Social Intelligence

3/13/2018

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2 Comments

Philosopher Eric link

4/25/2018 06:21:15 am

That was quite a rich and enjoyable story Ed! I wonder where you consider yourself in this regard? Do you, unlike me, have anything close to Jim’s skills? This has to do with theory of mind (sometimes called “empathy”, though that term often gets conflated with sympathy so I like to go straight ToM). It’s of course the ability to know what others are thinking. With such access it’s far more possible to manipulate them.

I’ve become the right hand man of a person who has amazing skills here. Given his ability to color things in ways that suit a given person’s perspective, people love having him around. It’s the art of salesmanship. He sometimes lets me in on the specifics of how he pulls off his deals, detailing the mentality of various people in ways that were previously beyond me.

Well done — with “social intelligence” you’ve hit a topic that I consider quite deep!

Ed link

5/13/2018 10:00:01 am

Thanks Eric! (Sorry for the delay getting back to this. I've been, let's call it, stuck.) I don't have all of Jim's skills (especially the one of self-control), but I think I do have pretty good ToM and can generally get along with anyone I need to. I've done this widely too, from blue collar construction workers, to authoritarian law enforcement types, to Eskimos, to Ukrainians, to academics, to lots and lots of other "types". I spend no mental energy on trying to work out how to manipulate people though since I'm much more interested in figuring out what is "right" and how to find win-win situations to grow cooperation. I find it much easier to be straightforward that way. That's probably somewhat a result of my lack of ability to be very confrontational though too. At least not as much as I dream about after the fact.

So Jim is a composite of the best people I've met along the way, and an invention from the research and definitions of social intelligence, so he's definitely better than me or anyone I know. I just finished Pierre Hadot's "Philosophy as a Way of Life" and he talked about the ancients being "philo-sophers" — literally loving wisdom that is not fully attainable by humans. The wisdom is something almost divine in this sense in that it is something we must always strive for but can never reach. I think that reflects what I'm trying to do with my fiction very very well.

I really like your use of ToM by the way as an alternative to the often confused empathy/sympathy terminology. I'm incorporating that in my own usage for sure. Thanks again! For the thoughts and encouragement.

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Social Intelligence

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