Synopsis
Author Daniel Goleman uses vivid examples of emotional intelligence in order to delineate the critical role it plays in relationships, work, even our physical well-being. What emerges is a crucial new way to talk about being smart--one that accounts for the other forces at work when a person of high IQ appears to be stymied, while someone of modest IQ does well. Through his extensive research, Goleman has become expert at explaining the way intelligence is shaped through a combination of the rational and the emotional. Moreover, he conveys the insights gleaned from his groundbreaking brain and behavioral studies in an extremely articulate and accessible narrative.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1995-10-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 352 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 22.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until the discoveries of modern brain researchers, theorists could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's fascinating report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers us startling new insight into our "two minds" -- the rational and the emotional -- and how they together shape our destiny. Beginning deep in the brain, Emotional Intelligence shows us the exact mechanism of an "emotional hijack," when passion overcomes reason. Through vivid examples, Goleman then delineates the crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships and work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is a crucial new way to talk about being smart. The final chapters reveal the possibilities -- and limits -- of "emotional literary," as it is taught by both parents and educators. The book concludes with a compelling vision of what true emotional intelligence means for us both as individuals and as a society. The message of this eye-opening book is one we must take to heart: the true "bell curve" for a democracy must measure emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman offers a new vision of excellence and a vital new curriculum for life that can change the future for us and our children.
Is IQ destiny? Not nearly as much as we think. Daniel Goleman's fascinating and persuasive book argues that our view of human intelligence is far too narrow, ignoring a crucial range of abilities that matter immensely in terms of how we do in life. Drawing on groundbreaking brain and behavioral research, Goleman shows the factors at work when people of high IQ flounder and those of modest IQ do surprisingly well. These factors add up to a different way of being smart - one he terms "emotional intelligence". Emotional intelligence includes self-awareness and impulse control, persistence, zeal and self-motivation, empathy and social deftness. These are the qualities that mark people who excel in real life: whose intimate relationships flourish, who are stars in the workplace. These are also the hallmarks of character and self-discipline, of altruism and compassion - basic capacities needed if our society is to thrive. Emotional intelligence is not fixed at birth. Goleman's argument is based on a highly original synthesis of current research, including new insights into the brain architecture underlying emotion and rationality. He shows precisely how emotional intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened in all of us. And because the emotional lessons a child learns actually sculpt the brain's circuitry, Goleman provides detailed guidance as to how parents and schools can be use this window of opportunity in childhood.
Industry Reviews
"...[B]y the time you come to Goleman's five appendices and 29 pages of footnotes (more than you might find on the entire Bantam list in some years), you're in a better mood, ready to live his theses rather than question them. Translation: I'm divided. My amygdala says, 'Buy it, read it, absorb it, love it--the man speaks the truth.' My neocortex remains skeptical, annoyed by a few elliptical arguments, insufficient discussion of how emotional intelligence relates to free will, and the publisher's choice of a loud, self-promotional cover, which makes a smart book look like a dumb, exploitive book. But who wants a blurb from a neocortex anyway?"
Philadelphia Inquirer - Carlin Romano (10/08/1995)
"Impressive in its scope and depth, staggering in its implication, 'Emotional Intelligence' gives us an entirely new way of looking at the root causes of many of the ills of our families and our society, and many practical insights for honoring what makes us more human."
Advertisement - Jon Kabat-Zinn
"Goleman succeeds in making a powerful case for the importance of the relatively new concept of emotional intelligence, while greatly broadening our understanding of what intelligence is in the first place."
Boardman
"Valuable insights for navigating the reefs and shoals of a contemporary career."
Pasternak
"Vivid, nontechnical science writing on issues of compelling importance."
Pasternak
Based on good empirical data (unlike many popular psychology books), this fine example is recommended for academic and larger public libraries. <BR>Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Library Journal - Mary Ann Hughes
Some readers will consider the concept of 'emotional intelligence' as little different from traditional understandings of emotional adulthood and observe that Mr. Goleman scants powerful formative influences like mature religious faith. Others may argue that his vision of a school-based cure for a problem that begins at home adds unrealistic burdens to already stumbling systems. Nonetheless, Mr. Goleman, with an economy of style that serves his reformer's convictions well, integrates a vast amount of material on issues whose intricacy and problematic character he reveals in an original and persuasive way. <BR>Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
New York Times Book Review - Eugene Kennedy
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