Why Wisdom?

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Abstract

Sternberg advocates that children be taught wisdom, which he defines as a value system that balances concern for oneself with concern for others and extrapersonal concerns such as concern for the environment. Although I object to the way he has operationalized similar constructs like critical thinking, I agree with the main idea that children can be taught to think from multiple perspectives. For me, wisdom is more meaningfully thought of as critical thinking within a system of values. I do not know if we can teach children to be wise, but with effort, they certainly can learn to be wiser.