Copthorne (Cop) Macdonald P.O. Box 2941 Charlottetown, PE, C1A 8C5 CANADA 902-675-2949 902-675-2939 (fax) email

What is an underlying question that gives form to your work or interest in this field?

Will the behavior of human beings and their institutions become wise enough, soon enough, to keep civilization from coming to an end?

What is your personal experience of collective wisdom in groups?

It has been primarily with groups of geographically-scattered people. The first of these was New Directions Radio — an international network of radio amateurs concerned with using ham radio “to help create a more aware, more caring, and more responsible human society.” We held on-the-air roundtables from 1973 to 1983 (still later on the U.S. West Coast), and the activity was supported by print-media columns in CQ, The Radio Amateurs Journal, and The Mother Earth News. In 1995 I established the cop.com web site that features The Wisdom Page, “a compilation of wisdom-related resources — various on-line texts concerning wisdom, references to books about wisdom, information about organizations that promote wisdom, wise activities, and listserv groups concerned with aspects of wisdom.” Over the years, The Wisdom Page has put people from many countries in communication with each other to grapple with wisdom-connected issues. One of these issues is the introduction of a wisdom focus to higher education, and in the Spring of 2006 this led to my most recent group activity. I spent two weeks at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida as a “Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Scholar.” The theme of my visit, and the title of my address to the College, was “WISDOM: The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education.” In addition to the talk I met with many classes of students — a most rewarding experience. (The talk can be read in text format or listened to in RealPlayer streaming media.)

What is it about the work in this field that excites you and connects you to your own deepest self?

Involvement with Buddhist and other meditation practices starting in the late 1970s have taken me to deep levels of understanding about who "I" am, and a science-compatible way of interpreting the "perennial philosophy" view of reality. (More on that subject in an online article and in Part I — the Big-Picture Reality section — of my 2004 book Matters of Consequence.) In short, it seems clear that the cosmic process has an extremely exciting experiment underway on this planet we call Earth, and it would be very sad if the human species spoiled it.

Please provide a brief storyline or snapshot of what brought you to this work.

The end of a 13-month backpack trip around the world in 1971-72 coincided with the publication of the perspective-shifting book Limits to Growth. Out of these two influences came a strong desire to do what I could to keep humanity from doing itself in. This led to the New Directions Radio activity mentioned above, more than a decade and a half of work in energy conservation and energy alternatives activities, writing three books on different aspects of wisdom (practical, existential, and activist), and starting and maintaining The Wisdom Page — also mentioned above. My earlier experiences with group communication pointed up the need for consensus-building techniques. In the research for my "activist wisdom" book, Matters of Consequence, I learned about, and was greatly impressed by, the group processes used by the Society of Friends and the Bahá'is to arrive at a course of action. I saw them as models, and in the book promote their use. Since writing the book I have become aware of many other activities that employ similar principles.

I am currently interested in the expansion of "collective wisdom" to networks of organizations concerned about human well-being and biospheric issues. As Anthony Judge put it in his Self-Portrait: "When will we learn how to do symphonies and operas rather than solos and barbershop quartettes?"

How would you like to be available to others in this field?

My main focus at present is personal and institutional wisdom development, and maintaining an active and interesting Wisdom Page. (The latter does seem to have value. Today, a Google search for the word "wisdom" currently returns about 170 million Web pages. The Wisdom Page consistently ranks among the first ten of these, appearing on the first page of the search returns.)
I am available as circumstances permit to be involved with groups in a variety of ways, including participation in panels and giving talks.

I can be reached by email .

Links to this site or others:

Cop's Personal Site
Excerpt from upcoming book: Living a Life of Value
The Wisdom Page
Friends of Wisdom
Info about the book Matters of Consequence
The School of Wisdom