Charles Cassidy, MPhys

Charles Cassidy is the Director of the Evidence-Based Wisdom project. The site translates academic research regarding the science and psychology of wisdom into understandable and helpful resources for the wider public.

Charles studied Physics at the University of Manchester in the UK. Following the development of educational research projects with The British Council across South America and Asia, Charles taught Mathematics and Science in London for 15 years.

His life in the classroom fostered a curiosity about the limits of knowledge and importance of wisdom. However, it was only with the explosion of the new scientific field of wisdom research in recent years that he discovered an approach which resonated with his training in the formal sciences. Animated by the rapid progress currently being made in the scientific community’s understanding of wisdom, he now works to promote research emerging from the labs and to translate this research into wisdom development tools and strategies for individuals and groups.

Since the start of the project, he has conducted interviews with many leaders in the field of wisdom research, compiled and translated many of the key papers from the field and created many public-facing resources, including video animations, info-graphics, articles and podcasts.  

Charles is also keen to build a community around the Evidence-Based Wisdom project with a view to running large-scale digital trials into the nature of wisdom beyond the laboratory.

Charles's perspective is that ongoing scientific research into the nature of wisdom will further enable the identification of traits, behaviours or environments associated with higher levels of wisdom, likewise suggesting therapies, programmes or interventions that may increase levels of wisdom in our society. A more complete outline of Charles’ wisdom framework and current work can be found here.