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Decision making and its consequences
Essay on emotional intelligence daniel goleman
Conclusion on emotion and decision making
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Sitting in my living room, I was overcome with pain and anxiety. I had just returned home from the hospital after having knee surgery. This surgery was going to take three or four months to recover and it could not have come at a worse point in my life. The summer going into senior year of high school was the “now or never” time for getting recruited for college baseball, and I was injured. I could not stop thinking that my future was ruined and that I would never be able to play baseball again. I came very close to making the rash decision to quit baseball right then, instead I focused on my rehab and came back stronger my senior year. This was what my general intelligence told me, however, my emotional intelligence almost caused me to …show more content…
In Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence,” he dives into the science behind the brain and how emotions can affect a person’s decision making process. The human brain consists of two main parts: the neocortex, or the thinking brain, and the amygdala, the emotional brain. The neocortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for rational thoughts. “It contains the centers that put together and comprehend what the senses perceive” (Goleman 11). Contrasting the neocortex is the amygdala, which “acts as a storehouse of emotional memory; life without the amygdala is a life stripped of personal meanings” (Goleman 15). According to Goleman, one man, whose amygdala was surgically removed, became completely uninterested in people, preferring to sit in isolation with no human contact. “Without an amygdala he seemed to have lost all recognition of feeling, as well as any feeling about feelings” (Goleman 15). The amygdala has its own circuitry attaching it to the pre-frontal cortex, which is the center for the brain for working memory. If this circuitry was cut, a person’s decision making process would be greatly affected. However, if this connection was broken, a person’s score on an IQ test would not be affected at all. This is true because the emotional aspect of the brain, which is used in making decisions, would be affected but the rational thinking portion would not be affected. The amygdala …show more content…
His discovery was that the branching in the brain allows the amygdala to begin to respond in stressful situations before the neocortex begins its response. Oftentimes, people make decisions out of anger or fear. They later regret these decisions, once they have put some rational thought into it. This is called neural hijacking which can now be explained thanks to Ledoux. I almost fell victim to neural hijacking when I was faced with the decision to either quit baseball or stick it out. More examples of the consequences of not having control of our emotions are vast. This emotional illiteracy, according to some teachers is due to “schools caring more about how well schoolchildren can read and write than whether they’ll be alive next week” (Goleman 231). The following are results of this emotional illiteracy. First is the increase in issues among teenagers. According to Goleman, in the 1990s, teen arrests for violent crimes reached a record high, teen arrests for rape doubled, teen murder rates quadrupled, the suicide rate for teens tripled, and the teen pregnancy rate continued to climb. Second is mental illnesses, which are a huge byproduct of not being in touch with emotions. Symptoms of depression and different forms of eating disorders have skyrocketed in teens, especially girls. Third is that children of
Marvin was an ordinary, ambitious salesman, until he suffered a life-changing stroke. This stroke didn’t only paralyze one side of Marvin’s body, but it also caused permanent brain damage, cutting him off from his emotions. Researchers from the University of Iowa are figuring out why Marvin can’t feel emotions. Though Marvin’s brain is able to make emotions, he isn’t able to feel them. When looking at scans of the brain, it is seen that Marvin has dead areas in his brain that are responsible for creating feelings. When an emotional event occurs, the amygdala is the first to respond. The amygdala triggers a series of reactions through the brain core and stem, which are then supposed to be received from the body. However, the body isn’t able to receive these chemical responses. In other words, Marvin isn’t aware of his feelings because the response signal falls into a void. Marvin also isn’t able to feel emotions when remembering his memories. Each emotion has a specific neural circuitry. The emotions associated with memories help humans form decision-making skills based on whether they want to repeat a positive memory, or avoid a negative one. Instead, Marvin is stuck guessing the emotions of others, and struggling through making decisions with only facts and logic.
In other words, Henry cannot encode and compose short-term memory, and recall long-term memory of his past experience. Additionally, Henry’s amygdala has also been removed from this surgery, which caused him to learn fear from daily life and remember some unpleasant events. Therefore, Henry always expresses happiness more than sad and unhappy emotions. It is an interesting finding that amygdala is associated with fear memory and emotional expression. Henry Gustav died in 2008.
The amygdala is located in the brain’s temporal lobe and enables us to feel certain emotions. It is our emotions that make us human and it helps in connecting us with one another. One of the most important emotions that the amygdala is responsible for is our fear response. Flight-or-fight is crucial for the survival of any living being, i.e. when an animal feels cornered and threatened, their body will respond by preparing them to flee, if able, or attack.
Both Parker and Baumrind agree that placing people through such stress as Milgram did could play into serious mental and emotional problems later on in life. Throughout both of the articles, both authors draw from outside sources to effectually back up and prove their main points. Martyn Shuttleworth of Explorable states, in agreement with Parker and Baumrind, that since Milgram conducted his experiment, there has been a corporate reform in the way psychological experiments may take place (Shuttleworth). Baumrind and Parker both agree that what Milgram did was quite unethical, citing the American Psychology Association (APA) to prove that what he did could not be replicated in a modern scientific society (Parker 97, Baumrind 93). One of the most telling factors of the stress level in the tests were the participants mannerisms. Some sweated profusely while others sat and nervously laughed to themselves. Throughout the course of Milgram 's test, three teachers broke down and went into a state of uncontrollable seizure (McLeod). Events like these, state Baumrind and Parker, are reasons why Milgrams Experiment could not have taken place today. While both authors effectively substantiate the same claim, Parker draws upon many sources and uses factual evidence, while Baumrind mainly uses emotional appeals to prove the case of the
When Vilayanur Ramachandran, one of the most prominent neuroscientists of our time, was asked how he came to be interested in the brain, he replied “How can anyone NOT be interested in it? Everything you call 'human nature' and consciousness arises from it”. I could not agree more. After all, the complexity and efficacy of the brain is what differentiates homo-sapiens from other species. It is where war and peace originate, love and hatred exist, religions created and destroyed; the source of our sensations, feelings, memory, action, creativity and communication; it is the epitome of humanity and the keeper of the soul. And what can be more challenging than to specialize in the human brain?
How many of you argue or debate with a particular person? (pause) My top offender is my brother John. In an argument awhile ago, I was intrigued at our unique responses to an unexpected event. Our youngest sister Anna spilled paint in various places around our dining room and kitchen. We both agreed she needed to clean it up. John bluntly told Anna she shouldn’t have made the mess. I told Anna it was no big deal. Then we both gave her instructions on how to clean it up. After this episode, I wondered why John and I say basically the same thing so differently.
The brain, unlike how we perceive, is not hardwired or programmed. Neuroplasticity acts as a ray of hope in challenging this old belief and extends our understanding of the healthy brain and human nature. The book brings out many case studies which deal with amazing and startling progress made by brain, whose conditions were dismissed as lost cases. Doidge also observes this changing brain to understand the phenomenon of sex, love, culture, education etc. This one is a truly inspiring book that will change the way you look at human possibility and gives you a deeper understanding of the workings of brain. More than everything it generates
The amygdala, located in the limbic system, alerts to danger by sending an alarm throughout the body in response to a threat (Fishbane, 2007, p. 397). The limbic system, and in particular the right hemisphere of the amygdala, creates meaning through experiences. Our earliest “implicit” memories are created through various motor functioning, such as body movement, and through emotions (another important function of the amygdala), and this directly correlates with our sensing of emotions and possible danger, our instinctive “fight or flight” responses (Badenoch and Cox, 2010). This mechanism often leads to suffering in human relationships when we feel threatened interpersonally. This interplay of the fight or flight response gives rise to a paradox of “being hard-wired for both connection and self-protection” (Fishbane, 2007, p. 397). Human emotions “involve connections between multiple brain circuits” and are typically “processed subcortically, beneath conscious awareness” (Fishbane, 2007, p.
When you think of the typical 6 year old little girl you probably think of an energetic, fun-loving, care-free child. I was all of that and more right up to the moment that a single spot on my right knee, to the right of center on my knee cap, stopped me dead in my tracks and left me scared for my life. At around the age of 6 I was having fun with my best friend and neighbor while spending spring break at my aunts beach house down in Panama City, Florida. I can remember the moment like it was yesterday. I was standing in the living room ready to go out and swim in the pool because I loved, and still love, swimming, and also because it was night and I loved how the pool lights made the whole backyard glow. The only thing holding me back from jumping in the pool was an extreme pain in my knee accompanied with a bump that I had not noticed before.
A time that I’ve experienced before when the past played a significant role in my present was when I have gotten in trouble when I’m older and when I’ve gotten in trouble when I was younger. When I was younger, I have gotten punishments and have gotten harsh punishments as well. Now, I was young and my mind wasn’t fully developed and I haven’t fully understand why or what I did do to get in trouble. Now that I am a bit older than I was before, I understand better and more. I have recently gotten in trouble in my older days, but the difference from me getting in trouble now and getting in trouble then is that I understand why now they punish me and why I have gotten in trouble. I understood more because my mind was more developed than when I
I have always strived to be the best person I could be, but there came a point where my mental line between attainable and ideal situations was blurred. By the time I was 12 years old, I was putting so much pressure on myself to achieve perfection that I had severe anxiety and numerous mental breakdowns before school. Eventually, I was helped to realize that imperfection , making mistakes, and accepting who you are boosts your self-confidence and overall health, both mental and physical.
My goals were to eat better, and by better, I meant three times a day and sleep more because I was not getting a full night’s rest. I choose these goals because they supported my goal to lose weight. My mom always told me that you should eat regular and have sleep to lose weight. I was afraid to say lose weight because I think it is embarrassing and since I am very aware of my weight. This topic has been heavy on my mind for some time now, I have always had low confident in myself and since my sister has a small curving figure that I am jealous of.
Two minutes and thirty seconds to do what I do best. I stand in my spot and wait for the music to start. My stomach is in knots and my heart is beating like a drum. The music starts and without hesitation, so do I. I begin to lose breath due to constant jumping, tumbling, and stunting. My fingers twiddle, and I prepare for my finally pass: front walkover round off triple back- handspring. Nailed it! It’s time for end dance. No tumbling or jumping, just dancing my heart out. I hit my ending pose and smile because I know that I performed my best. A few hours go by and it’s time for awards. My stomach begins to turn again as we wait to be announced. “First place and Grand Champions goes to… TDC Allstars!” I am ecstatic, we have just won U.S. Finals.
Emotion is the “feeling” aspect of consciousness that includes physical, behavioral, and subjective (cognitive) elements. Emotion also contains three elements which are physical arousal, a certain behavior that can reveal outer feelings and inner feelings. One key part in the brain, the amygdala which is located within the limbic system on each side of the brain, plays a key role in emotional processing which causes emotions such as fear and pleasure to be involved with the human facial expressions.The common-sense theory of emotion states that an emotion is experienced first, leading to a physical reaction and then to a behavioral reaction.The James-Lange theory states that a stimulus creates a physiological response that then leads to the labeling of the emotion. The Cannon-Bard theory states that the physiological reaction and the emotion both use the thalamus to send sensory information to both the cortex of the brain and the organs of the sympathetic nervous system. The facial feedback hypothesis states that facial expressions provide feedback to the brain about the emotion being expressed on the face, increasing all the emotions. In Schachter and Singer’s cognitive arousal theory, also known as the two-factor theory, states both the physiological arousal and the actual arousal must occur before the emotion itself is experienced, based on cues from the environment. Lastly, in the cognitive-mediational theory
One scientist, Damasio, provided an explanation how emotions can be felt in humans biologically. Damasio suggested, “Various brain structures map both the organism and external objects to create what he calls a second order representation. This mapping of the organism and the object most likely occurs in the thalamus and cingulate cortices. A sense of self in the act of knowing is created, and the individual knows “to whom this is happening.” The “seer” and the “seen,” the “thought” and the “thinker” are one in the same.” By mapping the brain scientists can have a better understandi...