We are Descartes’ children. The power of I-think-therefore-I-am
has to a great extent contributed to a culture that prizes rational
thought above all other mental activities, ghettoising emotional
responses within the limited arena of the family and individual
relationships. Rational thought is valued precisely for its apparent
lack of emotional, or "irrational" attributes, considered
unreliable, whimsical and essentially subjective, all attributes
that are considered negative. Rational thought is perceived as
masculine, emotional thought is perceived as feminine. The polarisation
in our culture into masculine and feminine, with all the attendant
value judgements has been at the centre of sociological, psychological
and feminist debates for the last 30 years.
Daniel Goleman argues that far from being detrimental to rational
thought, emotional intelligence is an integral part of our thought
processes. He contends that emotional awareness includes self-awareness,
impulse control, persistence, self-motivation, empathy and social
deftness, and that these are qualities which mark people who excel,
whose relationships flourish and who succeed at work. Emotional
intelligence is not something that is fixed at birth but which
can be nurtured. He cites neurological research on people whose
emotional brain areas have been damaged. Daily functioning was
severely impaired, although IQ and cognitive ability remained
unchanged. Without access to their emotional knowledge, these
people were unable to make decisions that superficially seemed
to involve only rational thought – such things as making an appointment
became the focus of endless agonising and difficulty.
There are echoes of all those great self-help books with shiny
covers that promised to show you How to Make Yourself More Attractive
and Change the World in 24 Hours! Goleman gets under the rational
defences and tempts the businessman with "Want to be more
effective and get a promotion?" And the bits about the five
emotional domains – knowing your emotions, managing emotions,
motivate yourself, recognising emotions in others and handling
relationships could quite happily sit between the covers of Cosmopolitan.
But on the whole he provides a thoughtful and balanced critique
of how we fail to nurture our emotional powers, and how detrimental
this is, not only to the individual, but to society as a whole.
More importantly he addresses the issue of rethinking the education
we provide for children. Goleman argues that this is the only
way out of the cultural impasse the West finds itself at. "I
feel therefore I think" could be a useful soundbite for the
future.
Reviewed by Jennifer Merk
