On Wisdom

Latest Episodes:

48: A Joyous Journey from Black-and-White to Grey (with Tom Gilovich) Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

Is "the spectrum" a more helpful way to think about the world than "categories"? Tom Gilovich joins Igor and Charles to discuss the perils of black-and-white thinking, the evolving data on the hot hand phenomenon, the science of regret, why foxes are wiser than hedgehogs, and the freedom that comes from learning that we are of less interest to other people than we think. Igor considers the limits of psychological nudging in tackling society’s structural problems, Tom shares the perspective that leads him to be so unrelentingly joyful, and Charles learns that even scientists have to work hard to avoid being typecast. Welcome to Episode 48.

Special Guest: Tom Gilovich.

Links:

47: Charting Pandemic Waters: A Common Wisdom Model for Uncertain Times (with Howard Nusbaum) - Rebroadcast Jul 20, 2022

Show notes

(First Broadcast - 21st June 2020)

What is the value of wisdom in the time of the global pandemic? Does the community of behavioural scientists studying wisdom agree on anything about the nature of wisdom? Can we say what we now know about wisdom and, conversely, what do we know we don’t yet know? Howard Nusbaum joins Igor and Charles to discuss the recently assembled Toronto Wisdom Task Force and the resulting Common Wisdom Model, meta-cognition, the thorny issue of moral-grounding, and sage advice regarding how to measure wisdom in the lab. Igor stresses the importance of building solid theoretical foundations for the field in the context of the pandemic, Howard reflects on the viability of evil wisdom, and Charles learns that we had better pay close attention today to the values we program into the decision-making robots of tomorrow.

Special Guest: Howard Nusbaum.

Links:

46: Antifragility, Gut Feelings, and the Myth of Pure Evil (with Jonathan Haidt) - Rebroadcast Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

(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.

Special Guest: Jonathan Haidt.

Links:

45: Wisdom at Work (with Barry Schwartz) - Rebroadcast Jun 07, 2022

Show notes

(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.

Special Guest: Barry Schwartz.

Links:

44: A Special Announcement May 24, 2022

Show notes

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) Dec 04, 2021

Show notes

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.

Special Guest: Richard Nisbett.

Links:

42: Reflections on Wisdom in the World after Covid Oct 23, 2021

Show notes

Which kind of wisdom will people need to master to overcome major negative societal and/or psychological changes after the pandemic?

In the last episode of the World After Covid miniseries, Igor and Charles share and discuss responses from 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid project. Four final responses are selected, covering themes of big picture focus on what's important, shared humanity, long-term orientation, and political structural change in the midst of the pandemic. Igor reflects on how the immediate context can dramatically influence even experts' forecasts, and Charles is forced to question his cherished belief that people are ultimately good.

Featuring:
Barry Schwartz, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College and a visiting Professor at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley
Nicholas Christakis, Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University
Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London
Michael Bond, Cross-cultural social psychologist with focus on locating Chinese interpersonal processes in a multi-cultural space

Links:

World After Covid site
Igor Grossmann's homepage — interactive visualizations and analysis on the World After Covid project
Expert Predictions of Societal Change: Insights from the World after COVID Project - Grossmann, Twardus, Varnum, Jayawickreme, McLevey (2021, in press)
Everyone Was Wrong on the Pandemic’s Societal Impact: Foreign Policy - Varnum, Hutcherson, Grossmann (2021)
Estimating societal effects of COVID-19 - Hutcherson, Sharpinsky, Varnum, Rotella, Wormley, Tay, Grossmann (2021, preprint)
How Life Could Get Better (or Worse) After COVID (berkeley.edu)
Words of wisdom: 4 tips from experts on how to endure until the COVID-19 pandemic ends (The Conversation)
Barry Schwartz Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Nicholas Christakis Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Anand Menon Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Michael Bond Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site

41: Wisdom for Negative Consequences (Pt. I) - Social Support, Sympathy & Compassion, Acknowledging Uncertainty, and Balancing Diverse Interests Oct 04, 2021

Show notes

Which kind of wisdom will people need to master to overcome major negative societal and/or psychological changes after the pandemic?

Igor and Charles share and discuss responses from 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of social support, sympathy & compassion, acknowledging uncertainty, and balancing diverse interests in the midst of the pandemic. Igor points out that humanity has a greater capacity for accepting and managing uncertainty than we might realize, and Charles is intrigued by the often-overlooked benefits of interactions with strangers.

Featuring:
Katie McLaughlin, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University
Barbara Fredrickson, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dilip Jeste, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at University of California, San Diego
Valerie Tiberius, Paul W. Frenzel Chair in Liberal Arts and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota

Links:

World After Covid site
Igor Grossmann's homepage — interactive visualizations and analysis on the World After Covid project
Expert Predictions of Societal Change: Insights from the World after COVID Project - Grossmann, Twardus, Varnum, Jayawickreme, McLevey (2021, in press)
Everyone Was Wrong on the Pandemic’s Societal Impact: Foreign Policy - Varnum, Hutcherson, Grossmann (2021)
Estimating societal effects of COVID-19 - Hutcherson, Sharpinsky, Varnum, Rotella, Wormley, Tay, Grossmann (2021, preprint)
How Life Could Get Better (or Worse) After COVID (berkeley.edu)
Words of wisdom: 4 tips from experts on how to endure until the COVID-19 pandemic ends (The Conversation)
Katie McLaughlin Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Barbara Fredrickson Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Dilip Jeste Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Valerie Tiberius Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site

40: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part II) - Autobiographical Memory, Estrangement, Political Conflict, and Prejudice Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant negative societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic?

Igor and Charles share and discuss responses from 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of autobiographical memory, estrangement, political conflict, and prejudice in the midst of the pandemic. Igor wonders how losing track of distinct day-to-day memories might distort our sense of who we are, and Charles considers the odd influence that a year of mask-wearing may have on how we'll interact with strangers in the post-pandemic future.

Featuring:
Jeffrey Zacks, Professor and Associate Chair of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University
Paula Niedenthal, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
David Rooney, Honorary Professor of Management and Organisation Studies at Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University
Douglas Kenrick, President’s Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University

Links:

39: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part I) - Social Inequality, Loneliness, Economic Hardships, and Despair Jul 11, 2021

Show notes

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant negative societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic?

Igor and Charles share and discuss responses from 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of social inequality, loneliness, economic hardships, and despair in the midst of the pandemic. Igor assesses 3 sharply contrasting visions of the future, and Charles reflects on the idea of pandemics as the downside of something mostly very beneficial - the highly social nature of our species.

Featuring:
Azim Shariff, Associate Professor and  Canada Research Chair of Moral  Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and director of the Center for Applied Moral Psychology
Nicholas Christakis, Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University
Roy Baumeister, Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland
Veronica Benet Martinez, Endowed position as an ICREA Professor at Pompeu Fabra University, where she is head of the Behavioral and Experimental Social Sciences research group

Links:

World After Covid site
Igor Grossmann's homepage — interactive visualizations and analysis on the World After Covid project
Expert Predictions of Societal Change: Insights from the World after COVID Project - Grossmann, Twardus, Varnum, Jayawickreme, McLevey (2021, in press)
Everyone Was Wrong on the Pandemic’s Societal Impact: Foreign Policy - Varnum, Hutcherson, Grossmann (2021)
Estimating societal effects of COVID-19 - Hutcherson, Sharpinsky, Varnum, Rotella, Wormley, Tay, Grossmann (2021, preprint)
How Life Could Get Better (or Worse) After COVID (berkeley.edu)
Words of wisdom: 4 tips from experts on how to endure until the COVID-19 pandemic ends (The Conversation)
Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live By Nicholas A. Christakis · 2020
Azim Shariff Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Nicholas Christakis Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Roy Baumeister Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site
Veronica Benet Martinez Interview — full interview and transcript on the World After Covid site

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Which kind of wisdom will people need to master to overcome major negative societal and/or psychological changes after the pandemic?

Which kind of wisdom will people need to master to overcome major negative societal and/or psychological changes after the pandemic?

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant negative societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic?

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant negative societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic?

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected