THE CRYSTALLINE WALL- THE SHY AND QUIET

Some people are shy by nature, while others have been raised in cultures where confidence may be considered rude, competitive or showing off. They are scared of looking stupid in front of others whom they think are highly intelligent.

Truthfully, some people may fear that the Peter Principle is in effect: i.e., with their acceptance to Medical School they’ve reached their level of incompetence. This will with no doubt fade with time. Some may find the discussion boring, beneath their level of knowledge, or a waste of time and some may be depressed.

W. Compton Leith, a reclusive curator at the British Museum whose book Apologia Diffidentis (1908) is a pioneering anthropology of shy people, wrote that ‘they go through life like persons afflicted with a partial deafness; between them and the happier world there is as it were a crystalline wall which the pleasant low voices of confidence can never traverse’.

For example, in AIESEC, a quiet person might be a problem to a team. When someone is silent, others would have difficulty assessing their knowledge and attitudes in time to help or guide them. Being shy or hesitant in such situations can be a liability. However, an underlying assumption of small group learning and teamwork is ‘all for one and one for all’. That is, everyone is expected to contribute to the product, for all team members learning. To fail to take part is to shirk one’s social responsibility.

Shy people may be labeled as lazy, aloof, arrogant, etc. due to the fact that they are always quiet even when learning. They view group learning as individualistic, not cooperative. They expect no help from their peers.

Small group discussions can provide an opportunity to get to know people, both in terms of their breadth and depth of knowledge and in terms of attitudes and behaviors relevant to professional development.

Shyness is a part of being human. The world would be a more insipid, less creative place without it.

Yetunde Kayode
TM POST