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Sajid Khan

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Teaching wisdom and emotional intelligence.

“Wisdom education is simply about taking the emotional healing to a new super mature mind level; it is about making a normal mind super normal”

It has now been well established that emotional intelligence is as important as regular intelligence; yet there is very little enthusiasm about teaching emotional intelligence. Institutions are not rushing in to start emotional intelligence education. The reasons for this neglect of emotional intelligence education are obvious. Teaching emotional intelligence has proven to be very frustratingly impossible. So there is a lot of talk of the essential need for emotional intelligence education and yet little effort is made to even research to find ways to teach it.

The reason why emotional intelligence education is a failure is because we have little clue to the true nature of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is an innate property of the physical brain. In order to improve emotional intelligence the physical brain has to be improved. No wonder trying to teach emotional intelligence just like we teach regular math and science does not work as the physically ignorant brain continues to produce ignorance. It is like pouring fresh water into a glass that is producing its own stale water. The fresh water becomes dirty too.

As wisdom is super mature emotional intelligence we can combine and cross-reference their knowledge.

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  • carolyn mcauley 10+

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    Jan 9 2013: I am an artist,part time and i have thought of several pieces in which emotional intelligence can be taught to any one willing to partake...as always most of my works remain in my head...but could be easily transferred to 3d...I have asked people..but this topic dosent seem nessesary to most people...healthy people dont see needs for explanations on how to see the self,or others,or think about what they are thinking y...people who struggle end up at therapists,n..I have created two simple pieces 1 human observation as if it were a camera,full of limitations and capable of only a percentage of accuracy...not 100% this is to illustrate how our observations are rarely accurate so violence or aggression when there is a margin of error in the act of interpetation ...that one should be cautious 2this piece is a swimming pool ...it illustrates or irrationality regarding prejudice,and our choices we think are logical...place all your closest allies near yourself in the pool,all those you avoid outside the swimming zone...now ask yourself...who has stolen,hurt,attacked you...often it is not the group you avoid,but the group your swimming with...this details irrationality in prejudice,and your comfort with others who actually are harmful...All the art pieces get the viewer to surrender information so later they can see themselves and decide if this is in fact a view of self they cherish

    • Sajid Khan

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      Jan 9 2013: Wow! You are quite an artist. You are right emotional intelligence is not on the radar screen.

      You must transfer your ideas into at least paintings if not 3d.
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    Gail . 50+

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    Jan 7 2013: EP (Emotional Intelligence) stands in radical opposition to what our educational paradigms stand for.

    Our educational systems are about looking out, recognizing our inferiority/vulberability, and learning how to make money that is supposed to make us happy.

    EP is about looking in, recognizing our greatness (having adequate self-esteem) and making RATIONAL decisions. Those who have learned that the pursuit of money is the purpose of life are not making rational decisions.

    You have to change the mission statement of the Dept of Education before anyone will allow EP to be taught in schools. It's not that it's impossible. It's that it stands against everything that education has been legally declared to stand for.

    • Sajid Khan

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      Jan 7 2013: The DE relies on the experts and the experts are still very confused about teaching emotional intelligence. A forum like TED can sponsor our theme of what is emotional intelligence and how it can be taught.

      By age six a child's path to a healthy emotional intelligence is set and so emotional intelligence education is more to do with teaching children with hugs and kisses and a healthy upbringing than giving them knowledge of good and evil. The child should grow into an innate and unconscious selflessness and not into a trophy self image.

      For emotional intelligence education a mass movement to educate parents and early education teachers to provide a healthy upbringing is needed. Along with a reeducation program for the adults is needed.

      I have the plan mapped out; but who is listening?
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        Gail . 50+

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        Jan 7 2013: The mission statement for the U.S. Dept of Ed. says that it exists to prepare students for global competition. Consider for a moment all that it does not stand for:

        1. Preparing students for a full and rewarding life.
        2. Preparing students to run a nation "of, by, & for the people"
        3. Prepare students to run their own businesses
        4. Preparing students to solve problems
        5. Helping students to know themselves (& find their own potentials)
        6. I'll let you add to a near-endless list.

        The U S. D. E. is a subsidy for mega corporations. Self-aware or self-actualized people do not make good slaves to a dystopian ideal. A person with a high EQ is self-aware and probably self-actualized. WE are the threat to the DE because we are a threat to the plutarchy.

        For as long as the DE stands for $$$$ and in support of $$$, it cannot stand in support of students. It is its best interests to counteract EP

        • Sajid Khan

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          Jan 7 2013: I am all for wealth creation as one of the goals of education. As money solves a lot of issues. But our education system is even flawed when it comes to educating students into wealth creating machines. We create jack of all trades; when every single professional job is technical!

          What we need is to introduce emotional-intelligence/wisdom education and it will take care all of the above issues.

  • george lockwood 20+

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    Jan 7 2013: NLP as a way to do something like emotional intelligence seems to be the subject of a Crown House book. But could we become too nice and furry in the future.

    • Sajid Khan

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      Jan 7 2013: It is not about being nice or not. It is about being emotionally healthy. Emotional baggage causes emotionally challenged behavior; which is responsible for most of the crime, Wall Street greed, divorce, drug abuse, hatred, wars, unhappiness etc. Apart from pain and suffering it is driving us and the country bankrupt. Just crime costs 1.7 trillion dollars!
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    Linda Taylor 50+

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    Jan 7 2013: This is actually my area of research. I can tell you the reason that institutions are not rushing to teach this is because the measures have not been established. In teaching we have outcomes that we want to see in our students. We need them to be able to take new information and apply that information. Then we measure that by testing, papers, and all sorts of other ways. The problem with the application of emotions is that it is incredibly difficult to measure. How do we know we have accomplished this?

    Yet we still do this. In fact, I HAVE to do this or the students will not be adequately prepared. The measures are not perfect but I include things like reflective journaling and storytelling.

    I disagree that wisdom is super mature EI. Wisdom only comes with experience.

    • Sajid Khan

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      Jan 7 2013: I have combined behavioral psychology with
      quantifying the mind as follows:
      a)Premature mind of a new born child quantified with a value of negative 2.
      b)Immature mind of a teenager quantified with a value of negative 1.
      c)Mature mind of an adult quantified with a value of positive 1.
      d)Super mature mind of a master quantified with a value of positive 2.
      As all human behavior including emotions spring from mostly one of
      the above mind levels I have quantified
      all human behavior by the level of the mind it is coming from. For
      instance murder is a -2 activity.
      To be humble is a +2 behavior.

      I am not the only one, there are many others who say that wisdom is +2 emotional intelligence. In fact if you compare the character traits of wisdom and +2 emotional intelligence they are exactly the same!

      Wisdom comes with experience is a clue to how we can teach wisdom. Gradually over the years experience grinds out the emotional baggage in the brain making the brain emotionally super mature. All I am saying is why wait for decades of life struggling experiences to become wise why not remove the emotional baggage through therapy while the person is still young.
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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Jan 7 2013: I would have said that many teachers work continuously with students in this area at a level appropriate to the age group, from preschool on up. This is addressed in the context of teaching team work and negotiation/communication skills, part of curricula aimed at reducing bullying or at community building in diverse populations, and as part of developing executive function in young people over time.

    That sort of opportunity to help kids is part of what draws people into teaching, I think, particularly of the younger grades.

    It just isn't labeled emotional intelligence.

    • Sajid Khan

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      Jan 7 2013: You are absolutely right, emotional intelligence is taught through good teachers. But it is not effective for emotionally ill students. I am suggesting brain therapy for emotionally challenged students.
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