58 episodes

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.

On Wisdom Charles Cassidy and Igor Grossmann

    • Science
    • 4.7 • 13 Ratings

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.

    The Social Robots are Coming! (with Kerstin Dautenhahn)

    The Social Robots are Coming! (with Kerstin Dautenhahn)

    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.
    Links:
    Kerstin Dautenhahn's page | University of WaterlooSocial and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory (SIRRL)Robots are not human, even if we want them to be | Kerstin Dautenhahn | TEDxEastEndSocially intelligent robots: dimensions of human–robot interaction - Dautenhahn (2007)Potential Applications of Social Robots in Robot-Assisted Interventions for Social Anxiety - S Rasouli, G Gupta, E Nilsen, K Dautenhahn (2022) User Evaluation of Social Robots as a Tool in One-to-One Instructional Settings for Students with Learning Disabilities - N Azizi , S Chandra, M Gray, J Fane, M Sager, K Dautenhahn (2023)Opportunities for social robots in the stuttering clinic: A review and proposed scenarios - S Chandra, G Gupta, T Loucks, K Dautenhahn (2022)

    • 49 min
    The Epic Challenge of Knowing Thyself (with David Dunning)

    The Epic Challenge of Knowing Thyself (with David Dunning)

    Can we ever really know ourselves, or are we destined to always make overly optimistic self-assessments? David Dunning joins Igor and Charles to discuss the Dunning-Kruger effect, the importance of asking the right questions, why arriving at an accurate view of ourselves is so challenging, and the implications for teaching, medicine, and even scientific research. Igor explores the possible reemergence of group assessments in education as a result of advances in AI, David shares why conversations with smart people often end up as competitions to ask the most questions, and Charles reflects on the wisdom-enhancing experience of jury service. Welcome to Episode 57.
    Special Guest: David Dunning.
    Links:
    Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments - J Kruger, D Dunning (1999)The association between objective and subjective financial literacy: Failure to observe the Dunning-Kruger effect - Gilles E. Gignac (2022)Flawed Self-Assessment: Implications for Health, Education, and the Workplace - David Dunning Chip Heath Jerry M. Suls (2004)Feeling "Holier Than Thou": Are Self-Serving Assessments Produced by Errors in Self- or Social Prediction? - Nicholas Epley, David Dunning (2000)Why People Fail to Recognize Their Own Incompetence - David Dunning1. Kerri Johnson Joyce Ehrlinger Justin Kruger (2003)The Dunning–Kruger Effect: On Being Ignorant of One's Own Ignorance | Book Chapter - David Dunning (2011)

    • 1 hr 3 min
    Awe Reloaded (with Dacher Keltner)

    Awe Reloaded (with Dacher Keltner)

    Have we overlooked a major source of awe, right under our collective noses? Dacher Keltner returns to the On Wisdom studio to discuss his new book "Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life", the power of moral beauty, the desire for connection, and the importance of wandering. Igor suggest that awe can also entail feelings of terror, Dacher reflects on the perils of awe being used against us, and Charles shares his experience of an awe walk-around-the-bloc. Welcome to Episode 56.
    Special Guest: Dacher Keltner.
    Links:
    Dacher Keltner | UC PsychAwe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your LifeGreater Good: The Science of a Meaningful LifeBerkeley Social Interaction LaboratoryDacher Keltner: Why Awe Is Such an Important Emotion - YouTubeThe Science of Happiness Podcast | Greater GoodAwe as a scientific emotion - Gottlieb, Keltner, Lombrozo (2018)Self-Transcendent Awe as a Moral Grounding of Wisdom - Dacher Keltner, Paul K. Piff (2020)Awe and humility. - PubMed - NCBI - Stellar, gordon, Anderson, Piff, McNeil, Keltner (2018)Why Do We Feel Awe? | Greater GoodWhy Does Awe Have Prosocial Effects? New Perspectives on Awe and the Small Self - Joshua D. Perlin, Leon Li (2020)Awe Motivates Authentic-Self Pursuit via Self-Transcendence: Implications for Prosociality - Tonglin Jiang, Constantine Sedikides (2021)

    • 50 min
    Wise of the Machines (with Sina Fazelpour)

    Wise of the Machines (with Sina Fazelpour)

    How can we make AI wiser? And could AI make us wiser in return? Sina Fazelpour joins Igor and Charles to discuss the problem of bias in algorithms, how we might make machine learning systems more diverse, and the thorny challenge of alignment. Igor considers whether interacting with AIs might help us achieve higher levels of understanding, Sina suggests that setting up AIs to promote certain values may be problematic in a pluralistic society, and Charles is intrigued to learn about the opportunities offered by teaming up with our machine friends. Welcome to Episode 55.
    Special Guest: Sina Fazelpour.
    Links:
    Sina Fazelpour's WebsiteAI and the transformation of social science research | Science - Igor Grossmann, Matthew Feinberg, Dawn C. Parker, Nicholas A. Christakis, Philip E. Tetlock, Willian A. Cunningham (2023)Algorithmic Fairness from a Non-ideal Perspective - Sina Fazelpour, ZacharyC.Lipton (2020Diversity in sociotechnical machine learning systems - Sina Fazelpour, Maria De-Arteaga (2022)Picking on the Same Person: Does Algorithmic Monoculture lead to Outcome Homogenization? - Rishi Bommasani, Kathleen A. Creel, Ananya Kumar, Dan Jurafsky, Percy Liang (2022)Algorithmic bias: Senses, sources, solutions - Sina Fazelpour, David Danks (2021)Constitutional AI: Harmlessness from AI Feedback - Yuntao Bai et al (2022)Taxonomy of Risks posed by Language Models - Laura Weidinger at Al (2022)Large pre-trained language models contain human-like biases of what is right and wrong to do - Patrick Schramowski, Cigdem Turan, Nico Andersen, Constantin A. Rothkopf & Kristian Kersting (2022)On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? - Emily M. Bender , Timnit Gebru , Angelina McMillan-Major , Shmargaret Shmitchell (2021) In Two Moves, AlphaGo and Lee Sedol Redefined the Future | Wired Magazine (2016)

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Emotions Are Not What You Think (with Lisa Feldman Barrett )

    Emotions Are Not What You Think (with Lisa Feldman Barrett )

    What actually are “emotions” and how are they made? Lisa Feldman Barrett joins Igor and Charles to discuss what we’ve got right and what we’ve got completely wrong about the nature of our emotional lives. Igor grapples with the idea that red apples aren’t necessarily red, Lisa shares that anger doesn’t always look like anger, and Charles learns that a racing heartbeat can be interpreted in fundamentally different ways. Welcome to Episode 54.
    Special Guest: Lisa Feldman Barrett.
    Links:
    Lisa Feldman Barrett's Website (Public)Interdisciplinary Affective Science LaboratoryYou Aren't at The Mercy of Your Emotions - Your Brain Creates Them | TED Talk (Jan 2018)Cultivating Wisdom: The Power Of Mood | TED Talk (May 2018)The theory of constructed emotion: An active inference account of interoception and categorization - Barrett, L. F. (2017)How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain | Book (2017)Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain | Book (2020)Context Reconsidered: Complex Signal Ensembles, Relational Meaning, and Population Thinking in Psychological Science - Lisa Feldman Barrett (2022)

    • 49 min
    Moral Reframing and The Science of Political Persuasion (with Robb Willer)

    Moral Reframing and The Science of Political Persuasion (with Robb Willer)

    How can you persuade someone who disagrees with you on everything? In this episode, we discover the secrets of political persuasion with Robb Willer, a leading expert on political persuasion and moral reframing. Igor grills Robb on the ethics of activism in social science, Robb defends his mission to make a difference in the world, and Charles is amazed to find out that he can fix his misperceptions with a few simple tricks. Don’t miss this inspiring and ground-breaking conversation that will transform how you communicate with others. Tune in to Episode 53 now!
    Special Guest: Robb Willer.
    Links:
    Robb Willer's WebsiteHow to Have Better Political Conversations | Ted Talk (2017)The Key to Political Persuasion | New York TimesFrom Gulf to Bridge: When Do Moral Arguments Facilitate Political Influence? - Matthew Feinberg, Robb Willer (2015)Correcting inaccurate metaperceptions reduces Americans’ support for partisan violence - Joseph S. Mernyk, Sophia L. Pink, James N. Druckman, Robb Willer (2022)Interventions to reduce partisan animosity - Rachel Hartman, Will Blakey, Jake Womick, Chris Bail, Eli J. Finkel, Hahrie Han, John Sarrouf, Juliana Schroeder, Paschal Sheeran, Jay J. Van Bavel, Robb Willer & Kurt Gray (2022)The activist’s dilemma: Extreme protest actions reduce popular support for social movements - Matthew Feinberg, Robb Willer, Chloe Kovacheff (2020)

    • 59 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
13 Ratings

13 Ratings

Tony Nekson 7 ,

The search for wisdom

I stumbled upon episode 52 and was blown away so now I am working my way through the whole series. 2018 was a good year!

If you are intrigued by wisdom - what it is, how it can be accumulated, what science teaches us about it - then this podcast series is for you.

Platothefish ,

If Carlsberg did wisdom podcasts it would probably be this one

This is a great series on Wisdom. For format is easy to understand and is informed my the research without being ‘academic’. It’s so good I have re-listened to a couple of the episodes. It really makes you think. Highly recommended

branson41 ,

Meticulously curated

This is a great series on aspects of wisdom, with topical themes and the right guests discussing them. Both hosts are distinguished wisdom researchers. Not one to put on in the background though - give yourself a quiet hour, a cup of tea and full attention for maximum benefit. I really enjoy digesting these ideas. The world desperately needs more projects like this!

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