STEM wisdom is the application of wisdom – the deployment of one’s knowledge and abilities for a common good, over the long as well as the short term – to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM wisdom is a construct that psychologists can actively study and educators can actively develop in their students. Although schools regularly teach the declarative and procedural knowledge of STEM disciplines, they rarely teach for STEM wisdom. Yet the lack of STEM wisdom is wreaking havoc in the world, leading to present and future dangers from global climate change, pollution, weapons of mass destruction, and other problems facing the world. Students and professionals alike need to learn not only STEM knowledge and skills but perhaps more importantly also how to use STEM to make the world a better, not a worse, place. STEM can help save the world, but in the absence of STEM wisdom, STEM also can destroy it.

This chapter discusses how to cultivate wisdom. First, it discusses why people are not wise, mainly, because they are susceptible to foolishness through eight fallacies.

1. 1. The fallacy of unrealistic optimism.

2. 2. The fallacy of egocentrism.

3. 3. The fallacy of false omniscience.

4. 4. The fallacy of false omnipotence.

5. 5. The fallacy of false invulnerability.

6. 6. The sunk-cost fallacy.

7. 7. The fallacy that ignorance is bliss.

8. 8. The fallacy of confirmation (myside) bias.

The chapter then discusses principles of teaching for wisdom.

1. 1. Seek a common good.

2. 2. Balance one’s own with others’ interests and with higher order interests.

3. 3. Seek to infuse positive ethical values.

Contemporary politics provides numerous examples in which people fail to use critical thinking skills. There are many obstacles to critical thinking including, overconfidence, obsession with fantasies, and disregard for the truth, among others. To help students develop their critical thinking skills, universities need to be sure that critical thinking is being taught and that it is valued. Instructors need to use real-life examples that are relevant to their students’ lives, and teach students to recognize and overcome the many obstacles to critical thinking. Individuals can improve how they think about political issues by listening to diverse viewpoints, becoming informed about political issues, rewarding politicians who compromise to reach a goal, breaking down echo chambers, and valuing evidence-based thinking.