Social intelligence, as proposed by Iain McGilchrist, is a concept that strives to bridge the gap between mind and body, internal and external, and that is orientated around successful negotiation of the complexities of interpersonal encounters. It not only involves a capacity for self-reflection and an understanding of the perspectives of others, but also the ability to empathy, to recognize nuances in social situations and to appropriately respond in terms of both emotions and behaviour. Social intelligence is therefore the capacity to discern and make use of the interplay between people, ideas and contexts in order to navigate in complex social situations.

See also: right hemisphere, left hemisphere, cognitive diversity, neural network, social medium