Inner (and Outer) Cultures

It's probably not surprising that the idea of "culture" is swirling about my brain, especially as I have endured yet another gruelling odyssey over the International Date Line this week, nineteen hours of flight time from New York, via Taipei, all the way back to Bangkok.

But I guess it's a bit surprising that it's neither Thai nor American culture that has grabbed my attention, but rather the cultures of the Introvert and Extrovert as outlined by Susan Cain's wonderful book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a Word that Can't Stop Talking. 

Introvert Power!

I've only progressed through Part One, but it already has me cheering her engaging take on today's bombastic extrovert-created "Culture of Personality" (think multi-tasking, salesmanship, and self-promotion), which has given de facto power, influence, and a sense of entitlement to the aforementioned group (championing a "be all that you can be" message so long as the ultimate outcome is extroverted).  This imbalance is a more-recent-than-you-would-think change from the "Culture of Character," before the Turn into the 20th Century, which generally favored an introvert's measured, quieter approach.


The book has also introduced me to the concept of "Ambivert" which is basically an extrovert with strong introvert qualities (i.e. someone who can enjoy parties but who can also get overwhelmed and needs to recharge with a solo walk through the woods).  

I cheer so loudly because I've thought about this subject before, and because it is so easy to draw parallels with my own life, and the memories of painful lessons of early years, of a strong introvert personality (a stutterer no less, throughout elementary school) who struggled to cope with a school system and society that demanded that you "speak up" and "think and respond quickly" to things.  All of this probably forced me to move more toward a safer zone of "Ambivertism" (which I did by the end of high school).

Cain, in her book, points out that it is not about what we've gained from the wholesale move into extrovertism but what we've lost in not creating a more balanced world, how much we're forcing too many people to adopt the trappings of the great extrovert ideal, and recognising the power and capability of introverts (who are responsible for a great many powerful ideas and inventions ... one example given was Rosa Parks, the quiet woman who started a civil rights maelstrom with her simple action of sitting on a bus).

This early in the book, and I'm also beginning to see my longstanding comfort with life in Thailand in this cultural context.  Did I ultimately sync naturally with a more introvert-friendly nation after living for years in the uncomfortable extrovert's paradise of America?

Extrovert Power!

I remember clearly one time in graduate school when one of my professors asked me why I preferred teaching in Thailand, and I answered that I had felt more comfortable and derived more meaning from drawing out and encouraging shyer students (who are more prevalent in Thailand because of culture and upbringing) than in fighting for respect in the aggressive American classroom context.  I was motivated more, to be more creative in that context, and thus that was where I belonged.

And so, I guess this is about Thai and American culture, in the end, even though the focus isn't specifically about that, or more likely it's about something wider than that - the life-long travel, and self-empowerment and understanding, of another introvert-ambivert trying to find his place in this wide world of ours.

I'll keep reading and let you know ...