Doug's 2017 Christmas Greeting

Emotional vs Artificial Intelligence
 
Do you think Santa has a GPS navigation device on his sleigh and is loaded with the latest downloads so as not to miss any stops?  Should the weather be bad, is Rudolph still on call?  I don't suppose Santa would need a GPS.  After all he's been doing this for years.  And, if necessary, Rudolph can always 'guide the sleigh'!  Sometimes I think we use technology for the sake of using it, not because we really need to.  Please don't misunderstand me!  Technology on many levels is great.  I just wonder if we have become too dependent.  Consider how lost we find ourselves when hydro goes out!!
 
And, artificial intelligence (aka, AI) - what's with that?  Edsger W. Dijkstra was a Dutch computer scientist and had this to say about AI, “The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.”  I am being somewhat facetious, but I miss something about the days in which we seemed to be more connected face-to-face, and when we had but only mechanical devices, it took teamwork to make the world go around.  My hope and prayer is that we learn how to balance our digital age technology without losing the human touch.
 
The Christmas Season continues to offer comforting words and reminders of  "peace on earth, good will toward men".  As I grow older, I seem to cherish more and more, memories of Christmases gone by.  The season is so infused with recollection and tradition, memories of family and friends, gatherings.  Like a photograph, the older it becomes, the more treasured it is.  I have faith that Christmas will continue to create new memories to be cherished in years to come, but even more importantly, will continue to embrace us with warmth, hope, love and peace.
 
Our wish for you this season is that you find comfort in your memories but also that you have that opportunity to enjoy face-to-face and heart-to-heart conversations with the people who mean so much to you - conversations that are not lost to tweets, abbreviated lines and words. Let's build emotional rather than artificial intelligence.
 
British author and speaker, Gordon Tredgold, reflecting on leadership and management techniques described emotional intelligence (EI) as something, that could build, among a number of qualities, self-awareness, motivation, empathy and social skills.  What better time than this joyous season to practice some EI!
 
To you and yours, a very Merry Christmas
& Happy New Year in 2018!
 
Doug & Josey!