Timeless threads:
How Personal Intelligence
helps to define human experience
Throughout human history, thinkers from every corner of the world have grappled with one timeless and enduring question: What are we? To answer this question, across time and culture, a triune of abilities—cognition, emotion, and motivation—appear again and again, woven into philosophical, spiritual, and practical explorations of what it means to be human.
These ancient frameworks were not just academic exercises. They emerged from a deep understanding that thought, feeling, and action must work together in harmony to create a balanced and fulfilling life. Modern personality studies have often tried to disentangle these threads, examining traits like emotional intelligence or grit as isolated constructs. But these ancient traditions remind us that to separate them entirely is to lose sight of their interconnected nature.
“What makes us human is not just how we think, but how we connect with others and act upon our desires.”
Ancient wisdom: Cognition, emotion and motivation
From Plato’s Republic to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, the triad of cognition, emotion, and motivation has been a cornerstone of understanding the human condition. These thinkers and traditions often explored how these dimensions complement and challenge each other—and why their balance is essential.
Plato’s Republic (c. 380 BCE) – Greece
Plato divided the human psyche into three parts: the logistikon (reason), the epithymetikon (desire), and the thymoeides (spirited will). In Plato’s view, these elements must work together for a just and harmonious life. Reason guides emotion and will, ensuring that neither runs unchecked. Without this balance, a person—or a society—risks falling into chaos.
The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita (c. 800 BCE–200 CE) – India
In the Upanishads, the human self is understood through manas (mind), buddhi (emotional discernment), and prana (life force). Later, the Bhagavad Gita reframed this triad as jnana (knowledge), bhakti (devotion), and karma (action). These texts emphasize the interplay of understanding, feeling, and purposeful action in achieving balance and enlightenment.
Confucianism (c. 500 BCE) – China
Confucius taught that the xin (mind), qing (emotions), and li (rituals for action) must align to create harmony within individuals and society. In Confucian thought, emotions are not seen as weaknesses but as essential to ethical and relational living, provided they are tempered by wisdom and expressed through deliberate, virtuous action.
Zoroastrianism (c. 1200–600 BCE) – Persia
Zoroastrians spoke of humata (good thoughts; cognition), hukhata (good words; emotions expressed), and hvarshta (good deeds; motivated actions). This triad reflects a moral framework where thoughts inspire emotions, which in turn drive righteous action.
“Separating cognition, emotion and motivation distorts the picture of what it means to be human.”
Why ancient thinkers insisted on balance
For many ancient philosophers and spiritual leaders, these three dimensions were not optional but necessary for living well. Without reason (cognition), emotions could lead to impulsive or destructive behaviours. Without emotions, reason alone could become cold, detached, or inhumane. And without motivation, both thought and feeling would lack the drive to produce meaningful action.
This interplay also reflects the complexity of human nature. Ancient thinkers recognized that our thoughts influence how we feel, that emotions fuel our desires and relationships, and that motivation transforms these internal states into purposeful action. Separating one from the others would distort the picture of what it means to be truly human.
From ancient philosophy to modern measurement
From a modern measurement perspective, however, there is a problem. Assessing cognition is straightforward and unambiguous. Standardized tests, IQ assessments, and structured interviews provide reliable tools for evaluating how well people think. But measuring emotion and motivation is far more nuanced. These dimensions are deeply personal, contextual, and dynamic, making them harder to pin down with traditional methods.
As a result, modern studies of personality often sidestep this complexity. Constructs like emotional intelligence or grit are often studied in isolation, with little effort to integrate them into a cohesive framework. This fragmented approach simplifies research but neglects the deeper connections that ancient thinkers understood so well. To truly grasp the human experience, we need a unified way of examining emotion and motivation together, as they are inseparably linked.
Adding to this challenge is the overlooked element of connection. While emotion and motivation focus on our internal experience, connection requires us to interpret, understand, and respond to others. Recognizing its importance elevates our ability to assess the full spectrum of human experience.
“Connection is the bridge between self-awareness and the relational complexities of human interaction.”
Why “connection” deserves its own space
Interacting with others reflects a distinct set of skills that go beyond understanding our own emotions and desires. While physiological cues help us process our internal experiences, interpreting the emotions and desires of others requires a different set of abilities. We need to rely on subtle cues like vocal tone, facial expressions, and body language, often while navigating ambiguity and our own anxieties associated with real-time evaluation by others.
Social interactions also illustrate the delicate interplay between emotional, cognitive, and motivational competencies. Imagine spilling a drink on your host at a dinner party. Your immediate emotional reaction (embarrassment) stems from recognizing you’ve broken a social norm, something you cognitively understand. At the same time, your motivation to repair the situation—apologizing, offering to clean up—drives your response. Connection emerges from this intricate dance, a special blend of emotions, thoughts, and behaviours that merge into a shared context.
And so, in addition to emotion and motivation, we recognize connection as its own dimension. This is a complex, multifaceted skill that demands awareness of both the self and of other people. Without connection, we will find ourselves challenged to build trust with others, maintain harmony, and navigate the real-time challenges of our every-day relationships.
Bringing it all together
Emotion, connection, and motivation are not just isolated traits. These competency families are the threads that weave together the very fabric of our being. Ancient thinkers understood that these elements must work in harmony to create balance, not as discrete elements but as an integrated whole. By revisiting these timeless ideas, we uncover an approach to understanding ourselves that is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.
This approach forms the foundation of personal intelligence: the ability to understand, navigate, and balance the dimensions of emotion, connection, and motivation. Personal intelligence moves beyond fragmented constructs like emotional intelligence or grit by recognizing the deep interdependence of these elements. It is a unified framework for exploring how we feel, how we relate, and how we act.
When we leave cognition to the tools that already measure it well, we create space to explore the dimensions that are harder to quantify but no less vital. Personal intelligence invites us to focus on what it means to be human—not just as individuals but as part of a larger, interconnected world.
Emotion grounds us in our inner experience. Connection binds us to others. Motivation propels us forward. Together, they offer a roadmap for understanding ourselves, living with purpose, and building a better world. The question is not whether these forces matter—they always have. The question is how we can harness them to create the life we want.
The threads of emotion, connection, and motivation tie so much of what we do together—but how do they show up for you? What about this article stood out or connected with your work? Share your perspective in the comments, and let’s build on these ideas together.
