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

But when they embraced the Culture
of Personality, Americans started to focus
on how others perceived them.
They became captivated by people who
were bold and entertaining. “The social
role demanded of all in the new Culture
of Personality was that of a performer,”
Susman famously wrote. “Every American
was to become a performing self.”
The rise of industrial America was a
major force behind this cultural evolution.
The nation quickly developed
from an agricultural society of little
houses on the prairie to an urbanized,
“the business of America is business”
powerhouse. In the country’s early
days, most Americans lived like Dale
Carnegie’s family, on farms or in small
towns, interacting with people they’d
known since childhood. But when the
twentieth century arrived, a perfect
storm of big business, urbanization, and
74/929