
Emotional Intelligence
Brief Summary
“Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman is a fascinating book about how feelings are vital in our lives. It teaches us how understanding and controlling our emotions can help us build relationships and attain our goals.
Topics
Key points
Key idea 1 of 9
Do emotions make our lives more complicated? Will it be better for people to live without them? Actually, emotions play a crucial role because they give us benefits with the help of which we can make our lives more complete. One of those benefits is the ability to learn from our experience.
Our brain is able not only to memorize facts but also to recall our emotional state while doing something. It helps us learn from our memories. For instance, when a child touches a needle for the first time, they experience an unpleasant sensation. The child stores the memory. This is why the child will avoid touching the needle next time, as their brain associates this action with pain.
Emotions also allow us to understand how others feel. Hence we can anticipate their future actions. Imagine you meet a lady who seems badly upset. Her face looks furious, and she keeps spitting venom. These signs tell us how she feels and what she might do. They prepare us to react quickly. Think about that angry lady again. Your emotions act like a warning, making you sense a potential threat. Consequently, you instinctively take a defensive stance if she is likely to attack.
In addition, feelings generate motivation to act. To support this idea, let's consider a procedure called lobotomy, also referred to as "brain separation" surgery. This was a common practice in the 19th century, where doctors cut the link between two parts of the human brain. As a result, patients couldn't feel emotions as strongly as they did before the procedure. Thus, they lost the drive to take action and most of their ability to demonstrate empathy.
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