Create Happiness In the Digital Age With EQ

British emotional intelligence (EQ) expert, author and radio broadcaster John Rushton believes the secret to happiness in an information driven age, that’s increasingly managed by artificial intelligence (AI), will require a high degree of personal and social EQ. And yet it’s a skill that we understand little about.

In simple terms, EQ helps us to manage our lives and relationships better. It’s the glue that connects people together, facilitating good communication and, above all, our ability to empathise with each other. According to Rushton, EQ will empower us to effectively function in a digital landscape that thrives on speed, change and creativity.

EQ and AI are increasingly being linked together with intuitive, non-linear programming, without us even knowing or doing a thing. Many appliances, such as our washing machines, already use “fuzzy logic” to give us a more efficient wash. But on the whole, this use of EQ is a technical “one size fits all” model, so anyone can use proficiently whatever it is they are using.

Technological innovation is not yet up to speed with what things are supposed to do. Procedures are often badly designed and over-complicated, so frustration can easily set in. Rushton highlights the scarcity of bright technologists who are equally skilled in EQ as being the major problem. This obvious imbalance needs to radically change in the next decade, if we’re going to build a happy society, as well as a super-efficient one.

Most of us are now so reliant on the technology we use that there is a growing number of people who, due to poor EQ, almost suffer a meltdown when their gadgets malfunction. Rushton explains this is due to an inability to think coherently without them.

This trend is likely to continue with wearable technology and software implants, which could expose us to unforeseen forms of control and exploitation, unless we are skilled in EQ to stay balanced, healthy and aware. Rushton states that having good EQ also reduces stress, not just on a personal and professional level, but on a societal level as well.

Thus, it’s vitally important that AI be human-centred by design to avoid the creation of problems such as isolation, loneliness, mental illness and depression. This remains largely unexplored territory, although Rushton is cautiously optimistic about a society managed by AI.

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS

Technology is neither good nor bad. Currently, it’s the human interface that determines how it’s used and the outcomes generated with it. It will be people with strong EQ who are better placed in a digital society to adapt to the rapid changes often associated with disruptive innovation.

EQ is about empathy, and unfortunately this is where many corporate and governmental departments fall short of the mark, as they are not physically capable of this. The people who should be showing others the way are in themselves inept, and we urgently need to address this EQ skills shortage, alongside the technical one.

Look out for Rushton’s new book It’s All in the Mind, out in bookstores soon. Alternatively, tune into Life Radio for more fascinating insights on EQ, which broadcasts to more than 180 countries.

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