The book talks about the importance of emotional intelligence. I read this book about a month ago to maintain a healthy way of living. I did take a lot of direct summary from this book because everything is so essential.
Chapter 1: What are Emotions for?, Chapter 2: Anatomy of an Emotional Hijacking. In these chapters Daniel Goldman describes the dynamic interrelation of the cortex and the limbic system. The cortex is The book is comprised of five parts with 16 chapters and six appendixes. The first part “The Emotional Brain” consists of two chapters which focus upon the physical side of the emotional intelligence. He presents emotional intelligence in the sense of moderation of primitive emotional impulses by the rational mind. He suggests that the emotional intelligence can be learn with practice. This part, “The Nature of Emotional Intelligence” comprises of six chapters. Chapter 3: When Smart is Dumb,Chapter 4: Know Thyself, Chapter 5: Passion’s Slave, and Chapter 6: The Master Aptitude.
In chapter 3, Daniel Goleman quotes a number of studies to prove that many high IQ scoring students have failed in their practical lives while many average people have got phenomenon successes. He claims that if the IQ scoring has to play any role in your success, it can’t be more than 20%. He also claims that your 80% success is based on your emotional intelligence.
The Chapter 4 discusses a reflexive mode of experience which the author calls “self-awareness” or “self-observation”. He assimilates self-awareness with Freud’s “evenly hovering attention”. However, he fails to differentiate between consciousness and thought, like Freud. He says that you should know yourself and your strengths instead of your IQ test and its results. At the end of Chapter 4, in a section called “Plumbing the Unconscious,” he writes that you may be more aware to emotional mind’s special symbols such as metaphors, similes, poetry, songs and fables.
Chapter 5, “Passion’s Slaves”, states that emotional disorders need pharmacological help. However, there are certain disorders like manic-depression where the patient never feels any need for medication. The author claims that such severe emotional disorders can hamper your success if not handled properly. He also gives attention to depressive states. He says that when you are depressed, you need to focus your attention to some upbeat activity. However, you should always avoid tragic movies, novels and stories which shall drag your mood further down. Observing that anger is the most difficult emotional impulse to resist, Goleman rejects the popular myth that “ventilating” is an effective way of reducing anger. However, he also does not support pushing the anger out of awareness. He goes for a third option and suggests that you should experience anger by assuming that anger belongs to some other person.
In Chapter 6, “The Master Aptitude,” Goleman highlights importance of emotional traits such as enthusiasm and persistence. He says that most of the Asian students show better record of success than their white counterparts, not for their IQ level but persistence to improve their weaknesses. This book will help anybody understand emotional intelligence.
