Here are some readers comments on Goleman's Book:

Readers Comments:
cantubury@hotmail.com , 06/02/97, rating=6:
eq concept is marshal mcluan's crap detecting 90's style.
marshall mcluan inventor of "medium is the message" media futurist talked of crap detecting and
some people can read others well not using sylogistic logic and memory,cognitive,convergent
learning methods. trying to make "common" sense above intelligence.

A Reader, 12/26/96:
An area too long neglected by the educational system
Goleman's right on the mark with this one. Emotional aptitudes are as critical to leading a
fulfilling life as the appropriate use of one's intellectual aptitudes.

Despite a misleading title, this book doesn't wallow in the banalities of self help and pop
psychology, and can provide insights even for "well adapted" people. The author uses both
research and clinical findings to show that emotional difficulties can create tremendous
obstacles to success even for very talented people.

He also correctly recommends that people who can't control their emotions should get
professional attention and, better yet, suggests that schools provide emotional as well as
intellectual education. Not only will "normal" kids benefit, but families or caregivers could be
advised that a child is at risk for developing serious problems.

I was one of those "at risk kids". It took almost 40 years to find the appropriate combination of
therapy and medication to alleviate severe emotional problems that prevented me from using a
very high IQ. The book also provided significant insights; for example, I realized that I have
problems assessing other people's feelings and motivations and am working on remedying the
situation.

The author has also done his research; there are explanations about neurophysiology, and the
numerous footnotes provide suggestions for further inquiry. On the minus side, an appendix
listing some of these references (along with a very short description) would have been
welcome.

A must read for parents, clergy, and educators.

lion@interport.net , 12/11/96, rating=9:
emotional intelligence is IQ tempered with maturity
This book reviews how people need to be educated not just intellectually with facts and figures,
but emotionally. People so often have problems in life solely due to the fact that they haven't
learned to get in touch with their feelings or their fellow man's feelings. This book emphasizes
how children who are taught to respect other people not based on the old adage of right and
wrong, but of understanding why it is right and wrong. Learning compassion is a step to
peacemaking. Learning to control or maintain certain emotions, rather than having them control
you is certainly a great asset in breaking patterns and repeating mistakes.

palvarad@ns.inst.ice.go.cr , 09/19/96, rating=10:
Brainy is not bright
As a very brainy boy and young man in school and college I thought my future would be bright;
FALSE, it came to be mediocre. Why? Because I wasn't emotionally intelligent. After reading
this book my life is improving rapidly. I highly recommend it.

chadt@honors.unr.edu , 09/02/96, rating=10:
Being Book-Smart Does Not Translate to Success!
Being intellectually smart is surely a strong advantage in our society, but it doesn't say nearly as
much as your control and awareness over your own emotions. Have you ever wondered why
you have emotions, how your brain works to process them, and how you can use them to your
own advantage? Can you control your impulsive desire to have instant gratification in order to
work toward a more worthwhile long-term goal? Have you ever wondered what exactly causes
your own innocent child to somehow grow up to be a rapist or a sociopath? Regardless of your
lifestyle, whether you're a career person, a homemaker, a young college student, or a retired
senior citizen, this book offers you an enormous variety of invaluable, fact-based information
which is sure to help you with your relationships, your family, your career, and most important,
knowing yourself. It is the critical education that everybody needs, yet virtually nobody receives
in any formal way.

A Reader, 07/17/96, rating=2:
It's a fact that people with high I. Q.'s do better in life. You can be whatever you want to be, as
long as your I.Q. is high enoung. You can believe any emotional I.Q. mumbo jumbo that you
want, but people who have high I.Q.'s do better. Period!

jabeles@sarnoff.com , 06/27/96, rating=7:
An irritating problem spawned by Goleman's book is that of finger-pointers, i.e. critical
individuals, who seem to have proprietary ideas of whom they believe ought to read it, based on
its catchy title. They say, "There is a great new book which <name> ought to read. It would
really help him." I'm not at all sure that these folks have read it themselves. Goleman has, in
essence, been digesting all those popularized and wannabe popularized academic studies which
tell us the things about ourselves we ought already to know, and which, in all likelihood, our
ancestors knew perfectly well. If you don't have enough time or $$$ to delve, here is the
one-line number-one message which Goleman is selling in the book: "People do a lot of really
irrational things when they feel threatened, so try to identify situations and people who threaten
you and avoid making judgements or taking actions until you have calmed down." There are a
number of other messages but this is the featured attraction. Go forth and be emotionally
intelligent! Contrary to implications, the book doesn't explain the prevalence of financially
successful individuals who are academically unintelligent. Many of these people are also
emotionally unintelligent. So don't blame your lack of success, if any, on your lack of emotional
intelligence. Still, the book is full of interesting results of all those popularizible academic
studies. Just keep in mind that the people doing those studies have as a goal to make the greatest
impact possible with their results, so as to secure additional funding. They do not over- flow
with motherhood altruistically. Reader, be alert for over-emphasis and occasional exaggeration!

mcclosj@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu , 06/13/96, rating=9:
A book that could change our lives, our children, our world!
Goleman provides information essential for anyone with children, who teaches children, who
knows children, and for those who wish to understand themselves better. The information
presented in this book clearly illustrates that intelligience goes far beyond what society has
always presented in the terms of "IQ" and shows that a realistic matter of determining what
intelligience truly is depends on the ability to understand, acknowledge, and use social and
emotional skills. As an educator and psychotherapist, I feel this book is outstanding and can be
used on all levels, from beginners to advanced practioners, as a guide in understanding our
emotional and social states and to provide our children with the skills required to succeed in
life and perhaps change the world. What we have always considered as "intelligience" still
remains to be important, but we must know that there is much more to it and Goleman gives us a
book to provide us with a starting point. It is a must read!!!!!

KatMat52@aol.com , 06/01/96, rating=9:
Important traits other than IQ that promote success in life
This book is not just for professionals. It is clearly written with many interesting real-life
examples of traits other than IQ that help people to be successful in relationships and
occupations, and how parents can foster those traits in their children. If you read The Bell
Curve, you should read Emotional Intelligence for a more balanced view. Essential reading for
parents, teachers, and anyone interested in human nature.

KE6EER@AOL.com , 05/25/96, rating=8:
Must reading if you are interested in the future of the human race
This a book which makes clear the suddenly obvious central truth of being human -- we are
emotional creatures first and last.Suddenly, it seems obvious that how we deal with this fact is
-- after all is said and done-- the sole determiner of the quality of our lives. However, Goleman
also brings together an authoritative array of research which "connects up the dots" of many
separate fields of science. The picture of our selves and our society which emerges makes plain
what, somehow, was not -- we need to learn what emotions are, how they work, and what skills
we lack, and what those skills can accomplish. I think it is fair to say that there is no one who
could not learn something seminal from this book, and those who deal with society -- educators
and lawyers -- yes, lawyers -- should lead the pack in reading it. Thirty-three weeks on the best
seller list says that we are hungry for this information. Thank you, Daniel Goleman!