1. society

WHY AND HOW TO
UPGR ADE HUMAN
COLLECTIVE WISDOM
CHRISTER NYLANDER
HUMAN ADVANCEMENT PROGRAM
The Human Advancement Program (hap) is an international
initiative to raise global collective wisdom.
ENDORSEMENT
ENDORSEMENT
A most comprehensive account
of the challenges facing humanity,
with many practical suggestions for
re-education at all levels of society.
This is important work that needs
to be taken seriously, and has the
potential to initiate some radical
changes. I hope it is implemented
by countries around the world.
We urgently need greater collective
wisdom to avert disaster, and begin
to make progress towards as good a
world as possible. This book spells
out graphically just how vital it is that
we enhance our collective wisdom
globally, and it indicates how it might
be done.
– Peter Russell
Peter Russell is a physicist, psychologist, philosopher, and the bestselling
author of ten books, and has been lauded as “one of the finest minds of our
time,” “The New Buckminster Fuller,” and an “Eco–Philosopher Extraordinaire.” Peter Russell is a fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, The World
Business Academy, and an Honorary Member of The Club of Budapest.
– Nicholas Maxwell
Nicholas Maxwell is Emeritus Reader in Philosophy of Science at University
College London. During more than three decades, in eight books, over seventy papers, and countless lectures delivered in universities and conferences
all over the UK, Europe and north America he has argued that humanity
urgently needs to bring about a revolution in universities, so that the basic
intellectual aim becomes, not knowledge merely, but rather wisdom. He is
the founder of Friends of Wisdom (www.knowledgetowisdom.org).
Contents
Preface9
Intr
oduction11
Today’s society13
– Global challenges
14
– National social problems
16
– Systemic risks
17
System error19
– Shallow perspective
19
– Deep perspective
23
EDITOR
Lisa Forstenius
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Magnus Liljebergh
www.rufcreatives.com
2015
humanadvancementprogram.com
isbn 978-91-982240-0-9
Printed by Media-Tryck, Lunds Universitet, Sweden
6
System solution25
– Human Advancement Program
25
– Why a duplicable concept
27
– hap factors27
– hap tools33
– hap activities33
– Virtual reality software
38
– Changed role of teachers
38
– Context driven upgrade
39
– hap activities in practice
39
– Transformation process
43
– Human needs
46
Future society49
– hap outcomes51
– Changes within fifty years
52
7
Scientific support55
– Global systemic risks
55
– Social problems
57
– Global system error
57
– Definition of collective and individual wisdom
58
– Wisdom literature
62
– Importance of global collective wisdom
63
– Importance of proposed hap factors
69
– Results from wisdom advancing activities 69
around the globe
– Potential for national human advancement 70
programs
Political process
– Why Sweden as pilot country
73
– hap international75
– hap sweden76
– Preparation
76
– Pre-implementation
78
– Implementation
78
Appendices
– Social problems
83
– Wisdom literature and links
93
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9
Preface
This book is written for people who are well acquainted with
global systemic risks and the precarious situation of our civilization. The contents is very condensed in order to shorten the
book as much as possible without losing substance. Thanks to
everyone, who made this book possible.
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INTRODUCTION
Humanity has undergone a fantastic economic and technological development over the past centuries, but the future is
very unpredictable and globalization is getting more and more
complex. This could be our best century ever because of the
great achievements of our civilization, or it could be our worst.
We are often unable to tell people
what they need to know, because they
want to know something else, and
would therefore only misunderstand
what we said.
– George MacDonald
It always seems impossible
until its done.
– Nelson Mandela
Our civilization faces multiple global challenges like climate
change, fresh water scarcity, pandemics, financial crises, food
shortages, collapse in biodiversity, health problems, ocean
acidification, overfishing of oceans and many more. On a
national scale countries are struggling with hundreds of social
problems, and in addition potentially dangerous new technologies are being developed rapidly. This is the bad news.
The good news is that humanity has never had so many
technological opportunities to create a sustainable and life
affirming planet as now.
So what are the problems? From a shallow perspective we see
that politicians lack the ability to act adequately. Experts are
unable to provide clear recommendations of how to proceed.
Institutions are static. Most voter’s vote short-term or experience
lack of political alternatives. Media and society are permeated
by disinformation. Commercials indoctrinate us incessantly.
Fragmentation obstructs a comprehensive view and structural
defects are common.
From a deeper perspective we ought to understand that our society is only a reflection of our collective wisdom. When global
complexity increases rapidly our collective wisdom must follow
at least as quickly. This means that humanity must go through
accelerated learning and inner development to be able to
understand and manage our civilization and the earth successfully. This is the reason for the initiative Human Advancement
Program (hap).
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Today’s society
For most people in the rich world, everyday life is rather
pleasant. We have food, accommodation, clothes, and an
abundance of gadgetry to ease daily lives. We live in a fairly
secure world where we can get education, a good job, enjoy our
spare time and even have opportunities for self-realization. For
others, daily life is completely different. Lack of food, poor
housing, disease, lack of fresh water, simple sanitation, little or
no income, and many more hardships are the reality for billions. This is one picture of the planet.
The second depicts the system that enables and holds all this
together. A very complex dynamic system developing rather
autonomously. It is unnatural for individuals to embrace this
complexity. However, during recent decades it is becoming
more and more obvious that mankind is building its own
mousetrap. The overall system is built around many subsystems that interrelate, such as global finance, production,
insurance, information, power systems, transportation, governance, energy, natural resources and nature. Furthermore, we rely heavily on the cycles of our planet, the sun, and
space, which can cause climate change, earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, polar shifts, tsunamis, space weather, and meteorite
impacts.
The third picture shows the social behavior of mankind and
its internal social infrastructure derived from hundreds of
thousands of years of evolution. It is a complex and non-linear
process with edifying and degenerative phases. From one perspective you could argue that our collective wisdom is higher
than ever before, even though billions of people are suffering.
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From another perspective it seems evident that our collective
wisdom is far from sufficient, if we take into account the complex society we are managing.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
By a global challenge I mean a global problem or event that
implies a systemic risk that may have major implications on
the world’s population, either directly or indirectly by reaching a tipping point. These systemic risks include most global
challenges and can be divided into five categories; economy,
environment, geopolitics, society, and technology. Some of the
current global challenges and systemic risks are:
ECONOMY
– Deflation in a major economy
– Failure of a major financial mechanism or institution
– Failure of the us dollar as world currency
– Fiscal crises in key economies
– Liquidity crises
– Oil-price shocks
– Structurally high unemployment
– Unmanageable inflation
ENVIRONMENT
– Big meteorites
– co2 increase
– Drought
– Fertilizers for agriculture
– Floods
– Fresh water scarcity
– Heatwaves
– Hurricanes
– Localized destruction of means of production
– Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse
– Marine collapse
– Multiple major earth quakes
– Nuclear disasters
– Oil spills
– Overfishing of oceans
– Pesticides for agriculture
– Polar shift
– Raising sea water levels
– Severe wildfires
– Soil depletion
– Space weather (coronal mass ejections, solar energetic
particle events, solar flares and solar radio bursts)
– Massive volcanic eruptions
– Tsunamis
GEOPOLITICS
– Global governance failure
– Increasing corruption
– Increasing organized crime
– Oil/gas embargo
– Political collapse of nation
– Terrorist bio-pathogen attacks
– Weapons of mass destruction
SOCIETY
– Animal diseases
– Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
– Food crises
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– Large-scale migration
– Pandemics
– Political and social instability
– Severe income disparity
– Unmanageable burden of chronic disease
TECHNOLOGY
– Breakdown of critical information infrastructure
– Full virtual reality
– Gene technology
– Internet attacks
– Massive data fraud/theft
– Meta-materials
– Nanotechnology
– Neuro-technology
– New energy technologies
– New weapons technologies
– Power grid failure (part of or whole continent)
– Robotics
– Super-intelligence (computer singularity)
– Swarm technology
– Synthetic biology
– Technological catastrophe (experiment)
– Wireless signals
GENERAL
– Known unknown (black swans)
tem and which should be present to a much lesser degree in a
well functioning society. Based on my rough estimates about
40-60% of gross domestic product (gdp) in rich countries can
directly or indirectly be traced to national social problems.
Social problems do not only imply huge costs but they also
include massive carbon emissions, energy waste, suffering, and
a very heavy workload. A comprehensive list can be found in
Encyclopedia of Social Problems (2008), that contains 632 articles of different social problems from more than 500 authors.
Only very few people ponder the totality of social problems
and thereby do not see the absurdity of the situation and the
system error.
SYSTEMIC RISKS
Systemic risks refer to the risks imposed by inter-linkages
and inter-dependencies in a system where the failure of a
single entity or cluster of entities can cause a cascading failure, which could potentially bring down the entire system.
System-wide collapses can occur even when individual components within the system seem robust. When evaluating systemic risks it is easy to be deceived by linear, experience-based,
or intuitive explanatory approaches. These systemic risks are
of increasing interest and include most global challenges.
World War 2 (ww2) is one example of how a major conflict
can lead to absurd results. ww2 caused more than 60 million
deaths, devastation of more than 1 700 cities, 70 000 villages,
30 000 industrial facilities, 40 000 hospitals, 84 000 schools and
many thousands of miles of railroads and roads (Wikipedia).
National social problems are identified as all social issues
affecting a country, that are a consequence of its social sys-
Systemic risks are complex because of multiple causal links,
synergism and antagonism, negative and positive feedback
loops, different delays, factor variations, etc. Uncertainty is
high due to, for example, measurement errors, statistical vari-
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NATIONAL SOCIAL PROBLEMS
ation, ignorance, and dubitation. Interpretation is subjective
and multiple ripple effects caused by political, social and economic actors can cause unpredictable consequences.
System error
When hundreds of social problems can be observed in every
country on earth, which occupy a large part of the gdp, we can
be certain that there exists a system error. No excuses or arguments can conceal this fact. It is easy to focus on subsystems like
finance, employment, migration, international governance, etc.
as system errors, because we usually define systems by how
we perceive the world. However, a global system error must
include all subsystems and be rooted in human behavior.
SHALLOW PERSPECTIVE
From a shallow perspective it is easy to find multiple causes
for global and national problems. These could be inability of
politicians and experts, lack of discernment by voters, failure
of international institutions, lobbying, fragmented and biased
media, brainwashing by commercials, etc. If you think about
it these phenomena are a natural aspect of this system error.
Some of these causes are:
POLITICAL INABILITY
Political parties act in a way to maximize voters. They promise
and implement short-term favors to those with power and those
who will vote for them at the next election. They constantly
compromise with other politicians who must satisfy other voters.
They think in fragments and give fragmentary solutions. They
claim that they lack mandate for radical changes. Often the real
power is concentrated to a small group around the party leader,
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which hinders a transparent, vivid dialogue and deep reflections.
Furthermore, politicians are usually overloaded with work.
sciously or not, in a way that would be unacceptable in a wellfunctioning society. There are many forms of disinformation
and a few are discussed below:
EXPERT’S INCAPACITY
1) Intentionally misleading information may come from industrial, financial, political or military sources. To their help they have hundreds of research organizations, think tanks, PR offices, newspapers, TV channels, internet, etc.
Experts are even more fragmented and theoretical in their
thinking than politicians since their education and research is
very focused. Their research is often financed by industry with
vested interests, and their basic education is based on antiquated
theories not relevant for a complex society in high speed development.
VOTER’S LACK OF DISCERNMENT
Everyday life for most citizens, at least in the rich parts of the
world, consists mainly of stressful work, home matters and
some free time. In media we are faced with fragmented news
reports that tell of wars, accidents, policy proposals, scandals,
etc. We seldom get the whole picture of what is going on in our
society. From this decision basis it is difficult to be wise when
voting.
STATIC INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
International institutions are populated by people from all
over the world with vested interests. Either the strongest get
their way, or the overall results are modest. Institutions with
veto rights are especially static.
2) There are about 15 000 lobbyists in Brussels, and almost as many in Washington, who try to manipulate politicians.
3) A lot of knowledge in the form of new inventions has been bought by companies and placed in safes to avoid compe-
tition, and some have been confiscated by governments, for instance on the pretext of protecting national security.
4) The major media companies on the planet are owned by a very small elite that simultaneously controls thousands of multinational corporations that they want to support.
5) Censorship in media is common practice, as is mocking of controversial ideas that do not fit into mainstream values.
6)The strategy of media is to mix important and trivial infor-
mation. People get confused and do not see the big picture.
7) Moreover, the endless supply of distractions from movies,
tv-series, social media, magazines, internet, etc., absorbs a
large part of people’s time, which ought to be used in a
better way at this critical time in history.
DISINFORMATION
COMMERCIALS
Disinformation occurs when information is managed, con-
Statistics show that several thousands of buy messages hit us
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on a daily basis. Themes like the seven deadly sins - greed,
envy, wrath, gluttony, lust, indifference and arrogance, are the
most effective ones when selling products.
FRAGMENTATION
tions, and that this civilization will likely follow the same path.
The main reason is that no civilization has really understood
the decisive importance of a conscious development of the
right kind of collective wisdom that is required to develop and
administer a planet successfully. This becomes very clear when
the complexity of society increases rapidly. Our civilization is
much more knowledge than wisdom driven.
Fragmentation means a split of information. After hundreds of
years of increasing specialization we now have more than 2500
lines of work. Since the volume of information has exploded,
each person often only has control over very limited knowledge. People think in fragments and give fragmentary solutions.
Experts and politicians are no exceptions.
STRUCTURAL DEFICIENCIES
The financial system is often blamed for many of our global
problems. Lending is created by banks, which have limited
responsibilities to balance long-term liquidity. Bubbles are likely to burst. Capital can easily move globally, and mistrust can
fast create shortage of liquidity. The financial instrument market is very complex, global and dynamic, and is characterized
by high systemic risk. National and private debt has reached
perilous levels in many countries. The formerly strong petrol
dollar is artificially maintained despite a weak United States
economy. These are only a few of many structural deficiencies.
DEEP PERSPECTIVE
When confronting all global and national problems it becomes
quite obvious that our civilization suffers from a common
malady. The global society is only a reflection of our collective wisdom. From this logic we can derive that mankind never
held enough collective wisdom to avoid collapses of civiliza24
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System solution
If the system error is lack of individual and collective wisdom,
the solution must be more adequate individual and collective
wisdom.
Collective wisdom is an amorphous phenomenon characterized by collective learning over time. It is a superior ability
to understand oneself, others, events, things, etc. and predict
behavior or events that may be used to benefit oneself but foremost others. When collective wisdom increases, systemic risks
decrease, and is simultaneously a positive driving force for
individuals, groups, nations and the planet. Thus, the more
humanity invests adequately in augmenting wisdom, the more
humanity benefits.
HUMAN ADVANCEMENT PROGRAM
The Human Advancement Program (hap) is an international
initiative to raise global collective wisdom, where Sweden is
suggested to be a pilot country of implementation. By collective wisdom I mean life experience, positive values and virtues,
knowledge, practical skills, holistic perspective, intuition and
other creative and problem solving abilities, that are decisive
for reducing global systemic risks and building a sustainable
and life-affirming planet.
hap includes all citizens, children as well as adults, and intends
to start a positive change spiral in the whole population and in
the whole complex of problems.
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The smallest scale for a successful ”upgrading” is on a national
level. Some of the reasons are that a national human advancement program must:
– Prepare and implement a new core subject in school
– Balance massive daily indoctrination by commercials
– Counteract media fragmentation and bias
– Invest heavily in virtual reality software
– Prepare and implement education of educators
– Survey and package wisdom project activities from all
around the globe
– Prepare and implement hap activities for adults
– Initiate research and cross border co-operation
– Use all media channels to mobilize citizens
Thus, it means multibillion dollar investments in research,
preparation and implementation requiring extraordinary
human resources. This is not feasible on a local level. Furthermore, there is strong power in a national mobilization. A
field-trial on a local level, without necessary resources, may
jeopardize the whole program since its feedback may very well
be negative or fairly neutral. The success of hap stands in proportion to the wisdom of preparations.
hap is designed to be applicable to all kinds of human contexts,
which means different age groups, education levels, religious
beliefs, historic origin, sexual orientation, genders, cultures, ethnicities, races, income groups, socioeconomic class, geographic
locations, disability status, nationality, social values, norms, etc.
WHY A DUPLICABLE CONCEPT
In order to reduce global systemic risks and begin a shift into
a positive global development we need a higher collective wisdom in all countries around the globe. The change process
must be fairly rapid. Even though people are different within
and between countries the same concept and tools to raise wisdom can be used everywhere, which means easier proliferation. A global concept makes it possible to invest a lot more
in advanced multilevel hap activities and hap tools, both in
terms of volume and quality. With one concept it is easy to use
feedback from other countries and to co-operate, which unites
people. By using one concept we may ensure that all countries
will access the best hap activities and wisdom augmenting processes on the planet, built on proven experience and scientific
background. With one concept we may ensure that hap is not
twisted into an indoctrination program in some countries, but
remains free from all discriminatory influences.
HAP FACTORS
Nine hap factors have been identified as especially important
to augment wisdom. To optimize growth of wisdom, emphasis
should be put on using them simultaneously in context based
hap activities involving suitable hap tools. They are synergistic in nature. These are:
hap aims at increasing the wisdom of every human whatever
conditions might prevail or whatever the starting level. It is
voluntary, nonjudgmental, process focused, reflection based,
positive, multiplex, synergistic, reality centered and interest
based. The objective is to accelerate growth of individual and
collective wisdom.
1)Positive social values and virtues
2)Ability to understand wholeness of self, others, groups,
society, nature, and systems, such as ecosystems, financial systems, technologies, production systems, judiciary sys-
tems, energy systems, etc.
3)Enhanced leadership capacity of self, others, organiza-
tions and society
4)Increased creativity and problem solving capability
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5) Critical thinking
6) Emotional references
7) Practical skills
8) Theoretical knowledge
9) Conflict resolution abilities
POSITIVE SOCIAL VALUES AND VIRTUES
Positive social values and virtues are vital because they are the
guiding principles of life. They transcend specific actions and
situations and serve as standards or criteria. Social values are
abstract and rarely conscious, and they are dynamically related
to each other and ordered by importance. Some of these social
values and virtues are:
Acceptance, accountability, appreciation, assertiveness, awe,
caring, certitude, charity, cheerfulness, cleanliness, commitment, compassion, confidence, consideration, contentment,
co-operation, courage, courtesy, creativity, decisiveness, detachment, determination, devotion, dignity, diligence, discernment,
empathy, endurance, enthusiasm, excellence, faith, faithfulness,
fidelity, flexibility, forbearance, forgiveness, fortitude, friendliness, generosity, gentleness, grace, gratitude, helpfulness, honesty, honor, hope, humanity, humility, idealism, independence,
initiative, integrity, joyfulness, justice, kindness, love, loyalty,
mercy, mindfulness, moderation, modesty, obedience, openness,
optimism, orderliness, patience, peacefulness, perceptiveness,
perseverance, purity, purposefulness, reliability, resilience,
respect, responsibility, reverence, righteousness, sacrifice, selfdiscipline, sense of beauty, serenity, service, simplicity, sincerity,
steadfastness, strength, tact, thankfulness, thoughtfulness, tolerance, trust, trustworthiness, truthfulness, understanding, unity,
wisdom, wonder, zeal.
different people around the planet, but the process of adopting
positive social values and virtues will deepen awareness into
more wisdom.
ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND WHOLENESS
Since the Cartesian area of the 17th century, information has
been more and more fragmented mostly due to specialization.
This has led to a diminished capability to understand the role
of these fragments in a bigger whole. We can see this in science, technology, economics, sociology, media, and in most
knowledge based areas. This has lead to decisions based on
incomplete data with devastating results and widespread misunderstandings and incomprehension.
To understand the wholeness of self, others, groups, society,
nature and systems, we have to make it a habit to place every
fragment into the bigger picture and clarify its roles, impacts,
consequences, interdependencies, etc.
LEADERSHIP CAPACITY
With leadership capacity I mean the ability to guide oneself, a
team, an organization, or a nation in a way that leads to clear
individual or common goals.
Every value and virtue above will be interpreted differently by
I believe there are six ways for humans to make decisions: by
instinct, subconscious beliefs, conscious beliefs, values, intuition, and inspiration (Richard Barrett). To make wise decisions we have to free ourselves from subconscious beliefs and
shift to conscious values as the basis for our decision-making.
This includes individuation, examining beliefs and letting
go of the ones that do not serve us, developing a new guidance system based on our deeply held values. As consciousness
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grows there is potentiality to shift from value-based decisionmaking to more and more intuition-based decision-making.
Inspirational leadership is individual and provides the inner
guidance needed for staying in a state of “flow”.
Ultimately, the problems of our civilization are due to lack of
wisdom and consciousness, and the crisis we face is a crisis of
wise leadership.
CREATIVITY AND PROBLEM
SOLVING CAPABILITY
Creativity is characterized by the ability to perceive things in
new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between
seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate new ideas. It
could relate to a physical product or an intangible concept, to a
literary work or to music. Creativity can apply to anything, for
example technology, communication, politics, psychology, education, philosophy, theology, sociology, business and economics.
The process of creativity and problem solving includes among
others associating, questioning, observing, reflecting, reframing, networking, and experimenting. Creativity and the launching of new ideas can be augmented by multiple techniques like
triz, the Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process, lateral thinking, Edward de Bono´s six thinking hats, brainstorming, outside-the-box thinking, games, swot analysis (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), thought experiments, the
five Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why), coaching, etc.
CRITICAL THINKING
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of
actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing,
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synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from or
generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning,
or communication, as a guide to belief and action (Michael
Scriven & Richard Paul, 1987). It is used as a way of deciding
whether a claim is true, partially true, or false. It is a tool by
which one can reach well-grounded conclusions based on a
reasoned process. The process includes:
– Recognizing problems
– Understanding importance
– Gathering and arranging relevant information
– Recognizing unstated assumptions and values
– Comprehending and use language with accuracy, clarity, and discernment
– Interpreting data, appraising evidence and evaluating
arguments
– Recognizing logical relationships between propositions
– Drawing warranted conclusions and generalizations
– Putting to the test one´s conclusions and generalizations
– Reconstructing one’s patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider experience
– Rendering accurate judgments about specific things and
qualities in everyday life (Edward M. Glaser, 1941)
EMOTIONAL REFERENCES
In order to understand other people’s feelings we have to have
our own similar emotional references derived from all that life
consists of, for example, practical experiences, books, films,
music, games and much more. These are important conditions
for empathy. Our capacity of increasing emotional references
depends on their volume and quality, and the more senses and
deeper emotional values that are involved, the more profound
impact they will have.
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PRACTICAL SKILLS
HAP TOOLS
We need practical skills to understand how things work in real
life both to be able to assist in various assignments, manage our
own life, create resilience and redundance, and to be creative
and problem solving. As with all other hap factors, context is
essential to reach wisdom.
The nine hap factors may be turned into wisdom by using
different synergistic tools in various hap activities. These can
be education, lectures, dialogue, reflection, practical experience, role play, virtual reality, social media, film, cultural
activities, TV, radio, books, articles, commercials, information
campaigns, mobile apps, fairy tales, relaxation, yoga, meditation, etc.
THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE
To comprehend the world around us, including physical
objects, concepts and ideas, our history, human interaction,
etc., we need theoretical knowledge. Of the enormous amount
of accessible information on the planet we must give higher
priority to knowledge that enhances our own abilities to act
and contribute successfully to a sustainable and life affirming
planet.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION ABILITIES
Conflict resolution can be described as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict
and retribution. Cognitive resolution is a way for disputants
to understand and view the conflict, based on beliefs and perspectives, reasoning, and attitudes. Emotional resolution
looks at the emotional energy involved and how disputants
feel about a conflict. Behavioral resolution works with the perception the disputants have of each other´s acts. Among the
conflict resolution methods we find active listening, nonviolent communication, negotiation, mediation, diplomacy, and
creative peace-building techniques. Conflict resolution techniques can be applied to a wide spectrum of situations, from
a disagreement between countries to a conflict of thoughts in
one´s own mind.
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The selection of different hap tools may depend on hap activity, resources, age, number of people and other contexts. The
most important tool for enhancing wisdom is reflection, which
should always be directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, involved in all hap activities.
HAP ACTIVITIES
In practice hap covers all kinds of activities for children and
adults that develop the nine hap factors and thereby augment
wisdom. Some of them are listed below:
CHILDREN
1) New core subject in school (HAP) including integration in all other subjects. Covers pre- school to university level. The objective is to use all nine HAP factors from pre-school but adjusting the complexity, system perspec-
tive, and context to the different age and maturity levels.
2) Games with inbuilt hap factors.
ADULTS
1) Positive social values and virtues
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2) Media guidelines
3) tv programs about hap
4) Information campaigns
5) General and occupational leadership courses
6) New educational subjects
7) Cross border collaboration
8) hap activities for the general public, such as study circles, books, magazines, articles, movies, video clips, theater, cultural activities, workshops, lectures, direct democracy practices, parent courses, community meetings, work
place programs, virtual reality training facilities, com-
puter and reality games, apps for activism/knowledge sharing/co-operation/direct voting/brain storming/in-
vesting opportunities/project groups/mass education, etc.
NEW CORE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL
The educational system of today is much more knowledge
than wisdom driven, which means that most of the nine hap
factors have a subordinate role. To change this, a new core
subject must be created that focuses on building the inner
human infrastructure necessary to augment wisdom. This
means a new pattern of thinking, reflecting, analyzing,
acting, feeling, etc. It also means a different kind of theoretical
knowledge and practical skills relevant to the local, regional,
national and world situation. The transformation of the educational system will be gradual, which means that besides a
new core subject that focuses on the inner human infrastructure and suitable hap activities, all other subjects will continuously be integrated into the same type of mental pattern. It
is not accomplished by brainwashing but by combining hap
activities, hap factors and hap tools. It is a process of slowly
increasing wisdom and insight, which can only be done at the
individual level. Forced indoctrination will not build wisdom.
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GAMES WITH INBUILT HAP FACTORS
The speedy development of computer games suits the hap
perfect. New hap software will be developed that enable children to gradually increase complexity levels. Different interests can be satisfied and simultaneously reach common goals.
Hundreds of different games create multiple perspectives, on
wisdom and knowledge. Virtual reality software will increase
in volume exponentially, which will mean a new role for the
teacher, which will be dealt with in later chapters.
POSITIVE SOCIAL VALUES AND VIRTUES
As I mentioned earlier positive social values and virtues are
vital because they are the guiding principles of life. To achieve
a higher level of these, children and adults must be faced with
the consequences of both negative and positive social values
and virtues, and incorporate these in discussions and reflections in daily life. The process is slow but unavoidable if hap
is going to succeed. An efficient way of achieving this is to use
the same channels that are used to sell products and services,
i.e. commercials in tv, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet,
advertisement pillars, etc. This contrasting activity will create a vigorous general debate and internal wisdom enhancing
process among the whole population. Social values and virtues
will also be discussed in almost all hap activities.
MEDIA GUIDELINES
In order to mobilize, inform, include and activate citizens in
local, regional, national and international issues, media must act
differently than today. Their focus, depth and long-term interest
must correspond to the questions that are crucial for a sustainable
and life-affirming society, which means that the media industry
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ought to invest in in-house wisdom augmenting activities.
TV PROGRAMS ABOUT HAP
Like private media, public service tv channels must mobilize,
inform, include and activate the population concerning the
Human Advancement Program and a transformation of society.
This may mean regular tv debates, documentaries about hap in
education/industry/welfare/earth system governance, etc.
INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS
One way of informing citizens of the Human Advancement
Program is to use mass information campaigns using tv,
mail-merge, internet, social media, apps, advertisement
pillars, etc., both on national and municipal levels.
GENERAL LEADERSHIP AND
OCCUPATIONAL COURSES
Leadership and occupational courses are perfect opportunities to
incorporate many of the nine hap factors to augment wisdom,
which is a necessary quality in a good leader. To be able to offer
leadership courses for different occupational levels, advanced
virtual reality software, distance learning, mentoring and occasional meetings would be an appropriate setup. These leadership
courses would be focused on leading self, others, organizations
and nations.
NEW EDUCATIONAL SUBJECTS
grams and build new faculties and multidisciplinary networks,
new educational subjects ought to established. They may begin
in high school and continue through university.
CROSS BORDER COLLABORATION
An important part of raising wisdom is collaboration. It augments knowledge, creates new perspectives, enhances creativity, tests conflict resolution abilities, etc. By connecting
education, research, industry and politics, powerful synergy
may emerge.
HAP ACTIVITIES FOR THE
GENERAL PUBLIC
There are many opportunities for the general public to be
involved in wisdom raising activities in addition to those mentioned above. Study circles about local, regional, national
and international issues, where small groups gather regularly,
can be an excellent way of augmenting wisdom. Reading and
pondering relevant books, magazines, articles, and watching
quality tv programs, movies, video clips, etc. are other ways.
Attending workshops, lectures, community meetings, parent
courses, cultural activities and various open air events are still
others. When we gradually increase our ability to use the nine
hap factors as a natural mental pattern, every activity becomes
a more fruitful experience. All hap products should be kept in
internet hap activity libraries, as open source software, and be
accessible to everyone for free.
VIRTUAL REALITY SOFTWARE
In order to increase research within human advancement pro-
Virtual reality (vr) means a computer-simulated environment
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that can simulate physical presence in places, in the real world
or imagined worlds, and that has the future potential to recreate all sensory experiences, including virtual taste, sight, smell,
sound, touch, gravity, temperature, pain, balance, kinesthetic
sense, etc. It can be used in simulation, interaction, full-body
immersion, telepresence, and network communication. Nearly every activity in reality can be simulated in the future vr,
which means education, enhancement of wisdom, art, games,
music, therapy, occupational training, research, product
design, urban planning, archeology, pleasure, and much more.
If properly developed vr would revolutionize education and
our society as a whole. Alas, it also holds the power to degenerate and destroy humanity.
The rapid technological development and increased complexity of society has widened the gap between existing and needed collective wisdom to a perilous level. In order to close this
gap, humanity must a) substantially shorten its general learning curve b) focus on relevant knowledge c) rapidly enhance
individual and collective wisdom and d) speedily develop new
technologies and concepts, to transform unsustainable sectors
and deal with global issues. vr has the potential to assist in all
these, but this would mean multi-billion dollar investments
world wide and would require efficient global co-operation.
CHANGED ROLE OF TEACHERS
ing complexity and evaluate progress, meaning less workload for teachers. However, dialogue and reflection between
humans will still be crucial for raising wisdom.
CONTEXT DRIVEN UPGRADE
If hap is implemented world wide there will be a human development process over many decades before humanity reaches
a fairly equalistic world. This means that during this period
the required wisdom must be extraordinarily context based to
suit the needs in different parts of Earth. However, the mental “infrastructure” of high wisdom derived from the nine hap
factors will be almost the same everywhere, even though on
different levels within and in different nations.
HAP ACTIVITIES IN PRACTICE
All hap off-the-shelf activities will be labeled with information
about their use. They could range from economical, environmental, geopolitical, societal, to technological subjects. The
example below shows a simplified version of how a children
hap activity, and its evolution, could look like. Since hap activities range from advanced virtual reality, with multilevel complexity in deep theoretical subjects, to plain outdoor activities,
there will be more or less involvement by teachers. Only creativity limits the scope of how wisdom can be enhanced.
When implementing the human advancement program in
education, the role of the teacher will change significantly.
Different kinds of off-the-shelf hap products, many including virtual reality, will be used to develop the nine hap
factors. To help enhance wisdom, the teachers could act as
mentors and facilitators of dialogue, reflection, critical thinking, etc. The more advanced vr products will automatically
lead the students through different learning processes of vary-
I believe that spending time in nature and growing plants
should be a regular activity from pre-school to university. Understanding nature from a practical and systemic perspective is crucial. For pre-school and early elementary
school children, I believe that fairy tales, dialogues about feelings, building simple things, small adventures, reading aloud,
music, artistic expression, together with virtual reality and
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computer games, will be useful. Quite early in elementary
school children ought to start dismantling commonplace technology such as toasters, mobile phones, refrigerators, drilling
machines, hairdriers, etc. to see how things work, even on a
rudimentary level, and then go on to more advanced technology as they grow older. Simultaneously, they should learn how
to build simple things, and gradually move on to more complicated devices, to enhance their practical technological capacity. It will be a mix of theory and practice where most of the
hap factors are involved. In the beginning of implementing
hap, current educational practices will be used, complemented
by the nine hap factors. As time goes by, more and more offthe-shelf hap activities will be accessible, where virtual reality will substantially shorten the learning curve in all subjects
and increase the potential for augmenting wisdom. hap activities will include many themes directly connected to the outside
world but also explicit activities to develop the internal infrastructure of leadership, creativity, critical thinking, conflict
resolution abilities, etc.
EXAMPLE OF HAP ACTIVITY INFORMATION
RECOMMENDED AGE
14-15
TITLE
To be in another’s shoes
SUMMARY
How would it feel to be a caged industrial chicken or a child
slave. What can be done?
MAIN CONCEPT
– Two short films from both situations
– Group discussions, reflections and possible actions
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TEACHER’S INPUT
1. Show films
2. Present where and why these situations exist,
implications and big picture.
3. Give students questions, for example:
a) What kind of feelings do you get when watching the
films?
b) Can you see any similarities between the films?
c) How can these situations be avoided or mitigated?
4. If suitable: visit an ecological chicken farm and/or build
a model of an ecological free-range chicken yard.
STUDENT’S INPUT
Look at films and participate in discussions, and possible practical tasks. Involve all nine HAP factors.
HAP ACTIVITY EVALUATION
SOCIAL VALUES
All students thought that both child slavery and industrial
chicken farms are wrong and unnecessary. Their words were
“unfair”, “cruel”, ”unethical”, “unacceptable”, “unnecessary”,
“thoughtless”, and “short-sighted”.
OVERALL PICTURE
Students discussed why these problems exist and how they fit
into the global production system. They understood many
of the side effects and saw the similarities between industrial chickens and child slavery. The class discussed the pros and
cons of an ecological chicken farm.
LEADERSHIP
Students decided to write a letter to the municipality telling them that they do not like industrial chickens farms, and
refuse to eat meat or eggs from these.
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CREATIVITY/PROBLEM SOLVING
TEACHER’S COMMENTS
The students designed models of chicken yards where the hen
live a “nice life”.
Choose better films next time that explain the overall situation
better. Ask more questions about the relationship between systemic risks of inferior health from poverty and large scale animal production units. More debate about the reasons for child
labor. Discuss if it might be more economical to have ecological than industrial chicken farms in a long-term perspective.
CRITICAL THINKING
The students critically analyzed the bias of the chicken film
that showed a positive picture of industrial chickens.
EMOTIONAL REFERENCES
The students seemed deeply moved by both films.
PRACTICAL SKILLS
Models of chicken yards.
THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE
Students got knowledge of two important social problems and
their implications from different perspectives.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION ABILITIES
The discussions gave some opposing views and they listened
carefully to each one.
STUDENTS SCORE OF HAP ACTIVITY (1-10)
8
GOOD: We learned something important. We acted.
BAD: The chicken film was biased. The child slavery film
did not show the owners of the company or who bought their
products. Quite a lot of information was missing.
TRANSFORMATION PROCESS
The national and global transformation process will most certainly encounter many challenges on its journey. In general, the
success of hap will be mirrored by the level of wisdom in the
preparations. This means that hap needs the wisest people on
earth to assist in the research of wisdom, in developing off-theshelf hap products, organizing necessary support, and preparing for a political process, in order to implement hap in a pilot
country.
Everyday life experiences are a part of natural human transformation. hap accelerates this process and focuses on contexts
that optimize individual wisdom, beneficial for both the individual and the local, regional, national and global community.
Developing wisdom is a very complex process including both
edifying and degenerative phases. The human mind requires
many years of conscious, iterative and gradual education, training, experiences, reflection, etc. to reach high wisdom. From a
hap factor perspective different sub-processes can be identified
in the transformation process. Some of these sub-processes are:
1. POSITIVE SOCIAL VALUES AND VIRTUES
– Understanding the meaning of various social values and virtues
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– Understanding long-term consequences of different social values and virtues
– Understanding social values and virtues in different
contexts
– Understanding how social values and virtues function in practice
– Putting social values and virtues into practice
2. ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND WHOLENESS OF SELF, OTHERS, GROUPS, SOCIETY, NATURE AND SYSTEMS
– Integrating fragmented knowledge into a greater whole
– Understanding how self, others, groups, society, nature and systems interact
– Understanding how changes in fragments can change the wholeness
– Understanding subjectivity
– Understanding context
– Understanding history
3. ENHANCED LEADERSHIP CAPACITY OF SELF, OTHERS, ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIETY
– Understanding self, others, organizations and society
– Understanding human motivation
– Understanding different modes of decision making
– Understanding body, soul, and mind
– Creating internal and external stability
– Understanding and implementing different kinds of coaching
– Understanding the effects of uncertainty
4.INCREASED CREATIVITY AND PROBLEM SOLVING CAPABILITY
– Finding hidden patterns
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– Making connections between seemingly unrelated
phenomena
– Generating new ideas
– Finding relevant facts
– Using intuition and emotions
– Being non-judgmental
– Understanding logic barriers
– Questioning
5.CRITICAL THINKING
– Recognizing problems
– Understanding importance of facts
– Gathering and arranging relevant information
– Recognizing unstated assumptions and values
– Comprehending and using language with accuracy,
clarity, and discernment
– Interpreting data, to appraise evidence and evaluate
arguments
– Recognizing the existence of logical relationships between propositions
– Drawing adequate warranted conclusions and making
relevant generalizations
– Putting to test the conclusions and generalizations at which one arrives
– Reconstructing one’s patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider experience
– Rendering accurate judgments about specific things and qualities in everyday life
6.EMOTIONAL REFERENCES
– Feeling the emotions of other humans and animals
– Understanding how other people’s emotions affect their behavior
– Understanding how my behavior affects other people
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– Understanding how other people’s behavior affects other
people
7. PRACTICAL SKILLS
– Understanding practical skills
– Exercising relevant practical skills
– Understanding implications of practical skills
– Understanding how to develop practical skills
8.THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE
– Understanding relevant theoretical knowledge
– Understanding theoretical knowledge in practical terms
– Understanding how to develop theoretical knowledge
– Understanding the history behind theoretical knowledge
– Understanding the implications of theoretical knowledge
9.CONFLICT RESOLUTION ABILITIES
– Understanding the causes of conflict
– Listening actively
– Understanding how the other views the conflict based on their belief, perspective and attitude
– Understanding the feelings of the other person
– Understanding how the other person experiences my
behavior
– Understanding and employing different resolution
techniques
result in hostile and destructive behavior, for example in a) a
fear based society b) a society with widespread shortages or c)
when individuals lack wisdom. In a well functioning society
with higher levels of wisdom, people hold life affirming values,
express themselves and act in ways that promote an environment where human needs are satisfied. When implementing
hap this goal will be gradually accomplished.
Human needs and motivational factors include a wide spectrum of physical and psychological factors such as: acceptance,
appreciation, authenticity, autonomy, beauty, belonging, celebration, freedom of choice, clarity, community, compassion,
connection, consideration, contribution, creativity, diversity,
ease, empathy, equality, expression, food, freedom, fun, harmony, health, water, humor, independence, initiative, inspiration, integration, integrity, interdependence, joy, learning,
love, meaning, mourning, mutuality, nurturance, order, peace,
exercise, play, presence, protection, purpose, privacy, respect,
rest, security, serenity, service to others, sexual expression, shelter, spiritual expression, stability, support, touch, trust, understanding, warmth, well-being.
HUMAN NEEDS
Human needs can be understood as a system, which means
that they are interrelated, interactive and complementary.
When human needs are not satisfied or unbalanced it may
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Future society
The degree of change in society will be mirrored by the collective wisdom of the population. We can expect:
(A) AN EVOLVED STATE AND WELFARE SYSTEM
A continuously increased collective wisdom will change people’s thoughts and actions concerning many areas. People will
be healthier due to diet, exercise, sleep, relaxation, drugs, etc.
This will reduce welfare costs of medicine, health care, absence
from work due to illness, non-institutional care, sickness allowance, rehabilitation, etc. People will reduce wastage of energy,
food, and consumables. Politicians will invest more in longterm sustainable infrastructure and transportation. As people
get more and more “upgraded”, administration, laws and regulations may be decreased and simplified.
(B) AN EVOLVED EARTH SYSTEM GOVERNANCE
When major countries have implemented hap for some years,
conditions for global co-operation will improve, for example
within environment, climate, food, fresh water, conflicts, justice, migration and aid. This will open up more stable and
trustworthy international agreements in various areas, and
reduce geopolitical conflicts. There will be more focus on solving regional challenges to reduce forced migration, and measures will be taken to achieve a just and equalistic world. This
will not happen in the short term but increasingly over many
decades.
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(C) AN EVOLVED EDUCATION SYSTEM
With a new core subject in school based on the nine hap factors, and their integration with all other subjects, the global
education system will be transformed. Novel teaching tools,
including advanced virtual reality will substantially shorten
the learning process and facilitate individually designed education programs. This will enhance motivation, increase creativity, raise capacity for empathy, create a positive working
environment, etc.
(D) AN EVOLVED BUSINESS AND
PRODUCTION SYSTEM
but these will not dominate people’s consciousness and everyday life.
HAP OUTCOMES
As the Human Advancement Program is implemented and
the collective wisdom increases, many things will happen in
society. They may be described in diverse ways. One way is to
depict some characteristics of human behavior that will grow
more dominant, such as:
General health will increase as well as happiness. This does not
mean that humanity will be free of setbacks or social problems,
Pro-active instead of reactive action
Co-operation instead of competition
Decreasing instead of increasing class differences
Long-sightedness instead of short-sightedness
With nature instead of against
Trust instead of mistrust
Compassion instead of indifference
Well-being instead of hardship
Health instead of ill-health
Meaningfulness instead of meaninglessness
Calmness instead of stress
Positivism instead of negativism
Love instead of hate
Holistic perspective instead of fragmented view
Trust instead of fear
Gratitude instead of ungratefulness
Peace instead of conflict
Creativity instead of unimaginativeness
Engagement instead of idleness
Non-acquisitiveness instead of overspending
Quality instead of quantity
Joy instead of sorrow
Patience instead of anger
Forgiveness instead of hate
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As people get upgraded within the nine hap factors industry
will benefit in multiple ways, for example leadership abilities,
innovation, adaptability, comprehensive view, re-education,
creativity and problem solving abilities. When a new generation hap adolescents enters the business community, their
leadership ability and wisdom will be highly advanced when it
comes to emotional intelligence, creativity, ethics and co-operation capability, which will continuously alter global research
and development, innovation, production and distribution
strategies. People will act more long-term and accelerate the
transformation into a sustainable society.
(E) INCREASED MEANINGFULNESS, HEALTH AND
HAPPINESS AMONG THE WHOLE POPULATION
As people get wiser they will realize that it is possible to transform our earth into a diamond in the Universe. This will create
a deep collective meaningfulness, which will stimulate people to
become actively engaged in various ways in developing society.
Honesty instead of deceit
Curiosity instead of indifference
Intimacy instead of lust
Generosity instead of greed
Humbleness instead of arrogance
Security instead of insecurity
Gratification instead of dissatisfaction
Politeness instead of rudeness
Integrity instead of hypocrisy
Self-esteem instead of shame
Openness instead of secrecy
Friendship instead of hostility
Goodness instead of malevolence
Laws and administration
Military
Production systems
Transportation
CHANGES WITHIN FIFTY YEARS
Within half a century our society will most certainly look
very different from today. When people talk about the following areas in about fifty years they will most certainly compare
them in the same way as we do when we look back 100-150
years. The main drivers will be an exponential development
of technology and science in combination with scarce natural
resources, environmental concern and increased collective wisdom. Areas with extraordinary changes will most certainly be:
Agriculture and food consumption
Building techniques
Corporate enterprising
Education systems
Energy sources and distribution
Engineering materials
Financial systems
Geriatric nursing
Health and medical treatments
Infrastructure
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Scientific support
When proposing a global human advancement program leading to trillion dollar investments world wide, and implications
for all humanity and the planet, it is decisive to gather and
evaluate existing research that may support, contradict or have
implications for the Human Advancement Program. At the
same time one must be aware that global human advancement
programs are a new phenomenon and that only parts of the
necessary support can be found in science. The following areas
have been identified as especially important to investigate:
1.Global systemic risks
2.National social problems
3.Global system error
4.Definition of collective and individual wisdom
5.Wisdom literature
6.Importance of global collective wisdom
7.Importance of proposed hap factors
8.Results from wisdom advancing activities around the globe
9.Potential for national human advancement programs
GLOBAL SYSTEMIC RISKS
Many universities, global institutions, governments, and corporations around the planet, are involved in global systemic
risk projects and research. Without doubt systemic risks have
become a high priority issue during recent years and the scientific community has a frontline position. A small selection
of universities and institutions working with systemic risks are
listed below.
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1. Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
(http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/)
12. Prevention web, unisdr
(http://www.preventionweb.net/)
2. Future of Humanity Institute, fhi, University of Oxford (http://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/)
13. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
(iia-sa) (http://www.iiasa.ac.at/)
3. The Cambridge Risk Framework Project
(http://cambridgeriskframework.com/)
4. The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk
(http://cser.org/)
5. Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction (irdr)
(https://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/)
6. Global Risks 2014, World Economic Forum
(http://www.weforum.org/)
7. Global Systemic Risk Project, Princeton Institute for Inter
national and Regional Studies (piirs), Princeton University (http://www.princeton.edu/)
8. Systemic Risks-Systemic Solutions, Eidgenössische
Technische Hochschule eth Zurich
(http://www.riskcenter.ethz.ch/)
9. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction unisdr (http://www.unisdr.org/)
10. Africa-Asia drought risk management peer assistance
network (http://www.undp.org)
11. World risk report 2014 (wrr), United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security (unu-ehs)
(http://www.worldriskreport.com/)
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NATIONAL SOCIAL PROBLEMS
There are hundreds of universities, institutions, governments,
etc. on the planet that are involved in researching social problems. Most subjects within humanities are relevant, as for
example anthropology, sociology, sociobiology, neuropsychology, bioeconomics, genetics, political science, psychology, philosophy, religion, history, law, and many more. Moreover, all
credible national and international statistical databases provide significant input into the research of social problems.
A broad picture of social problems can be found in Encyclopedia of Social Problems (2008) with 632 articles on different
social problems. More than 500 contributors from 18 countries
have participated in the book (see Appendices). What people
define as social problems may differ as may their standpoint,
but there is solid scientific backing for their existence. However,
there are relatively few examples of how the scientific community handles social problems as an aggregate complex of problems.
GLOBAL SYSTEM ERROR
Scientific material pointing to some type of “global system
error” as responsible for global systemic risks and national
social problems are hard to find. Search strings on Google like
“global systemic error”, “global system failure”, or “earth system error” do not give any significant results. This indicates
that the scientific community has not yet started to think in
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these terms or perhaps describes it in other ways.
DEFINITION OF COLLECTIVE
AND INDIVIDUAL WISDOM
Collective wisdom is usually defined as shared knowledge
arrived at by individuals, groups, organizations and society
(Wikipedia). Dr. B. Legesse argues that “wisdom represents
a demonstrated superior ability to understand the nature and
behavior of things, people, or events”. He states “this results in an
increased ability to predict behavior or events which then may be
used to benefit self or others”. He furthermore adds “there is more
often a desire to share the accrued benefits with a larger group
for the purpose of promoting survival, cohesion, or well-being of
that group. The benefits do not result from malicious or antisocial
intents or inequitable behavior”.
Collective wisdom has been discussed for millenia in, for
example, The Torah, The Bible, The Koran, the works of Plato, Confucius, Buddha, The Bhagavad Gita, and the many
myths and legends from all cultures. Today collective wisdom is becoming a cutting edge research area, partly because
knowledge-based decision-making cannot solve global problems. It is only in recent years that research into the human
quality of wisdom has increased substantially. Wisdom is difficult to conceive, expensive and time-consuming to study, and
there is still no generally agreed upon definition of the concept. Up to now different researchers have defined wisdom
according to their academic orientation or work focus. Some of
the main contributors are, for example, Labouvie-Vief, 1990;
Sternberg, 2004; Baltes & Staudinger, 2000; Ardelt, 2003.
According to Sternberg wisdom is likely to require the following steps:
1. Recognizing that there is an event to which to react
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2. Defining the event as having an ethical dimension
3. Deciding that the ethical dimension is significant
4. Taking responsibility for generating an ethical solution to the problem
5. Figuring out what abstract ethical rule(s) might apply to the problem
6. Deciding how these abstract ethical rules actually apply to the problem so as to suggest a concrete solution
7. Enacting the ethical solution, meanwhile possibly coun-
teracting contextual forces that might lead one not to act in an ethical manner
8. Dealing with possible repercussions of having acted in what one considers an ethical manner
Wisdom criteria according to Berlin Wisdom Paradigm (bwp)
are based on:
1. Rich factual knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life
2. Rich procedural knowledge in the fundamental prag-
matics of life
3. Lifespan contextualism, i.e. consideration of the histori-
cal and social context of development
4. Value relativism, i.e. acknowledgement and tolerance for value differences
5. Awareness and management of the uncertainty and limitation inherent in the human condition (Baltes & Staudinger, 2000)
For the highest levels of wisdom-related knowledge to develop, it was found that a complex coalition of enhancing factors
must coalesce. Further research using the bwp found that personality-related factors such as openness, creativity, or a judicial cognitive style were more predictive of wisdom-related
knowledge than intelligence was (Staudinger, Lopez, & Baltes,
1997, cited in Baltes & Kunzmann, 2003).
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Ardelt has developed the Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale
(3d-ws), comprised of 14 cognitive, 12 reflective, and 13 affective items. Ardelt proposed a three dimension view where wisdom is defined as a personal quality that reflects an integration
of cognitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics, each of which must be present for a person to be considered ‘wise’ (Ardelt, 2003). The three dimension view is more
consistent with Eastern philosophical and religious traditions
that regard wisdom as the integration of mind and virtue at the
personal level of the sage (Ardelt, 2004).
One example of wisdom that Ardelt mentions is “when Jesus was
asked what should be done to the woman who committed adultery
he said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone
at her” [John 8:7]. This reply took into account the perspective of
the law that required adulterers be stoned, the desire of the people
to punish a woman who had committed a crime, a test of the lawobedience of the prophet who proclaimed a philosophy of love and
forgiveness, and the anguish and fear of the woman who had broken
the law. Jesus’ answer revealed not only knowledge of the whole situation but also love and compassion for the accused woman as well as
for her accusers. He did not criticize the people for their behavior but
helped them to perceive the event from a different perspective, thereby allowing them to grow through the experience”. (Ardelt, 2004).
Ardelt argues that “the Berlin group’s current definition, operationalization, and measurement of wisdom might be unable to
distinguish between intellectual or expert knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life and wisdom itself ”. Ardelt argues
that her model is as much a theoretical construct as the Berlin
model, with the exception that it combines both implicit and
explicit theories of wisdom and focuses on an ideal type of wise
person rather than the ideal type of wisdom-related knowledge.
79-item Wisdom Development Scale, in the form of a Likerttype questionnaire. Wink & Helson tested both practical and
transcendent wisdom, defining the latter as transcending ego
boundaries. A number of other qualitative studies have been
performed by Ahmadi, Levitt, Barber Montgomery & McKee,
Yang and Kevin Rathunde.
According to Richard Hawley there have been no studies on
effective cultivation of wisdom in empirical psychology, other
than for some short-term strategies. Sternberg proposed teaching for wisdom derived from his own balance theory, which
focuses on dialogue and reflection. Positive coping with difficulties and loss has been suggested as contributing to the development of wisdom. Monika Ardelt favors cognition, reflection,
and compassion for developing wisdom.
Today there is no clear distinction between a secular, dianoetic, phronetic, practical wisdom, and a spiritual, noetic,
sophian, transcendent model of wisdom.
In the article Expert Consensus on Characteristics of Wisdom
(2010) by Jeste, Ardelt, Blazer, Kraemer, Vaillant, Meeks, most
experts agreed on many of the suggested characteristics of wisdom—that is, it is uniquely human; a form of advanced cognitive and emotional development that is experience driven;
and a personal quality, albeit a rare one, which can be learned,
increases with age, can be measured, and is not likely to be
enhanced by taking medication.
Galileo Galilei said “You cannot teach people anything. You can
only help them discover it within themselves”.
Examples of other measurements are a 40-item Likert-type
questionnaire, by Jeffrey Webster. Scott Brown created a
Lombardo (2010) argues that wisdom is “ dynamic, open-ended,
and growing”, “a synthesis of both belief and doubt; it is humble and receptive to transformation and further enlightenment”,
“both a cognitive state and an emotional-motivational state”, “
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involves understanding but also a desire to seek out and know”,
“a curiosity, a sense of wonder and fascination in the face of existence”, “ dimension of compassion-of emotional resonance with
others and their well being as well as suffering”, “unites heart and
mind”, “broadest sense to include multiple modes of knowledge
and experience”, “ from the logical to the intuitive and the scientific to the mystical”, “expansive and integrative”, “reaches out
toward a global, ecological, and cosmic perspective on reality”,
“expansive in space and time”, “ informs judgment and action,
identifies value and meaning in the world”, “ it is not simply factual or theoretical knowledge, it is practical knowledge”, “capacity
to apply knowledge to concrete and personal challenges and problems of human life”, “Wisdom is knowledge in action, toward the
“good” both for oneself and others (including the world at large)”,
“ founded upon ethical judgment, decision making, and action”,
“needs to be a desire (or motivation) to realize the good in life”,
“strives toward the realization of value, human well-being, and
the good in both practical judgments and actions”, “In summary,
wisdom is a holistic capacity”.
I believe that a definition of individual and collective wisdom
must be very broad and congruent with different contexts.
Wisdom is part of everything we think, say and do, and is truly
holistic in nature. My definition of wisdom is the ability to predict, understand and respond to an event in an ethical way that
is long-term and beneficial for all involved.
WISDOM LITERATURE
There is a lot of literature, articles and even dissertations that
deals exclusively with wisdom, and when including material that partly and indirectly discusses the subject, the list is
almost endless. In one way or another almost all literature deals
with aspects of wisdom. For more information see Appendices.
IMPORTANCE OF GLOBAL
COLLECTIVE WISDOM
One way of describing the importance of collective wisdom is
by quoting others.
“At present, humanity has vast
amounts of knowledge but still very
little wisdom. Buckminster Fuller
called this time our “final evolutionary
exam.” Is our species fit to survive?
Can we develop the wisdom that will
allow us to use our prodigious powers
for our own good and for the good of
many generations to come?”
– Peter Russell
”Human existence will never change
until we realize that wisdom offers
the best way to live, because reconnecting with inner awareness is the
key to every other transformation that
is necessary – indeed, to every other
transformation that is possible”
– Deepak Chopra, 2014
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“All these global problems have arisen
because some of us have acquired
unprecedented powers to act without
acquiring the capacity to act wisely.
We urgently need to bring about a
revolution in universities so that the
basic intellectual aim becomes, not
knowledge merely, but rather wisdom
– wisdom being the capacity to realize what is of value in life, for oneself
and others, thus including knowledge
and technological know-how, but
much else besides”
– Nick Maxwell, 2013
“At a time when the threat of total
annihilation no longer seems to be
an abstract possibility but the most
imminent and real potentiality, it
becomes all the more imperative
to try again and again to foster and
nurture those forms of communal
life in which dialogue, conversation,
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phronesis, practical discourse and
judgment are concretely embodied in
our everyday practices”
– Richard Bernstein, 1983
“We will become either a wisdombased society, a footnote in the
history books of some future culture,
or worse yet, a totally forgotten failed
experiment on a dead planet”
– Copthorne Macdonald, 2001
“We are replete with smart people
and agencies working in unwise
ways and directions”
– Robert Sternberg, 2004
“At times of challenge and
uncertainty, nothing seems more
important than wisdom”
– Stephen Hall, 2010
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“The venerated virtue of wisdom,
revitalized and informed by contemporary research and theory, provides
an inspiring central ideal for both
higher education and futurist visions
of a collective “New Enlightenment”
– Tom Lombardo, 2010
“One of the great challenges of our
time will be how to reform education
and media in order to create wiser
societies. Education can potentially
help people to make a good living and
also to make a wise life. Media can
not only entertain, but must
also uplift”
– Roger Walsh, 2014
Quote from a study by Wisdom Research Network of the University of Chicago named Wisdom, management and organization (2014):
“Wisdom has enjoyed an inverted
history; while it seemed to have been
pre-eminent in ancient thought, it
has, as civilization has ‘progressed’,
slipped away from the collective
consciousness and been replaced
by more technical concerns with
objectivities, control, prediction
and outcomes. Recently, however,
perhaps in the wake of repeated warnings about the limits of experts and
their expertise, coupled to our continuing experience of social, economic
and environmental uncertainties and
upheavals, wisdom has begun to
enjoy a revival as a subject of scholarly
concern, at least in management and
organization studies”
– Ulrich Beck, 2009
Wisdom Research at the University of Chicago is a unique
project consisting of six research initiatives that explore big
questions in the fields that have the greatest potential of influencing research, education, policy and professions.
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As stated by Rooney and McKenna (2008) in their plea for
multi-method research designs: “Researchers involved in wisdom
research must get their hands dirty in the field, standing shoulder to shoulder with practitioners, and they must do their research
as wise research practitioners who are able to operationalize their
imaginations, emotions, ethical sensitivities, and logics simultaneously to produce excellent research that can be transformational”.
the individual potential of each hap factor to create wisdom, the other, which is believed even more important, is
the synergy effect of using them together in various hap
activities. A few of the hap factors are usually included in
existing educational activities, but there is no known scientific compilation of them and few discussions on their synergistic effects. This may be an effect of my limited survey.
From Wisdom as Orchestration of Mind and Virtue, Baltes
(2004) In sum: “Research on subjective beliefs about wisdom and
wise persons has provided us with empirical findings that demonstrate that the wisdom construct has a place in everyday reality
and the minds of most people, In everyday life, wisdom is not utopian, but down to earth. In a way, these data show that the historical Aristotelian endeavor, of taking wisdom from heaven to earth,
has taken a further step. Wisdom has become part of the lives of
everyday people. At the same time, the research is in its infancy.
The territory is far from being identified. This applies especially
to the role of wisdom and wise persons in producing the kind of
behavior that wisdom is intended to signify: the goals (ends) and
means (ways) of becoming and being wise, of being excellent at living a good and meaningful life.”
Thus, even if it is difficult to claim scientific evidence for their
importance, I draw the conclusion from the general literature
on the subject, that the nine hap factors are important. Obviously, it is even more important what each item means in practice. Maybe the list should be expanded, but most probably not
shortened.
RESULTS FROM WISDOM ADVANCING
ACTIVITIES AROUND THE GLOBE
IMPORTANCE OF PROPOSED
HAP FACTORS
All education systems on the planet use one or more hap factors simultaneously. What hap aims at is activities that truly give the wisdom needed for managing individual lives and
our planet successfully. By using all hap factors concurrently
in every learning situation, the wisdom effect is maximized.
Since there are hundreds of thousands of different education
“activities” going on every day on earth, it is impossible to value them individually, even if some of them stand out as more
visionary. Many of those initiatives show very good results,
especially in some areas, but I have found that none of these
have been designed in the same way as hap. Thus, there are
ample possibilities to use existing education activities with
some adjustments, but there is still much work to be done in
developing new ones.
When analyzing the nine hap factors from a scientific point
of view there are two vital perspectives. The first concerns
One example on how difficult it is to shape wisdom comes from
R.J. Sternberg (Morality, Ethics, and Gifted Minds, 2009).
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It seems evident that an unconscious knowledge-driven society is no longer possible when complexity and systemic risks are
increasing rapidly. It will require a conscious wisdom-driven
transformation to a sustainable and life-affirming society. Some
prominent academics convey this message as shown above, but
they still seem to be a minority in the scientific community.
After several months of education in ethical leadership, Sternberg happened to tell his students about him being able to get
double reimbursement for travel costs from an external lecture event. This was not true! Sternberg said that he thought he
was entitled to this as he had worked very hard. Despite several
months of ethical education none of the students raised their
voice. This experience reminds us of how hard it is to translate
theories of ethics, and even case studies, into one’s own practice.
POTENTIAL FOR NATIONAL HUMAN
ADVANCEMENT PROGRAMS
f)Due to the accelerating complexity of society and techno-
logical threats, it has become more and more obvious that “business as usual” is no longer viable
g)Global institutions do not make much progress despite will and hard efforts
h)A slowly advancing insight that humanity suffers from a system error
All these indications and very well planned preparations may
open a window of opportunity for hap to materialize.
No explicit scientific support for national human advancement programs can be found, and none similar to hap has so
far been implemented on a national scale. However, there are a
number of elements that point to a growing potential, namely:
a)Many universities are researching systemic risks and com-
municate the severe situation, but have modest recom-
mendations to offer
b) There are hundreds of good examples of wisdom enhanc-
ing education activities worldwide that indicate a growing awareness
c)Wisdom as a research and management subject is experi-
encing a renaissance
d)Governments stand almost paralyzed without knowing
how to proceed in solving global and national social problems, and therefore search for remedies
e)An increasing number of faculty members try to empha-
size the need of a shift from an unconscious knowledge-
driven to a consciously wisdom-driven society
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Political process
hap is an international initiative with the goal to activate all
countries on earth, beginning with Sweden as a pilot country.
Not by force, but by showing the outstanding advantages it
may bring. Our civilization is experiencing a uniquely rapid
development phase, where our collective wisdom must keep
pace with the complexity of society.
In order to begin the hap in Sweden there are a number of steps
to be taken. The main phases will be a) establishment of hap
international, hap sweden and necessary preparations
before approaching the Swedish Parliament b) approval of hap
and pre-implementation work c) implementation.
Taking into account the overall situation in the Swedish Parliament, a very strong support will be required from the global scientific community, major organizations, power elite, charismatic
people and the citizens, to get the hap through Parliament. The
politicians must be intelligently pushed and pulled to first agree
to investigate hap and then approve it. It will take convincing
scientific backing, an international urge, a sensible and viable
design and a critical amount of international and national opinion to make it happen.
WHY SWEDEN AS A PILOT COUNTRY?
Sweden has been selected as a pilot country for implementing
the Human Advancement Program for the following reasons:
1. Stable economy
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2. Relatively high and even education level
3. Many and complex social problems that are statistically proven
4. Small country
5. Former role model in several areas
6. Politically stable
7. Minor degree of corruption
8. Fairly high global awareness
9. High and even use of information technology
This does not mean that Sweden is a perfect candidate. Why
would a country that is considered to be one of the most developed on earth want to start a human advancement program?
Some of the pros and cons may be:
Pros:
+ If you already are among the most developed nations you know how important it is to stay in the frontline with all the benefits that follow
+ Even if Sweden is relatively privileged in many ways, a
major part of the population realizes that “business as usual” is no longer feasible for any country on earth
+ Despite being a rich country Sweden struggles with many serious social problems that affect almost all citizens direct-
ly or indirectly, which create an urge for change
Cons:
- Swedes, like many other nationalities, are in general complacent and fairly indifferent
- The Swedish political system has reached a stage when few radical changes are implemented despite obvious needs
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HAP INTERNATIONAL
hap international will be the hub for the coming pilot and
global implementations. The most effective way of establishing hap international is to plant the idea in a trustworthy
university with competence in global issues and systemic risks.
By doing this hap international will get:
1.Best possible conditions for a proper and viable design
2.Excellent prerequisites for necessary research projects
3.Strong potential to attract other universities and institu-
tions to get involved in hap
4.Good possibilities to attract working capital to hap
5.Favorable position when building support networks
6.Great opportunities to spread hap in the international community
Exactly how hap international will be organized will
depend on the interested university, but it seems probable that
there will be a kind of step up process with an independent
international institution created later on.
In the long run hap international will be responsible for:
1.Promoting and assisting in the spreading of hap to other countries
2.Creating an international hap hub including documenta-
tion, feedback, exchange of hap activities, co-operation,
forums, assistance, etc.
3.Continued coordination and collection of research
within the area
4.Measuring and circulating various statistics related to hap
5.Initiating, stimulating and coordinating development of
various hap virtual reality software
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HAP SWEDEN
Since Sweden will be a pilot country without reference to an
earlier implementation of a human advancement program, it is
necessary to build a stable support network, before approaching the Parliament. hap sweden would have the following
mission:
1.Together with hap international adapt the material and preparations of hap to Swedish conditions
2.Complement the international support group with a
national ditto
3.Propel the opinion building in favor of hap
4.Together with hap international prepare for a hap
presentation to the Swedish Parliament
Who will constitute hap Sweden is unknown, but most
certainly there will be representation from the scientific community, major organizations, industry, and the power elite.
PREPARATION
One way of building up the international organization, step
by step, would be to first establish a multidisciplinary team at
a suitable university, and initiate necessary preparatory work
covering different parts of the hap, such as a) the overall global situation including systemic risks and social problems b)
discussion and analysis of the stated system error c) review
of literature and articles within the wisdom area to verify the
scientific support for a wisdom driven society and a possible
system solution d) study of the proposed hap and its pros and
cons including the possibilities to realize the hap.
After having compiled the material, made necessary adjustments, discussed its viability and taken a decision to support
hap it might be appropriate to write one or more scientific arti78
cles. When these are reviewed and published, the right thing to
do would be to contact other universities to present the findings
and the Human Advancement Program. Some universities and
institutions will show interest in collaborating, thereby starting more research, which will result in more articles. At some
point it will be adequate to establish an international institution with participants from, for example, universities, industry,
power centers, churches and other major organizations that truly support the initiative. Together they have the potential to a)
attract required working capital b) survey existing high quality wisdom-based education projects c) initiate preparatory r&d
projects around new virtual reality software d) develop a more
detailed design of hap and e) commence building conditions
for international formation of opinion.
At a point when there is enough international momentum and
support for hap, the full support group will be formed including hundreds of experts, universities, organizations, corporations, power centers, charismatic people and finally a grassroot
movement will evolve. Simultaneously, hap sweden will be
established with Swedish participants from universities, organizations, power centers, churches, etc., which will constitute a
national support group. hap international and hap sweden
will prepare and give presentations to the Swedish Parliament
and various meetings with goverment agencies. When the Parliament approves an investigation into the Human Advancement Program, hap international will assist in this work.
Hopefully, this will end with a decision to implement hap in
Sweden. If not, another country will be approached.
PRE-IMPLEMENTATION
When the Parliament has approved hap, a pre-implementation
phase starts that will create the necessary setup for full implementation. This will probably include forming a new govern79
mental institution responsible for hap that will plan, initiate,
coordinate, monitor, manage, and measure the implementation process. They will co-operate with hap international
and their network. Their work will include for example:
1) Adapting the original hap design to Swedish conditions
2) Planning and preparing the sub-processes for all hap
activities and hap tools
3) Initiating development of new material and software for hub, virtual reality activities, apps, games, etc.
4) Planning all activities to educate educators
5) Leading necessary change of the judiciary system
6) Planning the establishment of a new core subject in school
7) Coordinating all activities with related ministries,
authorities, and municipalities
8) Planning and executing mass information campaigns using multiple media channels and opinion polls
9) Starting a collaboration with all big media companies in
Sweden to align them with hap
10) Designing a plan to enroll unemployed and senior
citizens to participate in hap
11) Initiating a specially designed hap for the government, to raise wisdom in ditto
12) Designing incentive plans for industry to engage in hap
IMPLEMENTATION
When the opinion polls show satisfactory results, implementation of hap begins. This means (see also Chapter “hap Activities”):
YEAR 1 – These activities start earlier to facilitate activities in
consultants, leaders, politicians, journalists, etc.
2)Launching of balancing program of advertising
3) Showing regular tv programs about hap
4)Continuing mass information campaigns
5) Convincing media to align with hap
YEAR 2
6) Introducing new core subject in elementary and second-
ary school
7) Starting face-to-face and virtual reality hap activities for everybody within categories such as the environment, economy, geopolitics, society, technology, etc.
8) Starting face-to-face and virtual reality long-term lead-
ership courses for leaders, occupational groups, politi-
cians, etc.
9) Supporting study circles, lectures, workshops, parental courses, community meetings, and a lot of other general public hap activities
10)Introducing computer games with hap themes
11)Initiating and supporting cultural activities
YEAR 3
12) Implementing a direct democratic system
In the third year it is considered adequate to launch direct
democracy, since hap then is supposed to have generated a
slight increase in collective wisdom. hap methodology will be
integrated in direct democracy to assist in wise decision making. All systemic risks and social problems may be on the agenda to be discussed and voted on. Naturally, collective decisions
will increase in wisdom as years pass by. Most of the hap activities above will continue for many decades and probably forever.
year 2, but continue thereafter:
1) Education and training of “educators”, i.e. teachers,
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INTERNATIONAL DIFFUSION
Before, during, or after successful implementation of hap in
Sweden, other countries will show interest. hap international
will assist these nations, in the best possible way, in preparations, pre-implementation, and implementation of the Human
Advancement Program.
CONCLUSIONS
Humanity has reached a critical point in history where it either
destroys its civilization and perhaps the planet, or embarks
on a journey towards increased wisdom. It is not a question
whether it is possible to implement it or not, but if humanity is
collectively mature to make this decision.
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Appendices
SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Found in Encyclopedia of social problems (2008).
AGING AND THE LIFE COURSE
Activity Theory, Ageism, Anomie, Baby Boomers, Dependency
Ratio, Disengagement Theory, Elderly Socioeconomic Status,
Life Course, Graying of Population, Pensions and Social Security, Retirement, Sandwich Generation, Stereotyping, Age
Stratification, Stressors, Suicide, Widowhood
COMMUNITY, CULTURE, AND CHANGE
Communitarianism, Community, Cults, Cultural Capital,
Cultural Diffusion, Cultural Imperialism, Cultural Lag, Cultural Relativism, Cultural Values, Culture of Dependency,
Culture of Poverty, Culture Shock. Culture Wars, Cyberspace,
Digital Divide, Faith-Based Social Initiatives, Focus Groups,
Fundamentalism, Gambling, Gangsta Rap, Institutional Ethnography, Islam and Modernity, Latent Functions, Manifest
Functions, Mass Media, Media, Norms, Obscenity, Prestige,
Privacy, Role Conflict, Role Strain, Secularization, Social
Change, Social Conflict, Social Disorganization, Social Institutions, Social Mobility, Social Networks, Subcultures, Values
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85
CRIME AND DEVIANCE
Child Sexual Abuse, Elderly Abuse, Intimate Partner Abuse,
Sibling Abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Arson, Assault, Binge
Drinking, Bullying, Capital Punishment, Child Abduction,
Community Corrections, Community Crime Control, Community Service, Corporate Crime, Corruption, Crime, Crime,
Fear of Crime Rates, Crime Waves, Cultural Criminology, Decriminalization, Deviance, Differential Association,
Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Crime Drug Abuse, Prescription Drug Abuse, Narcotics, Sports Drug Abuse, Drunk
Driving, Eating Disorders, Entrapment, Environmental
Crime, Environmental Justice, Ethnic Cleansing, Extramarital Sex, Felony, Female, Genital Cutting, Gangs, Genocide,
Gun Control, Hate Crimes, Hate Groups, Hate Speech,
Holocaust, Human Trafficking, Identity Theft, Illegitimate
Opportunity Structures, Societal Incarceration, Incest, Innocence Project, Judicial Discretion, Justice, Juvenile Delinquency, Effects of Juvenile Institutionalization, Juvenile Justice
System, Labor Racketeering, Lynching, Mass Murder, Misdemeanor, Murder, Neighborhood Watch, Obscenity, Organized Crime, Parole PATRIOT Act, Pedophilia, Intellectual
Property Piracy, Plagiarism, Plea Bargaining, Police, Police
Stress, Community Policing, Strategic Policing, Pornography,
Child Pornography, Pornography and the Internet, Prison,
Prison-Convict Criminology, Prisons-Gangs, Prisons-Overcrowding, Prisons-Pregnancy and Parenting, Prisons-Privatization, Prisons-Riots, Prisons-Violence, Probation, Property
Crime, Prostitution, Child Prostitution, Psychopath, Racial
Profiling, Rape, Acquaintance or Date Rape, Marital Rape,
Statutory Rape, Reasonable Suspicion, Recidivism, Restorative Justice, Riots, Road Rage, School Violence, Sentencing Disparities, Serial Murder, Sex Trafficking, Shoplifting,
Sociopath, Stalking, State Crimes, Status Offenses, Subculture of Violence Hypothesis, Sweatshop, Terrorism, Counterterrorism Approaches, Terrorism, Domestic Spying, Theft,
86
Three Strikes Laws, Torture, Total Institution, Twelve-Step
Programs, Uniform Crime Report, Victimization, Victimless Crimes, Victim–Offender Mediation Model, Vigilantism, Violence, Collective Violence, Sexual Violence, Violent
Crime, War Crimes, Zero-Tolerance Policies.
ECONOMICS AND WORK
Alienation, Anomie, Anti-Globalization Movement, Automation, Business Bankruptcy, Personal Bankruptcy, Budget
Deficits, U.S., Bureaucracy, Burnout, Capital Flight, Conglomerates, Conspicuous Consumption, Contingent Work,
Corporate State, Culture of Dependency, Culture of Poverty,
Current Account Deficit, Debt Service, Deindustrialization,
Dependency Ratio, Deregulation, Downsizing, Economic
Development, Economic Restructuring, Evaluation Research,
Gini Coefficient, Global Economy, Globalization, Income
Disparity, Inflation, Intergenerational Mobility, Interlocking
Directorates, Job Satisfaction, Child Labor, Division of Labor,
Labor Force Participation Rate, Labor Market, Labor Movement, Labor Sectors, Labor Unions, Economic Literacy, Living Wage, Megamergers, Military-Industrial Complex, Mixed
Economy, Mommy Track, Monopolies, Multinational Corporations, Occupational Safety and Health, Oligarchy, Oligopoly, Outsourcing, Pensions and Social Security, Pink-Collar
Occupations, Postindustrialism, Scientific Management, Second Shift, Occupational Segregation, Service Economy, Skills
Mismatch, Social Capital, Socialism, Split Labor Market,
Sweatshop, Taylorism, Trickle-Down Economics, Underclass
Debate, Underemployment, Underground Economy, Unemployment, Wage Gap, U.S. Consumer Wealth, Wealth Disparities, World-Systems Analysis.
87
EDUCATION
Ability Grouping, Academic Standards, Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity, Disorder, Basic Skills Testing, Bilingual Education, Brown v. Board of Education, Bullying, Charter Schools,
Class, Digital Divide, Disability and Disabled, Academic Education, Performance, Education-Inner-City Schools, Education-Policy and Politics, Education-School Privatization,
Education-Silencing, Education-Special Needs, Children,
Educational Equity, English as a Second Language, Evaluation
Research, Grade Inflation, Hidden Curriculum. Illiteracy,-Adult
in Developed Nations, IQ Testing, Labeling Theory, Learning
Disorders, Life Chances, Adult Literacy, Magnet Schools, Minimum Competency Test, Nature–Nurture Debate, No Child
Left Behind Act, Oppositional Culture Theory, Plagiarism,
Redistricting, School Districts, School Dropouts, School Funding, School Prayer, School Segregation, School Violence, School
Vouchers, De Facto Segregation, Sex Education, Social Promotions, Standardized Testing, Stereotyping.
FAMILY
Adoption, Adoption-Gay and Lesbian, Adoption-Transracial,
Bisexuality, Body Image, Boomerang Generation, Child Care
Safety, Child Neglect, Cohabitation, Comparable Worth,
Divorce, Domestic Partnerships, Domestic Violence, DualIncome Families, Extramarital Sex, Family, Family Leave Act,
Family Reunification, Family-Blended, Family-Dysfunctional, Family-Extended, Family-Nuclear, Fathers’ Rights Movement, Feminism, Feminist Theory, Feminization of Poverty,
Foster Care, Aging Out Foster Children, Gender Identity and
Socialization, Gender Inequality and Sexual Orientation,
Gini Coefficient, Glass Ceiling, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Hostile Environment, Income Disparity, Inequality, Intermarriage, Missing Children, Mommy Track, Premarital Sex,
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Runaways, Same-Sex Marriage, Sandwich Generation, Second
Shift, Gender Segregation, Single Mothers, Standpoint Theory, Gender Stratification, Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting,
Transgender and Transsexuality, Transition Living, Transnational Families, Wage Gap, Women’s Rights Movement.
HEALTH
Automobile Accidents, Alcoholism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Bioethics, Chronic Diseases, Codependency, Dementia, Deinstitutionalization, Disability and Disabled,
Eating Disorders, Management of Epidemics, Eugenics,
Euthanasia, Famine, Genetic Engineering, Genetic Theories,
Genetically Altered Foods, Health Care-Access, Health CareCosts, Health Care-Ideological Barriers to Change, Health
Care-Insurance, Hospices, Learning Disorders, Life Expectancy, Managed Care, Medicaid, Medical-Industrial Complex, Medicalization, Medical Malpractice, Medicare, Mental
Depression, Mental Health, Neuroses, Nursing Home Care,
Obesity, Pandemics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Psychopath, Psychoses, Secondhand Smoke, Sexually, Transmitted
Diseases, Smoking, Socialized Medicine, Sociopath, Stressors,
Suicide, Total Institution, Twelve-Step Programs, Vegetarian
Movement.
HOUSING AND URBANIZATION
Capital Flight, Economic Restructuring, Edge Cities, Gentrification, Housing, Inner City, Inner-Ring Suburb, InvasionSuccession, Mass Transit, Megacities, Megalopolis, Political
Fragmentation, Postindustrialism, Segregation, Residential,
Service Economy, Traffic Congestion, Urban Decline, Urban
Infrastructure, Urbanization, Urban Renewal, Urban Sprawl,
Urban Underclass, White Flight.
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POLITICS, POWER, AND WAR
POVERTY AND SOCIAL CLASS
Arms Control, Citizen Militias, Citizenship, Civil
Rights, Claims Making, Collateral Damage, Collective
Consciousness, Colonialism, Conflict Resolution, Conservative
Approaches, Corruption, Culture Wars, Demilitarization, Democracy, Eminent Domain, False Consciousness,
Gerrymandering, Group think, Hegemony, , Human Rights,
Identity Politics, Imperialism, Mediation, Militarism, Moral
Entrepreneurs, Nation Building, Nuclear Proliferation,
patriot Act, Peacekeeping, Political Action Committees,
Political Fragmentation, Politics and Christianity, Power,
Power Elite, Propaganda, Public Opinion, Public–Private
Dichotomy, Redistricting Congressional Districts, De Jure
Segregation, Situation Ethics, Social Control, Special Interest
Groups, Surveillance, Terrorism, Terrorism-Counterterrorism
Approaches, Terrorism-Domestic Spying, Think Tanks,
Totalitarianism, Voter Apathy, War, War Crimes.
Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Class, Class Consciousness, Codependency, Evaluation Research, Feminization of Poverty, Food Insecurity and Hunger, Gini Coefficient,
Hierarchy of Needs, Homelessness, Homelessness-Youth,
Housing, Income Disparity Inequality, Living Wage, MeansTested Programs, Medicaid, Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Poverty, Children Worldwide
Poverty, Relative Deprivation, Single Mothers, Socioeconomic
Status, Social Stratification, Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families, Trickle-Down Economics, Underclass Debate,
Underemployment, Unemployment, Wealth Disparities, Welfare, Welfare Capitalism, Welfare States, Working Poor.
RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS
Acid Rain, Baby Boomers, Birth Rate, Contraception,
Deforestation, Demographic Transition Theory, Desertification, Disasters, Ecosystem, Environment-Eco-Warriors,
Environment-Hazardous Waste, Environment-Pollution, Environment-Runoff and Eutrophication, Environment-Sewage
Disposal, Environmental Crime, Environmental Degradation,
Environmental Hazards,, Environmental Justice, Environmental Movement, Environmental Racism, Erosion, Extinction, Fertility, Global Warming, Infant Mortality, Mortality
Rate, NIMBYism, Neo-Malthusians, Nonrenewable Resources, Ozone, Graying of Population, Population Growth, Social
Movements, Sustainable Development, Total Fertility Rate,
Toxic Waste, Urbanization, Water Organization, Water Quality, Water Resources, Zero Population Growth.
Acculturation, Adoption-Transracial, Affirmative Action,
Afrocentricity, American Dream, Americanization, Anti-Semitism, Apartheid, Assimilation, Asylum, Backlash, Bereavement-Effect by Race, Bilingual Education, Biracial, Black
Codes, Black Nationalism, Black Power Movement, Blaming the Victim, Bootstrap Theory, Bracero Program, Brown
v. Board of Education, Chicano Movement, Cultural Capital,
Cultural Diffusion, Cultural Imperialism, Cultural Relativism, Cultural Values, Culture Shock, Deportation, Dillingham Flaw, Discrimination, Discrimination-Institutional,
English as a Second Language, English-Only Movement,
Equal Protection, Ethnic Cleansing, Ethnic Group, Ethnicity,
Ethnocentrism, Ethnomethodology, Genocide, Hate Crimes,
Hate Groups, Hate Speech, hiv/aids, Reaching High-Risk
Populations, Holocaust, Hypersegregation, Identity Politics, Immigration, Immigration-United States, Income Disparity, Index of Dissimilarity, Inequality, Infant Mortality,
Intermarriage, Internal Colonialism, Islam and Modernity,
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91
POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
Jim Crow, Labeling Theory, Migrant Labor, Life Chances,
Lynching, Marginality, Melting Pot, Middleman, Minority,
Migration-Global, Minority Group, Miscegenation, Multiculturalism, Multiracial Identity, Native Americans, Cultural
Degradation, Native Americans, Reservation Life, Nativism,
Nature–Nurture Debate, One-Drop Rule, Oppositional
Culture Theory, Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Evolving Notions of Personhood,
Plessy v. Ferguson, Pluralism Politics and Christianity, Prejudice, Race, Race-Blind Policies, Racial Formation Theory,
Racial Profiling, Racism, Redlining, Refugees, Religion-Civil, Religion and Conflict, Religion and Politics, Religious
Extremism, Religious Holidays as Social Problems, Religious
Prejudice Reparations, Repatriation, Resettlement, Sanctuary
Movement, Scapegoating, Segmented Assimilation, Segregation, Segregation-De Facto, Segregation-De Jure, SegregationResidential, Slavery, Social Distance, Social Exclusion, Split
Labor Market, Stereotyping, Stratification-Gender, Stratification-Race, Stratification-Social, Transnational Families,
Underground Economy, Undocumented Immigrants, White
Flight, White Supremacy, Xenophobia.
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Anti-Globalization Movement, Black Power Movement,
Chicano Movement, Countermovements, Environmental
Movement, Fathers’ Rights Movement, Labor Movement,
Prohibition, Resource Mobilization, Sanctuary Movement,
Social Movements, Social Revolutions, Temperance Movement, Transnational Activism, Transnational Social Movement, Vegetarian Movement, Women’s Rights Movement.
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SOCIAL THEORY
Activity Theory, Bootstrap Theory, Conflict Perspective,
Demographic Transition Theory, Differential Association,
Disengagement Theory, False Consciousness, Feminist Theory, Labeling Theory, Modernization Theory, Oppositional Culture Theory, Postmodernism, Queer Theory, Racial,
Formation Theory, Rational Choice Theory, Self-Fulfilling
Prophecy, Social Bond Theory, Social Constructionist Theory,
Split Labor Market, Standpoint Theory, Strain Theory.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Automobile Accidents, Addiction. Alcoholism, Anti-Drug
Abuse Act of 1986, Binge Drinking, Club Drugs, Cocaine
and Crack, Codependency, Decriminalization, Deterrence
Programs, Deviance, Drug Abuse, Drug Abuse-Crime, Drug
Abuse-Prescription, Narcotics, Drug Abuse-Sports, Drug Subculture, Drunk Driving, Evaluation Research, Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome, Fetal Narcotic Syndrome, Gateway Drugs, Harm
Reduction, Drug Policy, Heroin, Labeling Theory, Marijuana, Methadone, Prohibition, Psychoactive Drugs, Misuse of
Rehabilitation, Stigma, Temperance Movement, Therapeutic
Communities, Twelve-Step Programs, Zero-Tolerance Policies
Acculturation, Adoption-Transracial, Affirmative Action,
Afrocentricity, American Dream, Americanization, Anti-Semitism, Apartheid, Assimilation, Asylum, Backlash, Bereavement-Effect by Race, Bilingual Education, Biracial, Black
Codes, Black Nationalism, Black Power Movement, Blaming the Victim, Bootstrap Theory, Bracero Program, Brown
v. Board of Education, Chicano Movement, Cultural Capital,
Cultural Diffusion, Cultural Imperialism, Cultural Relativism, Cultural Values, Culture Shock, Deportation, Dillingham Flaw, Discrimination, Discrimination-Institutional,
English as a Second Language, English-Only Movement,
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Equal Protection, Ethnic Cleansing, Ethnic Group, Ethnicity,
Ethnocentrism, Ethnomethodology, Genocide, Hate Crimes,
Hate Groups, Hate Speech, hiv/aids, Reaching High-Risk
Populations, Holocaust, Hypersegregation, Identity Politics, Immigration, Immigration-United States, Income Disparity, Index of Dissimilarity, Inequality, Infant Mortality,
Intermarriage, Internal Colonialism, Islam and Modernity,
Jim Crow, Labeling Theory, Migrant Labor, Life Chances,
Lynching, Marginality, Melting Pot, Middleman, Minority,
Migration-Global, Minority Group, Miscegenation, Multiculturalism, Multiracial Identity, Native Americans, Cultural
Degradation, Native Americans, Reservation Life, Nativism,
Nature–Nurture Debate, One-Drop Rule, Oppositional Culture Theory, Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act, Evolving Notions of Personhood, Plessy
v. Ferguson, Pluralism Politics and Christianity, Prejudice,
Race, Race-Blind Policies, Racial Formation Theory, Racial
Profiling, Racism, Redlining, Refugees, Religion-Civil, Religion and Conflict, Religion and Politics, Religious Extremism,
Religious Holidays as Social Problems, Religious Prejudice
Reparations, Repatriation, Resettlement, Sanctuary Movement, Scapegoating, Segmented Assimilation, Segregation,
Segregation-De Facto, Segregation-De Jure, Segregation-Residential, Slavery, Social Distance, Social Exclusion, Split Labor
Market, Stereotyping, Stratification-Gender, StratificationRace, Stratification-Social, Transnational Families, Underground Economy, Undocumented Immigrants, White Flight,
White Supremacy, Xenophobia.
Wisdom literature
and links
DISSERTATIONS
Richard Hawley Trowbridge, The Scientific Approach of
Wisdom, (2005)
Juan Francisco Suarez, Wise by Design: A Wisdom-Based
Framework for Innovation and Organizational Design and
its Potential Application in the Future of Higher Education.
(2014) Don D. Arispe, Encounters with wisdom: A case study of
community worker reflection circles in San Antonio, tx (2013)
Lyster, Tracy L. A Nomination Approach to the Study of Wisdom in Old Age (1996)
LITERATURE
Historic contributions to the study of wisdom
http://www.wisdompage.com/WisdomChronology.pdf
Contemporary literature within wisdom area (2010)
http://www.wisdompage.com/Trowbridge2010Bibliography.pdf
Wisdom literature after 2010
Since wisdom is such a broad subject from a hap perspective it
was found difficult to assemble an appropriate list.
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LINKS
The following links are only a few of many wisdom sources on
internet:
www.wisdompage.com
www.wisdomresearch.org
www.wisdomcenteredlife.org
www.thewisepath.org/
www.knowledgetowisdom.org/
www.sophos.uk.com/
www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com/
www.valuesofthewise.com/
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