Wisdom is about much more than just knowledge
This coming November, we will enjoy 10 special episodes of “Jeopardy.” Players who won the most games since the last winners’ derby will be facing off to capture the grand prize of $250,000. It is amazing to see the knowledge that some contestants exhibit with their answers on topics from common information to the most obscure historical facts or scientific terminology. Some of the participants seem like downright geniuses.
I imagine that many of us are familiar with a number of intelligent people. Some of us may even know some brilliant people. Intelligence is often linked to age. The older we are, the more intelligent we are. The longer we live, the more knowledge and experiences we accumulate about things. Life, however, is not always necessarily about being smart.
Intelligence is all about acquiring and applying information. It often is connected to practical living. With the baggage of knowledge that we accumulate over time, we harness what we’ve learned and use it for problem solving. This is called applied knowledge or practical knowledge.
There is also theoretical knowledge. Anton Chekhov once said, “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” Knowledge is an important factor for living a good life. Many think that ignorance is the enemy of knowledge. Stephen Hawking, a world class physicist, had a different take on this opinion. He said, “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
Knowledge is not the only thing we need to live a fulfilled life. We also need wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to discern what is true, just and right. Anthony Douglas says, “Knowledge comes from learning. Wisdom comes from living.” Knowledge is about ideas, concepts and data. Wisdom is about something else.
If knowledge is an important factor for living a good life, wisdom is an important factor for living life well. Wisdom builds upon knowledge; it also involves common sense and insight. Wisdom is about making practical judgments in what we say and do. It’s not only about thinking. To obtain knowledge, we apply our brain, our intelligence. To obtain wisdom, we apply our conscience. Charles Dickens says, “There is a wisdom of the head, and the wisdom of the heart.”
Wisdom is not a product of knowledge. Albert Einstein said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” How does one become wise? Wisdom comes with work.
There are a number of things we can do to become wise. Open mindedness is important. We must also be willing to step out of our comfort zone and try new things. Humility is also an important ingredient. We must be able to value others, situations and things in an objective way. We must also be able and willing to learn from mistakes. Confidence in more experienced persons is very helpful too. The ability to question ourselves and our motives in life is another factor to reach wisdom. It is better to be a blind person who sees than a seeing person who is blind.
If we were to put our knowledge and wisdom on on a scale, it would be better for the scale to tip toward the latter. The opposite of being wise is being foolish. “The difference between a wise and foolish man is this — the former sees much, thinks much, and speaks little; but the latter speaks more than he either sees or thinks,” says William Scott Downey