Wisdom Talks

Wisdom, also known as sapience, is defined by psychologists as a combination of "wit and virtue," the ability to apply expert tacit and experiential knowledge, balancing intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional interests, to deal with complex questions of life and attain a common good. Wise behaviour refers to actions which lead to "an altruistic outcome by creatively and successfully solving problems."

Throughout history, wisdom has been regarded as a key virtue in religion and philosophy. Religiously, wisdom is an important element in the Biblical wisdom-tradition - often contrasting human knowledge with divine omniscience - which was further developed in Christianity and Islam. In Mahayana Buddhism, prajna (insight, "wisdom") is wedded to karuṇā, compassion, as icographically represented in yab-yum. Philosophically, wisdom has been explored by thinkers from Ancient Greece to modern times, with Greek (Plato) making a distinction between sophia, philosophical and contemplative wisdom regarding the divine order of existence; phronesis, practical wisdom; and episteme, formal or scientific knowledge.

Psychologists have researched wisdom since the late 1970s, starting with exploring folk conceptions of wisdom, and subsequently developing explicit-formal theories of wisdom. Theories that regard wisdom as a developmental cognitive and personal trait hark back to Erik Eriksons theory of stages of psychosocial development, and post-formal stages added to Jean Piagets theory of cognitive development. Explicit-formal theories include Robert J. Sternbergs Balance Theory of Wisdom, which explores the relation between intelligence, creativity, and wisdom, and sees wisdom as "the value-laden application of tacit knowledge to attain a common good"; and Paul Baltes' Berlin Wisdom Paradigm, which sees wisdom as a combination of "excellence in mind and virtue" and "an expert knowledge system dealing with the conduct and understanding of life." Psychological definitions include two common components, namely wit and virtue: an emphasis on cognition, meaning, and affect, and a concern for human welfare.

From wisdom on Wikipedia