This is a very readable book for the most part even though there is extensive discussion of such things as decision making, meditation, and the brain scans that allow the neuro-scientists to look at where the action is in the brain for different activities. Hall begins by looking at the various definitions of wisdom that have been formulated over the millennia from Biblical authors to modern philosophers. Wisdom turns out to be a rather fuzzy and hard to define trait whose dimensions people have trouble agreeing on but that they recognize when they see it.

In the second section of his book, Hall discusses the Eight Neural Pillars of Wisdom and the experiments that various psychologist, behavioral economists, and neuro-scientists have carried out in an effort to pinpoint where in the brain these eight "pillars" are happening. These include such traits as emotional regulation, compassion, and patience among others. This section does require close attention to terminology at times.

Section three is entitled Becoming Wise. What are the seeds of wisdom? Is it true that older really is wiser? What is everyday wisdom in the everyday world? He concludes with a chapter "Dare to Be Wise" where he tries to put everything together and finds that a definition of exactly what wisdom is, is still elusive.

This is a good overview of what had been discovered by the many researchers that Hall interviewed and where this area of neuroscience stood as he was finishing his book (which was published in 2010). Recommended

I liked this book, enjoyable reading with real depth. interesting topic ( )