Welcome to another book review from me based on a quote from a book. Today's writing will be from the book Quiet by Susan Cain, and the quote says:
“There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”
The quote is a straightforward challenge to the perceived notion that the most outspoken one is the person with value, and attention should follow. In our society today, we are governed by the belief that people who talk more often with a lot of confidence have wisdom and intelligence within them. It made me wonder if Susan Cain is leaning towards the direction that the emptiest barrel makes the loudest noise. Is she trying to say we should not mistake outspokenness for intelligence? Well, one thing is for sure: she is going to challenge her readers' thoughts about where intelligence lies.
She goes on to say that it relies more on understanding depth. It is not just about having the confidence to talk or being the one to jump on the mic first; it is about how well you know what you are talking about. It is all about reflection and solitude. How much have you spent to dwell extensively on what you have to say? Have you thought about it deeply, and how much do you know when questions come into play? The author believes that the true intelligence of one's knowledge can be seen when they encounter questions and challenges on the topic at hand.
She goes on to back the challenge by stating that this is where introverts strive more. They spend a lot of their time thinking and dwelling deeply in their thoughts, which is a reflection of true intelligence. In Susan Cain's simple words, spending time in solitude and reflection shows intelligence. Going back to the genesis of the quote, it borders on the difference between expression and depth. Expression is centered on the words and what you have to say, while depth is centered on how much time you have spent thinking about what you have to say. Now you get why Susan Cain believes that introverts have more to say. It is because they spend a lot of their time thinking deeply about what they have to say before they say it. It is about the depth, as it brings more knowledge to share. For instance, two people have a task to present, one spends 6 hours on what they have to say for the task, while the other spends 6 minutes; it is obvious to say that one person will be more knowledgeable about what they have to say compared to the other person.
The author of the book makes us understand that although we live in a world that rewards being fast to speak and mistakes silence for lack of confidence, we should not forget to understand that it is all about the time spent on thinking before speaking. She goes on to state that most innovation in the world was carried out by people who stayed silent while they did their thinking. It is not about being quick to speak, but it is about leaning towards the strength of thinking and spending more time with our thoughts before we speak. There is freedom of speech, but we should not forget to think before we speak.
I am , a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.
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