> The idea that you can increase your emotional intelligence by broadening your emotion vocabulary is solid neuroscience. Your brain is not static; it rewires i

> The idea that you can increase your emotional intelligence by broadening your emotion vocabulary is solid neuroscience. Your brain is not static; it rewires itself with experience. When you force yourself to learn new words—emotion-related or otherwise—you sculpt your brain’s microwiring, giving it the means to construct those emotional experiences, as well as your perceptions of others’ emotions, more effortlessly in the future. This part makes me very leery of the strength of any claims in the article. The general phenomenon of neuroplasticity is not evidence that any particular intervention will do what somebody claims or expects. Quietly jumping that gap is a favorite method of peddlers of neurobullshit. Dr. Barrett has certainly earned a bit more benefit of the doubt than, say, Lumosity, but that doesn't make this particular line of argument any less grating.