In her book Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, broadcaster Krista Tippett collates insights from years of interviews from her award-winning radio show and podcast, On Being. Through dialogue with scientists, theologians, activists and poets, Tippett takes a broad view of the human condition—one more nuanced than that composed of facts and rationality alone. Your book distills insights from your conversations with people from various walks of life. Why have you presented these under the banner of wisdom, rather than, say, knowledge? We’ve reached a moment where we’ve realized the limits of focusing on knowledge and rationality alone. We’re more complicated than data can address and that has brought us back to the fact that in order to advance, we have to take the human condition seriously. Wisdom is one important way to This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Three Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 19 Going Incognito We all secretly wonder what mischief we’d make if invisible: When our identity is hidden, everything seems possible. Arts & Culture Issue 19 The Best Policy Sometimes we talk to each other without feeling heard. Honesty—a most intimate interaction—can be just as thrilling as its more devious inverse. Arts & Culture Issue 19 A Sense of Suspense With unhinged imaginations and mountains of cliff-hangers, the filmmakers behind the sci-fi podcast Limetown have all the makings of a scary story. Arts & Culture Issue 19 Like Clockwork In this new column about time, we learn how slipping off our watches makes us feel like deadline-damning renegades. Interiors Issue 19 Prankster’s Paradise Is the nine-to-five grind approaching monotony? Arrive at the office early to even the playing field and invoke mirth for your co-workers. Design Issue 19 In Anxious Anticipation The effects of adrenaline are positively pulse-pounding, but the physical whoosh we feel in our bodies actually starts in our brains.
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