There’s this idea that introverts are intentionally making themselves ‘unhappy’ by thinking too much and ‘wasting their lives’ in thought before taking any, if any, action.
Although every introvert will tell you that it’s just a myth and a perception that has gone off-rails in the first words of the interpretation of their personality, extroverts can’t help but misunderstand the reality that the introverts are experiencing.
And there’s a simple reason for that: It’s not just a choice of personality – it’s the fact that introverts and extroverts have different brains. They are hardwired to perceive the world differently, and thus act differently.
Psychologists have made the distinction between these completely opposite personalities long ago, but it hasn’t been until the recent decades that they were able to measure the difference in terms of how their brains function.
It turns out that the brains of the introverts and extroverts are so different, that even the cerebral blood flow is more focused in different areas for these two types of people. Namely, positron emission tomography (PET) scans have shown that the introverts had more blood flow to their frontal lobes and anterior thalamus – areas responsible for solving problems, recalling events, and making plans.
Which is more, introverts have been shown to have an increased neural activity in the brain regions associated with vigilance control, motor control, and learning, while their premotor cortexes have the ability to process external stimuli more quickly.
In other words, introverts are, in fact, much more capable of perceiving the environment around them and can easily become overstimulated by it because of that. As for the thoughts, it turns out that it’s not just a choice: they are a natural part of the introvert’s brain and can serve high purposes if pointed to the right direction.
So, introverts, no, you shouldn’t beat yourselves up for ‘thinking too much,’ because that’s just the right amount of thought that you are designed to possess. Imagine a world filled with extroverts only, really – it would be quite chaotic.
It’s true that taking action is not one of your first choices in many situations, but without introverts, extroverts may lose themselves in the impulsive steps they are prone to take.
In fact, it has been shown time and time again that teams of extroverts and introverts achieve the best results because of their complementary skills. Take Apple’s Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, or Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg.
It’s true that what an extrovert can do an introvert will need to peel their face off to achieve – but that’s not much different from the extrovert perspective in what introverts can do.
In the end, some of the greatest thinkers were introverts. Einstein, Bill Gates, Mahatma Gandhi, Warren Buffet, and Abraham Lincoln are just some of the names that fall into the introverted group.
Maybe many can’t even imagine the saga that is unfolding in your mind in every minute of the day (and perhaps it’s best that you don’t try to explain it to them), but without your power of thought, many things would be out of order.
Stay the thinker you were born to be and don’t feel bad about diving deep into your mind. That’s a world that many aren’t brave enough to delve into, and which many need to be aware of.
However, whatever you do, don’t let yourself become too anxious about things, and be brave enough to take the steps you have devised so meticulously. In the end, a well-calculated move is a move worth making!
Inspired by iRelease
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.