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mensa international journal january 2012

mensainternational journal

january 2012 issue number 556

01

emotional V critical intelligenceby

thomas hally

rom the Treasurer...

Te ollowing (see p02) is the presentation o the audited prot/loss statement and the balance sheet or the scal

year ending 31 March 2011. Per ASIE, it is required that an abridged version o the audited nancials are pub-

lished each year. A geographical analysis o component payments and the list o administrative expenses is avail-

able upon request to me at [email protected] or to the MIL oce at [email protected].

Respectully submitted,

Cyndi KuyperTreasurer, Mensa International Ltd.

Is there such a thing as emotional

intelligence? I so, how do emotional

intelligence and critical intelligence

difer? Do they work together? Are

there two human brains? Two minds?

Or is there a single brain/mind in

which both emotional thinking and

ratiocination synergically work as

one?

Firstly, some denitions are in

order. Intelligence is dened in

Websters New World Diction-

ary as the ability to acquire and

retain knowledge. Furthermore, this

acquired knowledge is used in solving

our everyday problems and orches-

trating our behavior. Emotional

intelligence is a measure o the

degree to which a person success-

ully (or unsuccessully) applies soundjudgment and reasoning to situa-

tions in the process o determining

emotional or sentient situational

responses. So then, this brings up

another question: What is emotion?

Websters New World Dictionary

states that emotions are a part o

consciousness that have to do with

the arousal o eelings. Te state o

emotion is distinguished rom other

mental states; rom cognition, rom

volition and rom awareness o physi-

cal sensation (pleasant or unpleasant).

Feeling may be a subjective reaction

that is experienced in any given

situation. Critical thinking relates to

the symbiotic relationship between

cognition (IQ) and emotional think-

ing (EQ). As a type o thinking, criti-

cal thinking is rational and reective,

and it is concerned with what to do

and what to believe. Since our emo-

tions and eelings are largely involved

with our belies and our actions,

rational-reective thinking brings

reason to bear upon our emotions.

For example, I am earul because I

believe I am being threatened, and

thereore I either attack my would-be

assailant or ee. Critical intelligenceand reective critical thinking enable

us to use our reasoning powers in

order to appropriately address and

direct our desires, eelings, emotions

and actions. Our emotional unctions

do not precede our intellectual unc-

tions. Tat is, our emotional intel-

ligence and our cognitive unctions

react concomitantly. And cognition

is paramount in importance. Un-

derstandable;

ater all, we are

homini sapienti

- andeminae

sapientiae!

Just as a

person with

the appropriate

mathematical

skill can e-

ectively solve

a problem in

diferential calculus, a person with

a high degree o emotional intelli-

gence will respond to situations with

eelings that make good sense to a

particular situation. Feeling states

are our emotional compass, leading us

along a course o reasonable behav-

ior and action. In this sense, eelingstates are motivational and motiva-

tion, volitions orerunner. Rational

emotions translate into rational

desires and rational behavior. But it is

our thinking that ultimately suggests

an action or creates a given emotional

response to - and an evaluation o - a

situation.

A popular theory contends that(continued on p03)

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02

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03

COLUMBIA, Mo. New re-

search rom the University o Mis-

souri indicates that at 10 months,

babies start to understand another

persons thought process, provid-

ing new insights on how humans

acquire knowledge and how com-

munication develops.

Understanding other people is

a key actor in successul commu-

nication, and humans start to un-

derstand this at a very young age,

said Yuyan Luo, associate proessor

o developmental psychology inthe MU College o Arts and Sci-

ence. Our study indicates that in-

ants, even beore they can verbally

communicate, can understand the

thought processes o other peo-

ple even i the thoughts diverge

rom what the inants know as

truth, a term psychologists call

alse belie.

During the study, inants were

monitored during diferent trials

o a common psychological test in

which an actor indicated pre-

erence or certain objects. Re-

searchers timed the inants gaze,

which is an indication o inant

knowledge. Te inants watched

longer when the actors preerences

changed. Tis led the researchers

to believe that inants understood

how the actor interacted with theobjects.

When the actor did not witness

the removal or addition o thepreerred object, the inants seemed

to use that inormation to interpret

the persons actions, Luo said. Te

inants appear to recognize that the

actors behavior comes rom what

the actor could see or could not see

and hence what the actor thinks,

and this nding is consistent with

similar alse belie studies that

involve older children.

Luo said her study is one o

the rst to explore the alse belie

understanding in the rst year o

lie; evidence rom other studies

indicates that inant understanding

could be present at an earlier age.

As the research moves orward, Luo

expects to nd moreunderstandingo how humans learn to communi-cate.

In adults, belies guide behavior,but it would be dicult to explainanother persons behavior withoutexplaining his or her mental state,Luo said.

Te study, Do 10-month-oldinants understand others alsebelies? is published in the journalCognition.

http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2011/1101-babies-under-stand-thought-process-o-others-at-

ten-months-old-mu-research-fnd

brighterbabies

the human mind is comprised o at least

three basic unctions: cognition (think-

ing), eelings (emotion) and volition(will, drive). Cognition includes

such mental activities such as analyz-

ing, comparing, assuming, inerring,

questioning, contrasting, evaluating, etc.

In short, the cognitive unction concep-

tualizes, rationalizes, reasons and solves

problems. Te eeling (or emotional)

unction o our mind is our internal

monitor. It gives us eedback on our

perormance in any given circumstance

or set o circumstances.

Finally, volition (or will) is the third

unction o the mind. Although distinct

rom each other, these three basic men-

tal unctions work concomitantly and

dynamically. Our thinking is that which

will ultimately guide us in choosing

some action or help us avoid a mistaken

choice o action. In the last analysis, it

is our thinking that prepares us or an

emotional evaluation o a situation orset o circumstances.

Every aw in our emotion (eel-

ing) and our drive (volition) creates a

deect (disability) in our thinking and

reasoning. When there are aws, the

basic unctions o our mental activity no

longer work efectively and eciently.

When there is a aw in one or more o

the three we literally cant think straight.

Critical thinking enables us to orm

sound belies and make relatively correct

judgments. Te truly intelligent person

is not a disembodied intellect unction-

ing in an emotional wasteland, but a

deeply committed mindul person, ull

o passion and high values, engaged in

efective reasoning, sound judgment,

and wise conduct. Finely- tuned critical

thinking ability is our key or a happy

and well-directed rational and emo-

tional lie.Tom Hally, [email protected]

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Te Mensa International Journal (MIJ) is produced under the auspices o the Mensa International Board o Directors. Pages 1-4 o eachissue o the MIJ must be published in every national Mensa magazine. Publication o pages 5-8 is recommended but optional. Opin-ions expressed in the MIJ are those o the authors and do not necessarily reect the views o any other individual or any ocial Mensabody. Submission Guidelines: Language: English only. ext: MS Word (Windows), .rt (Word/Mac), plain text, PageMaker (Windows)Length: 500 word limit. Send by e-mail, ax, snail mail to the Editor. Te Editor reserves the right to include or edit submissions orspace and content considerations. All unoriginal submissions must be accompanied by written permission or publication rom the origi-nal author.Permission is granted or MIJ articles to be reprinted in any Mensa publication provided that the author, MIJ and MIJs edi-tor are acknowledged. Permission must be sought rom the MIJ editor or reprinting o any part o the MIJ in non-Mensa publications.

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Editorial StafEditor: Ms Kate Nacard 407/23 Corunna Rd, Stanmore NSW 2048 Australia [email protected] el: +61 2 9516 1024Science: Mr John Blinke, [email protected]: Mr om Elliott, [email protected] Articles: Mr Tomas Hally, [email protected]

04

Log into the International website at www.mensa.org

for the calendar of national events

April 27-29 in Niagara Falls, Ontario

Mensa Falls or Niagara

Four South-western Ontario Mensa groups have come together to

plan this event. We have a website with ino on our program: ww-

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January 2012 IJ 1-4