David Brooks: The Social Animal

Much value is put on intelligence and hard work in the modern age, but is this really the route to a good and happy life?

Not according to David Brooks, a columnist from the US whose latest book, The Social Animal, explores the immense importance of the things that go on below our conscious awareness.

The message from the latest research, however, is that the people who are most successful are those who are able to utilise this unconscious to read and engage with others' emotions.

"Our emotions are really central to our thinking, but we have the power to educate our emotions," he said, explaining how by listening to music, for instance, and choosing your environment, you can create new "groves" in your brain that let you think and feel in new ways - even later in life.

Category:

Education

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• The Social Animal
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• Subconscious
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• The Good Life
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