15 Sep What factors are at play when people of high IQ flounder and those of modest IQ do surprisingly well? (DANIEL GOLEMAN)
What factors are at play when people of high IQ
flounder and those of modest IQ do surprisingly well? I would argue
that the difference quite often lies in the abilities called here emotional
intelligence, which include self-control, zeal and persistence, and the
ability to motivate oneself. And these skills, as we shall see, can be
taught to children, giving them a better chance to use whatever
intellectual potential the genetic lottery may have given them.
Beyond this possibility looms a pressing moral imperative. These
are times when selfishness, violence, and a meanness of spirit seem to be
rotting the goodness of our communal lives. Here the argument for
the importance of emotional intelligence hinges on the link between
sentiment, character, and moral instincts. There is growing evidence
that fundamental ethical stances in life stem from underlying
emotional capacities.
For one, impulse is the medium of emotion; the
seed of all impulse is a feeling bursting to express itself in action.
Those who are at the mercy of impulse—who lack self-control—suffer
a moral deficiency: The ability to control impulse is the base of will
and character. By the same token, the root of altruism lies in empathy,
the ability to read emotions in others; lacking a sense of another’s
need or despair, there is no caring. And if there are any two moral
stances that our times call for, they are precisely these, self-restraint
and compassion.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
DANIEL GOLEMAN
