Perhaps shyness would be less of a problem if we considered it a special grace to be celebrated, rather than a disease to be cured. Shyness may even be a necessary element in developing and maintaining intimacy. And, paradoxically, maybe we can only act publicly in a vital way so long as shyness guards the sanctuary of our privacy. To offer a panacea to shyness, to sing of its virtues, may allow it to assume an honored place within the economy of emotions. Before we begin, let us eliminate certain extremes from our definition of shyness. At times of disease, tragedy, and radical transitions, most of us have flashes of rampant paranoia, when the world seems hostile, other people are strangers, and we are too vulnerable to be open to chaos. Fortunately, these moments pass, for all except those who become imprisoned within neurosis or psychosis. But momentary fear is not to be confused with its distant relative-shyness-nor can it be eliminated by any means short of lobotomy. Normal shyness is, at worst, a tendency to withdraw from contact with anything that is strange, it is rooted in feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem. But, at best, shyness may be inexperience, modesty, or reserve, an inner trembling in the face of novelty. If the social situation demands that we move toward intimacy more rapidly than is comfortable, shyness is a painful reminder of the distance between social demands and our private rhythms. All of us are shy at times, because the world is full of wonders, and we are small and relatively ignorant. To value shyness is to cherish the interior life it protects. Within each of us is a private world filled with vulnerable and savage thoughts, feelings, and dreams. It is within this inner wilderness that the uniqueness of the self dwells. Beneath the social roles we have agreed to play, beneath the personality, the essential self remains free. The will and the imagination are untamed. To be a person is to know that the sum of my behaviors is only a small part of my self. In my solitude, I may entertain thoughts as intricate as Aristotle’s or as twisted as de Sade’s, or watch a conflict between duty and desire as fierce as any civil war. We are poverty-stricken when we are conditioned to assume only an extroverted social identity and to neglect the inner life. Shyness is a natural defense of our vulnerable sanctuary of self against the intrusion of insensitive and careless strangers. Nobody but a fool keeps open house for all comers. Friendship requires time and commitment. And the barriers of shyness fall of their own accord when a relationship lengthens and deepens in trust. A look at the social and psychological imperatives in a technological culture shows why shyness has come to be considered a disease that must be cured. Technology conditions us to believe that speed, efficiency, and productivity are of prime value. Hence, we come to understand ourselves on the model of the machine: our brains are elaborate biocomputers housed in a feedback apparatus called a body. To exist in this Brave New World, we have learned to divide our time into convenient segments(40-hour weeks) for efficient management and to develop enough aggression to beat the competition. To prepare ourselves to live in a competitive world, we adopt what Erich Fromm called a"marketing orientation." We construct personalities that are stylish and conform to the demands of a market economy. The author’s main point or thesis is that shyness is______. [A] a social disease for which we must seek a cure [B] a tendency to withdraw from anything strange [C] a special grace to be celebrated, without which we cannot remain human [D] a natural defence of our vulnerable sanctuary of self against outside disturbance