What is wisdom? Can it be scientifically defined? For millennia people have defined wisdom in a variety of ways, yet they all seem to rely on the idea of, “I know it when I see it.” Can something so important be left to intuition or can wisdom actually be quantified? That became the premise of The Wisdom Project and the basis for the book Common Wisdom. The goal of this study was to scientifically determine if wisdom is, what in Latin would be called sui generis (“of its own kind,” or “in a class by itself”), or is wisdom a combination of different elements.
What is The Wisdom Project? For seven months, I conducted extensive online interviews of 60 wise individuals across North America. Then a team of us reviewed the interviews and arrived at 8 core elements associated with wisdom. The book, Common Wisdom, will be published in Feb 2024 and provides in-depth descriptions of the elements as well as fascinating
On Fridays I will talk about thoughts from the interviewees as well as key concepts from the book in Dr. G’s Words of Wisdom. Welcome!