Int/a Speaker Series #5: 'Wisdom & Altruism: How Metacognition Calibrates Good Intentions' with Igor Grossmann

​We all recognize it when someone gets a hard call right: a colleague who refuses to be rushed, an elder who asks the question no one wanted to ask, a friend who changes their mind in public. But what actually makes judgment wise? And why does so much well-intentioned do-gooding still miss it?

​Drawing on over a decade of psychological and cognitive science research, Igor Grossmann bridges two ways of understanding wisdom: the cultural tools we inherit (proverbs, stories, role models, rules of thumb) and the mental processes scientists have identified behind sound judgment. At the heart of both, he argues, perspectival metacognition: the ability to step back from your own thinking, recognize what you don’t know, and coordinate competing perspectives before acting. Recent evidence shows this capacity is what calibrates good intentions across contexts; and without it, even creativity and intelligence can quietly erode the willingness to help.

​These habits matter for emotional balance, healthier relationships, cooperation, and reduced polarization. Yet they also vary dramatically within the same person depending on context, upending how we measure and cultivate them. Expect a provocative, evidence-based, and timely conversation that moves from the limits of rational models under radical uncertainty to the concrete practices altruists can take up this week. Motivated by a moment when good intentions are outrunning good judgment, Grossmann hopes to leave the audience with one core insight: wisdom is not a destination but a practice: one which this community, unusually committed to building it into how we do good, is well-placed to make real.