We all know someone we consider wise, whether that be a public figure, a friend, or a family member. Yet what we think of as wisdom can vary hugely from person to person, influenced by our politics, our philosophies, or our culture. In Nature Communications, a multinational team takes a look at what people from around the world consider to be wisdom. Working with 16 culturally diverse samples from 11 countries, they find significant variation, culture to culture, expanding our understanding of what it means to be wise beyond the Global North.
Data was collected over two years from Slovakia, Morocco, Canada, Ecuador, Peru, America, Japan, North Korea, India, South Africa, and China. The total 2,650 participants included were a mix of indigenous and non-indigenous people, with a variety of socio-economic backgrounds.
