Wisdom

A field guide to life · for readers eight and up

Ideas worth growing up with.

Short, illustrated lessons about how life works: the choices we make, the things we can’t choose, and how to keep going when plans change.

Start lesson 1About this lesson
Every line is a way a life could go.

Lesson 1 · Choices

The paths we make

Why small choices add up, why not everything is yours to choose, and how to keep going when plans change. A guided journey with a hike, a story told two ways, a game and a life-path explorer.

Ready to read
  • About 15 minutes
  • Ages 8 and up, best read together
  • Desktop and iPad
  • Text version too
  1. 01Many pathsA life has many possible paths. Watch one of them unfold.
  2. 02The hikeAlfredo plans a hike, turns back, learns, and meets something he can’t control.
  3. 03Skills growOne girl, two paths: how practice builds on practice.
  4. 04Your turnSpend ten afternoons and watch what builds up.
  5. 05ExploreChoose a whole life path, from age three to seventy.
  6. 06Take it with youThree ideas to keep.
Start the journeyRead as textNotes for grown-ups

The guide, lesson by lesson

  1. Choices — The paths we make

    How small choices add up over time, and how circumstances, support and chance shape the path too.

    Ready to read

  2. Habits and daily practice

    How little routines grow, how to change the ones that don’t help, and how to start again after a break.

    Coming next

  3. How we make choices

    What really goes on when we decide, and how to think up better options before choosing one.

    Planned

  4. What makes a happy life

    What seems to help people live well, and what the evidence can and can’t tell us.

    Planned

  5. Relationships

    How the way we treat each other shapes our friendships and the people around us.

    Planned

  6. How to learn

    Ways of learning that help new things stick.

    Planned

Made to be read together

Each lesson explains one big idea with pictures you can touch and play with. Younger readers can explore alongside an adult; older readers will find more to think about.

  • The people in the examples are made up. The ideas are real.
  • Research comes first, and its sources and limits are open to read.
  • No accounts, no ads and no tracking.
  • Every lesson has a text version and works with a keyboard.
Notes for grown-upsHow to use Lesson 1, questions to ask, and the evidence behind it
About WisdomWhat this guide is and how it’s made
Research and sourcesThe findings behind each lesson, on GitHub