The Science of Wisdom in a Polarized World: Knowns and Unknowns

Abstract

Interest in wisdom in the cognitive sciences, psychology, and education has been paralleled by conceptual confusions about its nature and assessment. To clarify these issues and promote consensus in the field, wisdom researchers met in Toronto in July of 2019, resolving disputes through discussion. Guided by a survey of scientists who study wisdom-related constructs, we established a common wisdom model, observing that empirical approaches to wisdom converge on the morally-grounded application of metacognition to reasoning and problem-solving. After outlining the function of relevant metacognitive and moral processes, we critically evaluate existing empirical approaches to measurement and offer recommendations for best practices. In the subsequent sections, we use the common wisdom model to selectively review evidence about the role of individual differences for development and manifestation of wisdom, approaches to wisdom development and training, as well as cultural, subcultural, and social-contextual differences. We conclude by discussing wisdom’s conceptual overlap with a host of other constructs and outline unresolved conceptual and methodological challenges.

Stronger resting-state neural oscillations associated with wiser advising from the 2nd- but not the 3rd-person perspective

“…Participants’ videotaped advice was transcribed. Two strictly trained undergraduate students rated participants’ advice on three wisdom criteria: metacognitive humility (MH) (i.e., recognize uncertainty and one’s limitation of knowledge), metacognitive flexibility (MF) (i.e., consider a multitude of life contexts and influencing factors, then use different rules to solve the problem/provide different advice), and perspective taking (PT) (i.e., reason about the life dilemma from others’ perspectives), which are well-acknowledged criteria for measuring wisdom 12 , 14 , 18 , 60 . A recent study found that the wise advising score on these three criteria could predict clinical psychologists' assessment of the potential for suicide prevention 61 .…”

“…Through the external behavior of advising, it is possible to gain insight into one’s wisdom. More specifically, affording flexible, context-sensitive advice reflects metacognitive humility, metacognitive flexibility, and perspective taking—three hallmarks of wisdom consistently defined by researches as "morally-grounded application of metacognition to reasoning and problem-solving" 18 .…”

The Important Difference Between Psychologists’ Labs and Real Life: Evaluating the Validity of Models of Wisdom

“…Grossmann et al 2020include "seeing through illusion and self-deception" as a function of perspectival metacognition in their Figure 3. I would argue, again, that seeing through illusion and self-deception requires emotional awareness, emotion regulation, and empathy (Kunzmann & Gl€ uck, 2019)-components that are not discussed by Grossmann et al (2020). (Interestingly, in their Figure 1-B shows equanimity as a major quality of wisdom when it comes to life challenges, but not as an important component of researchers' working definitions of wisdom.…”

“…Yet there are moments in my life-family conflicts, endless and useless meetings, interactions with difficult students-where I yell, slam doors, and curse (or at least would like to do so) and where I am neither wise nor act wisely. How is that possible, according to the common model of wisdom proposed by Grossmann et al (2020)?…”

“…How is that possible, according to the common model of wisdom proposed by Grossmann et al. ( 2020 )?…”