On Wisdom

46: Antifragility, Gut Feelings, and the Myth of Pure Evil (with Jonathan Haidt) - Rebroadcast

June 27th, 2022  |  58 mins 20 secs

antifragility, authoritarian conservatives, buddhism, chris martin, culture, dale carnegie, donald trump, edmund burke, emotions, evergreen state college, greg lukianoff, happiness, heraclitus, heterodox academy, jonathan haidt, karen stenner, laissez-faire conservatives, manichaeism, marcus aurelius, meaning, middlebury college, moral foundations theory, more in common, narrowcasting, nassim nicholas taleb, national review magazine, nicholas rosenkranz, philosophy, polarization, psychology, purpose, reasoning, richard schweder, robert putnam, ronald reagan, social psychology, social science, society, status quo conservatives, stoicism, the coddling of the american mind, the great awokening, the happiness hypothesis, the perception gap, the righteous mind, thomas sowell, well being, wisdom

(First Broadcast - 4th November 2019)

Does that which doesn’t kill you make you weaker? Should we always follow our emotions? Is life a battle between good people and bad people? And critically, what might the adoption of these three popular, but unwise, ideas be doing to a rising generation of young adults? Jonathan Haidt joins Igor and Charles to discuss the three great untruths of modern life, the nature of antifragility, the 'great awokening,' rising violence on US university campuses, and the origin story of the Heterodox Academy. Igor suggests that diversity can help some projects while hindering others, Jon shares his ultimate conflict-resolving ninja skill, and Charles learns that conservative voters come in radically different shapes and sizes.

45: Wisdom at Work (with Barry Schwartz) - Rebroadcast

June 7th, 2022  |  59 mins 20 secs

aristotle, barry schwartz, character, feedback, free-rider, freelancers, idea technology, incentives, money, practical wisdom, rules, salary, virtue ethics, wisdom, work, workplace

(First Broadcast - 28th December 2018)

Can we design our workplaces to generate wiser behaviour? Why do we work anyway, and would we still work if we didn’t get paid? Do employers even want their employees to develop wisdom? Barry Schwartz joins Igor and Charles to discuss how Aristotle’s Practical Wisdom applies in the 21st Century, the reasons why we work, idea technology, the unintended consequences of rules-based systems, and the moral dangers and limits of incentives. Igor proposes the idea of algorithm-based wise machines, Barry suggests companies hire for character rather than skill, and Charles learns why, in wiser work places, the cost of free-riders may well be a price worth paying.

44: A Special Announcement

May 24th, 2022  |  1 min 48 secs

culture, emotions, happiness, meaning, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, social psychology, society, wisdom

Igor and Charles return with a special announcement for On Wisdom listeners ...

43: Invisible to Ourselves: A Life of a Psychological Scientist (with Richard Nisbett)

December 4th, 2021  |  1 hr 11 mins

actor-observer bias, amos tversky, analytic perception, culture, daniel kahneman, emotions, happiness, holistic perception, intelligence, iq, job interviews, lee ross, meaning, mental processes, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, richard nisbett, social psychology, society, wisdom

A disturbing thought - might it be impossible for us to directly observe the workings of our minds? Richard Nisbett joins Igor and Charles to discuss a life lived on the cutting edge of behavioral sciences in the second part of the 20th Century. He shares tales from his groundbreaking research into our faulty mindware, discussing various biases, cultural differences in cognitive processes, our inability to directly observe our mental processes, and why job interviews are not only unhelpful but potentially harmful to our ability to hire the best person for the job. Igor is keen to learn about the human beings behind some of the 20th Century’s academic idols in social psychology like Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky and Lee Ross, Richard explains why important work and interesting work are not necessarily the same thing, and Charles struggles to make sense of when we do and don’t intervene to help strangers in peril. Welcome to Episode 43.

42: Reflections on Wisdom in the World after Covid

October 23rd, 2021  |  37 mins 36 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, anand menon, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, barry schwartz, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, loneliness, long-term orientation, michael bond, mistrust, nature, nicholas christakis, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

41: Wisdom for Negative Consequences (Pt. I) - Social Support, Sympathy & Compassion, Acknowledging Uncertainty, and Balancing Diverse Interests

October 4th, 2021  |  35 mins 14 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, barbara fredrickson, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, despair, dilip jeste, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, katie mclaughlin, loneliness, long-term orientation, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, valerie tiberius, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

40: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part II) - Autobiographical Memory, Estrangement, Political Conflict, and Prejudice

August 4th, 2021  |  38 mins 14 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, david rooney, despair, douglas kenrick, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, jeffrey zacks, loneliness, long-term orientation, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, paula niedenthal, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

39: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part I) - Social Inequality, Loneliness, Economic Hardships, and Despair

July 11th, 2021  |  30 mins 30 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, azim shariff, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, loneliness, long-term orientation, mistrust, nature, nicholas christakis, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, roy baumeister, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, veronica benet martinez, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

38: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Positive Consequences (Pt. II) - Critical Thinking, Intellectual Humility, Political Cooperation, and Solidarity

June 30th, 2021  |  43 mins 12 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, david dunning, david passig, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, jennifer lerner, loneliness, long-term orientation, mark schaller, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

37: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Positive Consequences (Pt. I) - Sympathy and Compassion, Self-distancing, Perspective-taking, and Learning from pandemics

June 3rd, 2021  |  29 mins 36 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, anand menon, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, despair, economic hardship, edouard machery, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, laura carstensen, loneliness, long-term orientation, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, roxane cohen silver, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

36: World After Covid series: Positive Consequences (Part II) - Political cooperation, Nature, Solidarity, and Prosocial behaviours

April 13th, 2021  |  44 mins

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, barry schwartz, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, dagomar degroot, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, katie mclaughlin, loneliness, long-term orientation, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, shinobu kitayama, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

35: World After Covid series: Positive Consequences (Part I) - Political and structural change, Care for elders, Social connectedness, and Reconsidering habits

February 9th, 2021  |  28 mins 24 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, ayse uskul, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, harry reis, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relation, irrationality, james gross, loneliness, long-term orientation, michael ross, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

34: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Now (Part II) - What's important, Living in the moment, Social connectedness, and Shared humanity

January 18th, 2021  |  22 mins 33 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, dacher keltner, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relations, irrationality, loneliness, long-term orientation, michael bond, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wendy mendes, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid, yukiko ushida

On Wisdom dissects the latest research emerging from the field of wisdom research and discusses what it might mean for each of us and for society in terms of reasoning and living more wisely in the 21st Century.

33: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Now (Part I)

January 6th, 2021  |  27 mins 18 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relations, irrationality, loneliness, long-term orientation, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, solidarity, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

On Wisdom features a social and cognitive scientist in Toronto and an educator in London discussing the latest empirical science regarding the nature of wisdom. Igor Grossmann runs the Wisdom & Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Charles Cassidy runs the Evidence-Based Wisdom project in London, UK. The podcast thrives on a diet of freewheeling conversation on wisdom, decision-making, wellbeing, and society and includes regular guests spots with leading behavioral scientists from the field of wisdom research and beyond. Welcome to The On Wisdom Podcast.

32: Shifting Gears: Wisdom in the 'World After Covid'

November 30th, 2020  |  2 mins 27 secs

acknowledge uncertainty, agency, authoritarianism, autobiographical memory, bipartisanship, care for elders, career disruptions, compassion, connectedness, control, coronavirus, covid-19, critical thinking, cultural change, despair, economic hardship, educational inequality, follow rules, forecast, gratitude, hope, improved communication, intellectual humility, intimate relations, irrationality, loneliness, long-term orientation, mistrust, nature, optimism, patience, perspective-taking, pessimism, political conflict, political cooperation, political engagement, predictions, prosocial behavior, resilience, science interest, self-distancing, shared humanity, social awareness, social inequality, social support, society, structural change, sympathy, togetherness, trust, wac2020, wisdom, work-life balance, worldaftercovid

After 2 and a half years of podcasting, 30+ episodes, 50,000+ downloads, and one global pandemic, it's time for an exciting announcement from the On Wisdom team...

31: The Meaning of Wisdom Before and During the Pandemic (with Ricca Edmondson)

November 10th, 2020  |  44 mins 51 secs

big wisdom, constructivism, covid19, culture, ethnography, funerals, meaning, pandemic, practical wisdom, reflection, social distancing, sociology

Does wisdom reside in particular persons, or is wisdom more about what happens between people? And if wisdom does require a social context, what are the implications of our new social distancing habits since the rise of the pandemic? Ricca Edmondson joins Igor and Charles to discuss novel ethnographic approaches to the study of wisdom, the significance of Irish funeral rituals, new lessons from old Trojan horses, and the value of framing wisdom as a social construction. Originally recorded at the start of the pandemic, Ricca returned for a retrospective at the close of the episode, to share her opinions on the meaning of wisdom in these rapidly changing times, and in our future post-pandemic society. Igor muses about big and small wisdom, and Charles asks Ricca about the world after the pandemic. Welcome to the wisdom and pandemic episode!