Every 3 - 6 months, this issue comes around and most of the same people echo the same opinions on the matter- with none changing their opinions or accepting other's perspectives on the issue. So I'll reiterate my positions, and probably will do the same 3 - 6 months from now, when someone else makes a post about this issue again.
First of all, I think there is a GREAT INJUSTICE being committed here against shyness by so easily throwing it into a sentence with Social Anxiety. I see shyness as a perfectly normal human personality trait; no different from any other personality type. Outgoing people do not necessarily care more about people or think positively of people, in some cases, they are extroverted due to their shallow feelings towards people.
There is nothing wrong with shyness or shy people. They do not hate people, or feel intimated by people, or have negative feelings or opinions towards people. Shyness is simply another flavor of human personality. It's like some people liking Vanilla ice cream and some people liking Chocolate ice cream. Some people like getting drunk with a herd of outgoing people, and some people prefer spending quality time with a few close friends and family. I think it's unfair and even illogical to associate shyness with the negative feelings and irrational fears of Social Anxiety.
This is like putting a Racist and an Homophobic together and saying they have the same underlying negative thinking because they are both prejudice. Are we to say that the Racist, is unconsciously homophobic, or that the homophobic is unconsciously racist. I think not. They are too independent traits, which sometimes can be found together but most of the time they are found independently.
Then there is the issue of several other disorders like Panic Disorder and Social Anxiety. Many people here have Social Anxiety but have never had a panic attack, while some people have many panic attacks but do not have social anxiety.
While fear is commonly offered as a universal link between the two, I think that that is more a feature of creativity than science. If we are to believe that people with Panic Disorders are unconsciously thinking negatively, can we then say that people with Social Anxiety are unconsciously having panic attacks?
I am open to just about any theory or opinion that can shed light on Social Anxiety or Panic Disorder, but I do not feel that "irrational thinking" should be used as a blanket to cover anything that remotely resemble Social Anxiety. People may have very similar behaviors, but they may have them for very different reasons.