Opinion (Daniel Goleman, a psychologist, author of Emotional Intelligence and Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence): “A growing body of recent research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those with little such power. This tuning out has been observed, for instance, with strangers in a mere five-minute get-acquainted session, where the more powerful person shows fewer signals of paying attention, like nodding or laughing. Higher-status people are also more likely to express disregard, through facial expressions, and are more likely to take over the conversation and interrupt or look past the other speaker. …

“Of course, in any society, social power is relative; any of us may be higher or lower in a given interaction, and the research shows the effect still prevails. Though the more powerful pay less attention to us than we do to them, in other situations we are relatively higher on the totem pole of status — and we, too, tend to pay less attention to those a rung or two down. …

“Mr. Keltner [a professor of psychology at Berkeley] suggests that, in general, we focus the most on those we value most. While the wealthy can hire help, those with few material assets are more likely to value their social assets: like the neighbor who will keep an eye on your child from the time she gets home from school until the time you get home from work. The financial difference ends up creating a behavioral difference. Poor people are better attuned to interpersonal relations — with those of the same strata, and the more powerful — than the rich are, because they have to be.”

My Comment: The conclusion is that the dissemination of integral education should be started with the “lower” levels of society. We have to “go to the people” to demonstrate our participation and really learn and understand the needs of the masses. Do not rely on the elite; by virtue of their position, they will not understand the people, no matter how hard we try. The crisis can be eliminated only be building authority from those who empathize with people, meaning from those who are corrected; otherwise, anyone who has reached power, will also neglect the public.
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Related Material:
Will The Elite Help Us?
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