Social intelligence

Author: Daniel Goleman
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Daniel Goleman's proposed concept of emotional intelligence has overturned the notion of innate intelligence, bringing a significant impact on human society. The book Emotional Intelligence also topped the New York Times Best Seller list for a year, with over 5 million copies sold worldwide. In Social Intelligence, Goleman elaborates on his new discovery, an equally groundbreaking finding—that our relationships with others also affect our intelligence and influence every aspect of our lives. We are completely unaware that the people we encounter in our daily lives—parents, spouses, friends, bosses, or even strangers we meet—can alter the way our brains operate and bring about profound changes in our behavior. Goleman discovered that our brains need to interact with others; in essence, our brains are social brains. How we treat others, how others perceive us, and how they respond? The impact of interpersonal interactions on humans exceeds our imagination. During this process, we secrete various hormones that regulate activities from our hearts to our immune systems, to the extent that we can "infect" others' emotions like catching a cold. Isolation and ruthless social pressure can also shorten our lifespans. How can we ensure our children grow up happily? How can marital relationships be? How can corporate leaders motivate their subordinates? How do office politics exhaust us? Why do we inexplicably feel drawn to certain people? Why do unintentional remarks from others leave us flustered? In the book, Goleman provides detailed explanations for these thought-provoking questions and further points out that social intelligence has become a fundamental indicator of our survival capabilities, determining our mental performance and shaping our future paths and achievements. If there is a saying in the workplace that "IQ determines hiring, while emotional intelligence determines promotion," then social intelligence determines the quality of your life both inside and outside the workplace.