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

they camouflage signs of a nervous system
on overdrive. Sunglasses prevent
others from seeing our eyes dilate with
surprise or fear; we know from Kagan’s
work that a relaxed torso is a hallmark
of low reactivity; and alcohol removes
our inhibitions and lowers our arousal
levels. When you go to a football game
and someone offers you a beer, says the
personality psychologist Brian Little,
“they’re really saying hi, have a glass of
extroversion.”
Teenagers understand instinctively
the physiology of cool. In Curtis Sittenfeld’s
novel Prep, which explores the
adolescent social rituals of boardingschool
life with uncanny precision, the
protagonist, Lee, is invited unexpectedly
to the dorm room of Aspeth, the
coolest girl in school. The first thing
she notices is how physically stimulating
Aspeth’s world is. “From outside the
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