On Wisdom

Oct 20 2024 60 ep. 49 mins 330
On Wisdom Podcast artwork

On Wisdom features a social and cognitive scientist in Toronto and an educator in London discussing the latest empirical science regarding the nature of wisdom. Igor Grossmann runs the Wisdom & Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Charles Cassidy runs the Evidence-Based Wisdom project in London, UK. The podcast thrives on a diet of freewheeling conversation on wisdom, decision-making, wellbeing, and society and includes regular guests spots with leading behavioral scientists from the field of wisdom research and beyond. Welcome to The On Wisdom Podcast.

  Science  Society & Culture
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


32: Shifting Gears: Wisdom in the 'World After Covid'

Nov 30 2020 2 mins  
After 2 and a half years of podcasting, 30+ episodes, 50,000+ downloads, and one global pandemic, it's time for an exciting announcement from the On Wisdom team...Links:World After Covid site

60: Wisdom, Love, and the Lexical Fallacy (with Alan Fiske)

Oct 20 2024 73 mins  
Why do we have such a hard time figuring out what we’re feeling? Alan Fiske joins Igor and Charles to unravel the mystery of emotions, revealing why your gut feeling might not be as clear-cut as you think. Drawing from his research into Kama Muta—a heartwarming rush of connection—and his critiques of how we label emotions, Alan sheds light on why most of us are pretty terribl

59: Shaping Reality and Relationships: The Science of Connection and Expectation (with David Robson)

Sep 23 2024 49 mins  
Can our expectations about ourselves and others reshape our lives? Science writer David Robson returns to explore how our expectations don’t just change personal outcomes—they influence how we connect with others. Drawing from his books The Laws of Connection and The Expectation Effect, David reveals the hidden psychology behind social interactions and how our misconceptions ab

58: The Social Robots are Coming! (with Kerstin Dautenhahn)

Nov 01 2023 49 mins  
Can we create wise robots? Kerstin Dautenhahn joins Igor and Charles to dive into the intriguing world of social robots, the finer points of “Robotiquette,” and the potential role such robots can play in supporting therapeutic treatments. Igor reflects on the limits of robot-based wisdom, Kerstin reveals the potential of Generative AI like ChatGPT to generate false information

57: The Epic Challenge of Knowing Thyself (with David Dunning)

Oct 07 2023 63 mins  
Can we ever really know ourselves, or are we destined to always make overly optimistic self-assessments? David Dunning joins Igor and Charles to discuss the Dunning-Kruger effect, the importance of asking the right questions, why arriving at an accurate view of ourselves is so challenging, and the implications for teaching, medicine, and even scientific research. Igor explores the

56: Awe Reloaded (with Dacher Keltner)

Aug 29 2023 50 mins  
Have we overlooked a major source of awe, right under our collective noses? Dacher Keltner returns to the On Wisdom studio to discuss his new book "Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life", the power of moral beauty, the desire for connection, and the importance of wandering. Igor suggest that awe can also entail feelings of terror, Dach

55: Wise of the Machines (with Sina Fazelpour)

Aug 05 2023 64 mins  
How can we make AI wiser? And could AI make us wiser in return? Sina Fazelpour joins Igor and Charles to discuss the problem of bias in algorithms, how we might make machine learning systems more diverse, and the thorny challenge of alignment. Igor considers whether interacting with AIs might help us achieve higher levels of understanding, Sina suggests that setting up AIs to promo

54: Emotions Are Not What You Think (with Lisa Feldman Barrett )

May 30 2023 49 mins  
What actually are “emotions” and how are they made? Lisa Feldman Barrett joins Igor and Charles to discuss what we’ve got right and what we’ve got completely wrong about the nature of our emotional lives. Igor grapples with the idea that red apples aren’t necessarily red, Lisa shares that anger doesn’t always look like anger, and Charles learns that a racing heartbeat c

53: Moral Reframing and The Science of Political Persuasion (with Robb Willer)

Apr 10 2023 59 mins  
How can you persuade someone who disagrees with you on everything? In this episode, we discover the secrets of political persuasion with Robb Willer, a leading expert on political persuasion and moral reframing. Igor grills Robb on the ethics of activism in social science, Robb defends his mission to make a difference in the world, and Charles is amazed to find out that he can fix

52: World Wide Wisdom (with Deepak Ramola)

Jan 05 2023 55 mins  
Imagine gathering hard-earned lessons from survivors of human trafficking in Nepal, middle school children in Afghanistan, refugees in Europe, and even a man who has witnessed over 12,000 deaths. Deepak Ramola has been on such a lesson-gathering mission for a while, and he joins Igor and Charles to discuss the life lessons he has collected, who gets to define moral behaviour, and h