While it is more and can be even more than this, most of Hive is socially orientated with a large part of the distribution mechanism being through social interaction, network and relationship development and the ability to produce something of perceived value to an audience willing to place some value on it - this generally means attracting attention, either directly or indirectly.
In this regard, I often hear people speak of themselves as being disadvantaged because they are not outgoing, that they are introverts. Maybe they are disadvantaged because of this, but there seems to be some kind of extended assumption made that other people who are able to be social are not similar to themselves, without recognizing that at least some percentage of them have overcome their lack of social ability.
I find it interesting that while we hear why some people can't do something or why others can, very, very rarely is intelligence the reason. You might hear someone say, it is because you are extroverted - but you don't hear them say, it is because you are smarter than me. It seems that people don't mind comparing themselves unfavorably in a range of factors - but when it comes to intelligence, they draw the line.
I suspect that a great deal of who we are is genetic and not up to us, but this doesn't mean that we can't affect the outcomes in some way or mitigate the limitations of some aspects of our lives. I have a friend who is painfully shy, yet he has not only learned to present to people, he took up improv and performs on stage in front of people - often not even in his native language. Native language is an interesting area in this regard, as we are heavily invested in our mother tongues, yet when we speak in second, third or fourth languages, we are far less emotionally restricted.
I have taught English as a second language in a business context for almost two decades, and one of the things I drive for those who struggle with their confidence is to play a role. This is easy when there isn't the emotional attachment to the words, in the same way that an actor can play a very different character to their own and still have the audience believe them, even though the last movie they saw them in might have had them playing a very different character again.
With this approach, I have seen introverted musicians shine extrovertedly in front of their audience as when they are on stage, they are no longer "themselves" as they might put it. But then, who are they? Yeah, they might be playing a role, but it is still them playing it, meaning that role is also a facet of them - a position that they can take - While it might be emotionally separated, it isn't physically disconnected.
I wonder how many of the singers of the bands were shy music students as children, how many sporting stars struggled to make eye contact - is the attention economy made up of extroverts, or is it that people are acting as extroverts because that is what the environment demands?
Maybe it is like the idea of Heroes aren't born, they are made and it is dependent on the situation at hand as to which facet of them appears. While we might like to take the position that we can't do something because of the way we were born, we also like to take the position that we can do something because of the effort we put in - so which is it?
Of course, while we are all born with different genetics and predispositions on a spectrum for everything that is important to us, we also have some say in how we use what we have and how we develop our potential through where we focus our energy. Often, we will favor investing into the areas that we like and where we are most likely to already succeed, but most things of value have more than one contributing factor to it. Being tall and able to jump high, doesn't make a basketball player, singing well doesn't make one a lead in a band - ignoring the other factors involved will likely reduce the possibility of success to a point approaching zero.
When it comes to something like introversion, there is no reason that someone has to overcome theirs unless they want to enter into an area where extroversion is valued. Even then, it doesn't mean they won't succeed, but the person will have to find a niche that favors their personality in order to thrive. You are probably in for a tough time if getting into a game knowing the rules and then complaining after the fact, because the rules aren't suitable for who you are or what you are willing to do to play.
I believe that we can't do anything if we put our mind to it, but we can do a great deal if we try to understand ourselves and see where we can enhance our skill profile and find better fits for our personality. But, this is also going to end in lots of failure and people like to have reasons as to why they failed or why someone else succeeded doing the same thing. Rather than complaining, it is probably best to learn to cope with failure - another skill area - as is learning how to get up and try again.
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage many of us face is believing that we can't affect who we are enough, that we don't find out that it isn't true. While we can't do anything, we can always do something to improve upon today.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
