Philosophy
Had a student raise this question with me the other day. In our culture, we reward the extrovert. Putting yourself out there is seen as evidence of substance of character. The great individual is the one who acts, not who watches. Be a leader, not a sheep. Being reserved and quiet is only acceptable if it is done in the Dirty Harry, strong, but silent, coiled snake, ready to strike-type way. We treat boldness as intrinsically good, but is it? Does the shy person lack a self-confidence that one should have?
While there is certainly pathological shyness that will keep one from doing what it is that needs to be done, we're talking here about being a garden-variety introvert who just avoids calling attention to him or herself, who doesn't like the limelight, who does not seek attention or leadership roles. Do people who are shy need to learn to get over it for more than pragmatic reasons? Is there something that diminishes you as a human being for being shy? Is shyness a personality flaw?
- Betty Ford's Contribution
Let us raise a glass to the memory of Betty Ford. Yes, a bad joke. What Betty Ford did is to bring the notion of addiction into a new cultural place. Before Betty Ford, the alcoholic was the drunk, someone dirty, unable to hold down a job, living in the...
- Is Variety The Spice Of Life?
Is there an inherent worth to variety? Is it a response to the modern notion of boredom that doesn't come about until industrialization gives us leisure and people trying to sell us things to do with our leisure time? The word "bored" doesn't...
- Can You Argue From Ignorance?
There is a standard reasoning error called "argument from ignorance" which is asserting that a lack of proof for something is proof of its falsity. For example, before I was about to teach this fallacy for the first time I came into the room to find the...
- Judging Actions, Judging People
One of the barriers to robust moral discourse in our society is a reluctance on the part of smart, thoughtful, caring people to make clear judgments about the actions of others, even when the actions are clearly wrong. One of the major sources of this...
- Why Have Children Of One's Own When One Could Adopt?
From an early age, most of us simple assume that we will have children. ("I'm never going to make my kids wear sweaters they don't like!"). And this assumption continues to influence our thought in early adulthood ("Well, I think when I have...
Philosophy
Is Shyness a Vice?
Had a student raise this question with me the other day. In our culture, we reward the extrovert. Putting yourself out there is seen as evidence of substance of character. The great individual is the one who acts, not who watches. Be a leader, not a sheep. Being reserved and quiet is only acceptable if it is done in the Dirty Harry, strong, but silent, coiled snake, ready to strike-type way. We treat boldness as intrinsically good, but is it? Does the shy person lack a self-confidence that one should have?
While there is certainly pathological shyness that will keep one from doing what it is that needs to be done, we're talking here about being a garden-variety introvert who just avoids calling attention to him or herself, who doesn't like the limelight, who does not seek attention or leadership roles. Do people who are shy need to learn to get over it for more than pragmatic reasons? Is there something that diminishes you as a human being for being shy? Is shyness a personality flaw?
- Betty Ford's Contribution
Let us raise a glass to the memory of Betty Ford. Yes, a bad joke. What Betty Ford did is to bring the notion of addiction into a new cultural place. Before Betty Ford, the alcoholic was the drunk, someone dirty, unable to hold down a job, living in the...
- Is Variety The Spice Of Life?
Is there an inherent worth to variety? Is it a response to the modern notion of boredom that doesn't come about until industrialization gives us leisure and people trying to sell us things to do with our leisure time? The word "bored" doesn't...
- Can You Argue From Ignorance?
There is a standard reasoning error called "argument from ignorance" which is asserting that a lack of proof for something is proof of its falsity. For example, before I was about to teach this fallacy for the first time I came into the room to find the...
- Judging Actions, Judging People
One of the barriers to robust moral discourse in our society is a reluctance on the part of smart, thoughtful, caring people to make clear judgments about the actions of others, even when the actions are clearly wrong. One of the major sources of this...
- Why Have Children Of One's Own When One Could Adopt?
From an early age, most of us simple assume that we will have children. ("I'm never going to make my kids wear sweaters they don't like!"). And this assumption continues to influence our thought in early adulthood ("Well, I think when I have...