Empathic Intelligence

On the BBC I heard that western women have turned to Islam in a post 9-11 era.  If you look at the idea of women joining Islam intellectually, you could not conceive that there would be an attraction since Islam is seemingly male dominant and female subversive.  These women are first curious about the ideals of Islam.  Then they see how women in that faith act, how they give even-though they have next to nothing.  This curiosity and attraction seems to be a similar drive that of a scientist investigating their field or a investigator investigating their case.  It used to be that men would just chalk this up to just women's emotions, but I believe there is something more inherently viable and even important.  These women are using empathic intelligence.  To learn from people by applying empathy is empathic intelligence.  I want to explore what this means in a practical sense.  I will share an article from a psychological periodical, I will share my own experience, and I will explore the importance of this intelligence.

In Psychology Today I found an article titled Empathic Intelligence: To put yourself in their shoes, unlace yours by Dr. Jeremy Sherman, 21 May 2009.  Where Dr. Sherman defines Empathic Intelligence as "is the ability to hold two opposed positions in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to think for yourself."  He also uses the analogy of swapping shoes.  If you go to a shoe store to buy shoes your going to try them on and your going to walk in them before making a decision to buy them.  You have to feel them out.  You determine the pros and cons of the shoe before making your decision.  So it is with empathy.  If your in the market for a new religion, you look for something that catches your eye.  You look around for examples of people in that religion.  You may even try it out for a time, that is visit a monument, read a story integral to the teachings, spend a day with those who follow it.  Your weighing, measuring, and feeling the religion in order to make a decision to convert or refute.  What your doing is exercising empathic intelligence.  Dr. Sherman holds that this type of intelligence requires putting yourself at risk, and implies that there is a certain amount of courage needed to proceed.

I have felt like a mimicker since childhood.  I am a natural empath and as such can't help but to put myself in people's shoes.  Once I was so effective in my shoe swapping that I convinced another boy that I could speak German, and he was German.  I learned to swim by watching and feeling out people.  Nobody taught me how to do breast stroke or crawl, I just did it.  Nobody taught me how to sail a boat, I watched my father teach my brother, and years later just went out and sailed the boat by myself for the first time.  I even had to tack in back to the beach.  These things I learned by applying empathic intelligence.

Empathic Intelligence is important, though it has not been given much attention.  The Christian religion started small with a man who taught and made miracles.  People were drawn to him, they wanted to be like him.  He had a way of invoking empathic intelligence in his followers.  Often in his texts and those of his followers we find that people wanted to emulate him in every way.  Many did even to death.  But centuries later, the religion took a analytical tone.  Principles were outlined, texts were standardized, doctrines were writ, and dogmas were upheld.  Even today you find many churches applying analytical intelligence to define the religion.  You also find many churches that do not feed the poor, help the sick, house the homeless.  Analytics can make a religion more palatable but it can also kill off its spirit.  It's no wonder that the Methodist movement bloomed in the 1800s and the Pentecostal movement blossomed from the 1960's through the 1980's.  These movements applied empathic intelligence that won over crowds of people.  This is in stark contrast to the "well defined" faiths that loose people and can even cause oppression.  Empathic Intelligence invigorates the soul and a lack of it can starve the same soul.

I have looked at an article, shared personal examples, and shown the importance of empathic intelligence.  Learning to feed the empathic intelligence in people can give you followers, it can make you popular.  That can be good and bad.  It's a tool to be wielded and it's a might tool at that.  Learning to use it for your own learning is important to being a perpetual student.  I hope this brings to light what empathic intelligence is and how important it is to people.