Empathy begins the process of connecting us with others, as we share their emotions. Our own life experience enables us to understand something of the life experience of others. That emotional understanding is the distinction we call empathy: “. . . the capacity to share the feelings of others . . .” “Empathy is a complex capability enabling individuals to…
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Value for Sunday of Week 29 in the season of Ripening
Being Wise
Wisdom is a complex human trait, characterized by a marriage of the intellect with the emotions, and put into action.
- By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. [attributed to Confucius]
- The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. [Isaac Asimov]
- Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. [widely attributed to Aristotle]
- Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself. [attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte]
The transcendent intellectual virtue is wisdom. King Solomon’s court is said to have marveled at his wisdom when he ordered the baby cut in half, knowing that would identify the mother; even if he was wrong, the only woman, of the two, fit to care for the child was the one who would act to save him. Wisdom is intellect reaching deep into the emotional lives of others, often predicting how they will feel or what their behavior will be, and acting accordingly. It must be grounded in universal respect for human worth and dignity. All the building blocks we have taken so far must be in place, then wisdom can thrive.
Conceptually, agape and courage and simple concepts; by contrast, wisdom is a complex human trait, with many components. Overall, it refers to making sound judgments in difficult situations, employing knowledge and experience. Such knowledge may be most useful in leading to wisdom when it is hard-earned, However, scholars do not agree on a precise definition. A few statements about it are:
- “(a) As action or behaviour, wisdom refers to well-motivated actors achieving an altruistic outcome by creatively and successfully solving problems. (b) As a psychological trait, wisdom refers to a global psychological quality that engages intellectual ability, prior knowledge and experience in a way that integrates virtue and wit, and is acquired through life experience and continued practice.”
- “Wisdom may be defined as a complex human trait with several specific components: social decision making, emotional regulation, prosocial behaviors such as empathy and compassion, self-reflection, acceptance of uncertainty, decisiveness, and spirituality.”
- “Wisdom has been conceptualized as: (1) a rare, highly exercised and developed form of cognitive expertise about the domain of human affairs that allows for multiple conduits or (2) a constellation of personal attributes reflecting a high degree of cognitive, affective, and behavioral maturity that allows for an unusual degree of sensitivity, broad-mindedness, and concern for humanity.”
- “Wisdom can be defined as the ability to grasp human nature, which is paradoxical, contradictory, and subject to continual change.”
- “. . . a highly developed body of factual and procedural knowledge and judgment dealing with what we call the ‘fundamental pragmatics of life.’ The fundamental pragmatics of life concern important but uncertain matters of life.”
- “. . . a cognitive and motivational metaheuristic (pragmatic) that organizes and orchestrates knowledge toward human excellence in mind and virtue, both individually and collectively.”
- “. . . a special kind of real-life process that is accomplished after a person cognitively makes an unusual integration, embodies his or her ideas through action, and hence brings forth positive effects to both self and others.”
- Brown and Greene propose that “six factors contribute to wisdom development: Self-knowledge, understanding of others, judgment, life knowledge, life skills, and willingness to learn.”
- In Sternberg’s balance theory of wisdom, “wisdom is defined as the application of tacit knowledge as mediated by values toward the achievement of a common good through a balance among multiple (a) intrapersonal, (b) interpersonal, and (c) extrapersonal interests in order to achieve a balance among (a) adaptation to existing environments, (b) shaping of existing environments, and (c) selection of new environments.”
- Glück and Bluck propose that “some basic tenets are essential for the development of wisdom. . . . The four resources are: a sense of Mastery, Openness, Reflectivity, and Emotion Regulation and Empathy– in short, MORE.”
- Aldwin & colleagues developed “developed a definition of wisdom that integrated general and personal wisdom and emphasized the importance of compassion, self-regulation, moral action, and social justice, as well as the fact that wisdom is a developmental process.”
- “Characteristics of wise thinking, which include intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty and change, consideration of different perspectives, and integration of these perspectives, is highly variable across situations.”
- “. . . there is some consensus that wisdom involves the use of certain types of pragmatic reasoning to navigate important challenges of social life.”
- In 2012, Fengyan & Hong presented “ a new concept of wisdom, which integrates intelligence and morality as its two constituent elements.”
- Based on a literature review, Meeks & Jeste identified six main components of wisdom: “(1) prosocial attitudes/behaviors, (2) social decision-making/pragmatic knowledge of life, (3) emotional homeostasis, (4) reflection/self-understanding, (5) value relativism/tolerance, and (6) acknowledgement of and dealing effectively with uncertainty/ambiguity.”
Several wisdom paradigms have been developed (see Table 4 here):
- Berlin wisdom paradigm defines wisdom as expert knowledge, which “usually refers to broad and deep knowledge and skill in a specific domain that is acquired through long-term deliberate practice . . .”
- balance theory of wisdom: “The balance theory defines wisdom as the use of one’s intelligence, creativity, commone sense, and knowledge and as mediated by positive ethical values toward the achievement of a common good through a balance among (a) intrapersonal, (b) interpersonal, and (c) extrapersonal interests, over the (a) short and (b) long terms to achieve a balance among (a) adaptation to existing environments, (b) shaping of existing environments, and (c) selection of new environments.”;
- self-transcendence wisdom theory, which makes a case for wisdom “as self-transcendence”;
- three-dimensional wisdom theory, which integrates cognition, reflection, and compassion;
- H.E.R.O.(E.) model of wisdom, which focuses on humor, reflection, empathy, and openness;
- process view of wisdom, which defines wisdom as “a real-life process which consists of three core components—integration, embodiment, and positive effects”; and
- integrating virtue and wit theory of wisdom, which integrates intelligence and morality.
If wisdom was easily defined, perhaps it would not be a transcendent intellectual virtue. Although not all scholars agree on a precise definition of wisdom, its main features are generally believed to include:
- Emotional regulation;
- Self-reflection;
- Acceptance of uncertainty;
- Prosocial behavior;
- Social decision-making;
- Pragmatic life knowledge;
- Considering multiple perspectives.
In addition to reaching into the emotions, wisdom is in its essence active. Knowing what to do but not doing it, is not wisdom. As we get into the components of dignity, at the pinnacle of ethical Being, the domains of Being are increasingly united.
Real
True Narratives
It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful. It was because she seized the right moment to impart knowledge that made it so pleasant and acceptable to me. She realized that a child's mind is like a shallow brook which ripples and dances merrily over the stony course of its education and reflects here a flower, there a bush, yonder a fleecy cloud; and she attempted to guide my mind on its way, knowing that like a brook it should be fed by mountain streams and hidden springs, until it broadened out into a deep river, capable of reflecting in its placid surface, billowy hills, the luminous shadows of trees and the blue heavens, as well as the sweet face of a little flower. Any teacher can take a child to the classroom, but not every teacher can make him learn. He will not work joyously unless he feels that liberty is his, whether he is busy or at rest; he must feel the flush of victory and the heart-sinking of disappointment before he takes with a will the tasks distasteful to him and resolves to dance his way bravely through a dull routine of textbooks. [Helen Keller, The Story of My Life (1904), Chapter VII.]
Other true narratives:
- Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics (W.W. Norton & Company, 2018): “Shakespeare’s plays yield chilling insights into the 21st century’s turbulent political scene.” This book illustrates how all fiction arises from real minds.
- David Yaffe, Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2017): “. . . I was surprised to discover how many of her songs I remember, more or less in their entirety. What a tribute, it seems, that her evocative character sketches and laments for doomed love — melodically unpredictable, literary, convoluted and mostly lacking catchy pop refrains — should have remained so familiar, and that they should still strike us as so beautiful, smart and inventive.”
- Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter (Random House, 2008): “A slim volume packed with nourishing nuggets of wisdom”.
- Richard K. Rein, American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte’s Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life (Island Press, 2022): “Whyte was like a choreographer of the great musical whose libretto he doubtless could have written . . .”
When wisdom was lacking:
- Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro, The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World (Simon & Schuster, 2017). “Henry Kissinger called the Kellogg-Briand Pact ‘as irresistible as it was meaningless,’ while George Kennan described it as ‘childish, just childish.’”
- Max Boot, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the Tragedy of Vietnam (Liveright, 2018): “The more interesting and at first glance attractive argument is . . . that the answer in Vietnam was to deploy less military force, not more . . . They forgot that in a war of this kind it was not enough to be against Communism; one had to be for something.”
- Yepoka Yeebo, Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023): “Born in 1941 in a tiny coastal village, Blay-Miezah honed his ability to read people at an early age. This, along with a practiced charm, a phenomenal memory and an absolute lack of shame, would prove a lethal combination.”
Technical and Analytical Readings
- Robert J. Sternberg & Judith Glück, eds., The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
- Robert J. Sternberg & Judith Glück, Wisdom: The Psychology of Wise Thoughts, Words, and Deeds (Cambridge University Press, 2022).
- Robert J. Sternberg, Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins, and Development (Cambridge University Press, 1990).
- Robert Sternberg & Jennifer Jordan, eds., A Handbook of Wisdom: Psychological Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2005).
- Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divides by Politics and Religion (Pantheon Books, 2012): Haidt, who is left-of-center politically, argues that the right succeeds because it is better attuned to visceral human needs such as community.
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Karen Russell is an author with a remarkably distinctive literary voice. “Her work has a velocity and trajectory that is little less than dazzling and a tough, enveloping, exhilarating voice that cannot be equaled.”
- St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves: Stories (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006): “As a collection of first-person narratives, St. Lucy’s Home is necessarily about adolescent storytelling, how teenagers see and explain their world.”
- Swamplandia!: A Novel (Alfred A. Knopf, 2011), highlights the author’s wisdom in telling the story.
- Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories (Alfred A. Knopf, 2013): ”A grim, stupendous, unfavorable magic is at work in these stories. They are not chicly ironic or satiric and certainly not existentially or ethically curious . . .”
- Sleep Donation (Vintage Books, 2014).
- Orange World and Other Stories (Knopf, 2019): “All of the stories in Orange World open with a crisp swiftness that feels like in medias res on steroids. This will lull you into believing you’re reading about ordinary worlds. Only then will Russell deliver, sometimes building gradually and sometimes via an abrupt slap, the often hilarious and always absurd truth.”
- The Antidote: A Novel (Knopf, 2025).
Other novels:
- Deepa Anappara, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line: A Novel (Random House, 2020): “We marvel at those threads, so vibrantly woven by Anappara, as Jai tracks down the missing children’s families and friends, only to discover that even those closest to them have little understanding of their true selves. This is the power of this novel, how it keeps us grounded — not in the flats of the hi-fi dwellers but in something closer to India’s heart, which she locates in the minds of children with bony shoulders and dirty feet.”
- James McBride, Deacon King Kong: A Novel (Riverhead Books, 2020): “McBride’s ability to inhabit his characters’ foibled, all-too-human interiority helps transform a fine book into a great one.”
- Gina Sorrell, The Wise Women: A Novel (Harper/HarperCollins, 2022): a former advice columnist gets a first-hand view of her effectiveness in that role.
Poetry
Books of poems:
- Linda Gregerson, Canopy: Poems (Ecco, 2022): “She is a poet of wisdom, of maturity, of memorable advice, looking to history and sometimes finding help there . . .”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Paul Simon writes of life. Just when you think we’re “gliding down the highway”, he lands a devastating verbal blow to the solar plexus. You may not feel it at the time but sooner or later, if you’re paying attention, it will catch up with you. Simon earned an honored place in popular music history with his beautiful duets with Art Garfunkel but his was not the pretty voice. His performances are professional but his high-baritone voice is thin and unremarkable. His incorporation of world music into his own is forward-looking and excellent but not extraordinary. Simon’s place in music history, and as the first recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for popular song, comes from his unique combination of easy popular melodies with brilliant lyrics that jar the soul not with crass or vulgar language but with images in the key of life. Simon has been the subject of biographies by Robert Hilburn, Peter Ames Carlin and Laura Jackson. Hilburn convinced Simon to cooperate with the biography by telling him “. . . it would be a ‘serious’ book, not a typical celebrity biography. I also told him I felt he owed it to history; that his story, the music and the personal life, deserves to be documented.” Simon’s solo releases are extensive, and his releases as the singer-songwriter in Simon & Garfunkel are iconic. Playlists and videos are also available. He has given recorded live concerts in Montevideo in 1992, for BBC in 2006, in Nottingham, U.K., in 2016, and in Charlotte, N.C., in 2017. His 1981 Concert in Central Park with Art Garfunkel was a cultural event.
Carl Nielsen, Violin Concerto, Op. 33, FS 61 (1911) (approx. 35-40 ‘): wisdom incorporates high intellectual and emotional functioning. So it is with Nielsen’s Violin Concerto. Nielsen expressed his intent: “It has to be good music and yet always show regard for the development of the solo instrument, putting it in the best possible light. The piece must have substance and be popular and showy without being superficial. These conflicting elements must and shall meet and form a higher unity.” Violinist Vilde Frang says: “It's very hard to get Nielsen right; I think it's because his music isn't very obvious. Structurally, it's so free -- it swims, in a way. There is a structure, but it's a very exotic, very special, very personal kind of structure.” Violinist Johan Dalene says: “The music is full of surprises, unexpected harmonic twists and sudden changes of mood. Here we find pride, joy and an exquisitely beautiful and melancholy slow movement which ends with a question mark. There is an enormous wealth of detail and every time I return to Nielsen’s music, I find something new.” Top recorded performances are by Lin (Salonen) in 1988, Tellefsen (Menuhin) in 1989, Vengerov (Barenboim) in 1996, Anthony (Matson) in 1998, Znaider (Foster) in 1999, Matsuyama (Wagner) in 1999, Frang (Jensen) in 2011 ***, Zilliacus (Blendulf) in 2014, and Dalene (Storgårds) in 2022.
Other artists and albums:
- Kat Gang, “Come Closer” (2018) (49’): “Understated charisma and subtle vocal complexity are watchwords. Gag’s phrasing is juuussst a bit unexpected, elongating and aborting to create fresh rhythm without compromising lyrics. Scat (too rare) verges on words. Expressive arms seem to pump air through her supple torso. By the time she dances in place, we know it’s – necessary.”
- David Boswell, “The Story Behind the Story” (2020) (47’): “These are the works of a very sensitive mind. Every composer sufficiently skilled and educated in music could conceivably exhibit a modicum of creativity when it comes to putting notes together in order to create pleasant melodies, interesting harmonies and danceable rhythms. But it takes a truly gifted one to make narratives come alive, to make you feel the emotions that he is feeling . . .”
- Murray, Allen & Carrington Power Trio, “Perfection” (2015) (58’): these three superb musicians, playing with and off each other, “share a chemistry that gives their music remarkable strength”.
- Pasquale Grasso, “Solo Ballads” (2021) (40’): a virtuoso jazz guitarist plumbs the depths of classic popular ballads.
- Ches Smith, “Interpret It Well” (2022) (70’), “takes its title from the pop artist Raymond Pettibon who often mixed his images with creative writing in a chimerical setting. All of which fits nicely with Smith's compositions but even in the album's most impulsive improvisations, the music is remarkably articulate. Smith's leader work makes one further question the logic of placing arbitrary definitions and categories on creative music.”
- Nitai Hershkovits, “Call On the Old Wise” (2023) (50’): “In this largely improvised solo rendering, the pianist draws from broad influences, ranging from his extensive work in jazz contexts and cutting-edge contemporary explorations to his background in classical music. This immaculate balance of idioms gives rise to an abundance of colours and timbres, explored by a pianist, who has successfully forged his very own voice as improviser and shape-designer.”
Compositions:
- Don Gillis, “The Alamo” (1944) (approx. 13’); Symphony No. 7, “Saga of a Prairie School” (1948) (approx. 26’); “Portrait of a Frontier Town” (1940) (approx. 20’): these works tell stories of others with understanding and empathy.
- Athanasios Aronis, William Blake Cycle (approx. 32-37’) (lyrics) is based on poems by William Blake.
Music: songs and other short pieces
- R. Carlos Nakai and Nawang Khechog, “Wisdom”
- Nawang Khechog, “Wisdom Heart”
- Nawang Khechog, “Ocean of Wisdom”
- Nawang Khechog, “The Five-Peak Wisdom Mountain”
- Nawang Khechog, “Wisdom and Compassion”
- Nawang Khechog, “The Perfection of Wisdom”
Visual Arts
Film and Stage
- The Silence of the Lambs: wisdom’s evil counterpart in Hannibal Lechter, whose understanding of people is genius, misdirected by sociopathic intent
