How to achieve wisdom

There are two systems in the brain: the deliberative and the automatic. In order for one to make wise decisions each part has to work together in synergy. Wise behavior is an emergent property of the two systems working “properly” in a particular context. The “how” of what each part needs to do is significantly different for each. The deliberative system can be governed by explicit rules, procedures, methodologies, values and so forth. This is the part that philosophers have spent the most time working on. The deliberative system is a quick learner if you will. You can teach someone a rule and they can begin to apply it immediately. The automatic system on the other hand is a slow learner. The automatic system is the result of tacit knowledge and fine tuned intuitions and emotions that have been cultivated over experience.

What’s important to note is that two people can be subjected to the same experience and come out with unequal benefit of that experience. An obvious example is that between what a normal person would get out of a particular experience as compared to what someone with a learning disability like adult ADHD would come out with.

In order to have a fine tuned automatic system with excellent domain specific and domain general knowledge one has to not only have been subjected to certain experiences but also needs the ability and dispositions to actually acquire what is of value in a particular experience. It is important to emphasize abilities and DISPOSITIONS: One can have the ability to learn from experiences but if one does not have the proper dispositions to actually seek out the “life lessons” to be found in experiences then one will not actually learn them. In order to have a wise automatic system one must have 1) wisdom seeking dispositions 2) mental abilities such as learning skills, mental flexibility (which can be further broken down to attentional abilities, working-memory, self-control (emotional regulation)) 3) the proper environments/experiences where the information (detectable patterns – detectable by the unconscious) that leads to wisdom exists.

A proper research project needs to investigate 1a) what are the wisdom seeking dispositions? 1b) How can one achieve these dispositions? 2a) What are the specific abilities one needs in order to maximize learning of wisdom? 2b) How can one improve these abilities? 3) What are the environments/experiences one needs to be exposed to in order to glean wisdom? 4) What are the constraints the deliberative system must impose on the intuitions that the automatic systems generates (when should we listen to our intuitions, and when should we veto them? What rules, methodologies, values should we consciously use when making decisions?)?

The fourth question is the hardest to answer and philosophers have been debating it for a long time. Now with the aid of empirical research coming out of moral psychology studies hopefully some headway will be made on this topic. This fourth question has already generated a lot of interest and will continue to do so. The first 3 on the other hand have not been given as much attention and I believe may be the more important ones, since they may play a larger role in our decision making than the deliberative.