Wisdom

Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience, by award-winning science writer Stephen S. Hall, examines ancient concepts of wisdom through the lens of modern brain science.  In a section called “Eight Neural Pillars of Wisdom,” Hall takes a fresh look at human qualities long associated with wisdom–including compassion, emotional regulation, the ability to discern what’s important, and the skill of coping with uncertainty–and suggests that modern neuroscience is providing radical new insights about how these timeless virtues evolved.  Based in part on a 2007 article in The New York Times Magazine, Wisdom is also a meditation on the seeds of wisdom, aspects of wisdom in everyday life, and the future of wisdom in our complex society. More

Comment: The more knowledge we have and the easier it is to access it, the more we feel the dearth of wisdom in our world. Wisdom has become the rarer of the two in the face of a growing abundance of knowledge.