Wisdom

A field guide to life, for ages 8+

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

Lesson 1 · Choices

Paths and choices

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 and a life-path explorer.

Ready to read
  • About 10 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 hikeRio plans a hike, turns back, learns, and meets something he can’t control.
  3. 03ExploreChoose a whole life path, from age three to seventy.
  4. 04TakeawaysTwo ideas to keep, and what comes next.
Start the journeyRead as textNotes for grown-ups

The guide, lesson by lesson

  1. Choices

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

    Ready to read

  2. Practice

    How small choices, made again and again, add up, and how each skill gives the next one a place to start.

    Ready to read

  3. The elephant and the rider

    How a small rider, the part of us that plans, and a big elephant, the part that feels, work together.

    Ready to read

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

    Planned

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

    Planned

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

    Planned

  7. Ways of learning that help new things stick.

    Planned

Reading 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