Compassion: The Future's Most Vital Human Skill?

Kailash Satyarthi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, asserted at the Jaipur Literature Festival that compassion will supersede intelligence and emotional skill as the paramount human metric of the future. He introduced his new book, 'Karuna: The Power of Compassion,' co-authored with Amish, where he posits that compassion is a potent force capable of systemic change, rather than a mere sentiment.

Satyarthi shared a personal account from 1980, detailing the rescue of a young girl from slavery, which profoundly shaped his understanding of compassion. He defined it not as pity, but as an innate force arising from experiencing another's suffering directly, leading inevitably to action. This active empathy, he explained, involves awareness, connectedness, deep feeling, and direct action.

He further elaborated that while compassion is inherent, it is often underdeveloped, confined to narrow circles. Satyarthi advocates for expanding this circle deliberately, contrasting it with educational systems that foster competition. He predicted that future job markets and leadership roles will increasingly evaluate individuals based on their compassion quotient (CQ), moving beyond traditional IQ and EQ assessments.