Wiser

Wiser is the title of a book on which a series of healthymemory blog posts have be written. The subtitle of this book is The Scientific roots of Wisdom, Compassion, and What Makes Us Good. It is written by Dilip Jeste, MD with Scott LaFee.

The following is from the Introduction, Seeking Wisdom of the Ages in All Ages

Wisdom is not intelligence. It is more, much more.

It begins, TO BE SURE, we all want to be smart. We all know people who are intelligent, to whom the workings of the world come a bit more readily and easily. Smart people seem to understand complexities. They make connections, see patterns, and find solutions with efficiency and apparent ease.

But many smart people are not happy, They appear perpetually stressed and under pressure. They may appear to care only about themselves, making you reluctant to seek their advice because you don’t know whose priorities are first. You can always predict how they will react to your request, They may smile and say, ‘Of course.’ They may become angry. They may be indifferent.

It’s good (and often more profitable) to be smart, but being wise is more interesting and more useful if our goal is to live a full and meaningful life. I’m not referring simply to the pursuit of happiness, which is distinctly subjective and frequently shifting. What makes you ‘happy’ one moment or at one point in your life may not in another moment or as you age. Our notions of happiness change over time.’

Of course, happiness is a good goal. It typically accompanies becoming wiser, but wisdom is more about acquiring a deeper understanding of meaning in life, of being able to see how and where you fit into the grander scheme of things and how you can be a better person for yourself and for others. Searching and finding meaning and purpose in life is not limited to philosophers. It is associated with better health, wellness, and perhaps longevity and definitely with wisdom. People who have a clear-eyed sense of the rational meaning in life—whatever that may be—are happier and healthier than those without it.

We all know wise people. They’re smart. Intelligence is an integral part of wisdom, But they are also warmhearted and compassionate. They are sophisticated, not simply or only in terms of academics or business, but in the ways of the world and of people. They are open-minded. They listen and make others feel heard. They are reflective, unselfish, and problem focused. They are willing to act on their beliefs and convictions, to do what is right, first or alone. Wise people become trusted advisers because they possess characteristic sagacity, happiness, and a calm demeanor we can rely on. They seem to instinctively know how to handle personal problems that others find overwhelming. Wise people stand resolute amid chaos and uncertain. They are different. And the rest of us would like to be more like them.

Dilup Jeste is a psychiatrist who was born and raised in India, but who completed his psychiatric training in the United States. He has always been fascinated about the fundamental workings of the brain and its connection to wisdom. For a long time he wasn’t comfortable pursuing research on wisdom. When he finally broached the idea of formally studying wisdom a dozen years ago, others, including colleagues and close friends, reacted with varying combinations of amusement, dismissal, sympathy, and maybe sometimes pity and dismay. He was told that wisdom was a religious and philosophical concept, not a scientific one. He was counseled to not speak about research on wisdom if he wanted to avoid widespread ridicule or to successfully garner project funding. Being older and already having an established academic career, he was willing and prepared to take up the challenge.

We tend to think of aging, particularly after middle age, as a period of progressive decline in physical, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning. For many, the graying of America presents its number one public health problem—looming, unavoidable, and alarming.

Yet there are many older people who thrive in later life, We all know of artists, writers, judges and politicians who are active, productive, creative, engaged, and contributing members of society in important ways. At age 61 and weighing just 99 pounds, for example, Gandhi led a 200-mile, three-week march to protest the British salt tax, a major step toward India’s national independence. Benjamin Franklin was 70 when he signed the Declaration of Independence. Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa at age 76—and married Graca Machel four years later. Shigeaki Hinorahara, a Japanese physician who lived to the age of 106, published multiple books after his 75th birthday. Anna Mary Moses, better known as Granda Moses took up painting at 76 and produced more than a thousand images before she died a quarter of a century later. Her work now sells for tens of thousands of dollars.

Older people are often happier than people half their age, In a study conduced in 2016, researchers found that the mental health of adults improved with age, even as their physical health declined. They enjoyed higher levels of life satisfaction, happiness, and well-being, and lower levels of anxiety, depression, and subjective than those decades younger.

Dr. Wiser believes—and it’s the basis of this book—that wisdom, like consciousness or stress or resilience, is fundamentally grounded in biology. And like all other biological functions, wisdom too can be studied, measured, altered, and enhanced using modern, empirical methods of science and medicine. Saying so does not negate the role or importance of psychosocial factors in the development of wisdom. From the presence of loving parents and grandparents to attending safe schools to having a supporting network of family and friends, the world we experience shapes who we are and how we live with others within it.

He writes, “In this book, you and I will take a journey together, one that I hope will offer ample persuasive proof, but more importantly, reveal new ideas, insights, encouragement, and hope that wisdom is not a vague aspiration but something we can grasp, modify, and enhance, that the emerging neuroscience of wisdom and the understanding of how wisdom can consciously be improved promises to change ourselves and our world. I believe it can be for the better. For each of us. For all of us.”