Friday, February 26, 2016

To what extent should emotions be considered in our understanding of intelligence?

I think that emotions are a very basic part of intelligence, and should therefore be fully considered next to other types of intelligence. By definition, intelligence is "the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations" (Merriam-Webster), and as we use emotions in our everyday lives to understand situations, they are a part of intelligence.
Furthermore, just like other parts of Intelligence, EI can be measured reliably by tests. Similarily to IQ tests, where problems in Math and Analytical questions are posed, in EI tests, emotional problems are presented to the test-taker (e.g. identifying emotions). These tests have been developed by Dr Caruso, Mayer, and Dr Salovey. Also, IQ tests have been proven to be filled with flaws and consequently a faulty predictor of success, resulting in that EI tests might even be a better predictor of success.
Aditionally, Mayer argues that there is both popular acceptance and empirical evidence that EI broadens our understanding of "what it means to be smart" , of astuteness, acuteness, and therefore, of Intelligence. Studies have shown and it is becoming a part of common knowledge that there is a high degree of information processing going on in emotionally active people (popularly referred to as "romantics" and "highly sensitive".

To sum up, it has been proven that it is very important in success to be aware, identify, and be able to control emotions. In certain fields it is considered to be one of the most important skillsets. Up until this point however, only other parts of Intelligence were measured (IQ tests) and grown in school. Emotion was not measured and most traditional schools do not teach students how to deal with emotions (instead they teach how to deal with Mathematical problems, etc). It is time for a change. Intelligence has also been developed. We understand way more of intelligence than 100 years ago. The concept of what it means to be intelligent has changed over time, developed. Therefore, emotions should be considered in our understanding of intelligence.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Are emotions a part of Intelligence?

Definitions

For:
"the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations" 
(Merriam Webster 1. a (1))

Against:
"mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, ... understand and handle abstract concepts, and use knowledge to manipulate one’s environment."
(Brittanica)


Thursday, February 11, 2016

Language, Emotion, and Reason Intertwine in the Mellish Motors Situation

Find examples from the Yale situation or the Mellish Motors situation that demonstrate how language, emotion and reason intertwine.


When a used car shop in New Annan, Canada, put up a sign saying "Women are like snowflakes. They can't drive." it sparked a storm of outrage and debates revolving around the sign. One side argued that the sign was misogynistic and not even funny. Others than called these people too PC (politically correct) and was only intended as a joke. It very quickly escalated into hate speech from and against both sides whilst the debate switched into a debate over Political Correctness.
The sign on the top right was the original one, the others were then put up as responses to the debate by the owner.

This debate on Facebook is a glowing example of the fallouts the sign caused. It started with someone (for the sake of simplicity I'll refer to him as "Poster") saying she is "disappointed with the number of male and female friends who don't see the harm in sexist "jokes" like the one on the Mellish Motors' sign, let alone its  ridiculous rebuttals." She went on to state how misogynistic the world nowadays is and compared her own "rebellion" to that of Rosa Parks' Bus Boycott.
Responder 1 was glad to point out the mistakes in her argument. First off, she has just compared herself to "the mother of the freedom movement" (this is what US Congress called Rosa Parks); it can be clearly seen how she let her emotion negatively affect her reason, as she let herself overexaggerate for the sake of simply having more arguments (more to say) and to get her point across to everyone. Responder 1 proceeded to bring in logical arguments for his own side (which is that the whole debate has gotten out of hand) and to point out that the original complainer (Ms. Ling) has already called a truce. He also used sarcasm, a very powerful linguistical tool for debates.
Then came Responder 2, who supported Poster and continued her arguments in a very dramatic way. She used several vulgar expressions, swore, and didn't have more than one real logical argument. To sum up: she let her anger cloud her judgment of how she should argue. Paraphrased, because of her heightened emotion, her language was affected in a negative way, which suggested she had bad skills of reason.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Facebook Fight

Politically Correct: The notion of disabling people to say certain words/phrases because they might offend specific groups of people (e.g. a word/phrase might be racist, misogynistic, etc).

Mellish Motors politically incorrect sign:
Offensiveness rating (personal): 4

Friends Fallout about the sign