Against Ayn Rand, Vol. 3: Introversion, Shyness, and the Transmission and Production of Knowledge and Information

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the problem of non-competitive (cooperative) people in a competitive society (capitalist system). The post was speculative and did not provide any concrete thoughts on how this might manifest itself. There was, however, a fascinating piece that came out in the Sunday Review section of the NY Times about shyness and introversion that seems directly related to the previous discussion.

Susan Cain posits that shyness could actually be naturally selected for, an evolutionary advantage so to speak, but only when balanced by a greater natural selection for extroversion. Cain's argument is that the over-prescription of drugs to treat social anxiety disorder could be a detriment to the advancement of the human species. Because introverts provide a different style of leadership, and are often at the vanguard of art and science, it's necessary that society not exclude them systematically, whether that system be natural or prescribed.

Unfortunately, writes Cain, "Shyness and introversion share an undervalued status in a world that prizes extroversion... As a society, we prefer action to contemplation, risk-taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. Studies show that we rank fast and frequent talkers as more competent, likable, and even smarter than slow ones."

Such research is not new. Over eight years ago now, Jonathan Rauch published a piece on introversion in the Atlantic Monthly. The piece read as a coming out: "My name is Jonathan, and I am an introvert." Rauch had much the same thing to say about introverts' role in the world. "Introverts may be common, but they are also among the most misunderstood and aggrieved groups in America, possibly the world."

Yet in spite of the misperceptions about introverts, they possess above average intelligence, and are often good at a different set of skills than extroverts. Nevertheless society deems them, all other things being equal, to be not quite as good as their extroverted counterparts.

In a competitive environment in which one has to compete against others for attention, introverts are at even more of a disadvantage. They feel awkward in social groups, and are exhausted by being around other people. And introverts are clearly underrepresented in politics because of the generally outgoing nature required for a political campaign. In essence, in all public life, where sociality and extroversion are advantages, introverts are marginalized.

So what would Ayn Rand say. It is my guess that, given introverts' advantages in some capacities and generally higher than average intelligence, Rand would suggest that the public sphere is misguided for not rewarding introversion more. In fact, employers who don't value introversion are unnecessarily harming themselves by failing to devise a system that takes such a character trait into account. And she would not be wrong.

But there's a flip side to Rand's answer that is unaccounted for in her writing. What if you don't know what you don't know - the infamous unknown unknowns of Donald Rumsfeld. What if society has no idea that it is systematically oppressing a minority of people? What if society doesn't know that by altering its norms and increasing its understanding about an issue it has never thought about, it could produce better, more efficient results? What if we live in a constant state of societal anosognosia?

Even if one person, say Susan Cain or Jonathan Rauch, were to uncover the truth - that it would be better for society to account for its current norms that disadvantage introverts - it would be advantageous to such people to keep that information secret. And it is in this area - the transmission and production of knowledge and information - that Rand's philosophy breaks down. Rand argues that society is at its most efficient when each pursues her individual interests, but here we have a case where this is simply false. By pursuing one's own interests in matters of information, one can actually disadvantage society as a whole.

Again, I have not attempted to attack Rand's philosophy head on here. That will come. But I did want to highlight these articles about introversion and shyness. They are wonderful. If you like the article by Rauch, there is a follow-up here and an interview with him here.