Short of wisdom

Anthony Rowley says a civilisation such as our own in the 21st century is drowning in information, but whether we are any ‘wiser’ is questionable

The late poet T.S. Eliot once asked: “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” We need to ask these questions again, at a time of information overload, when we have an abundance of knowledge but a deficit in wisdom.

The question begs to be answered whenever there is a coming together of “the wise and the good” from multiple disciplines and nations, such as at the recent meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington. These were held against a backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions, global economic fragmentation and mounting antagonisms, where wisdom seemed to have little place in the debate, for all its length and intensity.

Institutions like the IMF and World Bank, along with multilateral development banks, have a special responsibility in this regard. They are supposedly free of the nationalism that has come to dominate views and dictate the actions of governments in our fractionating world. If wisdom has a place at all, it should be within these institutions.

Yet there is often scant sign of it in the millions of words spoken and written during meetings, despite the multilateral development banks having acted recently to consolidate their power.

Last month, 10 of them, including the Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, agreed to collaborate more closely and “work as a system”.

At such multilateral development bank meetings, government leaders, officials, business leaders, academics, journalists and others all appear anxious to improve their knowledge of what is happening today, with seemingly little thought for tomorrow.

A civilisation such as our own in the 21st century is almost drowning in information, thanks to telecommunications, the information technology revolution, artificial intelligence (AI), computers, smartphones, the internet and the growing publishing industry. Whether we are more knowledgeable than our forebears (under the dictionary definition of being better informed and more intelligent) is a moot point; and whether we are “wiser” is highly questionable.

For the breakneck speed at which we are innovating and absorbing new information from multiple sources and learning aids such as AI, we seem hardly to be in control of our destinies.

The world is at war – or at least parts of it, such as Ukraine and Gaza, are – while the South China Sea and Taiwan are theatres of brewing conflict. This hardly speaks of a wiser world that has learned from mistakes.

We are battling (rather indecisively) against climate changes that are largely of our making and which could prove fatal to our planet. Likewise with our unwise and unbalanced economic development.

Does this mean that we should turn our backs on learning and on information and knowledge, and devote our lives to the pursuit of wisdom, in harmony with nature? Clearly not. But it does suggest we should recognise the need to afford wisdom and reflection higher priority than we do at present, among the three qualities – wisdom, knowledge and information – that Eliot spoke of in his powerful work, The Rock.

The trouble is that we do not seem to consider ourselves accountable, either to future generations or any power outside humanity. There is no obvious anchor in the sea of information and knowledge in which we risk drowning.

The uncertainty that confronts us as a result of AI’s rapid development is a powerful example. There are those who place rationality and reason above all else in determining our fate, yet seem to accept that AI could come to do so instead. This seems almost to imbue AI with the powers of a deity, even among those who scoff at the idea that we are the creation of a deity whose authority they do not accept.

At the very least, a little humility is needed on the part of the many people – at least in the Western world – who seem to consider that the march of “progress” is something that should not be questioned. Never mind that this march has led mankind into ever more terrible conflicts, into the potential destruction of the earth’s climate and the spoiling of the environment.

The show must go on, it seems, at whatever the cost – unless we pause for reflection on the need for balance and for elevating wisdom to at least an equal place alongside information and knowledge.

Wisdom cannot be taught, like an academic discipline on a par with philosophy or ethics. It is nurtured by experience, humility, an open mind and a willingness to accept our smallness in the scheme of things. In short, wisdom is nurtured by a respect for creation and the idea of a creator.

As Eliot put it in his verses from The Rock: “All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance. All our ignorance brings us nearer to death. But nearness to death no nearer to God.” Sobering thoughts, but ones that bear thinking about.

Anthony Rowley is a veteran journalist specialising in Asian economic and financial affairs

Characters in a Central mural appear to be listening in to a phone call. Photo: Xiaomei Chen