Emotional Intelligence Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is emotional intelligence and oxymoron? Emotion is a mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes. Emotion requires no rationalizing for it occurs instantaneously within the amygdala portion of the brain. The brain then interprets and computes the emotions into particular feelings. The physiological changes, especially in the face, that occur during emotional states of mind allow for the detection and interpretation of emotion. The impulses in the face that arise from emotions prove that emotions exist and happen subconsciously. Some muscles in the face contract never but during certain emotional phases. Rationalization is a process that is methodical and requires time, while emotionalizing happens at an instant, suggesting it is an intuitive type of knowing. Daniel Goleman along with other psychological experts has published numerous papers on what is known as emotional intelligence. Goleman explains emotional intelligence as a skill that enables a person to manage distressing moods well and control impulses. Goleman believes that emotional intelligence is just as essential as cognitive skills in everyday life. From the phrase, emotional intelligence, it seems like an oxymoron, but the words together mean something a bit different. Emotional intelligence deals with the reaction to emotion rather than the emotion itself. Most emotions, whether people know it or not, are uniform in every culture around the globe. The uniformity is part of the seeds of humanity. It is ingrained into our species. Some may argue that people can feel sad or happy from the same situation. Looking more closely, the disparate emotions that occur result from different contexts. For instance, when a person dies, people feel sad as well as happy. The people that feel sad have this emotion because the person that died no longer can offer companionship. On the other hand, some people feel happy because the person has entered into the next world, which they believe will bring the person happiness. People always feel anguish when a loved one dies. Their overall feeling could be of joy, but a feeling of grief would exist as well. Studies have shown emotions to be universal among the human populace of earth. Emotions are justified automatically in the brain and in the same manner. The computing and rationalizing of emotion determines emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence requires rationalization, but emotion, however, is an innate feeling felt by all that occurs subconsciously. Emotion, since universal, justifies with everyone. People, whether old or young or from different parts of the globe, possess the same emotions. Different things in different cultures have positive and negative connotations, and thus cause for disparate emotions. Although the things have different emotional associations, the universal emotions arise from the connotations deemed by the culture, not specifically the particular things.