Apr 21 2026 to Apr 21 2026 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Can wisdom be cultivated? 

We recognise it when we see it: an elder’s timely advice, a leader’s restraint, a friend who asks the right question at the right moment. But knowing wisdom is not the same as knowing how to become wise.

Cognitive researcher Igor Grossmann argues that wisdom has two engines: the mental faculties behind sound judgement, and the cultural tools, such as proverbs, stories, and role models, that sharpen them. The first engine runs on self-distance: the ability to step back from your own thinking, sit with what you do not know, and hold competing perspectives before acting. The second reminds us that no one becomes wise alone.

Wisdom is afterall, a practice. Not a righteous result of age or experience.

The talk will then open to the audience for questions.

Speaker

Igor Grossmann
Professor, Editor-in-Chief & Associate Editor
Igor Grossmann is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, Editor-in-Chief of Psychological Inquiry, and Associate Editor of American Psychologist. His interdisciplinary research bridges philosophy, anthropology, computer science, economics, and psychology to study human judgment and wisdom. He developed the Common Wisdom Model, exploring how cultural and environmental factors shape decision-making and whether wisdom is a distinct human capacity. Grossmann is advancing the cutting edge of psychological and social sciences by pioneering the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze complex narratives and societal dynamics at scale. He founded the international Wise Judgment Consortium and the Forecasting Collaborative, leveraging these computational techniques to challenge Western-centric views of decision-making. An Elected Council Member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada and recipient of major awards
from the APA, APF, APS, and SPSP, he also co-hosts the On Wisdom Podcast and has lead the Futurescape and World-after-COVID initiatives.