quiet-the-power-of-introverts-in-a-world-that-cant-stop-talking-susan-cain

signals through the body that trigger
the fight-or-flight response. When the
Frisbee looks like it’s headed straight
for your nose, it’s your amygdala that
tells you to duck. When the rattlesnake
prepares to bite, it’s the amygdala that
makes sure you run.
Kagan hypothesized that infants born
with an especially excitable amygdala
would wiggle and howl when shown
unfamiliar objects—and grow up to be
children who were more likely to feel
vigilant when meeting new people. And
this is just what he found. In other
words, the four-month-olds who
thrashed their arms like punk rockers
did so not because they were extroverts
in the making, but because their little
bodies reacted strongly—they were
“high-reactive”—to new sights, sounds,
and smells. The quiet infants were silent
not because they were future
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