Books &Meditation-Introspection Entropy | 19 May 2010
Wisdom
Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience- By Stephen S. Hall
This Book is a compelling investigation into one of our most coveted and cherished ideals, and the efforts of modern science to penetrate the mysterious nature of this timeless virtue.
In the words of Lama Surya Das – Wisdom is an endangered natural resource today in our Over-Information Age, where knowledge is rising and genuine Sagacity increasingly rare. If we wish to become wiser and more sane, we’d do well exploit and develop our own innate natural resources for a change while furthering the sustainability of our planet.
For example, time too is a natural resource; though we seem to live in a time-starved era, it’s not time we lack but focus and prioritization. Perspicacious wisdom is the highest form of sanity.”
We all recognize wisdom, but defining it is more elusive. In this fascinating journey from philosophy to science, Stephen S. Hall gives us a dramatic history of wisdom.
In this Book Stephen Hall explores the neural mechanisms for wise decision making; the conflict between the emotional and cognitive parts of the brain; the development of compassion, humility, and empathy; the effect of adversity and the impact of early-life stress on the development of wisdom; and how we can learn to optimize our future choices and future selves.
Hall’s bracing exploration of the science of wisdom allows us to see this ancient virtue with fresh eyes, yet also makes clear that despite modern science’s most powerful efforts, wisdom continues to elude easy understanding.
In moments of exceptional challenge and uncertainty, we tend to ask, How did this happen? What could we have done to prevent this dire turn of events? This is another way of saying, I realize now, that we are always searching for wisdom, but all too often we are looking for it in the rear view mirror, sifting the past for clues to how we might have thought about the future in a different way.
We crave wisdom—worship it in others, wish it upon our children, and seek it ourselves—precisely because it will help us lead a meaningful life as we count our days, because we hope it will guide our actions as we step cautiously into that always uncertain future.
At times of challenge and uncertainty, nothing seems more important than wisdom—economic wisdom, moral wisdom, political wisdom, even that private, behind-closed-doors wisdom that allows us to convey the gravity of changed circumstances to our children without making them afraid of change itself.
Nothing seems more important, yet nothing seems more beyond our grasp, until we begin to think about wisdom before we think we need it.
Explore Stephan Hall personal website here
Refer The Defining Wisdom Research Project website here
on 21 May 2010 at 3:40 am 1.Michele said …
what a great post Ajay ! I particularly like these two parts:
“Wisdom is an endangered natural resource today in our Over-Information Age, where knowledge is rising and genuine sagacity increasingly rare…”
“Even that private, behind-closed-doors wisdom that allows us to convey the gravity of changed circumstances to our children without making them afraid of change itself.”
It’s true that chances of meeting wise people is getting more scarce as human beings are becoming more algae like (always floating on the surface) with no deep roots and attention spans of sparrows…
Attention span should be the new currency of our times!