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Standardised tests are measures of memory & analytical skills; but the ever-changing global society beyond a college campus needs more than just those qualities, argues Robert Sternberg. The leaders & citizens of tomorrow also need creativity, practicality & wisdom.

Xenosophia—deep understanding of the other—is a noble goal to achieve. But it is a beginning toward wisdom, not an end. The balance theory of wisdom suggests a path forward for the world that is perhaps longer than that suggested by the construct of xenosophia. This article describes differences between wisdom viewed in large part as balance and wisdom viewed in large part as xenosophia.

It is possible, in admissions to higher education, to increase academic excellence and diversity simultaneously. This article reviews how a theory of successful intelligence can be used to accomplish both of these goals. The theory postulates that intelligence comprises creative skills in generating novel ideas, analytical skills in discerning whether they are good ideas, and practical skills in implementing the ideas and persuading others of their worth. The article summarizes several projects designed to simultaneously boost academic excellence and increase diversity in entering classes. In the Rainbow Project, we found that it was possible substantially to increase prediction of first-year university academic performance and simultaneously reduce ethnic-group differences on the predictive test, relative to a standardized test used for admissions in the United States. In the Kaleidoscope Project, we found that students admitted for expanded skills performed as well as did other students, without the ethnic-group differences typically obtained in such measures and excelled in active citizenship and leadership activities.

Wisdom is the use of one's intelligence and experience as mediated by values toward the achievement of a common good through a balance among (1) intrapersonal, (2) interpersonal, and (3) extrapersonal interests, over the (1) short and (2) long terms, to achieve a balance among (1) adaptation to existing environments, (2) shaping of existing environments, and (3) selection of new environments. This article discusses the balance theory of wisdom, and how wisdom can be assessed and developed.

Not only stupid people act foolishly: Smart people can act foolishly by virtue of their thinking they are too smart to do so. Such people tend to act foolishly through the commission of one or more of five cognitive fallacies: (1) unrealistic optimism, whereby they believe that they are so smart that they can do whatever they want and not worry about it; (2) egocentrism, whereby they focus on themselves and what benefits them while discounting or even totally ignoring their responsibilities to others; (3) omniscience, whereby they believe they know everything, instead of knowing what they do not know; (4) omnipotence, whereby they believe they can do whatever they want because they are all-powerful; and (5) invulnerability, whereby they believe that they will get away with whatever they do, no matter how inappropriate or irresponsible it may be. The antidote to foolishness is wisdom. The balance theory of wisdom proposes that people are wise to the extent they apply their intelligence, creativity, and wisdom toward a common good by balancing their own interests, the interests of others, and the interests of organizations or other supra-individual entities; over the long and short terms; through the infusion of values; to adapt to, shape, and select environments.