Opinion Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/opinion/sunday/26shyness.html

I found the above article and I agree with many of the things said in it. Though I am completely against all mood altering substances like Paxil, Zoloft, Prosac and others simply because they permanently rewire natural brains to make them something never before seen in the natural world, I agree with the author that Shyness is an evolutionary tactic of survival for the human race.

My wife, for example, is an extroverts extrovert. And she has 3 degrees including an MBA (master's in Business Administration) specializing in Non-profits. But she will often say to me that people who are more reclusive or shy like myself are necessary for society to function right. For example, though many people would call me very successful in everything I have attempted I was very shy from birth through ages 15. However, because I was also 6 foot 3 inches tall by age 15 all I had to do often was to stand somewhere and be quiet and people would often feel intimidated by my presence because of my height and strength physically. So, often I tried to reassure people of my good intentions by reaching out to them especially if I noticed that they were threatened by my size. And even though I would make myself seem much more harmless than I could potentially be in order to make them feel more comfortable around someone my size, still it brought me out of my basic shyness and I found myself quite able to protect all kinds of people just because of my size because I have always been physically fearless. In otherwords I'm not usually threatened by others words because of my size because most people are all words. However, with someone my size I know they are usually just a lot of words and no actions. So, often I became a protector of people along the way. As I moved into adulthood I also found that since I had listened to adults speak intelligent things all the time growing up that I had taken on a great deal of wisdom unlike many of my peers. So I tried to embody the wisdom I had garnered from listening to intelligent and wise adults all my life. I found myself becoming successful in life in almost all ways because of this tactic of mine. However, if I had not been shy enough to just listen attentively to the many wise adults in my life I could not have taken in fully this wisdom and would not have been able to embody this wisdom starting in my late teens and early twenties and would not have become as successful in all ways in my life as I have been.

So, if your children are shy just remember they are taking everything in. So, please give them good information so that they can benefit both you and themselves and society and become a benefit to everyone.