“Juan Pascual-Leone has argued that there are basically two paths to wisdom*.
One is through what he calls ultimate limit situations** - situations, crises, obstacles in life, but really more devastating than that. I would argue, actually, that wisdom also develops through the minor crises and obstacles in life -- basically learning from negative experiences in life. You can also learn from positive experiences, but the negative experiences jolt people out of their everyday rut and sometimes might force them to change priorities. Somebody loses a job at mid-life and questions what is really important in life; and then they start a new career or something that might be more meaningful … and they might want to contribute more to society. In this way, Pascual-Leone would argue, this is one pathway to wisdom.
The other pathway, what he would argue, is meditation.
He would say that we don't necessarily have to have those traumatic experiences. One can just sit and reflect on what is important … without necessarily having this really big event. So negative experiences can actually be the teacher that help to develop wisdom.
People say learning from experiences is really important to develop wisdom, but the key is learning from experiences, not just having experiences. It doesn't mean that every negative experience will automatically lead to wisdom. It could also lead to despair and devastation. It's not automatic. But a negative experience might lead to post traumatic growth***.”
Monika Ardelt PhD,
Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Criminology
& Law, University of Florida
