On Wisdom

Why do we spend so much time telling stories - about ourselves, about each other, even about fictional characters? If storytelling isn’t simply about information exchange, what role does it really play in our lives? Why do older people feel compelled to share their hard-earned wisdom with younger people? And do the younger people actually get anything from these exchanges? Nic Weststrate joins Igor and Charles to pull apart the real reasons we share stories. We discuss exploratory and redemptive processing of life-shattering events, the complex motivations behind Holocaust survivors recounting of the Jewish refugees on the St. Louis ship at the U.S. shore, and the Stonewall riots as the mythical origin story of the Gay Liberation movement. Igor questions the role of the omnipresent Netflix storytelling machine. Nic suggests that greater tolerance around sexuality can rob people of their once revolutionary identities. Charles learns that, when our lives are broken, we may have to choose between the path to wisdom and the path to happiness. Welcome to Episode 7.Special Guest: Nic Weststrate.Links:MS St. Louis - Voyage Of The Damned (Question Time Channel, YouTube)Collected Stories in the Life Narratives of Holocaust Survivors: Schiff, Noy, Cohler (2001)How the Stonewall Riots Sparked a Movement: The History ChannelMovements and Memory: The Making of the Stonewall Myth: Crage, Armstrong (2006)The rise and fall of gay: A cultural-historical approach to gay identity development: Weststrate, McClean (2010)Intergenerational narratives and identity across Development: Merrill, Fivush (2016)Center for Practical Wisdom Research Forum: Nic M. Weststrate 2017 (Video)"It was the best worst day of my life": Narrative Content, Structure, and Process in Wisdom-Fostering Life Event Memories: Weststrate NM, Ferrari M, Fournier M, McLean K (2018)Hard-Earned Wisdom: Exploratory Processing of Difficult Life Experience Is Positively Associated With Wisdom: Weststrate, Glück (2017)

If a typical white family in the US has 100 dollars, how many dollars does a typical black US family have? Wrong! Why are we so bad at guessing levels of inequality in society? How much of a role does your class play in preventing wise decision-making? Are upper and middle-class people especially bad at taking wise decisions? Why does more education equate to less wise reasoning in interpersonal affairs? And just how good are we at spotting someone’s class from their shoes or even eyes? Michael Kraus joins Igor and Charles to tease economic fact from fiction, discussing accuracy of class signalling, implications of new marshmallow-based research, woeful underestimations of inequality, and the roots of our convenient blindness. Igor breaks down surprising research suggesting that we should both pay more attention to how working class people approach interpersonal clashes and be wary of disruptive hipster beards, Michael forces us to look at the dark underbelly of the American dream, and Charles has questions about Jay-Z and the validity of cockney impersonations as a measurement tool. Welcome to Episode 6. Special Guest: Michael Kraus.Links:Michael Kraus, Yale School of ManagementAmericans misperceive racial economic equality: Kraus, Rucker, Richeson (2017)The Racial Wealth Gap - Explained - Vox/Netflix — The racial wealth gap is where yesterday’s injustice becomes today’s inequality. And it’s growing. Episode three of Vox’s new Netflix series explores why.Yale Insights - Michael Kraus: How Fair is American Society? (Youtube)Social affiliation in same-class and cross-class interactions: Côté, Kraus, Carpenter, Piff, Beermann, Keltner (2017)Signs of Social Class: The Experience of Economic Inequality in Everyday Life: Kraus, Won Park, Tan (2017)The Visibility of Social Class From Facial Cues: Bjornsdottir, Rule (2017)The Social Stratification of (R) in New York City Department Stores: Labov (1972)Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs by Lauren A. Rivera (review): Smith (2017)Social class and wise reasoning about interpersonal conflicts across regions, persons and situations: Brienza, Grossmann (2017)Cognition in harsh and unpredictable environments: Frankenhuis, Panchanathan, Nettle (2015)Social Class Culture Cycles: How Three Gateway Contexts Shape Selves and Fuel Inequality: Stephens, Markus, Phillips (2014)Predicting adolescent cognitive and self-regulatory competencies from preschool delay of gratification: Identifying diagnostic conditions: Shoda, Mischel, Peake (1990)Revisiting the Marshmallow Test: A Conceptual Replication Investigating Links Between Early Delay of Gratification and Later Outcomes: Watts, Duncan, Quan (2018)

Do 'wise people' even exist? Do we have 'wise characters' or is our behaviour more influenced by 'wise situations'? And if so, what kinds of situations best support wise behaviour? Eranda Jayawickreme joins Igor and Charles to discuss the classic battle royale of the person-situation debate, whole trait theory and the ever-controversial Stanford Prison experiment. Igor outlines the actor-observer bias and suggests that westerners should be more sympathetic to grumpy waitstaff, Eranda considers the motivations behind blaming bad apples vs bad barrels and the implications for the justice system, and Charles learns that overestimating the robustness of his own virtue can lead to all manner of perilous situations. Welcome to Episode 5. Special Guest: Eranda Jayawickreme.Links:Eranda Jayawickreme - Growth Initiative Lab - Wake Forest UniversityAristotle & Virtue Theory: Crash Course Philosophy No.38Stanford Prison ExperimentThe Lifespan of a Lie - MediumThe Big Five Personality Traits: VeryWell MindSituational Salience and Cultural Differences in the Correspondence Bias and Actor-Observer BiasThe person–situation debate in historical and current perspective: Epstein, S., & O'Brien, E. J. (1985)Character: The Prospects for a Personality-Based Perspective on Morality: William Fleeson*, R. Michael Furr, Eranda Jayawickreme, Peter Meindl and Erik G. Helzer (2014)Situation‐Based Contingencies Underlying Trait‐Content Manifestation in Behavior: Fleeson (2007)Whole Trait Theory: Fleeson, Jayawickreme (2015)In favor of the synthetic resolution to the person–situation debate: WilliamFleeson, Noftle (2009)On the interface of cognition and personality: Beyond the person–situation debate: Mischel, W. (1979)Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics: John M. Doris (1998)No Character or Personality: Gilbert Harman (2015)Virtue Ethics and Social Psychology: Julia AnnasA cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure: Mischel, Walter,Shoda, Yuichi (1995) Wisdom in Context: Igor Grossmann (2017)Moving Personality Beyond the Person-Situation Debate The Challenge and the Opportunity of Within-Person Variability: William Fleeson (2004) Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Hofmann

Are emotions simply bugs in the system that prevent us from taking wise decisions? Or do they play an essential role in guiding us towards the wisest path? In short, should we be like hyper-rational cool-headed Mr Spock, or more like the emotionally sensitive Master Yoda? How much can we even observe and guide our emotions as they unfold anyway? And are emotionally intelligent geniuses necessarily more moral than the rest of us? Stéphane Côté joins Igor and Charles to discuss the science of emotional intelligence, machiavellian deviants, emotional super-readers, deep-acting vs surface-acting emotional management, and why you can't hide your motivations from airport customs agents. Igor uncovers the mechanics of the jingle-jangle fallacy, Stéphane warns of the 'danger zones' highly empathic people enter when discussing the attractiveness of friends with their partners, and Charles finally understands why you shouldn’t sit opposite someone you don’t like in a team meeting. Welcome to Episode 4.Special Guest: Stéphane Côté.Links:Stéphane CôtéWhen Emotions Make Better Decisions - Antonio Damasio - YouTubeThe Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50 (9781250078803): Jonathan Rauch: BooksSeeking wisdom in graying matter - Dilip JesteNeurobiology of Wisdom: A Literature Overview | Genetics and Genomics | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA NetworkLisa Feldman Barrett: You aren't at the mercy of your emotions -- your brain creates them | TED TalkJames Gross on emotion regulation - YouTubeThe Jekyll and Hyde of emotional intelligence: emotion-regulation knowledge facilitates both prosocial and interpersonally deviant behavior. - PubMed - NCBIEmotional Intelligence - Daniel GolemanEmpathic Accuracy and Observed Demand Behavior in Couples — Ickes W., Simpson J. (1997). Managing empathic accuracy in close relationships, in Empathic Accuracy, ed Ickes W., editor. (New York, NY: Guilford; ), 218–250.Emotional Intelligence Quiz | Greater Good MagazineJingle-Jangle Fallacies for Non-Cognitive FactorsEmotional Intelligence in Organizations | Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational BehaviorThe Emotionally Intelligent Decision Maker: Emotion-Understanding Ability Reduces the Effect of Incidental Anxiety on Risk Taking - Jeremy A. Yip, Stéphane Côté, 2013Chapter 1 Emotional intelligence and wise emotion regulation in the workplace | Individual and Organizational Perspectives on Emotion Management and DisplayPaul Bloom - Against Empathy | Boston Review

Why do we avoid thinking about our own death? How does contemplating our own mortality change our day-to-day behaviour? Why do drivers, when reminded of the fact that they will die, actually drive even faster? Whilst society typically hides death from us, might certain death reflection scenarios actually lead to the development of wisdom? Laura Blackie has considered these and many related questions, and joins Igor and Charles to discuss Terror Management Theory, Death Reflection, and the potential upsides of contemplating our own demise. Igor dismisses a death clock which tells him he won't live as long as Charles, Laura outlines the possible prosocial benefits of imagining a painful and horrible death, and Charles admits to spending too much time thinking about whether his funeral will be well attended. Welcome to Episode 3.Special Guest: Laura Blackie.Links:Laura Blackie - The University of NottinghamThe Death Clock: Calculate your life expectancy todayThe Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development | ScienceTerror Management Theory - Greenberg & ArndtSpecific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity IntegrationGreed, death, and values: from terror management to transcendence management theory. - PubMed - NCBISelf-affirmation and mortality salience: affirming values reduces worldview defense and death-thought accessibility. - PubMed - NCBI

Does wisdom really come with age? Or is this an outdated myth from a bygone era? How might wisdom develop in a brain that's ageing? Or perhaps by 'age', are we really talking about 'experience'? If so, do all experiences lead to wisdom, or only bad ones? If old people can be foolish, can young people ever be wise? And how on earth do you even gather reliable evidence across generations? Igor brings sad news of declining brain function to anyone over 25 and cautions against seeking out traumatic experiences as a strategy for developing wisdom, whilst Charles is forced to rethink his whole position on Jude Law. Welcome to Episode 2.Links:The Science of Older and Wiser - The New York Times - Vivian ClaytonOlder and Wiser? Integrating Results on the Relationship between Age and Wisdom-related Performance: International Journal of Behavioral Development: Vol 23, No 3Erikson, in His Own Old Age, Expands His View of LifeThe Fascination of Wisdom: Its Nature, Ontogeny, and Function - Paul B. Baltes, Jacqui Smith, 2008Wisdom in Context - Igor Grossmann, 2017Perceived Control Over Aging-Related Declines: Adaptive Beliefs and Behaviors - Margie E. Lachman, 2006THE MYTH OF THE AGED SAGE: Does older really mean wiser? « evidence-based wisdomOlder & Wiser « evidence-based wisdom - Infographic

Dive into the intriguing contrast between wisdom and intelligence. Explore how wisdom shines in tackling complex, ill-defined problems while intelligence thrives in straightforward scenarios. Discover the surprising links between wise reasoning and well-being, and learn how wisdom can sometimes hinder rapid decision-making. The hosts also ponder whether our obsession with measurable intelligence overshadows the importance of moral judgment in education.