Emotional inteligence
110/661It may be that a talent for psychological introspectionhinges on this same circuitry. Some of us are naturallymore attuned to the emotional mind's special symbolicmodes: metaphor and simile, along with poetry, song,and fable, are all cast in the language of the heart. So tooare dreams and myths, in which loose associations determinethe flow of narrative, abiding by the logic of theemotional mind. Those who have a natural attunementto their own heart's voice—the language of emotion—aresure to be more adept at articulating its messages,whether as a novelist, songwriter, or psychotherapist.This inner attunement should make them more gifted ingiving voice to the "wisdom of the unconscious"—the feltmeanings of our dreams and fantasies, the symbols thatembody our deepest wishes.Self-awareness is fundamental to psychological insight;this is the faculty that much of psychotherapymeans to strengthen. Indeed, Howard Gardner's modelfor intrapsychic intelligence is Sigmund Freud, the greatmapper of the psyche's secret dynamics. As Freud madeclear, much of emotional life is unconscious; feelingsthat stir within us do not always cross the threshold intoawareness. Empirical verification of this psychologicalaxiom comes, for instance, from experiments on unconsciousemotions, such as the remarkable finding thatpeople form definite likings for things they do not even
111/661realize they have seen before. Any emotion can be—andoften is—unconscious.The physiological beginnings of an emotion typicallyoccur before a person is consciously aware of the feelingitself. For example, when people who fear snakes areshown pictures of snakes, sensors on their skin will detectsweat breaking out, a sign of anxiety, though theysay they do not feel any fear. The sweat shows up insuch people even when the picture of a snake is presentedso rapidly that they have no conscious idea of what,exactly, they just saw, let alone that they are beginningto get anxious. As such preconscious emotional stirringscontinue to build, they eventually become strongenough to break into awareness. Thus there are twolevels of emotion, conscious and unconscious. The momentof an emotion coming into awareness marks its registeringas such in the frontal cortex. 14Emotions that simmer beneath the threshold ofawareness can have a powerful impact on how we perceiveand react, even though we have no idea they are atwork. Take someone who is annoyed by a rude encounterearly in the day, and then is peevish for hoursafterward, taking affront where none is intended andsnapping at people for no real reason. He may well beoblivious to his continuing irritability and will be surprisedif someone calls attention to it, though it stews
- Page 60 and 61: 60/661to the amygdala, but to the n
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- Page 66 and 67: 66/661the amygdala, whatever the ne
- Page 68 and 69: PART TWOTHE NATURE OFEMOTIONALINTEL
- Page 70 and 71: 70/661After transferring to a priva
- Page 72 and 73: course it accounts for. But what da
- Page 74 and 75: 74/661level of young people of comp
- Page 76 and 77: 76/661margins of games rather than
- Page 78 and 79: 78/661competencies and gifts, and c
- Page 80 and 81: 80/661varieties of intelligence. In
- Page 82 and 83: 82/661discern and respond appropria
- Page 84 and 85: 84/661Mr. Spock, the archetype of d
- Page 86 and 87: you get that are essential for inte
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- Page 90 and 91: the subtle social signals that indi
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- Page 94 and 95: 4Know ThyselfA belligerent samurai,
- Page 96 and 97: 96/661faculty of mind in writing of
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- Page 100 and 101: 100/661Temple University, to assess
- Page 102 and 103: 102/661Gary was emotionally flat, c
- Page 104 and 105: 104/661silent. When her therapist t
- Page 106 and 107: 106/661Elliot's tumor, growing just
- Page 108 and 109: 108/661accepting virtually every po
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- Page 114 and 115: 114/661proportionate to circumstanc
- Page 116 and 117: 116/661have treated them, leaving t
- Page 118 and 119: worked themselves into a rage in or
- Page 120 and 121: explain why some views about it are
- Page 122 and 123: are so much more prone to anger if
- Page 124 and 125: subsided, and a third on top of tho
- Page 126 and 127: can no longer think straight. When
- Page 128 and 129: it stops that angry train of though
- Page 130 and 131: Tice found that ventilating anger i
- Page 132 and 133: 132/661the anxiety disorders: phobi
- Page 134 and 135: 134/661method. In short, the worrie
- Page 136 and 137: 136/661thoughts, they do not seem t
- Page 138 and 139: 138/661learn relaxation methods tha
- Page 140 and 141: 140/661finally, make the psychologi
- Page 142 and 143: 142/661people ruminate. Worrying ab
- Page 144 and 145: and think of more positive alternat
- Page 146 and 147: 146/661references to it in the thou
- Page 148 and 149: 148/661state, but not so well for d
- Page 150 and 151: pain of their own. Throwing oneself
- Page 152 and 153: 152/661troubling situation such as
- Page 154 and 155: 154/661not faking their lack of awa
- Page 156 and 157: 6The Master AptitudeJust once in my
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110/661
It may be that a talent for psychological introspection
hinges on this same circuitry. Some of us are naturally
more attuned to the emotional mind's special symbolic
modes: metaphor and simile, along with poetry, song,
and fable, are all cast in the language of the heart. So too
are dreams and myths, in which loose associations determine
the flow of narrative, abiding by the logic of the
emotional mind. Those who have a natural attunement
to their own heart's voice—the language of emotion—are
sure to be more adept at articulating its messages,
whether as a novelist, songwriter, or psychotherapist.
This inner attunement should make them more gifted in
giving voice to the "wisdom of the unconscious"—the felt
meanings of our dreams and fantasies, the symbols that
embody our deepest wishes.
Self-awareness is fundamental to psychological insight;
this is the faculty that much of psychotherapy
means to strengthen. Indeed, Howard Gardner's model
for intrapsychic intelligence is Sigmund Freud, the great
mapper of the psyche's secret dynamics. As Freud made
clear, much of emotional life is unconscious; feelings
that stir within us do not always cross the threshold into
awareness. Empirical verification of this psychological
axiom comes, for instance, from experiments on unconscious
emotions, such as the remarkable finding that
people form definite likings for things they do not even
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