Center for Future Consciousness

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The informed and thoughtful belief in and pursuit of the ideal and the good; the informed and thoughtful belief in standards of excellence and the distinction between virtue and vice--presupposed in the aspiration toward virtue; the informed and thoughtful belief in and practice of standards pertaining to learning, knowing, and thinking; the informed and thoughtful belief in the possibility of defining progress or improvement--presupposed in optimism; and the opposite of nihilism and relativism.

The capacity to see and feel the value of things--to have highly positive emotional experiences in the face of existence; appreciation and gratitude; to experience compassion and concern for others; the desire and skill to cultivate positive interactions and experiences with others; and to see, facilitate, and/or create beauty in the world.

The desire and capacity for, and demonstrated realization of, facilitating the good life for oneself and others in the context of the world; high practical knowledge or practical wisdom; engagement and constructive action in the world; the capacity to synthesize knowledge, ethics, and action; and concern with the problems and challenges of life and disposition to constructively address them.



Creativity

The future is the act of creation and everyone is participating within it. Creativity is a skill, but also a virtue that requires the cultivation of courage and optimism, the pursuit of learning and knowledge, a spirit of adventure and growth, a resistance to conformity (for the sake of conformity), an independence of mind, and well-developed thinking skills and modes of understanding. Creativity balances disciplined work and study with play and spontaneity. Wise people show practical creativity. Love is a creation; happiness is a creation; beauty is a creation; the good life is a creation.



Balance and Temperance

As two concluding points:

It seems to me that although the list of virtues provides an abstract and analytical description of wisdom, the reality of wisdom is that it is always manifested within a unique individual. (There are probably also wise organizations and groups as well.) Wise persons have their own special and distinctive personalities. They share personal traits (as listed in the virtues above) but each brings their own irreducible color and memorable quality to their expressions of wisdom. This personal and distinctive quality to wisdom is undoubtedly connected to the creative dimension of the virtue of wisdom.

The question, of course, could be asked: If these are the virtues and capacities of wisdom, how can they be developed?

First, I should note that because these virtues are an interdependent set of personal qualities, working on individual qualities will frequently have positive and growth promoting effects on other qualities. The virtues of wisdom, to a great degree, hang together--are mutually self-reinforcing.

Second, it seems to me that the first two qualities on the list--self-responsibility and realistic idealism--are essential first steps toward the development of any of the other virtues. Accepting responsibility for improving oneself and believing in the concept of standards of excellence are foundational for the development of wisdom.

Third, following from recent research by Roy Baumeister (2011) on the capacity for willpower and self-control, as well as the age-old wisdom of Aristotle, one develops any skill or capacity through disciplined practice. It may seem overly simplistic, but to develop wisdom one needs to self-consciously work on acting wise. Capacity follows from repeated action. As Gretchen Rubin (2009) states, "Do good, be good."

Fourth, results emerge (when they do) from desire; one grows in wisdom from wanting to be wise. Wanting to be wise may not be a sufficient condition for realizing wisdom, but it is necessary. Philosophy is the love of wisdom; one realizes wisdom by loving the pursuit of it. To be wise, one needs to be a philosopher.

And finally, along with self-responsibility, effort, and love, there needs to be hope and optimism (another one of the virtues); one needs to believe that one can realize or achieve wisdom. Hope, along with love, empowers action.

The answer to how to develop wisdom lies within the virtues of wisdom itself.

Baumeister, Roy and Tierney, John Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. New York: The Penguin Press, 2011.

Lombardo, Thomas "The Wisdom of Future Consciousness" in Innovation and Creativity in a Complex World (Ed. Cynthia Wagner). Bethesda, Maryland: World Future Society, 2009.

Lombardo, Thomas "Wisdom Facing Forward: What It Means to Have Heightened Future Consciousness" The Futurist, Vol. 44, No. 5, September-October, 2010.

Lombardo, Thomas "Wisdom in the 21st Century: A Theory of Psycho-Social Development" World Affairs Journal, April, 2011.

Rubin, Gretchen The Happiness Project. New York: Harper, 2009.

Sternberg, Robert (Ed.) Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins, and Development. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Sternberg, Robert "A Balance Theory of Wisdom" Review of General Psychology, Vol.2, No.4, 1998. 

Sternberg, Robert and Jordan, Jennifer (Ed.) A Handbook of Wisdom: Psychological Perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 

Continuing our online course on the virtues, this month we study Justice, the virtue of fairness. John Rawls claims that "Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought." The excellent Harvard University lecture series "What's the Right Thing to Do?" is used to explore this virtue in depth.

The course includes Instructions for contacting the instructor. In addition, the Wikiversity platform encourages your participation in improving the course.  Comments on each page are welcome on the accompanying "Talk" page, accessed via the "Discuss" tab.

We want to hear from you.

If you are interested in participating in a forum of active students to discuss assignments and share your thoughts, please let us know and we will work to provide a space for that. Also, we would like to be able to provide conscientious students a completion certificate at the end of the course, but we have not yet decided how best to assess completion. What are your ideas?

We certainly hope you continue to enjoy this tour of the virtues.

Leland Beaumont
Instructor

                        

 

   

 

Essays and research reports in this month's issue of

Wisdom Research at the University of Chicago focus on

compassionate mindfulness (or heartfulness), moral courage, spiritual and pragmatic approaches to wisdom and the scientific study of personal wisdom, and post-traumatic growth.  One can read the articles and subscribe to the regular newsletter on the website.