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Ecological Intelligence
Book

Ecological Intelligence

How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything

Daniel Goleman
Broadway Books, 2009

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Analytical
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

The manufactured world has produced incredible variety, luxury and convenience, but at what cost to the environment and to human bodies? Emotional intelligence expert Daniel Goleman persuasively argues for “radical transparency” about environmental impact. He says that if people could see at a glance the harm that the products they buy wreak upon the earth and human health, they would make ecologically sounder choices. Goleman asserts that such transparency would add to the legions of eco-conscious consumers, help the environment and even boost corporate profits. Though it is not as tightly written as his previous books, getAbstract recommends this compelling, detailed work of advocacy for marketplace transparency. Goleman works hard to prove that it is an idea whose time has come.

Take-Aways

  • “Ecological intelligence” is awareness of how your actions affect your surroundings, that is, the “geosphere,” the “biosphere” and the “sociosphere.”
  • Biology conditions people to flee obvious danger, but it does not alert them to long-term, invisible threats they cannot sense, like global warming.
  • Shoppers don’t always make the best environmental decisions. Being informed helps.

About the Author

Two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Daniel Goleman wrote the bestsellers Primal Leadership, Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence, and covered science for The New York Times.

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