Social Intelligence

Of the 470 presenters at ISCS, none had a message more compelling than that of Tania Singer, a social neuroscientist from The Max Planck Institute. Singer seems vitally alive as she presents her work, a scientist who has clearly found her calling and is excited to share her findings. She is also studying a neglected type of motivation, Affiliation Motivation. Like many others there, she is embarked on the quest described by the Dalai Lama in the closing speech, “How can we take knowledge from science and apply it in the service of humanity?”

Lunch-time was often a struggle for my mental capacities. Rarely did a day go by when my vibrant nine-year old, just back from school, failed to enlighten us with long and winding tales of girly social interactions. Rarely did I manage to follow them all the way through. In fact, I usually lost the story line somewhere in Act One….

Emotions evolved over millennia to ensure our survival. Each one has a purpose. It reminds us to call attention, take action, avoid the situation, reach out to others, give back, feel connected, and a myriad of other thought-action repertoires that ensure not only our survival but also our well-being in life. Compassion meditation helps us to acknowledge the message in our emotions. Think of the subconscious mind as the captain of our ship under the seas. We would do well to be attentive to his call, hear his message and then guide him from our vantage point above the waters.

“Thank God I grew up with one advantage—that I had to work for everything I got.” This is only one of the endlessly inspiring quotations and findings from a yearlong research project we recently completed. We asked, “Do seasoned, successful entrepreneurs exhibit a unique blend of signature character strengths and persistence compared to the general population? If so, does it matter?”