Wisdom

What is wisdom? A common sense definition What makes a wise judgment (or a wise action) different from an unwise one? Can you give an example of people you consider wise?

Images of Wisdom Bodhisattva Mañjuśri Athena Glaukopis

VIA Approach to Wisdom: “Perspective (wisdom) refers to the ability to take stock of life in large terms, in ways that make sense to oneself and others. Perspective is the product of knowledge and experience, but it is more than the accumulation of information. It is the coordination of this information and its deliberate use to improve well-being. In a social context, perspective allows the individual to listen to others, to evaluate what they say, and then to offer good (sage) advice. Directions back to the interstate do not qualify as wisdom, unless the highway is the metaphorical route to the life well-lived.” (Peterson & Seligman, 2002)

Approaches to wisdom Wisdom as the final stage of personality development, 60+ (Erikson) Wisdom as the final stage of cognitive development (Riegel) Wisdom as balance (Sternberg) Wisdom as expert knowledge (Baltes et al.)

1. Erikson’s psychosocial stage model trust vs. mistrust hope autonomy vs. shame and doubt will initiative vs. guilt purpose industry vs. inferiority competence identity vs. identity confusion fidelity intimacy vs. isolation love generativity vs. stagnation care ego integrity vs. despair wisdom

Wisdom as the final stage of personality development Integrity is achieved if all life’s events are integrated into a meaningful personal narrative. This allows facing death without fears Wisdom includes: acceptance of imperfections, of oneself, one’s parents, one’s life and of inevitable death Wisdom is almost unrelated to intelligence

2. Wisdom as the final stage of cognitive development Piaget: the result of cognitive development is overcoming cognitive egocentricism. Stages of the development of thinking: Sensorimotor (0 to 2) Pre-operational (2 to 5-7) Concrete operational (5-7 to 12) Formal operational (12+) Neo-piagetians: are there further, postformal stages of cognitive development?

Klaus Riegel: Dialectical operational stage Reasoning about time and space. Beliefs as dependent of perspective and context. Capacity to solve interpersonal problems, despite logical conflicts and contradictions. Ideas as evolving over time. Wisdom as application of dialectical thinking to solving complex problems.

3. Balance Theory of Wisdom (Sternberg, 2001) “…The application of tacit as well as explicit knowledge as mediated towards the achievement of a common good through a balance among a) intrapersonal, b) inter- personal, and c) extra-personal interests, over the a) short- and b) long-terms to achieve a balance among a) adaptation to existing environments, b) shaping of existing environments, and c) selection of new environments.” (p.231)

Tacit and formal knowledge Common good VALUESVALUES Short- and long- term balance of interests Balance of responses to environment context Intrapersonal Interpersonal Extrapersonal Adaptation ShapingSelection

4. Wisdom as expert knowledge (Baltes & Freund, 2003) 7 general criteria of wisdom: –1. Wisdom addresses important and difficult questions and strategies about the conduct and meaning of life. –2. Wisdom includes knowledge about the limits of knowledge and the uncertainties of the world. –3. Wisdom represents a truly superior level of knowledge, judgment, and advice. –4. Wisdom constitutes knowledge with extraordinary scope, depth, measure, and balance. –5. Wisdom involves a perfect synergy of mind and character, that is, an orchestration of knowledge and virtues. –6. Wisdom represents knowledge used for the good or well-being of oneself and that of others. –7. Wisdom, though difficult to achieve and to specify, is easily recognized when manifested.

Wisdom as expert knowledge (cont-d) Wisdom as knowledge about fundamental life pragmatics, including concern with the conduct, purpose and meaning of life. A measurement procedure: expert ratings. 5 essential criteria: –1) rich factual (declarative) knowledge about pragmatics (or facts) of life, having a truly superior level of information; –2) rich (procedural) knowledge of how to deal with these pragmatics – ‘know how’ to make decisions, resolve conflicts, etc.; –3) knowledge about many themes and contexts of life, such as: self, family, school, workplace, and understanding how they are interrelated, how they change and affect each other; –4) recognition and tolerance of differences in beliefs and values (this does not imply relativism of values); –5) recognition and management of uncertainty and tolerance of ambiguity (accepting that knowledge has limits and we can never predict with 100% accuracy what will happen in the future).

High- and low-wisdom responses A 15-year-old girl wants to get married right away. What should one/she consider and do? (think aloud) Low Wisdom-Related Score: –A 15-year-old girl wants to get married? No, no way, marrying at age 15 would be utterly wrong. One has to tell the girl that marriage is not possible. It would be irresponsible to support such an idea. No, this is just a crazy idea. High Wisdom-Related Score: –Well, on the surface, this seems like an easy problem. On average, marriage for 15-year-old girls is not a good thing. But there are situations where the average case does not fit. Perhaps in this instance, special life circumstances are involved, such that the girl has a terminal illness. Or the girl has just lost her parents. And also, this girl may be living in another culture or historical period. Perhaps she was raised with a value system different from ours. In addition, one has to think about adequate ways of talking with the girl and to consider her emotional state. (Baltes et al., 2002, p.333).

Berlin’s Wisdom Paradigm Wisdom- related performance Intelligence Personality- intelligence interface E.g. creativity, cognitive styles, social intelligence Personality traits E.g. personal growth, openness to experience Age Life experiences E.g. general life experience, specific professional experience ns 15% 2% 15% 2%

Dilemmas of wisdom Is cognitive development essential for the development of wisdom? What is the role of ageing in wisdom? How important is the tacit component for wisdom? How do these wisdom theories relate to other approaches you are familiar with?

A question to reflect upon What prevents us from thinking and acting in a wise manner? What ways can you think of that would help to increase wisdom in action?

Existential approach to wisdom (Salvatore Maddi) Three levels of personality needs: biological, social and psychological. Psychological needs: symbolisation, imagination and judgment. Personality (life) is a blend of facticity (what we can not change) and possibility (what we can introduce into life). Wisdom is an art of recognising facticity and possibility by exercising psychological functions. When we see facticity instead of possibility  conformism; possibility instead of facticity  extravagance. Letting strong affects and needs to guide our behavior prevents us from functioning on the psychological level.

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” -- William James