Wisdom

We define wisdom as the diversity of working knowledges that sustains our web of living systems.
- This broad definition of Wisdom encourages us to map many types of knowledge(including ignorance).
- Donald Rumsfeld reminded us that our understanding of knowledge that includes unknown unknowns.
- This idea derived from a larger map of possibilities that its inventors (Luft & Ingham, 1955) called the Johari Window (see below).

The Oxford English Dictionary defines wisdom from a presumptuous, humanist standpoint:
- ''"...the capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct; soundness of judgment in the choice of means and ends; sometimes, less strictly, sound sense, esp. in practical affairs: opp. to folly;"
- It therefore narrows our vision by implying that wisdom is characteristically human: i.e. "Knowledge (esp. of a high or abstruse kind); enlightenment, learning, erudition."''
- (see Wikiwand for other usage).

In the Enlightenment era, many thinkers became enamoured with the idea of genius
- (see the Reinventing Invention article).
The idea of wisdom as a more hypothetical and distributed map of knowledge is useful, as it reminds us that individual knowledge is always partial.
It may therefore encourage us to re-map management systems to reduce our dependence on individual leaders.
It challenges the focus on individual performance that is central to academic assessment.
- Francis Galton (1822–1911) discovered that decisions/choices made by crowds can be superior to those of individual experts (Miner, 2005).
We value it because it acknowledges our knowledge whilst acknowledging our lack of it.

In an era where populist politics puts so much emphasis on the messianic whims and judgements of individual leaders, perhaps we need a less anthropocentric notion of wisdom.
By adopting a more systemic approach, the importance of conventional (i.e. individual) wisdom is reduced and the question of consciousness becomes more important.
In this regard, the quality of connectedness throughout the system is more important than having local zones of very high intelligence.
- Marx's notion of alienation is helpful in that it can be seen as a (negative) aspect of our definition of wisdom.
- For a broader, more ecological notion of wisdom, see Jakob von Uexküll's use of the term 'Umwelt', (Ingold, 2011, p. 64) described in the article Relanguaging the Creative (Wood, 2013).

Why do few universities mention wisdom as part of their learning outcomes? (c.f. Maxwell, 1984)
Perhaps because it is less definable, quantifiable and measurable than information or knowledge.
Our definition of wisdom also relates to other terms, such as miracles, luck and contagious optimism.

There is growing excitement about the ability of Artificial Intelligence to emulate human behaviour convincingly.
Discussions often mention the quantity, rapidity and convincing nature of data, rather than the quality of knowing.
Using our definition of wisdom (i.e. "...the diversity of working knowledges that sustains our web of living systems") suggests that AI could become part of human wisdom, but there is an important caveat, here:
AI systems work by processing large quantities of secondary data (i.e. as alphanumeric texts).
Their 'intelligence' works by (averaging) mechanical responses to previous situations, rather than evaluating new ones.
- (AI systems cannot process direct (e.g. tacit) knowledge as they have no bodily sensors or organs).
- It will be crucially important to develop other modes of learning to compensate for these serious shortcomings.
- See whole learning