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Harry's Book Review: Emotional Intelligence
Book Title: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Author: Daniel Goleman
Copyright Date: 1995
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 978-0553383713
Audio, e-book or foreign translation available: Audio and Kindle available
Suitable for children: No. Reads much like a college text book. Not quite as dry, but not a book for a child.
Let me open with the qualifier that this book does not match the normal criteria
for the books I typically review for SurvivalBlog. I sincerely doubt Daniel
Goleman ever had this audience in mind. However, I think many in this audience
would be well served by reading this book.
Two relatively recent posts on SurvivalBlog brought this book to mind for me.
“Anticipated Traumatic Stress in TEOTWAWKI” by F. B. (11/23/13) and “We Who Are
Left Behind” by M.D.L. (11/26/13) both provided great examples of how our own
emotions come into play during a stressful situation. From the “freeze”
response of the strapping farm boy with a machine gun to the lack of a will to
live after losing your loved ones, there are things which our own bodies do with
which we must figure out how to cope.
When things go wrong with our skeletal structure or our muscles we can see and
feel the problems. Or at least with X-rays and MRIs we can. We can usually tell
exactly what caused the problem and we can create a plan to resolve it. It is
not so with our emotions. Yet our emotions have the potential to be every bit
as debilitating as a broken limb.
If anyone thinks emotions will not play a major role in TEOTWAWKI they are
deluding themselves. Unless you are one of the very rare few who are incapable
of feeling you may well find yourself in an emotional mess unlike anything you
have ever encountered in your life. And you can pretty much guarantee that the
majority of people you have to deal with will also be emotional basket cases.
How do you prepare for that?
I will suggest that step one is developing a good relationship with God. I know
there are many who don’t want to hear that, but if you look into those who
survive the worst that life can throw at them (POWs for instance) you
will find that faith makes a big difference. Even this book, Emotional
Intelligence, which builds its foundation on evolutionary theory, includes a
quote on the value of a belief in God. (More on that later.)
Step two should be educating yourself about yourself, and I believe that this
book offers a good start. I don’t find it to be the perfect book, and in fact I
would love to hear from other SurvivalBlog readers if they are aware of better
resources. I can imagine that either law enforcement or the military should
have developed materials more appropriately focused on this element. However,
lacking a book focused on TEOTWAWKI, this is the best I know of for an analysis
of what makes a person tick on the emotional side.
Source: http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/12/harrys-book-review-emotional-intelligence.html
