AUDIO recommendation: Pause the audio throughout the article to give yourself more time to ponder. We begin with a simple but radical premise: wisdom is a collaborative act . Truth does not belong to institutions, ideologies, or individuals alone. It emerges when we listen from every direction, honor lived experience, and remain in relationship with complexity. Yet in many of our modern institutions, this collaborative pursuit of truth is under siege. When reality is distorted, denied, or rewritten by those with power, the human capacity for wonder, belonging, and becoming is diminished. We call this gaslighting. While gaslighting is often discussed as a toxic interpersonal behavior, we must now understand it as a cultural and systemic force. For leaders, communities, and institutions comm...