So sorry, I've forgotten the actual question.
I'm Angela Duckworth.
I'm Steven Dubner, and you're listening to.
No stupid questions today on the show.
How important is emotional intelligence, really?
You're having a performance review, and the person that you're giving the feedback to breaks out in tears and starts crying uncontrollably.
What do you do next?
Slap them hard across the face.
Angela, do you care about politics at all?
Not at all.
Okay, good.
That's two of us.
I have a question that's kind of about politics, but I think it plays into your strengths beautifully.
And the question is as follows.
We have a new mayor in New York City.
His name is Eric Adams, and he has said that as he assembles his administration, the number one criterion he's relying on to make appointments is emotional intelligence.
And my gut reaction was that it's probably a great idea, but my question for you is, is emotional intelligence a, a truly real, quantifiable quality, like, is it a thing?
Is it a thing that can be measured and relied upon?
And B, assuming the answer to a is yes, is it so good that it should be the number one hiring criterion?
Okay, I'm going to punt a little bit on whether this should be the number one criterion, but I do want to say that emotional intelligence is a thing.