with certain preferences for some things and aversions to others. Introversion can either be seen as preference for relative solitude or an aversion of large amounts of socialization. Of course, personality can be ‘molded’ to a certain extent by environmental factors and such, but you can’t really expect people to ‘change their minds’ about being introverted just by exposing them to more social contexts. Likewise, you wouldn’t expect someone who hates broccoli to change their mind about it because you keep shoving it in his face; the most that he could accomplish is develop a tolerance for it.

But society doesn’t seem to care too much about individuals spending time on their own; it would rather encourage and foster people to become more social and more outgoing. Look at the classroom setting, for example. Students are encouraged to raise their hands in class, to speak up or ask questions or participate. And that’s all well and good, but who actually has the advantage here? Is it the student who can barely find his voice, frozen in place, or the one who would gladly announce his presence to the whole class and make a good impression on the teacher?

Building a social network is another issue faced by many introverts. Whether it be making new friends or making those key connections for career purposes, a lot of introverts definitely have a harder time accomplishing those than others. How many students have been encouraged to join a club or some sort of group (on campus)? And how many actively seek out and join those groups? For some, joining those groups is probably a fun and exciting way to make new friends and connections, but for many others, it is a terrifying experience to enter a new and unfamiliar world. In a professional setting, a vast majority of jobs require some sort of human interaction on a daily basis. For those who have a job, chances are it requires you to talk to people at some point during the day, if not most of the day; which zaps more energy from introverts than they can optimally handle.

We undoubtedly live in a very social world. And with our rapidly growing population and technologies, it’s only going to get more interactive. Introverts are going to find it harder and harder to stay within their comfort zone in this brave new world. Basically, our society is giving us two choices: conform to our extroverted standards of living, or fail in life. Now I’m sure most of us introverts will get by no problem, we’ll be able to manage. But the extroverts will be the ones who excel, because that’s what society encourages. I want to make clear that I am in no way saying that what we have is a bad system. My only goal here is to hopefully raise awareness among the public that introverts are up against it. That's just the way it is and it's no one's fault.