Common Wisdom

Laura Gabayan

Wisdom. The Bible defines wisdom in Proverbs 3:13-15 as, “Blessed are those that find wisdom, those that gain understanding. For she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns that fine gold. She is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare with her."

I would say that the wisest thing a person can do is to seek MORE WISDOM… or in other words, “The first rule of wisdom is to seek more wisdom.” Amen!

Well, that is exactly what our guest today has done….

Dr. Laura Gabayan is a world-renowned physician and researcher. Regarded internationally as an expert in the field of research, she has published dozens of papers cited by hundreds of researchers.

She was inspired to conduct extensive research on WISDOM. How can someone do that? Simple… she did research by talking to notable “experts” about – you guessed it – WISDOM! Praise God!

She then evaluated all of the interviews and started to see some commonalities. She has published her findings in a great book titled, “Common Wisdom: 8 Essential Elements of a Meaningful Life.” In doing this, she has answered two questions:

1. What is Wisdom and,

2. Can it be scientifically defined using the Scientific Method of research we were taught in school. Amen!

To discuss her results and this her great book, “Common Wisdom,” help me welcome to the program, Dr. Laura Gabayan! Dr. Laura, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us today and impart some WISDOM with us. Amen!

First question I always ask is this… Other than that brief information I just shared, can you tell us in your own words, “Who is Dr. Laura Gabayan?

You decided to interview notable “Experts” on Wisdom. You also started the “Wisdom Research Project” to, basically, keep all of this as a professionally based, scientific research program. I guess the question is, “How did you find these “Wise people” to interview?”

You found eight major elements that were common throughout your interviews with 60 experts. Can you give us a quick list and synopsis of the “8 Elements of Wisdom?”

1. Resilience 2. Kindness 3. Positivity 4. Spirituality

5. Humility 6. Tolerance 7. Creativity 8. Curiosity

Where did you interview them at? Did you travel to them? Was it virtually accomplished?

About how many questions did you ask your “wise participants?”

How long did it take you to do all of these interviews?

You then started compiling their responses and grouping them into categories. How long did it take you to evaluate and categorize the responses?

As you were compiling this information, what surprised you the most from their responses?

In your book, “Common Wisdom,” you discuss the “interconnectedness” of these elements. What do you mean by that?

Following your research, do you believe the purpose of life is to attain wisdom? Can understanding wisdom help us in understanding the “meaning of life?”

Do you think that is...