Dylan Evans on emotional intelligence

Dylan Evans trashes Daniel Goleman's concept of emotional intelligence. Excerpt from a talk given at Anglia Ruskin University on 2 April 2009.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• emotion
• emotional
• intelligence
• rational
• reason
• Dylan
• Evans
• Daniel
• Goleman

[The3nlightened0ne]

My IQ is 146. Is it possible to get my EQ as high too?

Or does it abide by the seesaw principle?

[evansd66]

@The3nlightened0ne Good question. I'm afraid I don't know the answer. Dan Gardner suggests some ways in which one might improve one's EQ in his book. Since IQ is generally regarded as fixed, this would suggest that it doesn't abide by the seesaw principle. But I guess we need more research to find out for sure.

[rosewater44512]

lol a joke

[golsno147]

@duchessindigo. The points you make are valid but the claim we control emotion. is not. Use of "emotional intelligence" refers to how we may use our intellect to influence reaction more effectively in our best interests when emotion is aroused..Emotion is an innate reaction to an individual's perception of a situation or object as threatening or promising. Intelligence may enable us to cope better with the impact of emotion from previous experience and memory to re-assess strategies

[duchessindigo]

Ever been in a BIG CROWD where no one can control their emotions…but it's required that everyone learn how to get along ? Why shouldn't people learn to control their emotions? Living in this world is not about j/living with oneself. It is about learning to live with OTHERS. If intelligent people can't live with others, they are not going to create intelligent solutions for the BIG problems that face US in the next century-- b/c our problems are ALL CONNECTED.

[isisalon]

@begers1

While I am not sure I agree with Goleman's EI theory, I do agree with your statements. These are the same points I was thinking of when watching this video.

[golsno147]

"Emotional Intelligence""(I read the book when it was published) was a gimmick which, as Evans claims,had to do with selling self help advice rather than making a serious contribution to research on the subject of emotion. Not only did he contribute little new but continued to perpetuate the many myths attached to confusion between emotions. moods cognition and behavior. Evans, himself a respected academic ,says little to demonstrate this but I would not judge him until I read his own work..

[begers1]

The idea is that you are aware of the information that emotions are trying to  conveying and then you can chose with rationality how to act. The idea is simply that emotions are a form of data that is very useful. It is now well known in psychology that emotions are integral to decision making and those who are brain damaged cannot make even the simplest decision like deciding on a time to make a dental appointment. See Antonia Damasio's book Decartes Error for more info. Hope this helps,

[favoritebro]

I think you're missing the whole concept of what Goleman is expressing. Your idea that all Goleman's work amounts to nothing more than a great "marketing tool" is ridiculous. It seems to me that you have issues more with him making so much money with his work rather than the actual topic of Emotional Intelligence itself. The points you make seem to be lacking and are not really hitting on what Goleman is truly expressing.