Welcome to the Defining Wisdom Research Network
The Arete Initiative at The University of Chicago has launched a $2 million research
program on the nature and benefits of wisdom. Once regarded as a subject worthy
of the most rigorous inquiries in order to discern its nature and benefits, wisdom
is currently overlooked as a topic for serious scholarly and scientific investigation
in many fields. Yet it is difficult to imagine a subject more central to the human
enterprise and whose exploration holds greater promise in shedding light and opening
up creative possibilities for human flourishing.
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Questionable Answers
Many dramatic research results rely on the reports of survey respondents, who are prone to error, exaggeration, and misperception.
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The Unconscious Will: How the Pursuit of Goals Operates Outside of Conscious Awareness
Recent discoveries demonstrate that under some conditions, actions are
initiated even though we are unconscious of the goals to be attained or
their motivating effect on our behavior.
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Does age really bring wisdom?
Contrary to largely gloomy cultural perceptions, growing old brings some benefits, notably emotional and cognitive stability. Laura Carstensen, a Stanford social psychologist, calls this the “well-being paradox.”
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Neural Correlates of the "Aha" Experiences
Reserachers investigated the activation of "Aha" effects with event-related functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using Chinese logogriphs.
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