She stresses the importance of parenting and schooling in ensuring that individual kids are handled sympathetically. Their development is shaped by a combination of nature and nurture and both of these are plastic enough to be changeable by taking thought.
My thought trains: Sympathetic handling demands rejecting the ‘one size fits all’ way of thinking. Kids are of mixed ability and aspiration.
An unenlightened, formal education system acts as a sieve that uses a common curriculum and national examinations to separate the academically inclined from the rest.
An enlightened, formal education system has a core curriculum with extensions to meet the learning needs and styles of youngsters with different personalities and temperaments. Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences which include - musical–rhythmic, visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, logical–mathematical, bodily–kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential and moral. This led to the production of student profiles instead of academic report cards.
Given that she seems to have been systematic in covering the related literature I was disappointed that she did not give more attention to meditation and mindfulness. She notes that evolutionary psychology has the potential of uncovering the roots of human types but she does not develop that line of thinking.
“This book is about introversion as seen from a cultural point of view. Its primary concern is the age-old dichotomy between the “man of action” and the “man of contemplation,” and how we could improve the world if only there were a greater balance of power between the two types.
It focuses on the person who recognizes him-or herself somewhere in the following constellation of attributes: reflective, cerebral, bookish, unassuming, sensitive, thoughtful, serious, contemplative, subtle, introspective, inner-directed, gentle, calm, modest, solitude-seeking, shy, risk-averse, thin-skinned.
Quiet is also about this person’s opposite number: the “man of action” who is ebullient, expansive, sociable, gregarious, excitable, dominant, assertive, active, risk-taking, thick-skinned, outer-directed, lighthearted, bold, and comfortable in the spotlight.”
Cain, Susan (2012-03-29). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking (p. 269). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
Conclusion: she does not deliver on her hype but she has some attention grabbing stories and I read her cover to cover in only a few sessions.
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