For Introverts, Quarantine Can Be a Liberation
The pandemic is also a time-out from our usual extrovert-dominated culture. We should make the best of that.
Newton had a good quarantine.
Photographer: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Quarantine during a pandemic can be traumatic, it goes without saying. But like all difficult times, it’s not equally harrowing for everybody, and potentially even liberating for some. That includes many in the large minority of the population who happen to be introverts.
The modern world in normal times — that is, without pandemics and quarantines — belongs indubitably to extroverts. In a buzzing economy, the outgoing salesperson is seen to be doing better than the reclusive boffin. In our open-plan offices, the butterfly who “brainstorms” in the pantry is regarded as a better team player than the taciturn steppenwolf punching at his keyboard. And so forth.