Shrinking Violets by Joe Moran – review

A cultural historian looks at fascinating stories of the socially awkward, from Cicero to MorrisseyShyness: a word to be whispered, these days. If the Victorians saw it as an unwavering disposition, a force all but impossible to beat, our own age tends to regard it – rather more dubiously, in my opinion – as a condition to be cured, whether with the platitudes of self help, or with drugs such as Prozac and Zoloft (for this, alas, we may trace some of the blame back to the stricter Freudians, who liked to pathologise those bad at talking). Either way, it ha s certainly stuck around down the centuries, an evolutionary quirk that serves no purpose whatsoever save to make those who suffer from it anxious and lonely. Among its earliest victims were Zeno, the Greek philosopher, and Cicero, the greatest orator of ancient Rome.Related:What lies beneath: an introvert ’s guide to fiction – and lifeContinue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: History Books Culture Psychology Source Type: news