I can't. It isn't simple. And certainly to me, doesn't justify the catchy "assumption-challenging" title of the paper, which appeals to an obviously informal definition of the term.

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In our work, we proceed from a theoretical conceptualisation of wisdom as expert-level knowledge and judgement in the fundamental pragmatics of life. Note that the term wisdom is reserved to denote only the highest levels of performance. Lower performance levels are labelled as wisdom-related. Knowledge (in its widest sense, cf. Polanyi, 1958) in the domain, fundamental pragmatics of life, entails insights into the quintessential aspects of the human condition and human life including its biological boundaries, cultural conditioning, and intra- as well as interindividual variations. At the centre of this body of knowledge and its application are questions concerning the conduct, interpretation, and meaning of life (for a more detailed description see Baltes et al., 1992; Staudinger & Baltes, 1994).

We have outlined a framework of five criteria (see Table 1) that can be used to evaluate the quantity and quality of wisdom-related knowledge and judgement contained, for instance, in individuals’ verbal responses to difficult and uncertain problems of life. This approach to the psychological study of wisdom received empirical support in a series of studies with regard to reliability and some indication of predictive and external validity (Baltes, Staudinger, Maercker, & Smith, 1995; Smith & Baltes, 1990; Smith, Staudinger, & Baltes, 1994; Staudinger, 1989; Staudinger, Smith, & Baltes, 1992; Staudinger, Lopez & Baltes, 1997; Staudinger, Maciel, Smith & Baltes, 1998a).

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An example of a test question is: "somebody gets a phone call from someone about to commit suicide, what should they do?"

I'd say it means attitude and capability to observe whatever (circumstances and people especially) under numerous angles (especially including those the majority of people won't consider) and react constructively. Properly integrated experience ("lessons learnt") together with mindfulness, emotional and fluid intelligence are the major resources for this.

With wisdom, one follows (good) advice and prospers from it. But usually it takes personal experience of some sort before one follows advice.

My personal definition:

Wisdom =

- Context Recognition & Heuristics

- Knowledge Utilization

- Social / Interpersonal Context Recognition

- Emotional Intelligence & Control

Taking knowledge and applying it usefully to new and unique situations.