It’s a good time to be an introvert …

ByHeather

… in the last ten years or so, there’s been a major economic resurgence for introversion—the “geek” economy. The prototypical geek is really good at thinking, has superb powers of concentration (which tends to be an introvert trait), and works very well independently. They’re often pretty awesomely brilliant people, and they’re fairly defiant about being geeks. They’ve turned this word “geek” into a term that’s almost romantic in some ways, and through the Silicon economy, they’ve been massively innovative and economically important. A lot of them are running circles around the extroverts who are selling shoes. So I think part of what’s happened lately is that the digital economy is giving introverts a new place in the sun.

In 2003 Jonathan Rauch wrote a short essay for The Atlantic called Caring for Your Introvert: The habits and needs of a little understood group. The reaction was overwhelming.

In 2006, The Atlantic followed up with Jonathan in an article and interview titled Introverts of theWorld, Unite!

In 2011 it is as true as ever. It’s a good time to be an introvert.

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