So, first off, yes, I am an introvert. The older I get, the more introverted I am becoming. I don’t know why exactly.
As an introvert, I do not have an urge to tell others what I’m thinking or my opinion on something where I do not have specific or expert knowledge. But, boy oh boy, so many other people think that the world must know their opinions or their unique point of view. There is so much talking. All the time. About everything. Everywhere.
I have been told by bosses over the years that I should speak up more in meetings because, when I do, I make a larger impact than others. I want to say that I know enough to only speak up when I have something useful to say. Others feel that they have to find something to say about everything which means that most of the things they say are of little value. Of course, as an introvert, when I do say something out loud, I have already said it dozens of times in my head and thought through the possible reactions. It has been edited and vetted by other parts of my brain before you ever hear it. But, that takes a lot of work so don’t expect to hear a lot from me.
But, back to society in general. I am astounded by the number of people with deeply held opinions about a topic that is unimportant and was unknown to them just moments before. During the recent Winter Olympics, I was told by many people that the scoring for a Russian figure skater was not fair…for some reason. Now, I know these people and I am fairly certain that not only do they not understand the scoring system but they didn’t even think about figure skating until the Olympics started and will stop thinking about it once the Olympics have ended.
I know that social media has been conditioning us to share our thoughts as soon as they come into our heads. But, I encourage you to think about what you are going to share and decide whether the rest of the world needs to hear it.
