Toolkit to douse anger by Prithwis Datta Anger is perhaps the most toxic of emotions we have. We experience it whenever our ego is hurt. Daniel Goleman, a noted science journalist, describes emotional intelligence as the ability to guide thinking and adjust emotions to adapt to the environment. He coined the term ‘amygdala hijack’. Amygdala is a small part of the brain that is geared to an automatic response to a perceived threat. Goleman shows that when our ego is hurt, and anger is aroused, its intensity overwhelms the rational thinking of the brain, and goes direct to the amygdala. Rational response is hijacked by an emotional response.