Books of Knowledge

About This Book

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.

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, from its sudden emergence in four different locations (Greece, China, Israel, and India) in the fifth century B.C. to its modern manifestations in education, politics, and the workplace. We learn how wisdom became the provenance of philosophy and religion through its embodiment in individuals such as Buddha, Confucius, and Jesus; how it has consistently been a catalyst for social change; and how revelatory work in the last fifty years by psychologists, economists, and neuroscientists has begun to shed light on the biology of cognitive traits long associated with wisdom—and, in doing so, begun to suggest how we might cultivate it.

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.

Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience
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Customer Reviews
Reviewing "Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience"   Review Date: March 18, 2010 Reviewer: Vivian Clayton, Orinda, CA Stephen Hall's book on Wisdom manages to integrate the empirical research that's been conducted over the last thirty-five years in a style and convivial manner that has eluded the scientific community. I felt the book delivered on its promise: it offered much information about the ways we go about making complex life decisions. It reflected honestly on the real life shortcomings of people who have always been perceived as wise historically, such as Solomon. In my opinion, the best part of the book was delivered by offering examples of how adopting a wisdom based approach can affect how things are done in settings such as the classroom and the boardroom. This is not a "How to be wise" manual. If you like labyrinths, and recognize that many paths can lead to the center of things, this is the book for you. Like many portraits in an art gallery, you will find yourself pausing at various junctures to look more carefully at this or that quality of wisdom - be it patience, humility or compassion. Fortunately, there is no 'closing time' to this gallery. At the end of my visit, I personally felt a sense of gratitude that a writer could capture such an illusive topic without diminishing its potential for further study in matters both personal and societal. ----Vivian Clayton, PhD Fulfilling Read   Review Date: May 4, 2010 Reviewer: Alice P., What I really liked about this book is that I went away from it with a deeper sense of what wisdom means to me rather than some universal understanding of the meaning of wisdom. If you choose to read this book you will likely take in the research, stories, and various perspectives on wisdom with your personal experience in mind, and that is one reason why this book is a fulfilling read. At the onset Hall discusses the elusiveness of wisdom, yet emphasizes that simply because wisdom has normally evaded scientists that science, as well as philosophy, can tell us a great deal about it. The neuroscience research he references are given meaning and substance through real-life examples and philosophical viewpoints. If you are looking for wisdom to be concretized or for a "how to" manual you will be disappointed. If you want to think differently about a subject science and philosophy will likely never be able to get a full grapple on, but can tell us a lot about, you'll get a great deal out of this book. A Book for Our Times   Review Date: June 22, 2010 Reviewer: Barbara Blair, United States If you were looking for one of those self-help books that purports to teach you how to be wise in 10 minutes a day, this book is not for you. If, however, you are looking for an engaging, thoughtful discussion that attempts to answer the centuries-old question "What is Wisdom" from both a philosophical and scientific perspective then this book will delight you. It is literate and enlightening. And although, it is definitely not a "how-to" book, you will probably have many "ah-ha" moments as you read it. I particularly like this book because it manages to tell about the latest research in neuroscience pertaining to wisdom, then compares and contrasts it with classical philosophy without putting the reader to sleep with obtuse, academic language. On the contrary, each chapter is a fascinating examination of one particular component of wisdom. One of my favorite chapters was the chapter entitled "Dealing with Uncertainty". In it Mr. Hall states, "Emotion always assumes the amount of knowledge in hand is adequate to govern a decision, even when it may not be." Now those are wise words indeed, especially for today. "Wisdom From Philosophy to Neuroscience" is a wonderful book for a discussion group whether you are a member of a formal book discussion group or Socrates Club or just enjoy more informal discussions with friends and family. In his book the author describes a curriculum on wisdom that was developed for the Saddle Brook School System in New Jersey. I wish it were required for every politician and CEO. In the meantime, I would advise them to read this book. Wise Book on Wisdom with Occasional Chuckle   Review Date: April 1, 2010 Reviewer: Robert J. Ray, amazon review: this is some book by Steve Hall a book called WISDOM a book that marries moral philosophy to neuroscience with the smoothness of an ice-skater at the Olympics, containing stuff like the Trolley Car Problem: you got this runaway out-of-control trolley bearing down on five innocent people the solution: throw a switch sending the trolley onto a siding problem: getting stopped, the trolley kills one person so what's the answer? kill five or kill only one? you gotta read the book Hall starts a wisdom-thread with Adam and Eve or Confucius or Ghandi restates the situation - Ghandi as a dandy before he transformed himself into a holy man- spinner of cloth who sent the Brits packing and then Hall hooks electrodes to a real person trying to make wise decisions in the real world and the electrodes measure brain activity during moments of stress because wisdom is not easy because being wise takes work like the immense work Hall did to interview and read and digest tons of material brought to you in book format a real book in the Age of Kindle so you can sit in your armchair and soak up this incredible stuff and maybe feel wise just for reading this delightful book where else could you find phrases like * inner pachyderm - a metaphor for human emotion * neural plumbing - stuff we think we think with * solitary but slight tree resisting the wind of the Enlightenment * rolling around in the muck of emotion with his eight pillars of wisdom from Emotional Regulation to Dealing with Uncertainty Hall is the archetypal science-writer grappling with a whopper topic signified by a whopper abstraction and, in the end, winning the match robert j. ray The Weekend Novelist and clones Wisdom And Where To Find It   Review Date: August 11, 2010 Reviewer: Adam Rourke author of The Goblin Universe, In this book Stephen S. Hall takes on one of life's most perplexing questions. What is wisdom and how does this lump of gray matter we call a brain produce it. Drawing on the work of philosophers, theologians, and now scientists Mr. Hall attempts to synthesis all of their output into a coherent answer. Philosophers and theologians have wrestled with this question for thousands of years but science has taken up the search much more recently. And it is the research done by neuroscientists that is the focus of this work. The book itself is constructed in a fairly common style which consists of a series of well known research papers embedded within a cluster of anecdotes. Mr. Hall seems to hold all of this research in more awe than it perhaps deserves. For when looked at dispassionately it can be seen that, while some of the work is first rate, some comes off as mere hubris. The discovery that the mind has a biological base is hardly a revelation. Likewise finding out that sometimes people allow emotions to cloud their judgment is not much of a discovery either. For the problem that any scientific study faces is that wisdom is an experience not a thing and an experience is more suited to the dialectic of philosophy than to the reductionism of science. Discovering where an event is occurring is not the same thing as discovering what it is. One neuron firing is exactly like any other neuron firing. So how does this neuron firing create sight and another doing the identical thing create sound? Having said this it must be admitted that his sins are no greater than is common in an age that elevated science to the pedestal of all knowing. As a Hindu sage once said, "Science does not explain reality, it explains it away" and while reading the various studies this saying keeps coming to mind." If you are not looking for deep insights into the soul of reality this is an entertaining even enlightening read. It takes the latest research in neuroscience pertaining to wisdom, compares it with philosophy and enter leavens it with anecdotes of such people as Gandhi. These anecdotes, in Gandhi's case a description of his brief experience as a dandy on the streets of 19th Century London, are, to me at least, the most interesting parts of the book. Although he sometimes strays into academic jargon the book is, for the most part, clearly written in a style that anyone can understand and talks about questions that many people would be the better for thinking about. In the end it may tell you where to find wisdom but it will not tell you how to get it. Wisdom having flown   Review Date: July 6, 2010 Reviewer: Sacramento Book Review, Sacramento, CA Whether you're fascinated by psychology, philosophy, or science, you're likely to find much of interest in this survey book by Stephen Hall. This is a search for the meaning and definition of "Wisdom" with capital W, sometimes interpreted to be emotional intelligence or an internal calmness. Hall's journey reads like the script for a Public TV documentary, one that might have been called "The Search for Wisdom." Boomers will like the conclusion that older individuals are apparently wiser, calmer, and far more content than those with their futures in front of them. Research shows that younger people become angrier about daily slights and hold onto these negative feelings longer. While the language in this work is generally clear, unfortunately it sometimes sounds like an academic textbook. It sometimes comes close to parody ("proverbs and aphorisms... are the cocktail peanuts of conventional wisdom" or large world events "change the lens of one's emotional view like a new prescription from a spiritual optometrist.") //Wisdom// could have used a lot of wise editing, yet it offers young and old readers a chance to re-examine their lives and yet-to-be-made choices.