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

Schwartz’s research suggests
something important: we can stretch
our personalities, but only up to a
point. Our inborn temperaments influence
us, regardless of the lives we lead.
A sizable part of who we are is ordained
by our genes, by our brains, by
our nervous systems. And yet the elasticity
that Schwartz found in some of the
high-reactive teens also suggests the
converse: we have free will and can use
it to shape our personalities.
These seem like contradictory principles,
but they are not. Free will can
take us far, suggests Dr. Schwartz’s research,
but it cannot carry us infinitely
beyond our genetic limits. Bill Gates is
never going to be Bill Clinton, no matter
how he polishes his social skills, and
Bill Clinton can never be Bill Gates, no
matter how much time he spends alone
with a computer.
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