Harvard University professor John Palfrey recently spoke in Taipei on the subject of youth and contemporary media, the digital age, and parenting. I read the news on his lecture with care.

"(Palfrey) said it is down to parents and schools to determine which life skills－human interaction, argument making, [or] analysis－children should develop. Digital content can be a powerful tool to support those goals..."

I would like to put in a word for the first skill, human interaction.

One deficiency from which I feel many college students suffer these days is in self-knowledge and an understanding of how their words and actions affect others. That may be another way to speak of "EQ," or "emotional quotient."

"IQ" designates a student's ability to grasp and express ideas and to know how to put knowledge to good use, so it follows that EQ points to people's understanding of themselves and their impact on those around them.

I sometimes wonder if too many of our young friends are overly computer literate, even as they are starving inwardly from loneliness and alienation. How many college students in Taiwan are more adept at Internet use and software than they are at human relationships? Too many, I am afraid.