# Ep. 45 Paul McLaughlin PsyD, Mark R. McMinn PhD: Can Wisdom be Cultivated?

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Podcast: [The Moral Imagination](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-moral-imagination-1176352)
Published: 2022-09-21T19:59:37+00:00
Episode link: https://www.themoralimagination.com/p/ep-45-can-wisdom-be-cultivated-f5d
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/142169490/dd866ffa69df49e0bb712f370acf18b3.mp3
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Duration seconds: 7217

## Resource

In this episode I speak with two psychologists, Paul McLaughlin PsyD and Mark R. McMinn PhD, about their book A Time for Wisdom. The provide a unique perspective by examining wisdom from a psychological viewpoint. They divide it into 4 categories, both to explain and provide a guide to develop wisdom in our lives. Knowledge Factual Knowledge,Know-How, self-knowledge and what they call “Enriched Knowledge,” the core of wisdom. Detachment Not only from material things, but from ideas and ideology. Detachment enables mental freedom, strengthens our capacity grieve, and is the bridge between knowledge and tranquility Tranquility Not apathy, but shifting our inner equilibrium, and helps us regulate our emotions Tranquility helps us to cultivate awe, gratitude, peace, and what C.S. Lewis calls “reasonable emotions.” Transcendence Ability to go beyond ourselves and avoid the temptation to individualism We discuss a number of themes including: Is wisdom a state or a trait? Can it be developed? Is it domain dependent? The tension between solidity and fluidity, between rigid thinking and relativism. How do we keep our minds open and not fall into what Benedict XVI has called the “dictatorship of relativism.” The positive and negative parts of Jordan Peterson’s idea about exploring our dark side compared to mystical Catholic writers Psychedelics as ersatz religion You are not every thought you have Anxiety Obsessive Compulsive thoughts Forgiveness and the goodness of being Positive psychology Narcisism Mike Tyson’s theory that “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” How to think about increases anxiety and depression My critique of the Individualism / Collectivism dichotomy Tocqueville’s analysis of individualism and centralization Can you measure wisdom? Does w…

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