The emotional brain

Goleman, a psychologist and science journalist, starts with the brain. Emotions evolved to help us act fast, and a small structure called the amygdala works as an alarm system. It can react to a threat before the thinking parts of the brain have fully understood what is happening.

Sometimes it takes over completely. Goleman calls this an emotional hijacking: a flash of rage or fear that leads us to say or do things we later regret. This wiring helps explain why clever people so often act unwisely.