Customer Reviews

Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stephen Hall's book on Wisdom manages to integrate the empirical research that's been conducted over the last thirty-five years in a style and convivial manner that has eluded the scientific community. I felt the book delivered on its promise: it offered much information about the ways we go about making complex life decisions. It reflected honestly on the real life shortcomings of people who have always been perceived as wise historically, such as Solomon. In my opinion, the best part of the book was delivered by offering examples of how adopting a wisdom based approach can affect how things are done in settings such as the classroom and the boardroom.

This is not a "How to be wise" manual. If you like labyrinths, and recognize that many paths can lead to the center of things, this is the book for you. Like many portraits in an art gallery, you will find yourself pausing at various junctures to look more carefully at this or that quality of wisdom - be it patience, humility or compassion. Fortunately, there is no 'closing time' to this gallery. At the end of my visit, I personally felt a sense of gratitude that a writer could capture such an illusive topic without diminishing its potential for further study in matters both personal and societal.

----Vivian Clayton, PhD

Not a bad read, but it's really the same book as the other most recent ones of the same genre. Gladwell, Iyengar, Poundstone, Lehrer et al. They all start with the same pattern; cite well known research that is beyond question - usually Kahneman and Tversky - then weave anecdotes throughout to create a narrative that gives the impression that the anecdotes are as equally well grounded as the real research.

The book is worth reading if one hasn't already read any of the other authors mentioned above (or one of the many other unnamed) but it really is just one more of the same cookie cutter mold.

What I really liked about this book is that I went away from it with a deeper sense of what wisdom means to me rather than some universal understanding of the meaning of wisdom. If you choose to read this book you will likely take in the research, stories, and various perspectives on wisdom with your personal experience in mind, and that is one reason why this book is a fulfilling read. At the onset Hall discusses the elusiveness of wisdom, yet emphasizes that simply because wisdom has normally evaded scientists that science, as well as philosophy, can tell us a great deal about it. The neuroscience research he references are given meaning and substance through real-life examples and philosophical viewpoints.

If you are looking for wisdom to be concretized or for a "how to" manual you will be disappointed. If you want to think differently about a subject science and philosophy will likely never be able to get a full grapple on, but can tell us a lot about, you'll get a great deal out of this book.

In this book Stephen S. Hall takes on one of life's most perplexing questions. What is wisdom and how does this lump of gray matter we call a brain produce it. Drawing on the work of philosophers, theologians, and now scientists Mr. Hall attempts to synthesis all of their output into a coherent answer. Philosophers and theologians have wrestled with this question for thousands of years but science has taken up the search much more recently. And it is the research done by neuroscientists that is the focus of this work.

The book itself is constructed in a fairly common style which consists of a series of well known research papers embedded within a cluster of anecdotes. Mr. Hall seems to hold all of this research in more awe than it perhaps deserves. For when looked at dispassionately it can be seen that, while some of the work is first rate, some comes off as mere hubris. The discovery that the mind has a biological base is hardly a revelation. Likewise finding out that sometimes people allow emotions to cloud their judgment is not much of a discovery either. For the problem that any scientific study faces is that wisdom is an experience not a thing and an experience is more suited to the dialectic of philosophy than to the reductionism of science. Discovering where an event is occurring is not the same thing as discovering what it is. One neuron firing is exactly like any other neuron firing. So how does this neuron firing create sight and another doing the identical thing create sound? Having said this it must be admitted that his sins are no greater than is common in an age that elevated science to the pedestal of all knowing. As a Hindu sage once said, "Science does not explain reality, it explains it away" and while reading the various studies this saying keeps coming to mind."

If you are not looking for deep insights into the soul of reality this is an entertaining even enlightening read. It takes the latest research in neuroscience pertaining to wisdom, compares it with philosophy and enter leavens it with anecdotes of such people as Gandhi. These anecdotes, in Gandhi's case a description of his brief experience as a dandy on the streets of 19th Century London, are, to me at least, the most interesting parts of the book. Although he sometimes strays into academic jargon the book is, for the most part, clearly written in a style that anyone can understand and talks about questions that many people would be the better for thinking about. In the end it may tell you where to find wisdom but it will not tell you how to get it.

I could not disagree more with Ray Gardner's review that this is the same material or even type of book as those he mentioned. That is an atrocious appraisal of the book and seems to represent an incredibly shallow reading of it. Just because Hall looks to some possible neural correlates of what he calls "Pillars of Wisdom" does not mean he is doing the same thing as Gladwell et al. Read the media or other reviews above if you want a better idea.

This was an outstanding book that indeed as Nature Neuroscience says:

"..takes us on a rollicking interdiscinplinary journey through the ages, blending modern science, history and philosophy..."

This book is highly recommended and can be read and thought about quite deeply. It is not at all of the pop-Gladwellian genre. It is itself a wise book.

If you were looking for one of those self-help books that purports to teach you how to be wise in 10 minutes a day, this book is not for you. If, however, you are looking for an engaging, thoughtful discussion that attempts to answer the centuries-old question "What is Wisdom" from both a philosophical and scientific perspective then this book will delight you. It is literate and enlightening. And although, it is definitely not a "how-to" book, you will probably have many "ah-ha" moments as you read it.

I particularly like this book because it manages to tell about the latest research in neuroscience pertaining to wisdom, then compares and contrasts it with classical philosophy without putting the reader to sleep with obtuse, academic language. On the contrary, each chapter is a fascinating examination of one particular component of wisdom. One of my favorite chapters was the chapter entitled "Dealing with Uncertainty". In it Mr. Hall states, "Emotion always assumes the amount of knowledge in hand is adequate to govern a decision, even when it may not be." Now those are wise words indeed, especially for today.

"Wisdom From Philosophy to Neuroscience" is a wonderful book for a discussion group whether you are a member of a formal book discussion group or Socrates Club or just enjoy more informal discussions with friends and family. In his book the author describes a curriculum on wisdom that was developed for the Saddle Brook School System in New Jersey. I wish it were required for every politician and CEO. In the meantime, I would advise them to read this book.

Thoughtful, engaging, and enlightening!

The author presents an engaging analysis of wisdom from both a physiological and psychological perspective. His knowledge of philosophy (ancient and modern) and neuroscience is apparent in this work. He does a phenomenal job of tying it all together in a very deep, yet easily understood narrative.

It takes a wise person to contemplate and dissect such a challenging and complex topic.

I will be gifting this book to many family and friends. It is a great addition to any library.

This book combines a pedestrian review of research shading into free-wheeling speculation--by scientists and the author.
This is not the place to get anything more than a cocktail-party understanding of wisdom, philosophy, or neuroscience.
For the philosophy, consider The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton.
For the neuroscience, try Neuroergonomics: The Brain at Work by Raja Parasuraman and Matthew Rizzo.
For wisdom, try Shakespeare, the Hebrew Scriptures, the Gospels, and Paul.

Very reader friendly on a topic of interest to me. My son is a neuroscientist so I shared it with him as well as a friend who is a judge and another son who is a manager. Lots of interesting research examples and provides a practical understanding for human behavior as it applies to making wise decisions. VERY interesting!! I will read it again. -- Jennie Shabel

amazon review:
this is some book by Steve Hall
a book called WISDOM
a book that marries moral philosophy to
neuroscience with the smoothness of an ice-skater
at the Olympics, containing
stuff like the Trolley Car Problem:
you got this runaway out-of-control trolley
bearing down on five innocent people
the solution: throw a switch
sending the trolley onto a siding
problem: getting stopped, the trolley kills one person
so what's the answer?
kill five or kill only one?
you gotta read the book

Hall starts a wisdom-thread with Adam and Eve
or Confucius
or Ghandi
restates the situation - Ghandi as a dandy
before he transformed himself into a holy man-
spinner of cloth who sent the Brits packing
and then Hall hooks electrodes
to a real person
trying to make wise decisions
in the real world and
the electrodes measure brain activity during moments of stress
because wisdom is not easy
because being wise takes work
like the immense work Hall did
to interview and read and digest
tons of material
brought to you in book format
a real book in the Age of Kindle
so you can sit in your armchair
and soak up this incredible stuff
and maybe feel wise
just for reading this delightful book

where else could you find phrases like
* inner pachyderm - a metaphor for human emotion
* neural plumbing - stuff we think we think with
* solitary but slight tree resisting the wind of the Enlightenment
* rolling around in the muck of emotion

with his eight pillars of wisdom
from Emotional Regulation to
Dealing with Uncertainty
Hall is the archetypal science-writer grappling with a whopper topic
signified by a whopper abstraction
and, in the end, winning the match

robert j. ray
The Weekend Novelist and clones