What does it mean to have wisdom?
The study of philosophy was first and foremost the study of “wisdom.” The word “philosophy” itself was first used by the ancient Greeks to mean the love (or pursuit) of wisdom. Wisdom means to understand knowledge about “things,” how this knowledge is related to each other, and what value it has. These things might be physical objects, abstract mental concepts, people, living creatures, or any other kind of knowledge.
A wise person, then, should understand what is really real, what is most true, what is most valuable to people and to existence, how everything all fits together, and why we are the way we are. A wise person should understand why we are here, what our purpose is in life – if any -- and how we should ideally behave. If there is a purpose to our lives, does this mean that we should actively seek that purpose or will we naturally follow our purpose if we simply “be ourselves”? A wise person, hopefully, makes decisions based on this understanding – based on this wisdom.
Generally, we would like our leaders to be wise. Whenever an election comes around, those candidates who have made some moral or legal or policy mistakes in their past tend to be quickly booted out of the field. But would they have made a good leader or not? Is a leader someone who doesn’t make mistakes? Which mistakes are simply too bad to allow? What really makes a wise leader?
Whenever we think of a “wise” person, do we mean a person who has never made a mistake, never taken a chance, never thought outside the box, or never pushed something past the limit? Do we mean someone who has never tried something, failed at it, and then acknowledged that it was a poor choice, and that other choices might have worked better?
I doubt if many of us would agree that a wise person is someone who never fails. Wisdom does not equate with following every rule, dotting every “i” or crossing every “t.” Wisdom does not equate with always being right and always winning. Clearly, one has to make mistakes, fail, and lose now and then in order to gain some wisdom. On the other hand, wisdom doesn’t mean being lazy, taking unnecessary risks, and failing at everything either.
Wisdom comes from logic and experience. It comes from winning and losing. It comes from making a connection, an inference, anticipating a result, then testing that inference. Wisdom doesn’t start by being sure about something; it comes from being not sure, testing it out and learning from the tests in order to have a better idea – an idea closer to the truth. Wisdom comes from seeing possible patterns and asking questions to check out ideas.
Learning is a key ingredient. If we continue to learn, then we eventually weed out trivial things in our lives and are left with things of value. We are left with conclusions that are closer to the truth about things. We are left with lessons and meanings and people who provide deeply satisfying experiences. We are left happier than before. We are wiser.
Wisdom is about knowing that some things are more important than other things; it’s about knowing that there are some things in life that make life worth living and other things that just taste sweet. Wise people see beyond the immediate consequences of an action; wise people see beyond the shininess of things; wise people see past peer pressure; wise people see value in all things but recognize the eternal value intrinsic in some things rather than other things. They see deeper truths, more true concepts.
A great musician is not someone who took all the right classes, has all the right degrees, and follows all the rules. He or she may have these things but his or her musicianship has very little to do with the formal recognition of such. Some (most?) of the greatest musicians of all time did not follow a standard formula. In fact, they broke many rules along the way to their understanding; they copied bits and pieces of melodies from others that evoked emotions or meaning; they experimented and discovered combinations of sounds that evoked other feelings or meanings, all within a moderately standardized framework.
A great athlete is not someone who took all the right kinesiology classes, had the best trainers, and makes certain moves. He or she may be but his or her athleticism and success has little to do with formal training. It often has more to do with their sandlot experience during their developing years, failing again and again until they learned what worked best. Knowledge, training, and potential helps but it not the most important aspect to their athleticism.
A wise person is not someone who followed a formula to wisdom. He or she usually made many mistakes along the way, arriving at a realization more profound than those who simply accepted a teacher’s pronouncement. These people usually learned the rules, then broke the rules and learned from either the consequences of their actions or from near tragedies.
Ignorant people occasionally seem wise but wise people are rarely very ignorant. Wisdom means learning therefore wise people tend to be very knowledgeable. They may have been arrested, used drugs, pre-judged others, or worse; however, they usually change their ways as their lives progress, and they find themselves doing more and more “good” acts.
Wise people tend to be good people, understanding and giving. Over time, if a person learns life’s hard lessons – again and again – that person will eventually learn that all people deserve dignity, even those who make mistakes. A wise person learns that hard work and a noble purpose will never be wasted. A wise person knows that tough decisions must be made and the people around him or her will be displeased with his or her decisions. Wise people tend to focus on eternal, big themes in their lives, not fads, fashions, or popular issues.
Wise people are wise. They focus intently on the moment and where they happen to be at that moment yet sees the eternal nature of that moment as well. They see the fleetingness of it and the whole of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment