Many people today think the world is on the wrong track. Insufficient action against climate change, the resurgence of authoritarian regimes, and the lack of guardrails on artificial intelligence are just some of the threats fueling fear and despair. But the world has seen daunting dangers before and has managed to survive them. How? In this lecture, Zachary Shore looks at the personal qualities, group dynamics, and historical conditions that have made wise decisions more or less likely to arise. The world’s current troubles would be more manageable, he contends, if we understood more clearly what produces wisdom and how to apply it.