“What is so magical about solitude?... When you practice deliberately, you identify the tasks or knowledge that are just out of your reach, strive to upgrade your performance, monitor your progress, and revise accordingly. Group sessions fall short of this standard and are not only less useful-they’re counterproductive” (Cain 81).
In several of my personal experiences, the kids who fail to speak up in class are the very kids who hold the answers. For example, I recently made friends with one of the quietest girls in my AP Chemistry class. Every day I would walk into class early and we’d be the only two there. One day I struck up a conversation about the book she was reading as I had just finished it the week before. She was very sweet, sharing her opinions and asking my own. A few days later I was struggling with the electrochemistry unit we had just begun and as I called to my teacher for help during our usual work time, the normally transparent girl turned and offered to explain it to me. Let me tell you, nothing had ever seemed so clear to me than her explanation, proving once again that there is often a hidden value to the silent, no matter what the outside may portray. Introversion is often ignored as the people who contain the quality more often than not keep to themselves. Cain frequently attributes great qualities and potential to the introverts. As quiet as these people are, their contributions are surprisingly loud. Her book gives tremendous examples of contribution’s the introverts have made to society.
“Persistence isn’t very glamorous. If genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the one percent. We love the flash and dazzle. But great power lies in the other ninety-nine percent. “It’s not that I’m so smart, said Einstein, who was a consummate introvert. It’s that I stay with problems longer”(Cain 169).
These contributions range from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series all the way to Albert Einstein’s E=MC^2. She also elaborates on the qualities introverts possess that give them an edge over the common extrovert. First and foremost, these less apparent people in a world of constant noise are some of the most creative and innovative of them all. This extensive creativity comes from an introverts typical patience, persistence, and amount of brain activity. I can make a case for these qualities, I am a huge Harry Potter fan, I’ve stayed up countless nights reading one more chapter, and bought tickets to all the midnight showings of the movies. Never in a million years would you guess that J.K. Rowling is a quiet individual by reading her books. They are filled with adventure, ridiculous details, comforting relationships, and action loaded battle scenes. The crowd of followers she has would leave you with the same impression; they are rowdy, crazy, obsessive, and above all, loud. The author, while a major aspect in this example, is nothing without her adoring fans.
The adoring fans, in this case, would be the extroverts. There is a definitely an acknowledgement from Cain to them (the extroverts) serving as an essential part of society. These people are most frequently the leaders; the CEO’s, the captains, the communicators, and above all, the people who put themselves out there. Cain states that extroverts make the world go ‘round. The extroverts take on an important role, responsibility. Although they may fail at times, they do it for the continual push forward, the push the rest of the world fails to make. Where would society be without great leaders? Martin Luther King Junior pushed the world to grant civil rights, only to be followed by several others taking leadership among other important battles: Susan B. Anthony with the women’s rights movement and Gandhi with the Indian independence movement. The fights would have never lasted a minute without the strength and bravery of their courageous beginners, nor would have they prospered without the less recognized support and efforts of the public. The less credited part of the powerful civil rights movement involves the actions of Rosa Parks. As her story goes, she was asked to move from her bus seat for a white man. She said no without raising her voice or making a scene. It was a small battle. Although she may have played a role in a pivotal movement she was never photographed for the paper or interviewed in the news. She preferred to have just played a small role. My explanation is nothing compared to Cain’s thoughtful acknowledgement:
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