On Wisdom
Science Podcasts
On Wisdom features a social and cognitive scientist in Toronto and an educator in London discussing the latest empirical science regarding the nature of wisdom. Igor Grossmann runs the Wisdom & Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Charles Cassidy runs the Evidence-Based Wisdom project in London, UK. The podcast thrives on a diet of freewheeling conversation on wisdom, decision-making, wellbeing, and society and includes regular guests spots with leading behavioral scientists from the field of wisdom research and beyond. Welcome to The On Wisdom Podcast.
On Wisdom features a social and cognitive scientist in Toronto and an educator in London discussing the latest empirical science regarding the nature of wisdom. Igor Grossmann runs the Wisdom & Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Charles Cassidy runs the Evidence-Based Wisdom project in London, UK. The podcast thrives on a diet of freewheeling conversation on wisdom, decision-making, wellbeing, and society and includes regular guests spots with leading behavioral scientists from the field of wisdom research and beyond. Welcome to The On Wisdom Podcast.
Location:
Canada
Genres:
Science Podcasts
Description:
On Wisdom features a social and cognitive scientist in Toronto and an educator in London discussing the latest empirical science regarding the nature of wisdom. Igor Grossmann runs the Wisdom & Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Charles Cassidy runs the Evidence-Based Wisdom project in London, UK. The podcast thrives on a diet of freewheeling conversation on wisdom, decision-making, wellbeing, and society and includes regular guests spots with leading behavioral scientists from the field of wisdom research and beyond. Welcome to The On Wisdom Podcast.
Twitter:
@onwisdompodcast
Language:
English
Episodes
43: Invisible to Ourselves: A Life of a Psychological Scientist (with Richard Nisbett)
12/4/2021
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...
Duration:01:11:15
42: Reflections on Wisdom in the World after Covid
10/23/2021
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 (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Four final responses are selected, covering themes of big picture focus on what's important, shared humanity,...
Duration:00:37:35
41: Wisdom for Negative Consequences (Pt. I) - Social Support, Sympathy & Compassion, Acknowledging Uncertainty, and Balancing Diverse Interests
10/4/2021
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 (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of social support, sympathy & compassion, acknowledging uncertainty, and balancing...
Duration:00:35:13
40: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part II) - Autobiographical Memory, Estrangement, Political Conflict, and Prejudice
8/4/2021
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 (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of autobiographical memory, estrangement, political conflict, and...
Duration:00:38:13
39: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part I) - Social Inequality, Loneliness, Economic Hardships, and Despair
7/11/2021
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 (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of social inequality, loneliness, economic hardships, and despair in the...
Duration:00:30:29
38: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Positive Consequences (Pt. II) - Critical Thinking, Intellectual Humility, Political Cooperation, and Solidarity
6/30/2021
What kind of wisdom will people need to capitalize on the positive societal and/or psychological change 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 (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of critical thinking, intellectual humility, political cooperation, and solidarity in the...
Duration:00:43:12
37: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Positive Consequences (Pt. I) - Sympathy and Compassion, Self-distancing, Perspective-taking, and Learning from pandemics
6/3/2021
What kind of wisdom will people need to capitalize on the positive societal and/or psychological change 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 (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of sympathy and compassion, self-distancing, perspective-taking, and learning from pandemics...
Duration:00:29:35
36: World After Covid series: Positive Consequences (Part II) - Political cooperation, Nature, Solidarity, and Prosocial behaviours
4/13/2021
Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant positive societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic? Igor and Charles share and discuss responses given to the question about positive change in response to the pandemic by 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of...
Duration:00:43:59
35: World After Covid series: Positive Consequences (Part I) - Political and structural change, Care for elders, Social connectedness, and Reconsidering habits
2/9/2021
Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most significant positive societal and/or psychological change in response to the pandemic? Igor and Charles share and discuss responses given to the question about positive change in response to the pandemic by 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of...
Duration:00:28:23
34: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Now (Part II) - What's important, Living in the moment, Social connectedness, and Shared humanity
1/18/2021
What one piece of wisdom is important to give to people now to help them make it through the pandemic? Igor and Charles share and discuss responses given to this critical question by 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of what's important, living in the moment, social connectedness, and shared humanity...
Duration:00:22:33
33: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Now (Part I)
1/6/2021
What one piece of wisdom is important to give to people now to help them make it through the pandemic? Igor and Charles share and discuss responses given to this critical question by 57 of the world's leading behavioral and social scientists, collected as part of the World After Covid (https://worldaftercovid.info/) project. Each episode, four responses are selected. This time, the conversation covers themes of agency and control, long-term orientation, social connectedness, solidarity, and...
Duration:00:27:17
32: Shifting Gears: Wisdom in the 'World After Covid'
11/30/2020
After 2 and a half years of podcasting, 30+ episodes, 50,000+ downloads, and one global pandemic, it's time for an exciting announcement from the On Wisdom team...
Duration:00:02:26
31: The Meaning of Wisdom Before and During the Pandemic (with Ricca Edmondson)
11/10/2020
Does wisdom reside in particular persons, or is wisdom more about what happens between people? And if wisdom does require a social context, what are the implications of our new social distancing habits since the rise of the pandemic? Ricca Edmondson joins Igor and Charles to discuss novel ethnographic approaches to the study of wisdom, the significance of Irish funeral rituals, new lessons from old Trojan horses, and the value of framing wisdom as a social construction. Originally recorded...
Duration:00:44:51
30: Emotions, Attention, and Decision Making in the Aging Brain (with Mara Mather)
8/16/2020
Despite the common stereotype of ‘older and crankier,’ psychologists suggest we become more positive as we age. Why? Do our aging brains become worse at detecting threats in the environment? Do we choose to focus on more positive aspects of our experience as we age? And what does the latest scientific research say about one of the major dangers of older age — Alzheimer’s disease? Mara Mather joins Igor and Charles to discuss the neuroscience of emotional aging, the role of the locus...
Duration:00:44:41
29: Charting Pandemic Waters: A Common Wisdom Model for Uncertain Times (with Howard Nusbaum)
6/21/2020
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...
Duration:01:07:59
28: Pandemic Happiness (with Sonja Lyubomirsky)
4/23/2020
Is happiness research even relevant in such times of crisis, or is focusing on our happiness simply a luxury we can no longer afford? And, while effective for many people, why does the cultivation of gratitude sometimes result in unexpectedly negative consequences? Sonja Lyubomirsky joins Igor and Charles to discuss the key components of happiness, lessons from 9-11, ‘happiness-intervention fit’, Mother Teresa’s dark side, and the unexpected psychological impact of the global pandemic to...
Duration:00:31:55
27: The Wisdom of a Modern Elder (with Chip Conley)
4/6/2020
Though there is a lot of talk about diversity in the workplace, “age diversity” is often overlooked. Might there even be an emerging mission-critical role for wise elders in the world’s most cutting-edge tech companies? Hospitality maverick and Airbnb Strategic Advisor Chip Conley joins Igor and Charles to discuss the U-Curve of happiness, the surprises and challenges of mentoring billionaire CEOs and State Governors, the potential of intergenerational housing, the emergence of a new...
Duration:00:53:41
26: Wicked Problems (with Judith Glück)
3/5/2020
Bad things happen to all of us. But why do some people grow wiser, while others simply grow bitter? What do scientists do to reliably measure wisdom in the laboratory? And might this research suggest solutions to some of the most pressing problems of our time? Igor and Charles welcome one of today's leading wisdom scientists - Judith Glück, who discusses the MORE Model of Life Experience, different ways of reflecting on personal experiences, collaborative doctors, compassionate teachers, and...
Duration:00:59:43
25: 'This is Basically a Revolution': Self-Knowledge and The Battle for Better Science (with Simine Vazire)
2/12/2020
Is the “business-as-usual” approach to science in crisis? Does the public have a good grasp of how scientific knowledge is really generated? And might scientists be as much prey to self-serving biases as the rest of us mortals? Simine Vazire joins Igor and Charles to discuss the thorny complexity of seeking reliable knowledge about the world and about ourselves, the perils of being a whistleblower in the competitive world of modern science, and the on-going scientific credibility revolution....
Duration:00:59:00
24: Misbehavioral Economics: Choosing irrationality
1/14/2020
Are people being reasonable when they act irrationally? Doesn’t rationality and reasonableness mean the same thing? Charles and Igor kick of the new decade by diving into a messy mix of behavioral economics, nudges, moral philosophy and legal studies, to examine what standards guide people’s decisions. Charles asks Igor about core standards that guide people when they try to make a good decision. Igor unpacks how the standard of a rational agent evolved in the 20th century and what...
Duration:00:38:59