Episode Details

 "By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, Which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest, and third by experience, which is the bitterest." (Confucius)
But what is wisdom?  
Today's guest, Dr. Dilip Jeste, suggests that "wise people are compassionate and empathetic, aware of their gifts and blind spots, open-minded, resolute and calm amid uncertainty, altruistic decision-makers who learn from their experiences, able to see from many perspectives and "altitudes," and often blessed with a sense of adventure and humor." 

Dr. Jeste, is the author of Wiser: The Scientific Roots of Wisdom, Compassion and What makes Us Good.  He is Senior Associate Dean for Healthy Aging and Senior Care, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Estelle and Edgar Levi Memorial Chair in Aging, Director of the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, and Co-Director of the UC San Diego-IBM Center on Artificial Intelligence for Healthy Living.  As a geriatric neuropsychiatrist specializing in successful psychosocial aging and the neurobiology of wisdom, he is the author of  750+ peer-reviewed journal articles, 160 book chapters and 14 published books. 

Our conversation begins with the story of Dr. Jeste's story from his early interest in psychiatry and neuropsychiatric research in Mumbai, to his current neurobiological research at UC San Diego. 

We discuss the brain as a physical construct versus mind as a collection of abstract elements without a physical basis. Yet neurobiological research shows that qualities like empathy or compassion actually can be mapped to anatomical locations in the brain. 
We discuss wisdom and aging  in the context of the grandmother hypothesis and the fact that human  are the only species that lives far beyond our reproductive period.
One self-assessment tool is the Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index. 

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