Director of
The Wisdom Page & The
Center for Future Consciousness
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Wisdom and the Future
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New Book
The Pursuit of Virtue
The Path to a Good Future
Thomas Lombardo
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"A brilliant, timely, erudite exposure of the shallow, divisive individualism of modern life.This highly recommended book by Lombardo urges us personally and collectively to arrest the decline of social cohesion and moral spirit."
Neil Moffat, Author of
My newest book, The Pursuit of Virtue, was officially released on February 1st, 2019 through Woodlake Publishing. Part of the new Manifest series, this "pocketbook" combines together a streamlined version of my theory of the character virtues of future consciousness and wisdom with a succinct analysis of central problems and challenges in the contemporary modern world. From the introduction in the book:
"According to many futurists, social scientists, and cultural commentators, our modern high-tech, fast-paced, consumerist world is becoming increasingly frenzied, fragmented, and disarrayed; many of us feel we are swirling about-as father of psychology William James once said of infants-in a 'blooming buzzing confusion' without a meaningful and positive sense of overall purpose and direction.
In a time when we possess more financial wealth, material goods and comforts, and technological conveniences than ever before, many of us suffer from excessive egocentricity and untethered wishy-washy relativism; information overload and dizzying speed and chaos in our lives; anxiety, stress, and feelings of fatalism and nihilism; closed-mindedness, anti-intellectualism, and defensive paralysis in the face of change; a disproportionate reliance on money and consumerism as the answer to life; and an hypnotic and addictive immersion in technology and social media. Of special significance, our conscious sense of the future, as well as our memory of the past, is narrowing and weakening. We are becoming lost and forlorn, drowning in an overpowering present. What is going wrong and what can we do about it?
This book examines key destructive and disruptive aspects of our contemporary modern society and outlines a novel and constructive approach for addressing our problems, improving the quality of our lives, and creating a positive future. This new way of thinking proposes that happiness, deep purpose, personal and social evolution, and realizing a good future are maximized through the exercise and development of a core set of character virtues that heighten our future consciousness.
Future consciousness is our most distinctive and empowering human capacity. A flourishing life and positive future are best realized through enhancing this capacity, and this capacity can be most effectively strengthened through the conscientious and self-responsible development of a key set of character virtues. Moreover, the synthesis and highest expression of these character virtues of future consciousness is the virtue of wisdom. To most intelligently, ethically, and comprehensively address the problems of the modern world, the virtue of wisdom should be our guiding light. Living a wisdom narrative for the future of both ourselves and the planet is the golden key to the good future. Problems and challenges in life will never go away, but the path to the good future is not to be found in some external reality, such as wealth or technology, but within ourselves and our own personal and social evolution."
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New Book
In the Face of Fear:
On Laughing All the Way Towards Wisdom
Walter Moss
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Newly released through Woodlake Publishing, In the Face of Fear: Laughing All the Way Toward Wisdom by Walter G. Moss--Wisdom Page Advisory Board Member--is an excellent survey of classical and contemporary writers' views on the essential connection between wisdom and humor.
Wisdom is a central virtue of human life and Moss draws upon a host of philosophers, psychologists, poets, and literary and spiritual figures in exploring the nature of wisdom. Examining such important humanistic themes as tragedy and misery, humility and satire, faith and reason, love and compassion, and the absurdities and incongruities of life in both secular and religious thinking through the ages, Moss in his new book presents enlightening commentaries on Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Reinhold Niebuhr, Carl Sandburg, Shakespeare, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, Chekhov and W. H. Auden, and many other luminaries in history regarding the intimate connection of humor and wisdom.
In the book's concluding section, Moss applies the insights gathered from his rich and extensive review of humor and wisdom to concerns over contemporary leadership in the world. Quoting the poet William Butler Yeats, "Wisdom is a butterfly / And not a gloomy bird of prey," Moss convincingly demonstrates in this book how laughter and a levity of spirit is a defining feature of wisdom.
WALTER G. Moss, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of the History and Philosophy department at Eastern Michigan University where he specialized in Russian Studies. Raised as a blue-collar Catholic in Ohio, Walter pursued both religious and philosophical inquiry with vigour, and today he labels himself a "deist-leaning agnostic." His passion for wisdom regardless of origin catapulted him into becoming a multi-faceted, prolific writer whose work has appeared in both North America and in Russia. He has authored numerous book reviews for The Michigan War Studies Review, and go-to social and political commentaries for George Washington University's History News Network. As an advisory board member of The Wisdom Page, a highly regarded international online resource, he's cast light on the wisdom of 20th-century luminaries Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and E. F. Schumacher. His most recent books are his two-volume A History of Russia, and An Age of Progress? Clashing Twentieth-Century Global Forces.
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Wisdom and the Future Research Center
on Wikiversity
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How can we wisely create our future?
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As a result of discussions with Lee Beaumont, a Wisdom Page Advisory Board member, and based on Lee's proposal, we agreed to begin the
Wisdom and the Future Research Center
on Wikiversity as an evolution of the newsletter Wisdom and the Future. This new site is an evolutionary forum for contributions from writers and researchers on wisdom and the future.
The Wikiversity platform is an enduring and organic platform that invites research projects. Mechanisms within the Wikiversity platform and various policies work toward attracting, improving, and maintaining useful materials.
Please take a look at the nascent research center and give us your thoughts. Is the primary research question
"How can we wisely create our future?" well-formed and relevant? Do you foresee participating as a researcher?
Lee has agreed to serve as the secretary of the Center. You can always contribute (articles, essays, research, etc.) by sending emails, links, and content to Lee. But in addition, you can add content on your own. There are several advantages to registering as a
Wikiversity user and contributor. It is free and easy, and allows tracking of the various changes you make to the site. Lee can help you with this if you have any questions.
The
"News" section near the top of the page will be used to announce important new contributions to the site.
Lee recently added the
Emotional Competency course and Study Guide to this site.
We look forward to your ideas and participation.
Tom Lombardo and Lee Beaumont
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"Purposeful Evolution:
Creating an Ethical, Prosperous Future"
Singularity Hub Interview on
Future Consciousness
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On Wisdom Podcasts
Evidence-Based Wisdom
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"The
On Wisdom podcast features a social-cognitive scientist in Toronto and an educator in London discussing the latest empirical science regarding the nature of wisdom.
Igor Grossman runs the Wisdom and Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
The podcast thrives on a diet of freewheeling conversation on wisdom and decision-making, and includes regular guests spots with leading behavioural scientists from the field of wisdom research and beyond."
Listen to three new podcasts:
Wisdom at Work
Social and Emotional Aging
Can Wisdom be Taught?
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The Best Sci Fi Books
:
19 Best Genetic Engineering Science Fiction Books
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Frequently highlighted in past issues of Wisdom and the Future, Dan Livingston's excellent science fiction resource website on the best of the best science fiction novels in different genre categories recently featured the Best Genetic Engineering Science Fiction Books.
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Archive Pages for Center for Future Consciousness and Wisdom Page
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The reader can subscribe to
Wisdom and the Future either on
The Wisdom Page or the
Center for Future Consciousness Page.
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