42: The Inner Theatre of Introverts

It is common knowledge that introverts use an inner theatre of thought to formulate and refine ideas, while extroverts have a bias for expressing thoughts early and refining them through dialog and interaction.  Introverts are under the constant compulsion to utter only well-rehearsed words.  Every sentence should be an exquisite rendition of a finely sculpted thought.  In certain conditions, this compulsiveness towards lapidary expression might develop into a kind of paranoia.  Then it’s like drinking undiluted Ribena: it’s cloyingly sweet and unappetizingly concentrated; it offends the taste buds.

I get the feeling sometimes that introverts exert immense mental energy to put up a spectacular cerebral performance, but the performance takes place while the stage curtain is down.  The acrobatics and virtuosity of a dozen different actors are screened from the audience.  At long last, a lone, impassive performer steps forward to face the audience, and attempts to sum up the dazzling panache behind the curtain in a few words, and ends up sounding like Deep Thought’s answer to Life the Universe & Everything: “42”.

I also wonder if any scientific study has every been conducted on a possible correlation between introversion and real or perceived geekiness.  It is a fascinating subject for scientific inquiry.  Is the essential geek just a pristine introvert with an internal process of distilling ideas, so that what comes out just sounds geeky to a school audience?  In a few years, that same style – out of place in school hallways – commands board-rooms and generates admiration.