Practical Wisdom

I started off my morning listening to the video below while clearing out my e-mail from the hundreds of junk e-mails that pile up every weekend. It is Barry Schwartz presenting at the recent TED2009 conference on virtue and practical wisdom:



Opening with an example of hospital janitors, Schwartz does a great job bringing to life Aristotle's definition that practical wisdom equals moral will with moral skill. He states that without wisdom, brilliance is not enough, and that brilliance without wisdom leads to more problems. He discuss the limits and failures of our current mindset that rules and/or incentives can improve society, and how they actually serve as catalysts for a continued downward spiral. While covering business, health care, and government, Schwartz gives special attention to education. I found the video well worth the time.