[ExI] net wisdom

[Anders]

On 2016-07-18 18:04, Tara Maya wrote:
> Question: If people have a longer healthspan, will the net wisdom 
> (which is different from general intelligence) of the population 
> increase?

Maybe. We know older people have higher conscientiousness scores.

Studies looking at various wisdom scales have been equivocal. Kramer 
argued that it is not having a lot of experience that gives you wisdom, 
but difficult, morally challenging and require a bit of profoundity. 
Wink and Helson apparently found that divorced women scored higher on 
wisdom than women who had not experienced it 
(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1020782619051).

This study (http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pag/23/4/787/) argued that 
age-related cognitive changes may impair the development of practical 
wisdom (so health extension would boost it). This might also explain the 
sometimes seen curvilinear relationships seen in studies. There is even 
some evidence that wisdom might be specific for situations that fit the 
person: older people may hence be wise about old people 
(http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/69/6/897.abstract).

I think longer healthspans at least mean more human capital: more 
cognitive ability, more skill, more experience, more social networks can 
be brought to bear on a problem. That is by no means wisdom on its own, 
but still somewhat useful.


-- 
Dr Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University