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6 - How Do We Cultivate Wisdom?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2021

Robert J. Sternberg  and
Judith Glück
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Judith Glück
Affiliation:
Klagenfurt University
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Summary

This chapter discusses how to cultivate wisdom. First, it discusses why people are not wise, mainly, because they are susceptible to foolishness through eight fallacies.

  1. 1. The fallacy of unrealistic optimism.

  2. 2. The fallacy of egocentrism.

  3. 3. The fallacy of false omniscience.

  4. 4. The fallacy of false omnipotence.

  5. 5. The fallacy of false invulnerability.

  6. 6. The sunk-cost fallacy.

  7. 7. The fallacy that ignorance is bliss.

  8. 8. The fallacy of confirmation (myside) bias.

The chapter then discusses principles of teaching for wisdom.

  1. 1. Seek a common good.

  2. 2. Balance one’s own with others’ interests and with higher order interests.

  3. 3. Seek to infuse positive ethical values.

Keywords

foolishnessunrealistic optimismegocentrismfalse omnisciencefalse omnipotencefalse invulnerabilitysunk-cost fallacyignorance is bliss fallacyconfirmation (myside) bias.
Type
Chapter
Information
Wisdom
The Psychology of Wise Thoughts, Words, and Deeds
 , pp. 128 - 147
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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