Barry Schwartz is an acclaimed Professor of Psychology who recently retired after 45 years of teaching at Swarthmore College. Barry has also written three bestselling books on the Paradox of Choice, the Meaning of Work and Practical Wisdom and has done a series of popular TED talks on those subjects.

Practical wisdom is something we could all do with more of. It’s close to what the Ancient Greeks called phronesis - a general understanding of how to live a good life and the decisions we should make.

Barry has spent years studying the subject and even had the opportunity to teach a class on it at Swarthmore, which makes him perfectly placed to offer insights into the topic of wisdom.

In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:

- How to become wiser using tools to learn from our everyday experience
- How practical wisdom could be applied to improve the educational system
- How to make better choices in a world of infinite possibilities

So whether you're looking to make better decisions in your life, learn from your everyday experience or just get a little bit wiser across the board, this episode has you covered with actionable principles and strategies you can apply now.

Related Posts

Podcasts

🎙 ML49: The Difference Between Knowledge and Wisdom

🎙 ML36: Shane Parrish on the Power of Multidisciplinary Thinking, Using Mental Models and How To Make Better Decisions

🎙 ML28: Richard Nisbett on Mental Models, The Geography of Thought and The Nature vs Nurture Debate

Articles

📄 How To Redefine Learning for the 21st Century

📄 Perfectionism: The Learning Mindset You Need To Avoid At All Costs

📄 Why Competing With Yourself Is the Best Way To Learning Anything

Resources

📖 Practical Wisdom - Barry Schwartz & Kenneth Sharpe

📖 The Paradox of Choice - Barry Schwartz

📖 Why We Work - Barry Schwartz

▶️ TED: Our Loss of Wisdom

▶️ TED: The Paradox of Choice 

▶️ TED: The Way We Think About Work is Broken