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CONTENTS
(Click to go directly to the indicated section of The Wisdom Page)
GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH WISDOM Why
care about wisdom? What is wisdom?
Words of wisdom
Wisdom-literature bibliographies
The traditional wisdom literature
Contemporary books about wisdom and wise living (including
free downloads) Wisdom-related
poetry 
THE STRUCTURE OF WISDOM
The varieties of wisdom Wise
perspectives Wise values
The integration of truth and the integral vision
WISDOM AND HUMANITY'S FUTURE 
WISDOM RESEARCH Links
to materials of individual wisdom researchers 
EDUCATION FOR WISDOM 
RESOURCES FOR WISDOM DEVELOPMENT
Defining the task—constructing a wisdom-based life
The meditation tool Other
practices and tools Wisdom-related
sight and sound media Other wisdom-related
resources
WISDOM-RELATED ISSUES
Transforming academia from knowledge-inquiry to wisdom
inquiry Spirituality
and wisdom in business
WISDOM IN ACTION Comments
on activist wisdom and socio-cultural wisdom World
Wisdom Alliance Activist organizations
Dialogue instead of debate
PERSONAL QUESTS FOR WISDOM
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WHY CARE ABOUT WISDOM?
Whatever
Happened to Wisdom? by
Jerry Ortiz y Pino. Excerpts from one of his columns in the Santa
Fe Reporter.
The Wisdom Imperative by Alan
Nordstrom. What will save us from our vices, follies, and ineptitudes?
Nordstrom discusses the Wisdom Imperative.
WHAT
IS WISDOM? — SOME ESSAYS, ARTICLES, AND TALKS ON THE SUBJECT
WISDOM:
The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education A text
(with slides) rendering of Copthorne Macdonald's “Thomas P. Johnson
Distinguished Visiting Scholar” address at Rollins College April
5, 2006.
Wisdom and Wilderness by Joseph
W. Meeker. An excellent article by Dr. Meeker on wisdom and its relationship
to wilderness.
Definitions
of Wisdom is a section of Richard Trowbridge's Wisdom-Centered
Life website that presents many perspectives on the nature of wisdom.
Wisdom
Lexicon Project is John Uebersax's welcomed contribution to our
understanding of words associated with wisdom. See also his list
of wisdom-related links.
The "Understanding
Wisdom" issue of Vimukt Shiksha, a publication of
India-based Shikshantar,
an organization dedicated to transforming existing models of education
and development.
Wisdom: A First Approximation by Don
Cochrane. University of Saskatchewan professor Don Cochrane's views
on the subject.
What is Wisdom? by Alan
Nordstrom. In this short but moving essay, Professor Nordstrom tells
us that Wisdom is our Way Out from Folly.
Monika Ardelt's Model of Wisdom An
overview of this prominent wisdom researcher's view of wisdom as an integration
of congnitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics.
Playing the Wisdom
Game by Copthorne Macdonald.
An essay that appears in the 2006 book Living
a Life of Value.
Introduction
to Getting a Life by Copthorne
Macdonald. Comments on the nature of Practical Wisdom, as Aristotle
called it.
Chapter 1
of Toward Wisdom by Copthorne
Macdonald. More about the nature of wisdom; here primarily Aristotle's
other variety of wisdom: Existential/Metaphysical Wisdom.
Living Wisdom
by Troy Dunn is a thoughtful
and expansive essay in PDF format that views the issue from many perspectives.
Sophology: The Study
of Wisdom, an essay on the nature and development of wisdom by
Glenn Shipley, is part of his sophology.org
website.
The Dance of Polarization by Andrew
Bard Schmookler. In this essay Schmookler deals with the polarization-integrating
aspect of wisdom.
The
Way of Wisdom. Joseph and Sharon Sguigna present their take on
wisdom and related matters. 
What is Wisdom?
asks Douglas Reay.
He presents his own and other's thoughts on the subject.
WORDS
OF WISDOM — COMPILATIONS OF WISE SAYINGS
The
Wisdom of The World is a database of 1000+ quotations compiled
by Bruce Lloyd, Principal Lecturer
in Strategy, South Bank University, London.
Inspirational
Quotes and Words of Wisdom is a database of 16,500 quotations
compiled by Jason Merchey, and made available
on his Values of the Wise
Web site.
Wisdomology: People Share Wisdom
has its database of wise sayings, but it is more than that. It is a site
where visitors are invited to "Share your own insights with the world.
Your thoughts, hopes, inspirations, meditations."
Wisdom Quotes is Jone
Johnson Lewis's compilation of challenging, inspiring, and interesting
quotes — organized by topic, and searchable as well.
Words of Wisdom 4 U is an eclectic
mix of quotations: proverbs, inspirational thoughts, and more.
WISDOM–LITERATURE
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Chronology
of Wisdom Literature in the West is a perfect resource for anyone
interested in exploring the history of the concept of wisdom. It's part
of Richard Trowbridge's Wisdom-Centered
Life website. 
Working Bibliography of wisdom resources
prepared by Richard Trowbridge.
Contains references to more than 800 works, some available on the Internet.
Wisdom links and resources
includes the bibliography associated with the doctoral dissertation of
Elle Allison.
Annotated Bibliography from
Toward Wisdom by Copthorne
Macdonald. These contemporary books deal with important aspects of
wisdom without necessarily using the term wisdom.
A detailed bibliography appears in the Covey/Merrill/Merrill First
Things First (New York: Simon & Schuster Fireside, 1995, ISBN 0-684-80203-1)
THE
TRADITIONAL WISDOM LITERATURE
Works
available for free downloading and online reading
The
Internet Sacred Text Archive is an extensive collection of online
texts from the world's major religions and spiritual traditions.
Wisdom Classics
compiled by Sanderson Beck is another
extensive collection of wisdom-related texts from Eastern and Western
philosophical and spiritual traditions.
Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion
offerings from the extensive online books collection at the University
of Pennsylvania. Indexed according to the Library of Congress system.
Tablet of
Wisdom (also know as LAWH-I-HIKMAT) is a Bahá'í
text by Bahá’u’lláh.
The
Book of Wisdom (also known as The Wisdom of Solomon) appears to
have been written by an Alexandrian Jew familar with classical Greek thought.
This is the King James translation.
From the Harvard Classics: Selections
from Confucian, Hebrew, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic spiritual
literature.
Paper-and-ink
books. Find
out more about them by clicking the links
Compilations
of selections from the wisdom literature are a helpful way to
get acquainted with that literature. Here are several suggestions from
Copthorne Macdonald.
Links to Sources of Judaic Materials
compiled by Mike Murphy,
contains links to a wide range of sources for Judaic books, audio tapes,
and CDs.
CONTEMPORARY
BOOKS ABOUT WISDOM AND WISE LIVING
Works
available for free downloading and online reading
The
Scientific Approach to Wisdom, a doctoral dissertation by Richard
Trowbridge. This is the complete dissertation in Microsoft Word format
— a comprehensive review of the scholarly research on wisdom from 1980
to 2005, and a useful overview of the history of wisdom.
Education: From Conception to Graduation –
A Systematic Integral Approach, a doctoral dissertation by Anne
Adams concerning education for wisdom — integral education
— education that purposefully develops and integrates the physical,
emotional, mental, and spiritual intelligences.
The Tree of
Philosophy by Stephen
Palmquist. This book brings a wisdom focus back to philosophy. Available
as a free online book or in print
form.
EARTH VISION
is inviting readers to download, free of charge, one of Josef
Graf's five spiritual ecology eBooks. You get to choose which one.
| Copthorne
Macdonald's books in eBook format Download
free, screen-readable, eBook editions of Matters of Consequence
(concerning personal and societal wisdom in the 21st century), Getting
a Life (about practical, everyday-life wisdom), and Toward
Wisdom (concerning big-picture, existential wisdom). |
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Paper-and-ink
books.
Find out more about them by clicking the links
From
Knowledge to Wisdom, 2nd Edition
by Nicholas Maxwell.
With the first edition long out of print, we welcome this updated second
edition of Maxwell's seminal work in which he calls for an academic revolution
from knowledge acquisition for its own sake to knowledge acquisition in
the service of greater human wisdom.
Living
a Life of Value Subtitled A Unique Anthology of Essays on Values
& Ethics by Contemporary Writers, this book presents the views
of 75 writers.
Building
a Life of Value by Jason Merchey. Merchey
has divided wise values into 14 sets, and the 14 chapters of this book
contain quotations that bear on living those values.
Values,
Prosperity, and the Talmud by Larry
Kahaner draws from the Talmud a wealth of ethical advice for business
— advice that is highly relevant to today's concerns about corporate
behavior.
Wisdom, Intuition, and Ethics by Trevor
Curnow is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to explore the history
of wisdom, its nature, and wisdom's relationship to ethics.
Wisdom:
Its Nature, Origins, and Development, Robert
J. Sternberg, Editor. This scholarly book's 14 chapters by 20 authors
looks at wisdom from philosophical, psychological and folk perspectives.
Matters of Consequence
by Copthorne Macdonald is a
comprehensive map of the human situation that presents the vision of a
2050 world worth creating and discusses opportunities for personal action.
Toward Wisdom by Copthorne
Macdonald explores the "Perennial Philosophy" variety of
wisdom, impediments we face in our quest to become wise, and various ways
and means of getting past them.
Getting a Life by Copthorne
Macdonald is about the practical variety of wisdom. Its 21 chapters
deal with different facets of everyday life and skillful and not-so-skillful
ways of handling them.
5 books by Ken Wilber. When it comes
to putting the big picture into words, Ken Wilber does a superb job. Here,
read brief comments about five of his important books.
Reviews
of, and Comments About, Wisdom-Related Books
Charles
Halpern — Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and
the Practice of Wisdom
Nicholas Maxwell — From Knowledge
to Wisdom, 2nd Edition
Barnett and Maxwell, Editors
— Wisdom and the University
Debashis Chowdhury — In Our
Own Image
Les Fehmi and Jim Robbins — The Open-Focus
Brain
Stephanie Pace Marshall — The Power to Transform
Tom Lombardo — The Evolution of
Future Consiousness and Contemporary Futurist Thought
John P. Miller — Educating for
Wisdom and Compassion
Trevor Curnow — Wisdom, Intuition, and
Ethics
Ken Wilber —
A Theory of Everything
Michael
Lerner — Spirit Matters
Cliff Havener — Meaning
Copthorne Macdonald
— Matters of Consequence
Copthorne Macdonald — Toward Wisdom
Copthorne Macdonald — Getting a Life
WISDOM-RELATED
POETRY
Sophics:
Discursive Verses on Wisdom.
Insightful poems by Alan
Nordstrom, in which he shares his views on wisdom and his concerns about
humanity's relationship to it. (In MS Word format) |
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THE VARIETIES OF WISDOM
Overview
of the Varieties of Wisdom
Copthorne Macdonald discusses
Personal Wisdom (the Practical, Existential/Metaphysical, and Activist
varieties) and Socio-Cultural Wisdom.
A Wisdom-Based Culture. This look at
the possibility of creating a wisdom-based, wisdom-fostering society is
discussed in this excerpt from Chapter 13 of Copthorne
Macdonald's book Toward Wisdom.
WISE
PERSPECTIVES
Overview
of Perspectives —
some wise perspectives or "wise ways of seeing" with comments
by Copthorne Macdonald.
The System Perspective
A Brief Introduction to the System
Perspective by Copthorne
Macdonald includes information about two important books that deal
with systems and the system perspective.
A Review of Cliff Havener's book MEANING
by Copthorne Macdonald. Learn
more about this highly illuminating book that focuses on the life-cycle
of societal systems.
Internet Resources Related to Systems.
This is a list of links to Internet sites involved with systems —
some with systems per se, others with socio-cultural systems.
Systems
Thinking. Papers and links related to systems thinking.
The Evolutionary Perspective
The Great Story.
"The 14 billion year epic of Cosmos, life, and humanity told
as a sacred story, glorifying all."
WISE VALUES
The Role of Values in Wisdom by
Copthorne Macdonald. A discussion
of values in the human decision-making process, and the sort of values
required for wise decisions.
Lists of Wise Values. This is a
compilation of several lists of values that their originators have considered
superior in some sense, and likely to be operational in the lives of wise
people.
Jason Merchey's "Values of the Wise".
In his personal quest to understand wisdom, Jason
Merchey has focused on the presence of certain "values of the
wise" in the lives of wise people.
CHARACTER COUNTS!
is a value-based approach to character education from the Josephson
Institute based on a set of six basic values or "pillars
of character": trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness,
caring, and citizenship.
The Virtues Project considers
the human virtues
to be the highest aspiration for humanity
and has established a program to help children acquire them.
THE
INTEGRATION OF TRUTH, AND THE INTEGRAL VISION
The Integral Vision, a brief introduction
by Copthorne Macdonald concerning
the movement to integrate morals, science, and art; the WE, the
IT, and the I; and the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
Deep Understanding:
Wisdom for an Integral Age by Copthorne
Macdonald. An essay that first appeared in the journal Integralis
and was re-published in The Journal of Conscious Evolution.
Heiner Benking has long focused on the
integration of truth — on creating "a common framework for understanding"
in which disparate perspectives and models can be brought together.
Ikosmos.com's "mission
is to help you define [the integral worldview] and share it in a highly
interactive community, through an online union of souls."
Integral
Institute was founded by Ken Wilber and a group of other
Integral theorists to come up with comprehensive, systematic, encompassing—and
integral approaches to the world's problems.
Creating an Integral Culture
by Copthorne Macdonald addresses this issue in
the context of the "cultural creatives" study by Paul H. Ray
and a related international study.
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The
Evolution and Future Direction of Marriage What is
wisdom in the context of marriage? Tom
and Jeanne Lombardo explore the history, issues, and future possibilities
of marriage, and present their vision of the preferable marriage of the
future. (.doc file)
The
Corporate State Sometimes the best way to get
a handle on some aspect of societal wisdom is to take a close look at
its opposite. That is what Chris
Lucas does in this penetrating essay.
Metanexus Institute
on Religion, Science, and the Humanities promotes "the constructive
engagement of science, religion and the humanities in the communal pursuit
of wisdom in order to address humanity’s most profound questions
and challenges."
Values,
Wisdom, and Action is an article by Copthorne
Macdonald in the World Wisdom Rising (Fall/Winter 2007) issue of the
journal Kosmos: An integral
Approach to Global Awakening. (Also available in PDF
format.)
Wisdom
and Humanity's Transformational Dilemma.
Some comments by Copthorne Macdonald on Anthony Judge's insightful essay:
"Imagining
the Real Challenge."
The Janus
Project. A proposal by Chris
Thomson to create an institute that would bring together personal
development, exploration of the "deep causes" of humanity's
problems, visioning a future that works for all, and action to help realize
that vision.
The
Solidarity, Sustainability, and Non-Violence (SSNV) Newsletter,
edited by Luis Gutierrez,
"is a monthly digest of research on the most critical issues at the
intersection of technology, religion, and society."
Institute
for the Emerging Wisdom Culture, headed by Dr. Paul H. Ray and
associated with Wisdom University, will "formulate and work toward
implementing a positive vision of the emerging wisdom culture."
A Transformative
Wisdom presents Debashis Chowdhury's
thesis that for humanity to deal effectively with the challenges and opportunities
we face, a "higher," more comprehensive, "transformative"
wisdom is needed.
In Our Own
Image, a thought-provoking book by Debashis
Chowdhury, is reviewed here by Copthorne Macdonald who considers it
a valuable read for those interested in personal/societal wisdom development.
Our Work in Life
Alan
Nordstrom addresses the "selfish and egotistical story that predominates
in the postmodern society," and has us consider a much more positive
one.
Spiritual Wealth
is an essay by Chris
Thomson that examines modernity's "relentless pursuit of money
and things," the "spiritual poverty" that goes with that,
and the possibility of replacing them with spiritual wealth.
Ecological
Economics is a textbook (online, full text) by noted economist
and UN advisor Herman
E. Daly and Joshua
Farley that expands traditional economic theory into the kind of economics
the world needs.
Laetus
in Praesens If you are serious about wanting to create
a wiser and more functional global society, immerse yourself in the information-
and idea-rich world of Anthony Judge.
Wisdom and the
Second Enlightenment is an article by Thomas
Lombardo from the June 2007 issue of the World Futures Study Federation
publication, Futures Bulletin.
The Evolution
of Future Consciousness and
Contemporary Futurist Thought
These two new books by Thomas
Lombardo paint an amazingly comprehensive picture of humanity's relationship
to the future.
The Pursuit of Wisdom and the Future
of Education is a thought-provoking article by Tom
Lombardo that appeared in the 2006 World Future Society anthology:
Creating Global Strategies for Humanity's Future. See also his
Odyssey of the Future
Web site. (The article is in MS Word format.)
Wisdom,
Knowledge Management & Leadership is a paper that Bruce
Lloyd presented at the October 2006 "Business as an Agent of
World Benefit" conference.
Energy
Conservation as Wisdom in Action The Government of Prince Edward
Island Canada commissions 37 take-action articles on a wide range of energy
conservation topics..
The Human Problem,
Solved at Last is a powerful and uplifting essay by Alan
Nordstrom on the challenges of the 21st century, and the potential
for turning things around and creating a wiser world.
A Story to Live
By In this essay Alan
Nordstrom focuses on our role as creative contributors to the "universal
creative process," and the moral imperative implicit in that.
Wisdom & Leadership: Linking the Past,
Present & Future is an illuminating talk that deals with key
issues. To be presented to the World Future Society in July 2006 by
Bruce Lloyd, a Professor of Strategic Management.
Resonances
between Challenging Psychosocial Change Initiatives How can positive-change
initiatives be successful, and relate in positive ways to other initiatives?
Anthony Judge explores the many considerations.
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Wisdom-Guided Business Management
is a research focus of David Rooney, Senior Lecturer in the UQ Business
School at the University of Queensland, and Co-Director of Australian
Creative Resources Online.
Wisdom Research Network "is
an international networking utility that enables scholars and scientists
from all academic disciplines to exchange ideas and engage in richer conversations
through online discussion forums."
Would The Wisdom Page be Useful in
Your Research? Exploring the potential of the Internet and Wisdom
Page for recruiting and communicating with research subjects.
The
Scientific Approach to Wisdom, a doctoral dissertation by Richard
Trowbridge. This is the complete dissertation in Microsoft Word format
— a comprehensive review of the scholarly research on wisdom from 1980
to 2005, and a useful overview of the history of wisdom.
Education: From Conception to Graduation –
A Systematic Integral Approach, a doctoral dissertation by Anne
Adams concerning education for wisdom — integral education
— education that purposefully develops and integrates the physical,
emotional, mental, and spiritual intelligences.
Empirical Research
on Wisdom is a section of Richard Trowbridge's Wisdom-Centered
Life website in which he presents a concise summary of the scholarly
research on wisdom since 1980.
University of Chicago's
"Defining Wisdom" Project is "a $2 million
research program on the nature and benefits of Wisdom." Up to 20
research grants will be awarded to scholars from around the world.
Some Online Articles
and Academic Papers Related to Wisdom. An eclectic assortment
of articles and papers just a click away.
Chronology of
Wisdom Literature in the West is a perfect resource for anyone
interested in exploring the history of the concept of wisdom. It's part
of Richard Trowbridge's Wisdom-Centered
Life website.
Working Bibliography of wisdom resources
prepared by Richard Trowbridge.
Contains references to more than 800 works, some available on the Internet.
Wisdom links and resources
includes the bibliography associated with the doctoral dissertation of
Elle Allison.
Learning Across the Campus: How College Facilitates the Development
of Wisdom A paper by Scott
C. Brown that explores this important issue. (In Acrobat .pdf format.)
The Wisdom Development Scale:
Translating the Conceptual to the Concrete Here, Scott
C. Brown and Jeffrey A. Greene detail their efforts to develop a valid
and reliable Wisdom Development Scale — a scale to measure the wisdom
construct described in Scott Brown's paper above. (In Acrobat .pdf format.)
LINKS
TO MATERIALS OF INDIVIDUAL WISDOM RESEARCHERS
Clicking on one
of the names below
will take you to information about that researcher, and links to relevant
documents. In the future, more names will be added.
Anne Adams
Monika Ardelt
Paul B. Baltes
Caroline Bassett
Susan
Bluck Monisha
Pasupathi David
Rooney Ursula
M. Staudinger Robert
J. Sternberg Masami
Takahashi Richard
H. Trowbridge
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Ethical
Character Development and Personal and Academic Excellence is
Tom Lombardo's insightful
exploration of values, virtues, and character development. (.doc file)
Integral Education
Seminar — Summer 2008 Presented by the Next
Step Integral education team, the seminar focuses on the integral
approach to "pushing the envelope of what education can be."
Wisdom
in three acts: Using transformative learning to teach for wisdom by
Caroline
Bassett was presented at the Sixth International Transformative Learning
Conference, East Lansing, Michigan. (An MS Word .doc file)
Education
Indicators for the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index (5.2
MB PDF) and overview
of it. The report's Recommendations section deals,
among other things, with wisdom education, values education, and life-long,
life-wide learning.
A Common Ground
Alan Nordstrom argues
"for the universal notion: that all human beings are constituted
to grow toward a common end, which I'll call 'wisdom'."
Of What
Use Are The Humanities? Alan
Nordstrom's answer: "To embody more of your potential humanity
and to grow more humane."
Undergraduate
Semester in Dialogue is Mark
Winston's exciting program at Simon Fraser University. See also the
Fall
2007 Course Outline (pdf) and the June
2007 newsletter (pdf).
EDUCATING FOR WISDOM
AND COMPASSION: Creating Conditions for Timeless Learning
by John P.Miller
very effectively makes the case for meditation as a powerful facilitator
of the educational process.
Content summary of the book: Wisdom
in the University Edited by Nicholas Maxwell and Ronald
Barnett and published by Routledge in 2008, this book contains wisdom-and-higher-education
essays by seven scholars. The Pursuit
of Wisdom and the Future of Education is a thought-provoking
article by Tom
Lombardo that appeared in the 2006 World Future Society anthology:
Creating Global Strategies for Humanity's Future. See also his
Odyssey of the Future
Web site. (The article is in MS Word format.)
Mindfulness Training
in Education. Excerpts from the NY Times article "In
the Classroom, a New Focus on Quieting the Mind." Plus links to online
organizations and resources that address the issue.
2008 AEPL Conference:
Reclaiming the Wisdom Tradition for Education "...this conference
has been designed to consider and further the possibility of broad-based,
wisdom-centered education." (PDF format)
Education: From
Conception to Graduation – A Systematic Integral Approach,
a doctoral dissertation by Anne
Adams concerning education for wisdom — integral education
— education that purposefully develops and integrates the physical,
emotional, mental, and spiritual intelligences.
Educating
for Conscious Evolution by Anne
Adams is an article that appeared in Volume 3 of The
Journal of Conscious Evolution.
The
New Story and Landscape of Learning and Schooling: A Call for Leadership,
is a WISDOM PAGE PODCAST audio presentation of Stephanie
Pace Marshall's keynote address at the 2007 ASCD Annual Conference.
THE POWER TO TRANSFORM:
Leadership That Brings Learning and Schooling to Life by Stephanie
Pace Marshall is a brilliant and compelling book that calls us to
transform industrial-era education into a life-affirming form that meets
the real needs of children and 21st-century society.
CHARACTER COUNTS!
is a value-based approach to character education from the Josephson
Institute based on a set of six basic values or "pillars
of character": trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness,
caring, and citizenship.
The "Understanding
Wisdom" issue of Vimukt Shiksha, a publication of
India-based Shikshantar,
an organization dedicated to transforming existing models of education
and development.
IN-SITES for EDUCATORS
is a page of links "to multiple sites, primarily related to educational
reform." It is part of the Chad
C. Osborne and OZ Associates web site.
The Open Course / Open Source Movement
is today making free educational materials and curricula-creating software
available to educators and learners worldwide.
Free Audio and Video Lectures and Other
Learning Resources are now available from an increasing number
of prestigious universities and other organizations.
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DEFINING THE TASK — CONSTRUCTING A WISDOM-BASED LIFE
Review of Charles Halpern's book Making
Waves and Riding the Currents. Subtitled Activism and the
Practice of Wisdom, this remarkable book about a remarkable life is
reviewed here by Copthorne Macdonald.
The Wisdom-Centered Life website.
Richard Trowbridge's new website is a rich trove of wisdom resources.
Check out the Cultivating
Wisdom section.
Principles for the Wisdom-Centered Life
by Richard Hawley Trowbridge.
This helpful set of principles or maxims are one part of Richard's "Wisdom
as Skill" course. (MS Word format.)
MAGIC Wisdom Guidelines
is Tom Fox's tightly focused
"crash course" in wisdom, presented in his 2007 Commencement
Address at Saint Peter's College.
Some Thoughts on Developing Wisdom
by Copthorne Macdonald. An
overview of nine wisdom-fostering tools and activities.
Flaws In Human Mentality A
few thoughts on the subject by Copthorne
Macdonald.
Personal and Societal Wisdom:
Some thoughts on their nature and development A text-with-slides
transcript of Cop's 2006 talk at Orlando's University Unitarian Universalist
Society.
THE
MEDITATION TOOL
The
Importance of Meditation. Thoughts on this subject excerpted from
Copthorne Macdonald's book Matters of Consequence.
Resources for Developing the Self-Knowledge
/ Intuitive Aspect of Wisdom. A compilation of relevant books,
meditation resources, links to online resources, and guided-meditation
CDs.
About Open Focus™. Comments
on this technique for developing wide-angle, open-to-everything attentiveness
from Copthorne Macdonald's book Toward Wisdom, plus info on the
currently available CDs.
Review of The Open-Focus Brain by Les
Femhi and Jim Robbins. Reviewer Copthorne Macdonald feels that
this 2007 book and the CD that comes with it provide a powerful introduction
to attentiveness practice.
Seeing the Unity: Identifying with Being.
This discussion of relevant practices is from Chapter 9 of Copthorne Macdonald's
book Toward Wisdom.
OTHER
PRACTICES AND TOOLS
Nonduality.com is a rich
compendium of resources to help us comprehend oneness, not-two
— the nondual nature of reality.
www.kabbalah.info Available
free on this site are video Kabbalah lessons, authentic Kabbalah texts,
books for download, introductory lessons and courses, and feature and
documentary films on Kabbalah.
EARTH VISION has a spiritual
ecology theme and is "dedicated to raising awareness about the depth
of the human-nature interweave," "the spirit of wilderness,"
and "reverence for the natrural world."
Gratefulness Practices.
From gratefulness.org, practice
sessions to "deepen your understanding of gratefulness and, better
yet, send it out in ripples, transforming our world."
Nurturing the Now, "a
path to nonduality," is Vicki
Woodyard's web site. She focuses on Self-realization and transcending
adversity in her writing
and her "Nurturing the Now" CD.
WISDOM-RELATED
SIGHT AND SOUND MEDIA
THE
WISDOM PAGE PODCAST presents selected Wisdom Page materials in
audio format, and is now available both here
and in the Society & Culture Podcasts
section of the iTunes Store.
Center for Spirituality
and Health at the University of Florida makes available on their
web site (in WMV streaming video) talks by highly respected speakers.
Jason Merchey's
Values and Ethics: From Living Room to Board Room on the Internet
radio network Ideocast. Past shows are archived, and the streaming audio
feed works well even with a dialup connection.
Copthorne Macdonald Talks and Programs.
Streaming audio and audio-with-slides presentations using RealPlayer and
Windows Media Player software. (They work well with a dialup connection.)
Tom Fox Podcasts. Editor/publisher/journalist
Tom Fox is conducting a
series of streaming audio interviews with spiritual seekers and guides.
Free Audio and Video Lectures and Other
Learning Resources are now available from an increasing number
of prestigious universities and other organizations..
New Dimensions Media presents
thought-provoking audio programming on tapes, CDs, Public Radio, Sirius
Satellite Radio, and podcasts.
Ideas "is a program
about contemporary thought" aired weekday evenings on the Canadian
Broadcasting Company radio network and streaming
audio on the Internet via Windows Media Player.
Knowledge Products produces
educational books-on-tape (and CD) in a wide range of "serious"
subject areas such as philosophy, economics, political thought, comparative
religion, etc.
OTHER
WISDOM-RELATED RESOURCES
The
Wisdom Institute "supports
the development of wisdom in people, organizations, and communities..."
Of special interest is their Wisdom
Resources section and Caroline
Bassett's insightful model
of wisdom.
Wisdom Project Resources
is a page of links to a wide range of wisdom resources compiled by Chad
Osborne and OZ Associates.
WisdomOut is the web site
(and forthcoming book)
of Elle Allison.
The focus is on "contemporary wisdom strategies for transforming
adversity into positive growth."
Wisdom University
offers a Masters level programs in "Wisdom Spirituality" and
"Indigenous Mind" as well as a Doctor of Ministry program. In
2008 they will also offer a PhD program in "Wisdom Studies."
The
School of Wisdom was founded in 1920 by Count Hermann Keyserling,
and continues today largely via the Internet. Its emphasis
"is on current, pragmatic methods and procedures by which each person
can create their own answers to the great questions of life."
The Wisdom Society
focuses on practical wisdom and aims "to debate in print, all controversial
ideas with the objective of finding where reasoned opinion lies."
The Wisdom Conservancy describes
itself as "a private nonprofit organization established for the study
of wisdom and community.
The Philopsychy Society promotes
"soul-loving in a variety of forms, both in theory and in prectice,
through the agency of the written word."
The Collective
Wisdom Initiative is a website "created to help make visible
an emerging field of collective wisdom, its study and practice."
Fernando Senior's "Capturing your Life Wisdom"
Workshops are attempting to help people share their life wisdom
in some way that makes sense to them.
Elder Wisdom Circle is a vehicle
for "empathetic seniors" over age 60 to provide "practical
advice and guidance" to advice-seeking younger people.
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TRANSFORMING
ACADEMIA FROM KNOWLEDGE-INQUIRY TO WISDOM-INQUIRY
Radio
Interview with Nicholas Maxwell. The "Weekly Signals"
program on California radio station KUCI interviews Maxwell about his
book From Knowledge to Wisdom. See writeup
that accompanies the interview.
Wisdom, Nicholas Maxwell,
and the Academic Enterprise. A short introduction by Copthorne
Macdonald to the issue of wisdom acquisition as an academic focus,
and the work of British scholar Nicholas Maxwell.
Review of Nicholas
Maxwell's book From Knowledge to Wisdom, 2nd Edition by
Jeff Huggins. (.doc format)
Nicholas Maxwell
in Context is Copthorne Macdonald's chapter for a forthcoming
(Rodopi, 2008) book, a chapter that
explores the relationship of Maxwell's wisdom theses to the contemporary
global interest in wisdom.
How
Can Life of Value Best Flourish in the Real World? is Nicholas
Maxwell's chapter for the forthcoming (Rodopi,
2008) book.
Wisdom
in the University is an editorial by Nicholas Maxwell and
Ronald Barnett that appeared in the London
Review of Education, and made available in e-form in the SSNV
Newsletter.
Content
summary of the book: Wisdom in the University Edited
by Nicholas Maxwell and Ronald Barnett and published by Routledge in 2008,
this book contains wisdom-and-higher-education essays by seven scholars.
FRIENDS OF WISDOM
More detailed information about Friends
of Wisdom, and the rationale behind it, from its founder, Nicholas
Maxwell.
Press Release from FRIENDS OF WISDOM
Members of this international group include academics and others who are
calling on universities to address the most important problems facing
humanity.
WISDOM: The Highest Aim of Life and Higher
Education A text (with slides) rendering of Copthorne
Macdonald's “Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Scholar”
address at Rollins College April 5, 2006.
WISDOM:
The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education A streaming
RealAudio (with slides) presentation of Copthorne Macdonald's “Thomas
P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Scholar” 2006 address at Rollins
College.
Discussion
that followed WISDOM: The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education
A streaming RealAudio presentation of the discussion that followed Copthorne
Macdonald's 2006 Rollins College talk.
Learning Across the Campus: How College Facilitates the Development
of Wisdom A paper by Scott
C. Brown that explores this important issue. (In Acrobat .pdf format.)
Core Commitments
is an "initiative on educating students for personal and social responsibility"
that already includes 196 colleges and universities. Click for an informational
Brochure
(pdf), a Call
to Action, and links
to resources that include a project-relevant bibliography.
SPIRITUALITY
AND WISDOM IN BUSINESS
Spirituality
and Wisdom in Business,
a brief introduction to the subject by Copthorne
Macdonald. Contains links to resources and email addresses of people
involved in the movement.
Spirituality in the Workplace by Martin
Rutte is an updated version of an article that first appeared in the
popular business book, Heart at Work, by Jack Canfield & Jacqueline
Miller.
Wisdom at Work by Let Davidson is an
essay that discusses how Davidson has been applying the principles and
techniques of the wisdom tradition to the workplace in his role as consultant
and trainer.
Centre for Spirituality at
Work in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A very active group with many
activities, and a web site with interesting links to other resources.
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COMMENTS ON ACTIVIST WISDOM AND SOCIO-CULTURAL WISDOM
Laetus
in Praesens If you are serious about wanting to create
a wiser and more functional global society, immerse yourself in the information-
and idea-rich world of Anthony Judge..
Overview of the Varieties of Wisdom
Copthorne Macdonald
discusses Personal Wisdom (the Practical, Existential/Metaphysical, and
Activist varieties) and Socio-Cultural Wisdom.
A Wisdom-Based Culture. This look at
the possibility of creating a wisdom-based, wisdom-fostering society is
discussed in this excerpt from Chapter 13 of Copthorne
Macdonald's book Toward Wisdom.
How Plato Might Have Helped Us
Avoid an Iraq Debacle. John
Uebersax shows how Plato's four kinds of human knowledge relate to
the disordered public and government thinking that led to the Iraq situation.
See also his wisdom
links.
Doing What Needs To Be Done is Chapter
15 of Copthorne Macdonald's
book Matters of Consequence. It is in PDF format and requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
WORLD WISDOM ALLIANCE (WWA)
The World Wisdom Alliance (WWA) is a new community of like-minded groups,
organizations, and individuals actively addressing our shared societal
and environmental challenges and opportunities, both global and local.
The WWA was launched in Toronto on July 28, 2006 with the support of The
Club of Budapest Canada in association with the World Wisdom Council (WWC).
The WWA's core concepts are: Consciousness > Connection > Communication
> Collaboration. A multi-faceted Web presence is currently being designed
that will allow community members — through communication, dialogue,
and collaborative action — to deal more effectively with those challenges
and opportunities than each could in isolation. The main Communication
Centre is being established in Toronto, Canada under the auspices of The
Club of Budapest Canada. For the latest information on implementation
of the WWA Web site, check www.clubofbudapest.ca.
4 June 2007 Message on WWA Status
from Club of Budapest Canada President David Woolfson.
World Wisdom Alliance A statement about
the status of the WWA made in late December 2006 by Club of Budapest Canada
President David Woolfson.
Elisabet Sahtouris's comments at the WWA
launch. Elisabet Sahtouris is a member of the World Wisdom Council,
an evolutionary biologist, futurist, UN consultant, and author of EarthDance
and several other books.
Audrey Kitagawa's comments at the WWA launch.
Audrey Kitagawa is a member of the World Wisdom Council, member of many
advisory boards, and author of articles on spirituality, global security,
and globalization.
A New Dream for Earth. Alan
Nordstrom attended the WWA launch, and wrote this essay that appeared
in the August 11, 2006 Orlando Sentinel.
ACTIVIST
ORGANIZATIONS
The
World Wisdom Council "seeks
to cultivate wisdom as the highest priority for our time through various
means, including the posting of some fundamental and far from obvious
questions..."
Links to More than 80 Organizations
working toward a sustainable and more equitable world. Nowhere near a
complete list, but you might find it a good place to start.
DIALOGUE
INSTEAD OF DEBATE: CUTTING THROUGH IDEOLOGICAL POLARIZATION
Wanted:
A New Worldview by Alan
Nordstrom.
A short but to-the-point essay that asks, "What view of reality will
let us live most fruitfully as human beings in a just and generous community
with each other?"
The Dance of Polarization by Andrew
Bard Schmookler. In this essay Schmookler deals with the polarization-integrating
aspect of wisdom.
Dialogue Instead of
Debate: Cutting Through Ideological Polarization. Some thoughts
on this subject by Copthorne Macdonald
plus links to organizations with active programs to address the problem.
OTHER
SOCIAL CHANGE APPROACHES AND METHODS
The
Global Marshall Plan
is a proposal by the Network of Spiritual Progressives who say that it
is the "Strategy of Generosity that is the real point of the plan."
Building on Existing Solutions
——
Many of the bits and
pieces of a wiser world already exist. What are they? And how can they
be further developed, integrated with other initiatives, and brought into
the mainstream?
www.worldchanging.com
"was
founded on the idea that real solutions already exist for building the
future we want. it's just a matter of grabbing hold and getting moving."
This information-rich web site has been called "the most important
web site on the planet," and its worldwide team of dedicated reporters
is intent on making it that.
Appreciative Inquiry ——
"a co-operative search for the strengths, passions and life-giving
forces that are found within every system"
Appreciative
Inquiry and Community Development is an overview of appreciative
inquiry from The International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Appreciative Inquiry
Commons "academic resources and practical tools on Appreciative
Inquiry and the rapidly growing discipline of positive change."
Appreciative
Inquiry and the Quest. "This web site will introduce you
to a new theory and methodology of human development called appreciative
inquiry (AI)."
Multi-stakeholder
Approaches —— "processes
which aim to bring together all major stakeholders in a new form of communication,
decision-finding (and possibly decision-making) on a particular issue."
Multi-stakeholder Processes.
MSP resources from the UNED Forum.
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Wising
Up
by Alan Nordstrom.
Leave it to this Professor of English to say so much in so few words.
(MS Word format.)
The Time of Your Life: Personal Responsibility,
Wisdom, and the Future by Thomas
Lombardo. What a compelling piece of writing! A rich, thought-stimulating,
feeling-stimulating, mind-massaging trip. (PDF format)
Living The Questions is a
Wisdom Page feature that invites us to visit (or revisit) some
significant questions, to share our current take on them, and to suggest
other questions.
Personal-Quest Books are books that
document the personal quests of individuals (real or fictional) for greater
understanding, personal development, and wisdom.
Cop
Macdonald's personal web site is now at http://www.copmacdonald.com/
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