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globalnodetoday at 1:16 AM5 repliesview on HN

what about just owning your own lack of confidence as a strength? performative confidence seems dishonest and a bit like cheating to me. also on that matter, why is confidence == good?


Replies

pier25today at 2:11 AM

> why is confidence == good?

Speaking from experience as an introvert who suffered social anxiety...

A lot of people (probably extroverts) don't respond well when you're expressing anxiety and/or doubt. Clients won't want to work with you. People won't want to be around you at parties. Co-workers will speak behind your back about the weird person. Etc.

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foobarbecuetoday at 1:26 AM

The goal isn't to fake it. The goal is to build actual confidence. That doesn't mean being loud or funny, just learning how to communicate without panicking.

JonChesterfieldtoday at 1:20 AM

Introversion is not lack of confidence.

And confidence is good because it's a signal of competence, or at least that things have gone well for you in the past in similar situations.

cyberaxtoday at 1:50 AM

A lot of introverts are quite likely to be somewhere on the autism spectrum.

For example, I can't unconsciously read expressions. I scored worse than blind guessing on the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test". So I consciously learned to read and mimic expressions, literally using a textbook for theater performers. So now I can score at the upper range of neurotypical people.

Other introverts often have problems recognizing social cues or initiating conversations. Purely because it's not _natural_ for them, even though they might _want_ to actually speak to people.

So is it kind of performative? Yes. But think about this, extroverts are doing a lot of same tricks subconsciously. Does it mean that they're _always_ performing?

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dartharvatoday at 3:08 AM

All confidence is performative confidence bro