What can anyone tell me about emotional intelligence?

Doesn’t all emotion come from the triggers of chemicals located in the Hypothalamus?

Hm, to answer your op… I’ll give it a stab.

emotional intelligence… I think there is such thing as an ability to dig deep within onesself and will their way through chaos or competition. Take for instance Michael Jordan during the playoffs. He played with a flu and the Bulls ended up winning the game. A lesser man with lower motivation and less emotions would’ve never found himself in the opportunity to begin with. But since Jordan practices controlled emotions through out a game he thus becomes stronger and stronger and controlling and using his emotions to his advantage…

Or take for instance this guy Erik Demaine. This guy is a genius by normal socities standards. His ambitions include wanting to unlock the secrets and abilities of folding proteins to rid life of cancers/deformities. He’s an artist and scientist. I think emotional intellgience is relevant to his story because I think for the average person folding paper is probably senseless but Demaines approach is obsessive and fun. He learns alot about patterns this way and applies it to science through computer graphics and “stuff like that” Basically the guy knows he has to stay calm and just is naturally calm to accomplish his goals. He tells himself he loves what he does, and he is satisfied with himself.

“Emotional Intelligence’ – akin to ‘gut feeling’, a lightning quick ability to adust, An ability to recognise patterns quickly, whatever it may be. An ability to make a decision, in less than an eyeblink. That is ‘emotional intelligence’.

It starts with a recognition of the primacy of emotion in determining how one approaches life. We like to think of ourselves as rational creatures, guided primarily by reason, with emotion serving to add a bit of color to this otherwise black and white rational tableau.

The evidence indicates that this view is backwards. Where the emotional colors lie will determine where the black and white lines are drawn. We start with feeling, and then recruit reason to construct a satisfying justification for acting in accordance with our feeling. Failure to recognize this just forces the feeling further undercover where it continues to operate on a subconscious level, setting the agenda out of view of the conscious mind.

EI involves letting this process operate in the light of day. recognizing and owning one’s feelings, and seeing (to the extent possible) how they set the agenda. Seeing this in oneself makes it possible to see it in others. You then understand why reason can be so ineffectual in trying to influence others. You have to begin by seeing their emotional landscape, which will clarify their rational scheme. Connections have to first be made on this emotional level.

When you bring your own feelings out into the light and become familiar with all of their nuance, this gives you an emotional “vocabulary” with which you can understand the complexities of others’ feelings. If you’re aware only that you are “happy”, “sad” or “angry”, that’s better than not being emotionally aware at all, but it’s not a very nuanced emotional vocabulary; you will be unable to see beyond that basic level into the feelings of others.