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 diverse interests in the midst of the pandemic. Igor points out that humanity has a greater capacity for accepting and managing uncertainty than we might realize, and Charles is intrigued by the often-overlooked benefits of interactions with strangers. Featuring: Katie McLaughlin (https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/kate-mclaughlin), John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University Barbara Fredrickson (https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/faculty-profile/barbara-l-fredrickson-phd), Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Dilip Jeste (https://profiles.ucsd.edu/dilip.jeste), Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at University of California, San Diego Valerie Tiberius (http://www.valerietiberius.com/), Paul W. Frenzel Chair in Liberal Arts and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota

On Wisdom

41: Wisdom for Negative Consequences (Pt. I) - Social Support, Sympathy & Compassion, Acknowledging Uncertainty, and Balancing Diverse Interests

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 prejudice in the midst of the pandemic. Igor wonders how losing track of distinct day-to-day memories might distort our sense of who we are, and Charles considers the odd influence that a year of mask-wearing may have on how we'll interact with strangers in the post-pandemic future. Featuring: Jeffrey Zacks (https://dcl.wustl.edu/people/jzacks/), Professor and Associate Chair of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University Paula Niedenthal (https://psych.wisc.edu/staff/niedenthal-paula/), Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison David Rooney (https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/david-rooney), Honorary Professor of Management and Organisation Studies at Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University Douglas Kenrick (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_T._Kenrick), President’s Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University

40: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part II) - Autobiographical Memory, Estrangement, Political Conflict, and Prejudice

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 midst of the pandemic. Igor assesses 3 sharply contrasting visions of the future, and Charles reflects on the idea of pandemics as the downside of something mostly very beneficial - the highly social nature of our species. Featuring: Azim Shariff (https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/azim-shariff/), Associate Professor and  Canada Research Chair of Moral  Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and director of the Center for Applied Moral Psychology Nicholas Christakis (https://sociology.yale.edu/people/nicholas-christakis), Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University Roy Baumeister (https://roybaumeister.com/), Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland Veronica Benet Martinez (https://www.upf.edu/web/benet-martinez/prof.-veronica-benet-martinez), Endowed position as an ICREA Professor at Pompeu Fabra University, where she is head of the Behavioral and Experimental Social Sciences research group

39: World After Covid series: Negative Consequences (Part I) - Social Inequality, Loneliness, Economic Hardships, and Despair

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 midst of the pandemic. Igor wrestles with the challenge of identifying experts while lacking expertise ourselves, and Charles considers the potential downsides of clamouring for resignations when our leaders make mistakes. Featuring: David Dunning (https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/people/faculty/ddunning.html), Social Psychologist and recipient of the Distinguished Lifetime Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity. Mark Schaller (https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/mark-schaller/), Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia David Passig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-david-passig-0755a8/?originalSubdomain=il), Futurist, lecturer, consultant and best–selling author Jennifer Lerner (https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/jennifer-lerner), Thornton Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy, Decision Science, and Management at the Harvard Kennedy School

38: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Positive Consequences (Pt. II) - Critical Thinking, Intellectual Humility, Political Cooperation, and Solidarity

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 in the midst of the pandemic. Igor wonders what being empathetic and compassionate even looks like online, and Charles ponders lessons not learned from past global catastrophes. Featuring: Roxane Cohen Silver (https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/rsilver/), Social-Personality Psychologist and Adversity Research Trailblazer Laura Carstensen (https://longevity.stanford.edu/people-2/laura-carstensen/), Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy and Founding Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity Edouard Machery (https://www.edouardmachery.com/), Distinguished Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and the Director of the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh Anand Menon (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/anand-menon), Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London

37: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Positive Consequences (Pt. I) - Sympathy and Compassion, Self-distancing, Perspective-taking, and Learning from pandemics

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most signigificant 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 political cooperation, nature, solidarity, and prosocial behaviour in the midst of the pandemic. Featuring: Dagomar Degroot, Associate Professor of Environmental History at Georgetown University Shinobu Kitayama, Robert B. Zajonc Collegiate Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan Katie McLaughlin, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University Barry Schwartz, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College

36: World After Covid series: Positive Consequences (Part II) - Political cooperation, Nature, Solidarity, and Prosocial behaviours

Which domain or aspect of social life will show the most signigificant 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 political and structural change, care for elders, social connectedness, and reconsidering habits in the midst of the pandemic. Featuring: Ayse K. Uskul, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent Michael Ross, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo Harry Reis, Professor of Psychology at the University of Rochester James Gross, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Psychophysiology Laboratory at Stanford University

35: World After Covid series: Positive Consequences (Part I) - Political and structural change, Care for elders, Social connectedness, and Reconsidering habits

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 in the midst of the pandemic. Featuring: Yukiko Ushida, Professor of Social and Cultural Psychology at the Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Greater Good Science Center Wendy Mendes, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Francisco Michael Bond, Cross-cultural Social Psychologist

34: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Now (Part II) - What's important, Living in the moment, Social connectedness, and Shared humanity

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 perspective-taking in the midst of the pandemic. Featuring: Michael Norton, Social Psychologist from Harvard Business School Robert Sternberg, Psychologist and Wisdom Research Pioneer Roxane Cohen Silver, Social - Personality Psychologist and Adversity Research Trailblazer Valerie Tiberius, Philosopher and Author

33: World After Covid series: Wisdom for Now (Part I)

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...

32: Shifting Gears: Wisdom in the 'World After Covid'

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 at the start of the pandemic, Ricca returned for a retrospective at the close of the episode, to share her opinions on the meaning of wisdom in these rapidly changing times, and in our future post-pandemic society. Igor muses about big and small wisdom, and Charles asks Ricca about the world after the pandemic. Welcome to the wisdom and pandemic episode! Special Guest: Ricca Edmondson.

31: The Meaning of Wisdom Before and During the Pandemic (with Ricca Edmondson)

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 coeruleus in memory and attention, emotion-induced blindness, and the parallels between Cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Igor digs into the different roles of culture and the lack of good longitudinal studies of aging, Mara reveals how intense emotions can sharpen some aspects of our memories of an event while blunting others, and Charles learns that he and many others may be on the Alzheimer’s spectrum. Welcome to Episode 30. Special Guest: Mara Mather.

30: Emotions, Attention, and Decision Making in the Aging Brain (with Mara Mather)

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 wisdom in the lab. Igor stresses the importance of building solid theoretical foundations for the field in the context of the pandemic, Howard reflects on the viability of evil wisdom, and Charles learns that we had better pay close attention today to the values we program into the decision-making robots of tomorrow. Welcome to Episode 29. Special Guest: Howard Nusbaum.

29: Charting Pandemic Waters: A Common Wisdom Model for Uncertain Times (with Howard Nusbaum)

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 date. Igor reflects on life-under-lockdown vs life in the downfall of the Soviet Union, Sonja discusses the subtle art of balancing optimism with positive action, and Charles learns that when it comes to counting one’s blessings, it pays not to count too high. Special Guest: Sonja Lyubomirsky.

28: Pandemic Happiness (with Sonja Lyubomirsky)

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 generation of wisdom workers, and his new project to build the world’s first midlife wisdom school - The Modern Elder Academy. Igor seeks new solutions for the stressed 'sandwich generation', Chip highlights the importance of curiosity at work and how mentoring and interning often go hand-in-hand, and Charles picks Chip’s brain on how to make wisdom more hip and sexy. Welcome to Episode 27. Special Guest: Chip Conley.

27: The Wisdom of a Modern Elder (with Chip Conley)

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.

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On Wisdom

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