In an article written by Professor Robert J. Sternberg of Yale University, he says that Traditional education, and the intellectual and academic skills that comes with it, scarcely protects us from "evil-doing" or "foolishness."

Acting dumb

Sternberg gives following examples:

The US has had well-educated politicians and presidents whose reputations were tarnished because of foolishness.

Enron and Global Crossing bankruptcies is another case in which he noted that the foolishness of the well-educated happen in business as well.

A lot of criminals are well-educated, contrary to what most of us think.

Many high-ranking Nazi officials were highly educated as well. Some even hold PhD's in various disciplines.

And, contrary to what most of us believe, terrorists are not uneducated, desert-dwelling men who are recruited as henchmen or foot soldiers. They are actually well-educated and highly trained (to kill or die and take as many others with them) individuals.

Four fallacies

In the book Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid (Yale University Press, 2002), which Sternberg edited, the authors (scholars who study human intelligence) question why smart people are prone to actions that appear foolish to the world, and usually, later on, to those who acted foolishly.

To this, Sternberg opines that smart/well-educated people are specifically inclined to what he calls "four fallacies" precisely because they are what they are: smart or well-educated individuals. These four fallacies are:

The egocentrism fallacy; whereby they come to believe that the world revolves, or at least should revolve, around them. They act in ways that benefit them, regardless of how that behavior affects other people.

The omniscience fallacy; whereby they come to believe that they know all there is to know and therefore do not have to listen to the advice and counsel of others.

The omnipotence fallacy; whereby they come to believe that their brains and education somehow make them all-powerful.

The invulnerability fallacy; whereby they come to believe not only that they can do what they want, but that others will never be clever enough to figure out what they have done, or to get back at them.

Brilliant people fell from their lofty pedestals because they gave in to these four fallacies. They had big egos, and believed they were omniscient, omnipotent, and invulnerable.

High IQ, wrong practical application

Intelligence and/or education were once believed to be the solution to the world's problems.

The 80's Venezuelan minister, Luis Alberto Machado, believed that higher intelligence would make better and more humane people.

An array of studies showed that higher education has links to higher intelligence.

James Flynn, of the University of Chicago, found in his research that during the 20th century, IQ's increased by an average of about nine points per generation. (One could not detect the increase simply from looking at standardized-test scores, because the tests are adjusted every so often to bring the mean IQ back to 100.)

The increase (more or less global) was perhaps partly due to better education. But what does this give us?

Despite the increase in IQ, the 20^th century witnessed genocides and massacres of historic proportions around the world (Nazi-occupied Europe, Bosnia, Rwanda, Burundi, Cambodia, the Soviet Union, etc.)

This clearly indicates that the most intelligent people use their skills for evil purposes. As Sternberg notes, whatever benefits go along with increased intelligence, wisdom does not necessarily appear to be one of them.

The focus on developing academic skills exclusively take the time that could be spent doing activities that may help develop wisdom.

Sternberg's suggestions

Sternberg believes that "we need to rethink our goals our in education."

Improved academic skills are important for many kinds of success, but it's not enough.

Sternberg cites his and his colleagues' work at Yale. "In my work and that of my colleagues at Yale University's Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise, we are seeking a solution -- teaching students from roughly age 10 or so to think wisely. Underlying this program is the view that we need to teach students not only knowledge but also how to use that knowledge well."

They use Sternberg's own "balanced theory of wisdom" as the basis for their instruction. This is achieved by balancing "their own interests with those of others and those of larger entities, like their school, their community, their country, even God."

To read more about Professor Sternberg's "balance theory of wisdom", visit www.apa.org