Using Psychology to Create a Better World: Wisdom, Schooling, and Society Robert J. Sternberg Tufts University University of Heidelberg

Organization of Talk Introduction Background on Wisdom The Balance Theory of Wisdom Conclusions

How I realized the importance of wisdom: The advice I, as a mentor, gave my unlucky student The advice my mentor gave me, as his lucky student

INTRODUCTION Why do we typically think of Einstein as INTELLIGENT? Picasso as CREATIVE? Solomon as WISE?

Some Exemplars of Notably Wise Leaders Winston Churchill Mahatma Gandhi Nelson Mandela Martin Luther King, Jr. Mother Teresa

Some Exemplars of Notably Foolish Leaders Adolph Hitler Idi Amin Robert Mugabe Joseph Stalin George W. Bush

Some Recent Conundrums The Iraq War The Darfur Genocide Meltdown in Zimbabwe McCain versus Obama The Worldwide Financial Meltdown

Why Smart People can be so “Dumb” The unrealistic-optimism fallacy The egocentrism fallacy The omniscience fallacy The omnipotence fallacy The invulnerability fallacy The sunk-cost fallacy The ethical-disengagement fallacy

Will Increases in IQ Result in an Increase in Wisdom Not Necessarily! Increase in IQ could even result in a decrease in wisdom if schools and society: Ignore wisdom, or even, Explicitly devalue wisdom, or Implicitly devalue wisdom by emphasizing conventional intelligence at the expense of wisdom

Why Wisdom is Especially Important in Current Times Humans have made enormous strides in technology, including destructive technology, without corresponding advances in their wisdom with regard to the uses of this technology (and perhaps with regard to anything else either) This mismatch between the development of technology and the lack of development of wisdom places the world at enormous risk!

Is Wisdom Universal? Fundamental values (not necessarily beliefs) appear to be largely the same across the world ’ s great religions and ethical systems, for example, in their stressing, in relations with others: 1. Reciprocity (the Golden Rule) 2. Sincerity 3. Honesty 4. Integrity 5. Compassion

A Caveat Because wisdom involves the infusion of values into judgments and decision-making, any presentation regarding wisdom inevitably reflects the values of the presenter

IQ (Academic/Analytical Intelligence) Practical Intelligence Creative Intelligence Triarchic Intelligence Successful Intelligence Wisdom My Path to Studying Wisdom

Why Intelligence and Wisdom Both are Necessary You need CREATIVE abilities to come up with ideas You need ANALYTICAL abilities to decide whether ideas are good ideas You need PRACTICAL abilities to make your ideas functional and to convince others of the value of your ideas You need WISDOM to balance the effects of ideas on yourself, others, and society in both the short and long terms

Background on Wisdom Dictionary definition: “ The power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based on knowledge, experience, understanding, etc. ” (Webster ’ s New World College Dictionary, 1997, p. 1533).

Wisdom Means Knowing what you know Knowing what you do not know Knowing what you can know (at a given time and place) Knowing what you cannot know (at a given time and place)

Philosophical Approaches to Wisdom In Platonic dialogues, there are three different senses of wisdom: Sophia is found in those who seek a contemplative life in search of truth Phronesis is the practical wisdom shown by statesmen and legislators Episteme is found in those who understand things from a scientific point of view

Factors of Wisdom (1) Factors of professors in four fields (art, business, philosophy, physics) (laypersons also sampled): Reasoning Abilities – Has the unique ability to look at a problem or situation and solve it – Has good problem-solving ability – Has a logical mind

Factors of Wisdom (2) Sagacity – displays concern for others – considers advice – understands people through dealing with a variety of people Learning from ideas and environment – Attaches importance to ideas – Is perceptive – Learns from other people ’ s mistakes

Factors of Wisdom (3) Judgment – Acts within own physical and intellectual limitations – Is sensible – Has good judgment at all times Expeditious use of information – Is experienced – Seeks out information, especially details – Has age, maturity, or long experience

Factors of Wisdom (4) Perspicacity – Has intuition – Can offer solutions that are on the side of right and truth – Is able to see through things – read between the lines

Successful Intelligence a) Reach one ’ s goals in life, within the constraints of a social-cultural context b) By capitalizing on one ’ s strengths and compensating for or correcting one ’ s weaknesses c) Through a mixture of analytical, creative, and practical abilities d) To adapt to, shape, and select environments The (flexible and modifiable) ability to

Creativity Skill in generating ideas that are – Novel – Good – Task appropriate

Why Successful Intelligence and Creativity are not Enough People can be: Creatively intelligent and, more generally, creative (e.g., in generating novel, strategic targets for terrorist attacks) Analytically intelligent (e.g., in assessing the advantages and disadvantages of those targets) Practically intelligent (e.g., in delivering the attacks to those targets) without being wise!

Why Knowledge and Experience are Not Enough People can use knowledge and experience for good ends or for bad (as in the case of malevolent dictators and terrorists who use their knowledge of people and their psychology to oppress rather than to help others) People thus can be knowledgeable without being wise

Balance

The Balance Theory of Wisdom Wisdom is 1) The application of successful intelligence, creativity, and knowledge 2) Toward the attainment of a common good 3) Through a balance among intrapersonal, interpersonal, and extrapersonal interests 4) Over the short term, and long terms 5) Through the mediation of values 6) By acting so as to balance adaptation to, shaping, and selection of environments

Successful Intelligence, Creativity, & Knowledge Common Good Wisdom as Balance G O A L Adaptation Extrapersonal SelectionShaping Balance of interests over short and long terms IntrapersonalInterpersona l Balance of responses to environmental context VALUESVALUES Wisdom as Balance

Assessing performance for wisdom Successful intelligence Balancing of interests Balancing of time-frames Mindful infusion of values Balancing of responses to the environment Application of knowledge for the common good

Problems measuring wisdom Conflict-resolution problems Moral-judgment problems Personal dilemma problems

Test Scenario Charles and Margaret are both engineers and have been married for 5 years. Three years ago Charles was offered a job in Europe. Margaret agreed to quit her job in the U.S. and move to Europe with Charles. The job was an excellent career move for Charles. Soon after the move, they had a baby boy. After the birth, Margaret decided to start working again and, with effort, found a very exciting job that paid well and promised real security. Meanwhile, Charles was offered a transfer back to the U.S. Margaret feels she needs another year or two in her new job to meaningfully advance her career. She is also tired of moving. She has already given up a lot of time following Charles around. Charles knows that his wife ’ s job is as important his own but he thinks returning to the U.S. would help both their careers in the end. What should Charles do?

Developmental Trajectory of Wisdom The traditional model Wisdom develops only in adulthood, and especially, later adulthood The fluid-intelligence analogue model Wisdom develops up to early adulthood, and then pretty much remains constant in middle adulthood, until it begins decreasing in later adulthood The crystallized-intelligence analogue model Wisdom potentially develops more or less continually throughout the life span, although not necessarily linearly

When should students first be taught to think wisely? As soon as possible!

The Key to Teaching Wisdom The ends to which we apply our knowledge and the thinking processes that act on it, matter!

Different views of knowledge Conventional View: – Knowledge is static over space, time, and point of view Dialectical View: – Knowledge can be dynamic over space and time Dialogical View: – Knowledge must be understood from multiple points of view

Key instructional processes Providing activities that draw upon wisdom Modeling wisdom Providing instructional examples of wisdom Dialogical thinking Dialectical thinking Valuing wisdom

Two Models for the Development of Wisdom in Students Separate Instruction Infused Instruction

Why “Great Teachings,” Proverbs, Aphorisms and “Common Sense” do not, in themselves, provide wisdom 1. They sometimes contradict each other (e.g., “ Out of sight, out of mind ” and “ Absence makes the heart grow fonder ” ) 2. They sometimes are plain wrong (e.g., “ Spare the rod, spoil the child ” ) 3. The lessons they teach are often a matter of interpretation (e.g., “ All ’ s well that ends well ” )

Introduction to the Teaching for Wisdom Program What is wisdom? Why is wisdom important? Why conventional abilities and achievements are not enough for a satisfying life How wisdom is related to solving difficult and uncertain life problems How wise decisions benefit people in ways foolish decisions rarely do

Why the path will be rocky Entrenched educational structures May not raise test scores Difficult to develop Power structure chosen for IQ, not wisdom

Is Our Educational System Wise? The creation of – Closed Systems – Largely Arbitrary Social Stratifications – Self-Fulfilling Prophecies