On Wisdom – Details, episodes & analysis

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On Wisdom

Charles Cassidy and Igor Grossmann

Science

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/69d. Total Eps: 67

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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🇨🇦 Canada - socialSciences
12/07/2026
#80
🇨🇦 Canada - socialSciences
11/07/2026
#55
🇩🇪 Germany - socialSciences
30/06/2026
#81
🇩🇪 Germany - socialSciences
29/06/2026
#60

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https://worldaftercovid.info/
10 shares
https://sociology.yale.edu/people/nicholas-christakis
2 shares
https://longevity.stanford.edu/people-2/laura-carstensen/

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Score global : 69%

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

Episode 32

Tuesday, December 1, 2020 • Duration 02:27

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...

58: The Social Robots are Coming! (with Kerstin Dautenhahn)

Episode 58

Thursday, November 2, 2023 • Duration 49:02

Can we create wise robots? Kerstin Dautenhahn joins Igor and Charles to dive into the intriguing world of social robots, the finer points of “Robotiquette,” and the potential role such robots can play in supporting therapeutic treatments. Igor reflects on the limits of robot-based wisdom, Kerstin reveals the potential of Generative AI like ChatGPT to generate false information about her own professional identity, and Charles considers the perils of socially awkward machines. Welcome to Episode 58. Special Guest: Kerstin Dautenhahn.

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49: Wise Goals (with Ayelet Fishbach)

Episode 49

Wednesday, August 31, 2022 • Duration 47:44

What does goal-setting have to do with wisdom and how do we pick wise goals? Ayelet Fishbach joins Igor and Charles to discuss the dangers of moving too swiftly from planning-mode to action-mode, how to compromise across multiple goals, and why we need to rethink our relationships with vegetables! Igor underscores the importance of thinking of wisdom as a process rather than an outcome, Ayelet encourages us to change our situation rather than ourselves, and Charles learns the benefits of approaching a choice as if you’d make it 100 times. Welcome to Episode 49. Special Guest: Ayelet Fishback.

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48: A Joyous Journey from Black-and-White to Grey (with Tom Gilovich)

Episode 48

Monday, August 1, 2022 • Duration 48:26

Is "the spectrum" a more helpful way to think about the world than "categories"? Tom Gilovich joins Igor and Charles to discuss the perils of black-and-white thinking, the evolving data on the hot hand phenomenon, the science of regret, why foxes are wiser than hedgehogs, and the freedom that comes from learning that we are of less interest to other people than we think. Igor considers the limits of psychological nudging in tackling society’s structural problems, Tom shares the perspective that leads him to be so unrelentingly joyful, and Charles learns that even scientists have to work hard to avoid being typecast. Welcome to Episode 48. Special Guest: Tom Gilovich.

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

Episode 47

Wednesday, July 20, 2022 • Duration 01:02:02

(First Broadcast - 21st June 2020) 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. Special Guest: Howard Nusbaum.

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46: Antifragility, Gut Feelings, and the Myth of Pure Evil (with Jonathan Haidt) - Rebroadcast

Episode 46

Monday, June 27, 2022 • Duration 58:20

(First Broadcast - 4th November 2019) Does that which doesn’t kill you make you weaker? Should we always follow our emotions? Is life a battle between good people and bad people? And critically, what might the adoption of these three popular, but unwise, ideas be doing to a rising generation of young adults? Jonathan Haidt joins Igor and Charles to discuss the three great untruths of modern life, the nature of antifragility, the 'great awokening,' rising violence on US university campuses, and the origin story of the Heterodox Academy. Igor suggests that diversity can help some projects while hindering others, Jon shares his ultimate conflict-resolving ninja skill, and Charles learns that conservative voters come in radically different shapes and sizes. Special Guest: Jonathan Haidt.

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45: Wisdom at Work (with Barry Schwartz) - Rebroadcast

Episode 45

Tuesday, June 7, 2022 • Duration 59:20

(First Broadcast - 28th December 2018) Can we design our workplaces to generate wiser behaviour? Why do we work anyway, and would we still work if we didn’t get paid? Do employers even want their employees to develop wisdom? Barry Schwartz joins Igor and Charles to discuss how Aristotle’s Practical Wisdom applies in the 21st Century, the reasons why we work, idea technology, the unintended consequences of rules-based systems, and the moral dangers and limits of incentives. Igor proposes the idea of algorithm-based wise machines, Barry suggests companies hire for character rather than skill, and Charles learns why, in wiser work places, the cost of free-riders may well be a price worth paying. Special Guest: Barry Schwartz.

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44: A Special Announcement

Episode 44

Tuesday, May 24, 2022 • Duration 01:48

Igor and Charles return with a special announcement for On Wisdom listeners ...

43: Invisible to Ourselves: A Life of a Psychological Scientist (with Richard Nisbett)

Episode 43

Saturday, December 4, 2021 • Duration 01:11:16

A disturbing thought - might it be impossible for us to directly observe the workings of our minds? Richard Nisbett joins Igor and Charles to discuss a life lived on the cutting edge of behavioral sciences in the second part of the 20th Century. He shares tales from his groundbreaking research into our faulty mindware, discussing various biases, cultural differences in cognitive processes, our inability to directly observe our mental processes, and why job interviews are not only unhelpful but potentially harmful to our ability to hire the best person for the job. Igor is keen to learn about the human beings behind some of the 20th Century’s academic idols in social psychology like Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky and Lee Ross, Richard explains why important work and interesting work are not necessarily the same thing, and Charles struggles to make sense of when we do and don’t intervene to help strangers in peril. Welcome to Episode 43. Special Guest: Richard Nisbett.

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42: Reflections on Wisdom in the World after Covid

Episode 42

Sunday, October 24, 2021 • Duration 37:36

Which kind of wisdom will people need to master to overcome major negative societal and/or psychological changes after the pandemic? In the last episode of the World After Covid miniseries, 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. Four final responses are selected, covering themes of big picture focus on what's important, shared humanity, long-term orientation, and political structural change in the midst of the pandemic. Igor reflects on how the immediate context can dramatically influence even experts' forecasts, and Charles is forced to question his cherished belief that people are ultimately good. Featuring: Barry Schwartz (https://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/barry-schwartz), Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College and a visiting Professor at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley Nicholas Christakis (https://sociology.yale.edu/people/nicholas-christakis), Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University Anand Menon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anand-menon-6a820a7/?originalSubdomain=uk), Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London Michael Bond (https://mm.polyu.edu.hk/people/academic-staff/prof-michael-harris-bond/), Cross-cultural social psychologist with focus on locating Chinese interpersonal processes in a multi-cultural space

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On Wisdom – Details, episodes & analysis

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On Wisdom – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other22

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Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other22

Apple Podcasts

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