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As one man wrote, “Noise pollution? I think this is true. Perfect example: I'm in
bathroom at work standing at a urinal, doing my business. If someone walks in - another introvert - they will just do their business and leave. If an extrovert - like one of
sales guys - walks in - immediately conversation ensues. ‘How bout those Mets?’ type conversation. Drives me berserk.”
A woman on
Forum replied, “If you think that’s bad, I’ve been in
women’s room when someone initiates a call from
stall next to me and carries on a perky conversation with their boyfriend. That’s when I start flushing
toilet so perhaps she will be ashamed when someone on
other end hears what she’s doing. What has happened to people’s sense of decency?”
Aside from annoyance in public places, noise can disrupt one of
things we introverts do best, contemplation. Introverts learn by turning facts into knowledge. We like to “think it over” and “connect
dots”. Contrary to popular belief by suspicious extroverts, that is more than likely what we are doing in our rooms with
doors closed – thinking something over!
Schopenhauer explains beautifully what happens when noise these deep thoughts of ours. “I explain
matter as follows,” he says. “as when a large diamond is broken to pieces its value is equal to only so many little diamonds, or when an army is reduced to small units it becomes ineffective, so when a great mind is interrupted, disturbed and distracted it is capable of no more than a commonplace mind, because its superiority consists in concentrating all its forces on one single point and object, in
same way as a concave mirror concentrates all its rays, and this is precisely what noisy interruption prevents it from doing.”
Schopenhauer is referring to
fantastic ability most introverts have to focus. This is one of
reasons we get our work done at work rather than sitting around
coffee room indulging in small talk. This isn’t even tempting to most of us. Most of us would rather die than small talk, truth be known. While we concentrate, we pull all our thoughts together to focus them on a point, contrast, synthesis or greater understanding. This is
way we think. This is
way we learn. When that process is interrupted, all is lost!
Schopenhauer continues, “That is why eminent minds have always been so extremely averse to every kind of disturbance, interruption and distraction, and most of all to violent interruption by noise, while
rest are not especially troubled by it.” Perhaps not all introverts have “eminent” minds, and certainly few have minds like Schopenhauer; however, there is a known statistical correlation between introversion, giftedness, PhDs and Phi Beta Kappas. It would seem that
higher you go in education and IQ intelligence,
ratio of introverts to extroverts reverses itself with a majority of Rhodes Scholars being introverts, for example.
Think of
most beautiful library you have ever seen a picture of and how soothing it is to imagine yourself sitting there reading or contemplating in “perfect” silence. Now that’s what we call “fun”! Almost every introvert I know, when dragged on a cruise, spends their time in
ships library. For us, silence can be very golden.
Last time I was in :Las Vegas -- extrovert Heaven -- my table at breakfast permitted me to eat, drink, chit chat, watch games on TV, buy tickets, mark cards and romance
waitress all at
same time. This is extrovert Heaven. Extroverts welcome diversion, distraction and interruption. What goes on in their minds? Schopenhauer said it pretty well, “Where there is nothing to interrupt, to be sure, it will cause no especial discomfiture.”

Nancy R. Fenn is the IntrovertZCoach. Her mission in life is to raise consciousness about introversion as a legitimate personality style. Visit Nancy on the web at www.theintrovertzcoach.com