IQ, EQ, SQ || Acharya Prashant, at Delhi University (2023)

Acharya Prashant

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Transcript

00:00Hello sir, I am Utkarsh. I am pursuing my Master's in Philosophy from the Department

00:06of Philosophy itself, Delhi University. And my question dates back to the perennial debate

00:12between the concepts of EQ and IQ. And to expound my question, I would like to elaborate

00:18that this dates back to the philosopher David Hume, who made the distinction between the

00:26reason part of the human brain and the passion. And in modern times, in modern cognitive science

00:33and psychology, people like some psychologists like Gardner and Goldman have made a distinction

00:40and they've tried to establish that EQ is just as important as the IQ. And bringing

00:47it back to practical terms, pragmatic terms, I would like to ask that if I am to make a

00:54very important decision in life, how much weight should be given to the emotional part

00:59of my brain? Because emotions do play a role. Even before I make a decision, I have an emotion

01:05attached to the decision already. So how much of my attention or weight should be given

01:13to the rational part? How much of it should be given to the emotional part? Or is it a

01:17combination of both?

01:24See, what you call as intelligence pertains mostly to your thinking self. So your IQ has

01:45a very strong relation with your thoughts. What you call as EQ has a strong relationship

01:58with your emotions, feelings. And whenever it will come to a tussle between thoughts

02:10and feelings, feelings will win hands down. Even if it appears that you are choosing thought

02:21over feeling, even that choice would be a feeling. Because feeling is the very source

02:28of thought. We may not realize that. But emotions always take precedence over thoughts.

02:43Emotions dictate thoughts. And you will not know where your emotions come from. Emotions

02:52will simply change your thoughts. Emotions will very successfully construct arguments

02:59in their own favor. So if emotions are indeed more powerful than thoughts, then obviously

03:09EQ is more important than IQ. A person who can think very sharply, logically, but is

03:19totally ignorant of his emotions is a dangerous person. Dangerous to both himself and to others.

03:29Because he will have a great power in his hand. The power of thought. And that power

03:42will actually be in the hands of his dark emotions. Why do I am calling that dark? I

03:49am calling them dark because they come from an unknown place, a place you cannot see.

03:54So I am calling them dark. For example, I construct a powerful, a great technology.

04:05I am a great researcher. I can think. I can go into material. And I come up with a wonderful

04:14technology. But within me, I am full of hatred, jealousy, anger. And these are emotions, right?

04:25What will I use that technology for? That technology is not a product of hatred. That

04:30technology is not a product of anger. That technology is a product of thought. I kept

04:36thinking, thinking, and my thinking self gave birth to that technology. But what will

04:43I use that technology for? I will use that technology in the service of my hate, my revenge,

04:51my anger, whatever it is. So EQ is definitely more important than IQ. Now what is it that

05:03can overrule or supersede EQ as well? Obviously, that is your spiritual quotient. The great thing

05:12about spiritual quotient that makes it very different from both IQ and EQ is that it is a

05:20choice. Your IQ, you can hardly change. Even if it will change throughout your lifespan,

05:28it will be to a minor extent. Similarly, your EQ is something that is given to you by your birth,

05:40by nature itself. Some people are born too emotional. Some are born terrified. Have you

05:48seen that? Even when kids are born, they have a personality that moment itself. Some kids,

05:58are very energetic. Some are very lethargic. Some are very outgoing. Some like to keep to

06:06themselves. So IQ and EQ, they both in a sense are governed by your physical structure, your birth

06:16itself. Whereas, SQ is a choice. You cannot do much when it comes to IQ or EQ. But when it comes

06:28to SQ, you can do everything. What is SQ? Spiritual quotient is actually the choice,

06:36the decision to know yourself. If you can understand yourself, you will know where

06:42your emotions are coming from. So if you have a high SQ, you will be able to control your EQ.

06:49And we said EQ controls thoughts. Your emotions control your thoughts. And what can control your

06:58emotions? Your SQ, your self inquiry. In the language of spirituality, this is how it is put.

07:10Atma Gyan or Atma Jigyasa is what can bring light to your vritti. Your vritti, which is your

07:20fundamental biological tendencies, your vritti shows up in your emotions. And if your vritti

07:29can be shown some light, then your thoughts, that is vichar, change. So vichar, vritti,

07:41Atma Jigyasa. If you find that you are unable to control your emotions, if you find that you have

07:50sudden mood swings, if you find that in spite of knowing that you should not get hurt or that you

07:58should not hate, you still get hurt or get hateful, then what you require is self-knowledge.

08:07When you see where your emotions come from, you will find it easier to stay at a distance from

08:17them. And if you do not power your emotions, then your emotions will not be able to control your

08:27thoughts. Getting it?

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