It's a great TED talk. I watched it & it described me almost perfectly. I had no idea about introvert /extrovert growing up. But I grew up back in the age where things were done on a more individual basis. Being an only child I had lots of alone time but also great times playing with the guys in the neighborhood & learning how to deal with my fears to make sure I was able to keep up with them being the "girl" in the neighborhood.

I was always quiet because I didn't want to say anything stupid like I saw my dad do even though he was an extreme introvert. I didn't want to embarrass myself the way he embarrassed me.....so I focused on studying & getting good grades while also being involved in activities I enjoyed. I was in orchestra from the time I was in 4th grade & always was involved in performances & recitals. In junior high I was never had a group of friends but was friends with all groups....I just never felt comfortable in group settings....but i ended up president of our girls scholastic club, president of orchestra & got to conduct it for a graduation piece we played & was a class representative in student counsel.....while being a totally quiet & non-extrovert person.

Music & marching & symphonic band stuck with me through my AA degree....& music & practicing is totally an alone sort of thing which suited me fine. Even though I excelled in school I always had to work hard which took lots of alone study time because I had no confidence in my intelligence given the family environment I lived in with my parents.

I ended up changing majors into accounting & computer science then got married. Even my 6 week trip to Rome Italy was a very alone experience. My H was working & I went out, took the metro into Rome & wandered around learning ancient history & finding interesting places to investigate while being open enough to talk quietly with fascinating people I ran into during my days.

My BS degree landed me a career as an aerospace computer design engineer..which meant lots of presentations to our military customers. Had to learn how to do presentations in front of a large group of people who knew what I should be talking about.

With all that, I was NEVER the life of any party or the loud person everyone knew....I was the quiet one who moved around in parties & took time to talk to many in small groups.

It took me years to even be able to speak out in larger groups I wasn't doing a presentation for....group participation other than listening only happened in the last 10 years as my confidence in my knowledge grew.

Introvert/extrovert is a spectrum sort of thing totally dependent on circumstances & sometimes pushing through the introvert at times when it's needed. Alone time for creativity is important while group gatherings to bring together thoughts & ideas is just as important also. We as humans unless on either extreme end ou the spectrum tend to adapt (when allowed) to what is needed in our lives which is constantly changing.

This TED talk is right on.