Keynote Marina Fiori: what is emotional intelligence?

Experts from the fields of psychology, neuroscience and robotics presented their views on the question of what intelligence actually is and how it can be measured. Two old acquaintances also came together on this occasion. Prof. Marina Fiori (SFUVET) and Prof. Elsbeth Stern (ETH Zurich) had previously debated whether the traditional concept of intelligence should be broadened to include emotional components. Their respective views on this topic were published in the Swiss Research Magazine Horizons, which is co-produced by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (a+).

Mensa is an international community of people who score in the top 2% of a standardised IQ test. At its regular meetings, Mensa aims to bring members of the association together and encourage the study of intelligence. The Association for Critical and Interdisciplinary Thinking (ACIT) is a network of creative thinkers, scientists and experts from various fields who work in Europe, America and Asia. ACIT's goal is to expand free education and create a community of interdisciplinary thinkers that is accessible to everyone worldwide. The two organisations teamed up to host the Intelligence Day. At this gathering, participants discussed issues surrounding the definition of intelligence, the differences between emotional and cognitive components of intelligence, why emotional intelligence can be considered a form of intelligence, and whether intelligence is solely an individual trait or whether there may also be culturally collective forms of intelligence within organisations.