NAME CALLING IS INDICATIVE OF LOW EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Plus it’s sophomoric and sometimes rude
I wrote a quick verse based upon name calling being an indication of low emotional intelligence as I read of a specific article laying this out clearly. Of course there is politics involved in the action of name calling and it’s nothing new. It seems to be a staple of Trump, so we’ve been subjected to it for many years now. But it’s no less annoying and sophomoric. Below is from his posting below. Typical Trump.
Here is my verse, such as it is for this evening.
And an excerpt on name calling as it is related to emotional intelligence.
Brittney-Nichole Connor-Savarda
Jan 1, 2023
@bncs_23
Name-calling: A Sign of Low Emotional Intelligence
Failure to articulate our thoughts:
When we can't put our thoughts into words, it often leads to frustration and stress. Stress triggers our fight or flight response, often leading to an impulsive and defensive reaction. In many cases, name-calling.
Before I developed my emotional intelligence and expanded my vocabulary through reading and listening to constructive podcasts and videos, I often used name-calling and belittling others as my fallback. I felt justified in my actions because I perceived their intelligence or reason as a threat or a personal attack on my intelligence. In reality, my ego was the victim and villain in the situation.
If you struggle to put your thoughts into words, this could mean one of two things.
1. You haven’t formed an extensive vocabulary to accurately communicate what you are feeling and thinking. In this case, I recommend spending some time reading, writing, or listening to others who are effective communicators. TED Talks are also a great resource.
2. You are in a state of emotional arousal (emotionally triggered), and your rational brain (the prefrontal cortex) has hypothetically checked out of the conversation. This means that you can no longer “think” and collect your thoughts, so you are at the mercy of your emotions if you haven’t developed the skills to self-regulate and get back to a neutral state with minimal stress.
If this is the case, it’s best to step away or say nothing. While this may make you feel cowardly, it’s a courageous thing to do as opposed to the alternative—name-calling or saying something you will regret. Even if you don’t regret what you said, others will remember you in a not so found light. Is that what you want to be known for? A hot head or loose cannon.
From Wikipedia:
Emotional intelligence (EI) is most often defined as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. People with high emotional intelligence can recognize their own emotions and those of others, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, and adjust emotions to adapt to environments.
I came across some quotes on names and on emotion from the book Forty Thousand Sublime and Beautiful Thoughts. Biographies are from Wikipedia.
“A person with a bad name is already half hanged," saith the old proverb.
- Whipple.
Edwin Percy Whipple (March 8, 1819 – June 16, 1886) was an American essayist and critic. Whipple was also a public lecturer. In 1850, he defended the intelligence of George Washington and compared him to other brilliant men of his time in a speech which later became known as "The Genius of Washington". Whipple was a close friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne. After Hawthorne's death in 1864, Whipple served as a pallbearer for his funeral alongside Amos Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, James T. Fields, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Whipple's close relationship with other Boston-area authors occasionally tinted his reviews. Edward Emerson later noted, "No other member of the Saturday Club has ever been more loyally felicitous in characterizing the literary work of his associates.
“Some men do as much begrudge others a good name, as they want one themselves; and perhaps that is the reason of it.”
- William Penn
William Penn (24 October 1644 – 10 August 1718) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonial era. Penn was an advocate of democracy and religious freedom known for his amicable relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Native Americans who had resided in present-day Pennsylvania prior to European settlements in the state. As one of the earlier supporters of colonial unification, Penn wrote and urged for a union of all the English colonies in what, following the American Revolutionary War, later became the United States. The democratic principles that he included in the West Jersey Concessions and set forth in the Pennsylvania Frame of Government inspired delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to frame the U.S. Constitution, which was ratified by the delegates in 1787.
“A man's name is not like a mantle, which merely hangs about him, and which twitch and pull, but a perfectly fitting one perchance may safely garment, which like the skin has grown over and over him, at which one cannot rake and scrape without injuring the man himself.
- Goethe.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and color. He is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language, and his work has had a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western literary, political, and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day.
“We are but shadows: we are not endowed with real life, and all that seems most real about us is but the thinnest substance of a dream, -till the heart be touched. That touch creates us - then we begin to be thereby we are beings of reality and inheritors of eternity.”
- Hawthorne.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral metaphors with an anti-Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce, written for his 1852 campaign for President of the United States, which Pierce won, becoming the 14th president.
That’s what I have for this Sunday. I’ve been writing all weekend on various things. I seem to never tire of it. Thanks for reading, and let’s watch the name calling, although sometimes it’s only appropriate.
86th posting, September 3, 2023