There is a pernicious myth that ‘EQ’ (‘emotional intelligence’) is a (wholly) separate thing from IQ. If you have been deceived into believing this myth, permit me to disabuse you of that belief. Intelligence and emotional perceptivity are not distinct capacities; they are, in fact, rather closely related.
The man of exceptional intelligence will be able to accurately perceive the emotional states of others with a high degree of accuracy and with fewer clues than most men. Further, the highly intelligent are not, as a rule, ‘emotionally stunted’ or ‘emotionally handicapped’ — quite the opposite. Emotion is a key component of what it means to be human, and the highly intelligent possess a share of this that is roughly commensurate with their other intellectual gifts.
It is not that the highly intelligent are cold or uncaring or unfeeling or inhuman; rather, the will and the intellect are very closely linked, and a man of exceptional intelligence will almost invariably also possess an exceptional degree of self-control. It is one thing to have emotions; it is another thing to display them for all the world.
The caricature of the intellectually exceptional is that of the physically weak, sickly, and socially stunted outcast, but this is a set of pernicious lies — lies a certain sort of man finds comforting, hence their popularity. Contrary to this caricature, those of exceptional intelligence are typically physically more fit, genetically healthier, and socially capable, if sometimes reserved or controlled. The caricature exists on account of malice and is perpetuated because of envy. To hold such perniciously false and bitterly misguided beliefs is unbecoming of any man.