Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman's first book Emotional Intelligence focused on the individuals emotions in every day life. Social Intelligence is about how people interact together in social settings. It is about the neurology, biology, and psychology of social interactions. It focuses on why some individuals are more able to succeed socially. Much of this book relies on recent advances in our understanding of neuroscience and how the brain works.

The reader learns about mirror neurons which act because of how we interact with other people in social situations. We learn about how facial expressions, built in instincts for altruism, and a natural instinct for synchrony effect our every day interactions. We are neurally wired to live with and interact with other people.

The book is full of detail every paragraph tries to tell you something new. This makes it slow reading. It also makes the book an attempt to be comprehensive. Daniel Goleman asks and answers many questions. Why are some people shy? What is the social effect of Aspergers Syndrome on relationships? Why is being socially connected so important to attainment and success? Each chapter could have an entire book written on the subjects he is covering.

I found the book to be very entertaining and useful. It gave me some insights into the darker side of human nature. We got a nice overview of how impulse control is important to stay out of jail. He also described many of the characteristics of people who treat other people as objects not as a source of relationships.

It succeeds in giving summaries of subjects like sex, happines, stress, anger, and other human social interactions. The thing which binds the book together is the concept of "social intelligence". The definition he gave for social intelligence on page 84 fills half a page. It is very broad and includes both social awareness and social facility. The idea is interesting but a bit nebulous.

I thought this book was far better than Emotional Intelligence. The writing is much clearer and it reads much more smoothly. He has a lot to say in this book covering a wide array of topics. He argues that humans have an ability to develop strong empathy, cooperation, and altruism if we act intelligently. There are 56 pages of notes and an extensive index.

Daily Thoughts 12/13/2009

The Pittsburg Visible Writing Machine

Daily Thoughts 12/14/2009

I thought this article was pretty interesting. I would imagine someone in a place where every penny counts will figure out how to make it even cheaper. DIY Book Scanners Turn Your Books Into Bytes http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/diy-book-scanner/ It looks like game changing technology.

Read some more of Social Intelligence at the laundromat. It is turning out to be a pleasant read with lots of information about the development of social interactions among people. I'm about half way through reading the book.

Daily Thoughts 12/12/2009

Roman study Showing scrolls or books in a "scrinium", also lamp, writing tablets, etc. Source: Illustrated History of Furniture From the Earliest to the Present Time By Frederick Litchfield Available from www.gutenberg.org Published: 1893

Daily Thoughts 12/12/2009

I watched the new Star Trek film today. Although, it was an enjoyable film, I did not like the changes they made. Destroying the planet Vulcan and changing the time line was not that appealing. The person who played Captain Kirk did not seem strong or decisive enough for the role.

Also, the villain, the Romulan miner Nero was not very convincing. I was hoping for a stronger villain. The movie was a disappointment. I am hoping that they do not continue the new Star Trek with this story line. I liked the old story line much better.

I had a chance to walk up to my local library today, but I did not check anything out or use the computers. It looks like they have had a considerable reduction in funds to buy new material.

Right now, I am reading more of Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. The author was discussing the concept of I-It (treating people as objects to reach a goal) versus I-You (trying to create relevant social connections between people. He is describing how it is important to talk about the other person early in conversations.). The book is quite substantial. I can finish a chapter or two a day. Much of the writing is worth pondering.

This is why I like Paolo Bacigalupi so much. It is a link to the short story, The Gambler. http://pyrsamples.blogspot.com/2008/11/fast-forward-2-paolo-bacigalupis.html

Daily Thoughts 12/7/2009

Public Domain Art, Photo Montage Dickens,Collins,Gaskell and Proctor

Daily Thoughts 12/7/2009

There is a new university digital book archive called Hathitrust which has 4 million volumes. I find it interesting. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6709706.html

It is the end of the year ordering time. I have been spending some more time on the New York Times books page. I have been looking at the cooking books and the gardening books as well as some other books.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/

There are some other minor things to get done. We have to finish ordering art books for a grant. We are trying to get some very nice oversize art books with the money. We also have to decide on a new label for the inspirational fiction books.

I have two philosophy books on my desk. The first is A Guide to the Good Life {the ancient art of stoic joy} by William B. Irvine. I have always felt an affinity to stoicism. The other book is The 36 Secret Strategies of the Martial Arts The Classic Chinese Guide For Success in War, Business, and Life, Hiroshi Moriya. It is translated by William Scott Wilson who also translated The Book of Five Rings and Hagakure.

On the train home, I read some more of Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence. The book was talking about how emotions are contagious, people act synchroniously with each other, and our neurons are designed to react to other peoples emotions. We don't exist in isolation.

I have been working a bit more on Linked In. I think I may have my first recommendation given to me soon. I hope it works. It is an interesting process. A lot of it is complete hype. There is a lot of nonsense around social networking tools. There is also a lot of time wasting and a tendency to make promises that are not quite right. I think one third of it is hype, one third of it is technical skills, and one third of is is genuinely useful networking. This is an article from Business Week which explains this phenomena. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_50/b4159048693735.htm

Daily Thoughts 12/6/2009

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Daily Thoughts 12/6/2009

Tomorrow, I will go through Library Journal's best books of 2009. This is another excellent list of books like the New York Times 100 Best Books. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6707422.html?desc=topstory

I have been working on my Facebook, Twitter, and Linked in accounts. They are slowly growing. I still have a lot more to learn on how to use them properly. I learned that the maximum number of followers on Linked In is 30,000 people. I can't imagine the use of that many people in a personal social network unless you are a salesperson or a recruiter. It is an interesting number.

I read some more of Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence at the laundromat today.