Wisdom: From Philosophy To Neuroscience by Stephen S. Hall. It's a fantastic read. This book is not a guide on how to cultivate wisdom but rather it's more on emphasizing the importance of wisdom. Given the state of our society, its an important book. (while at it, let's learn a thing or two from Wisdom of Elephants)
Stephen list's eight pillars which he considers the back bone of wisdom - Emotional regulation, knowing what is important, moral reasoning, compassion, humility, altruism, patience and dealing with uncertainty. It's a Sisyphean task and one has to go through perpetual heart ache to even just get their toes wet in the quest of wisdom. Barricades of ridicule needs to be surpassed and prove constantly to the society they are devoid of any hidden intentions. This road less traveled is riddled with thorns but it's a paradox why someone gives up so much in the quest of something unquantifiable (no wonder most eschew it). I guess, dopamine is the culprit in this quest, constantly feeding the reward system. This probably is the mother of all rewards.
Young Adam Smith's words has an answer to that conundrum - "In a lovely evocation of that timeless fork in the road between material and spiritual well-being, he spoke of two different roads - one of "proud ambition and ostentatious avidity," the other of "humble modestly and equitable justice" - that await our choice. "Two different models, two different pictures, are held out to us, according to which fashion our own character and behavior; the one more gaudy and glittering in its coloring; the other more correct and exquisitely beautiful in its outline: the one forcing itself upon the notice of every wandering eye; the other attracting the attention of scare any body but most studious and careful observer. They are the wise and the virtuous chiefly, a select, though, I am afraid, but a small party, who are the real and steady admirers of wisdom and virtue. The great mob of mankind are the admirers and worshipers, and, what may seem more extraordinary, most frequently the disinterested admirers and worshipers, of wealth and greatness."
Even before reading this book, my belief was (and is) wisdom doesn't came naturally with age (grumpiness replaces wisdom if it's not nurtured all life long. Alternatively, the stereotype of monk = wisdom is absurd too.). The importance of life long accumulation (bayesian inference per se) is so eloquently put by Laura Cartensen, a psychologist at Stanford University - "When the future is vast and open-ended, people need to adapt to the temporal context by preparing for that future, and that means you collect - you collect people, you collect experiences, you collect information, and you bank on it, because at one point in time it may become relevant, even if it's not relevant today. But it's very much this preparatory state that people are in. And in that state, information is so valuable, and any information is valuable. You have to be able to digest it, to learn it, to remember it, to encode it, to build on it, even if that has costs to your emotional well-being."
To paraphrase Darwin, there is grandeur in this view of life. The only reason we thrived and thriving (misnomer??) is not only because of wisdom we inherited from thousands of years of our evolution but most importantly by endlessly upgrading and honing by some noble souls. Again to continue the rant, very few realize this to embark on that route. But ranting and complaining will not lead us anywhere since it was always been this way and probably will be forever (hoping neuroscience breaks this logjam). One has to pursue this in-spite of social hurdles like what Confucius advised to Zilu - "Zilu asked about the truly better person, and Confucius said, "One cultivates oneself carefully." Zilu asked if that was all, and Confucius said, "One cultivates oneself so as to help other people." Zilu asked again if that was all, and Confucius said, "One cultivates oneself so as to help all the people. Even Yao and Shun found that difficult." Confucius began with the primary step-improve yourself. If a person could do that, then one could help others. If one could help some, then one could strive to help all humanity. Thus he showed the successive stages. On another occasion Zilu asked about government, and Confucius said, "Lead by example; work hard for them." Again Zilu asked for further instruction, and Confucius said, "Untiringly."
"Every moment instructs and every object: for wisdom is infused into every form. It has been poured into us as blood; it convulsed us as pain; it slid into as pleasure; it enveloped us in dull, melancholy days, or in days of cheerful labor; we did not guess its essence, until after a long time." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson put it beautifully but miserable life taught Confucius more pragmatism:
"When the Way prevails under the Heaven, then show yourself; when it does not prevail, then hide."
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