- Leo Genazzano
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How can wisdom be gained?
"A wise person is made not born".
Is this true? Why?
If it is, how is wisdom accumulated? And why is it 'practical' ?
Topics:
philosoophy wisdom













Mauro Rodrigues
W. Ying 10+
The virtue (SYNBIOTC rules, conscience, moral, ...) comes form:
(1) Mainly from our DNA (ancestors' successful experiences), and
(2) Partly from learning in our life.
Wrong?
Rasmus Risborg
Challenge: Wisdom is when your reaction is equal to what you would've done if you had time to think about it.
So experience is really the cornerstone of wisdom, if you want to be wiser you have to get out there and experience something new, (or maybe see someone else do it.) Because, as I see it, you can only become so familiar with something that your first thought/reaction is the right one, through a massive collection of trail and errors.
Also I wonder if you get some good advice, and you can just imagine the situation(s) where this would come in handy, or get the adviser to tell a few examples, and in that way internalize this advise - put it into the subconscious - thus improving your wisdom?
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
If we dig deep inside, we can find ourselves [even] at the bottom of a trash can.
Happy National Grouch Day, everybody!
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/National_Grouch_Day
Let's have a schadenfreude party!
Leo Genazzano
Teedle-dee
Adriaan Braam 20+
Love is the why, wisdom is the how, and use is the result.
End, Cause and Effect.
So, love without wisdom is nothing, wisdom without love does nothing.
The quality of the love sets the quality of the wisdom and so the quality of the person. So, we are what we love.
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
Focusing on love is a good advice. This is true of hate as well. If we focus on hate, we become what we hate.If in doubt, try hating intolerant people.
"Love your enemy..." We are our own enemy (?) ... Hmm... I need to meditate on that...
We are what we eat also. Avoid nuts in your diet. :)
Adriaan Braam 20+
Random Chance 30+
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
A smart person learns from their mistakes.
A wise person learns from others. (mistakes)
Leo Genazzano
However, I noticed most of the comments here are smart yet complicated to the degree of having an average of 10 letters per word. I would like to pose a challenge.
Challenge: Write a definition of 'wisdom' in a single sentence. Each word is not allowed to have more than four syllables.
Enjoy.
Luis Javier Salvador 30+
Practice makes perfect.
Elizabeth Gu 30+
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/reasons-matter-when-intuitions-dont-object/?hp
According to that article, when two people are arguing each other, each one has different concepts of "I have a hunch." And when they try to persuade each other, they use logic to make sense. Even if what the opposition part is illustrating sounds reasonable, one can't be convinced because there's his intuition that tells him, "What he's saying is wrong. You're right. You just don't know how to express yourself more clearly." So, reasons can't be the only factor to convince someone.
Some disagrees with the author of article, but I think it's quite probable in many ways. Some TED talks are very logical and well-organized, but sometimes I think there's something I want to disagree with the speakers. But for me, TED speakers with reasons and also various ways of emotional approaches are pretty inspiring. Perhaps TED is one of the places where 'practical' wisdom is quite prevailing. Not just by mere cleverness, but with creative ways of approaching each one's intuition field, a speaker can be glowing, which I admire.
And when he is, we applaud out of gratitude, realization and with unutterable joy for the reason that we find a practical wisdom, which enriches our lives including the very moment of listening to him from the talk.
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
Julian Jaynes mentioned: "Logic is the science of the justification of conclusions we have reached by natural reasoning. My point here is that, for such natural reasoning to occur, consciousness is not necessary. The very reason we need logic at all is because most reasoning is not conscious at all."
This is what I meant by saying "What makes sense does not need an explanation."
Elizabeth Gu 30+
Anyway, I agree with your last part of comment, "What makes sense does not need an explanation." Do you think this is because we, humans, have basically same intuition that makes us sympathize with each other(unconsciously)? Or since we are rational beings, do we almost come to same conclusion, ”This really makes sense, very logical.” ? Perhaps, in our subconscious, we might have both of capability to think logically and to have the same hunch..? Now thanks to (modern)psychology, we can find answers quite flexibly compared to those great philosophers in the past… :)
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
By emptying our cup to fill it up again - unlearning what we learned to learn new things, forgetting past experiences to give room for new ones, serving others to rule over them, dying to live, etc.
By using reason to explain what does not make sense. By not using reason to explain what is unreasonable. What makes sense does not need an explanation.
To see things clearly, we need to stop seeing things that are not there (e.g. any meaning in these words).
Wisdom is understanding nonsense. :-)
John Barbuto
Sachita Nishal
Adriaan Braam 20+
Wisdom consists in perceiving, willing and doing truths from love, and it involves an appetite for the good that comes out of, or is caused by, truth. It is, however, distinct from knowledge and intelligence, but these may lead to wisdom and are necessary for it.
Just telling a kid what they did was stupid, does not do any good. A loving approach would do much more good.
There are some very knowledgeable and intelligent people in jail, but would we call them wise?
Robert Winner 50+
The most terrifying words in my house is; "Dad said he will fix it".
Bob.
chen xin
and i think you are lucky that you have a dad who can help you a lot in your life .
and i think you are lucky that you can have much more rest .
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
Brilliant advice for those who thinks that somebody "will fix it for them" and for those who thinks they "can fix it all by themselves". I would put this on a church billboard :-).
Allan Macdougall 50+
For wisdom, I think it's better to have breadth of experience, rather than depth. By going too deep into isolated specialisms, one loses the all-important context of that knowledge and of how it interacts with other branches of knowledge.
Knowledge on its own is just remembered facts - not wisdom. However, context and interrelatedness go some way in transforming that knowledge into wisdom.
It's interesting that in education we measure intelligence and wisdom primarily on miniscule parts of our brain's capability - usually memory.
True wisdom is an accumulation of all that our minds are capable of conceiving and perceiving, tempered by morality and ethics, and made accessible by empathy.
"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens"
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
natasha nikulina 50+
Juliette Zahn 50+
and Socrates : "Wisdom begins in wonder.
natasha nikulina 50+
Yes, wonder , beauty is the key ; the final call that directs to truth is always aesthetic.
The capacity to wonder is the special gift of childhood that is destroyed by the act of growing up.
What is actually growing up ? Our ego , the ego leads very quickly to separation and spiritual cul de sac...So , maybe the right question is not how wisdom can be gained , but how it can be restored or not lost ? Tame your ego and your wisdom will shine again. At least we should be aware that raise of ego was the wrong-turning :)
Juliette Zahn 50+
natasha nikulina 50+
From Wikipedia : "The human pineal gland grows in size until about 1–2 years of age, remaining stable thereafter...".
And a match from the older source :
" Except you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven "
Interesting ....:)
Juliette Zahn 50+
natasha nikulina 50+
( A Chinese philosopher, don't remember the name )
So, there is a hope , we can educate or reeducate ourselves to become curious like children ; ask questions always , not enjoy gained answers like adults do :)
chen xin
Juliette Zahn 50+
Feyisayo Anjorin 50+
Wisdom can be gained by a passionate search for knowledge, combined with adoption of the strategies, principles and values of men and women who have been proven to be wise by their results; and then the application of the accumulated knowledge to the peculiarity of one's situation.
Knowledge and its application with understanding: that is wisdom.
Why is it practical? Wisdom is known by its result.
Theodore A. Hoppe 200+
Our brains absorb data, this data becomes information by linking the data together into neural networks, and in turn, information becomes knowledge. Knowledge can grow to be wisdom.
A good analogy would be the way the letters of the alphabet can be combine to form words. These words can be placed in an order that forms sentences, which can then form paragraphs, essays and books. These all provide information and even knowledge. Wisdom is more abstract, in that it seems to be insight that is gained from a collection of knowledge.
"Wisdom is not what is wise, but that by which it is wise; not what should be done, but why it should be done; not the answer, but the explanation."
Adriaan Braam 20+
Everything is very beautifully linked in different networks. All parts are combined to form a car. Many of its parts "provide information and even knowledge."
Sometimes it has the "insight" to lock the doors or stop a wheel from slipping.
Frans Kellner 100+
Wisdom has no need for education for it's directed by love, presented with humility and the cause of a deep understanding.
It is found among. men and women, among young and old, the literate as well the illiterate..
Theodore A. Hoppe 200+
Oddly enough if one Googles "Wisdom" one will find that most of the links are associated with religious references.
Your reply implies a spiritual aspect as well, which creates an impression that wisdom has no secular meaning.
Frans Kellner 100+
It is wise to feel first and to think later.
Spiritual is secular plus wisdom, religion is cultural.
Juliette Zahn 50+
Frans Kellner 100+
Yet you've brightened my day anyway.
Juliette Zahn 50+
Adriaan Braam 20+
Elizabeth Gu 30+
While being logical, if a person can embrace another, he's wise.
Even though I can't precisely define who a wise person is.
We just know when see 'wise people'.
What's interesting is that some people regarded as wise ones aren't always wise.
They sometimes seem to be not enough(to be called "the wise")
So it's like we happen to see traces of wisdom every day from the people we know of or from some events or from books, newspapers we read.
Besides, from every proverb we hear from our parents and older generation could be slice-of-wisdom that shows our ancestors' wisdom.
chen xin
we human being are contradictory individal .we always consider too much when we make decisions .so it can impact our thought . when you make a quick decision .you will feel the wisdom of yourself ,
Gail . 50+
Wisdom is gained by knowing yourself completely. What do you think/emote/feel/believe and why. As we untangle the contradictions, mistakes, and untested assumptions of our belief structures, we become able to probe questions in greater depth than the sheeple. The deeper you can take a problem, the more you see the many parts that relate to one another (just as you can see more by flying over an area than you can see from the ground).
Shallow thinking is taught to us in our formal educations and by religion. When we allow others to think for us, we become shallow, and shallow people are never wise.
John Dunbar 10+
Comment deleted
Rex Edward
Kris Christenson
Nicholas Lukowiak 50+
1. You should never be satisfied with what you think/feel you know.
At the point where you think/feel you have gained wisdom, you should disregard the thought/feeling. If it is practical (useful and able to be built upon) no amount of rejecting can prevent the understanding. What tends to be practical does not consist solely upon static understanding, but majorly anticipates evolution and change.
2. Individually we are limited to one perspective, so strive to not be an individual; desire multiple consciousnesses.
Approach life realizing you know nothing, and look to others to configure what we collectively do not know. The happiest and/or most positive decision may not be the best in longevity; treat both the bad and good as equal momentarily in order to configure what 'works' in the long run. *Whether what 'works' is for yourself or everyone, is a question of virtue.
(Appropriate school of thought: Existential Nihilism)
3. Language is prior to understanding everything; words convey thoughts.
Words are your friend as well as your enemy; treat them with the same respect you would the person you are talking with. Just like the idea/word of God varies from place to place, one must question what others mean when metaphysical concerns are being analyzed. Be mindful of the culture and society you are responding with.
(Example: Platinum rule) (Relative ideologies: Ignosticism)
Questions I ponder from what I learned:
*Does virtue equal wisdom? Can a wise person have no virtue? Can a virtuous man have no wisdom?
What does virtuous thinking look like; what is a positive spectrum of thought? When does or should knowledge and morality disconnect?
If knowledge equals power, then what are we striving to gain power for? Altruism? Selfishness?
What is the 'one' focal point where all questions lead? Is there there such a point of singularity?
John Dunbar 10+
I think your asking some very important questions here. My question in return is what role do origins play in this quest? Is a man who has been conditioned to be virtuous also a man of wisdom? Is he still considered a man of virtue?
Nicholas Lukowiak 50+
Religiously; groupthought. The origin stories are less important than the entire group believing the story.
I find that the question of 'God' assimilates a lot of euphoric thoughts. Therefore, God is all knowing and all good, so to aim towards finding God will access virtuous thinking (feeling enlightened while acting/thinking), or at least the thought-feeling you are being virtuous... Project this determination into a group mindset = hard to change either mindset.
Objectively, I don't think origin stories are as much to blame as cultural-based virtues. Christians do a lot of work to feed children around the world, yet the whole world is responsible for millions of them dying a year from starvation. No logical conclusion is being made, rather, the position no system is teaching virtuous thinking apparently. Perhaps if nationalism equates virtue, like Socrates in the Crito. Which I disagree.
“One will do what is right or best just as soon as one truly understands what is right or best” - Socrates.
Virtue epistemology or epistemological ethics, has been around forever.
Why did we ignore those propositions?
So, I sum up with this; longevity mindsets is a major key for virtue. Good for health also.
Colleen Steen 500+
Virtue: "strength; courage; commendable quality or trait; capacity to act; moral excellence; beneficial quality or power"
Wisdom: ";accumulated philosophic or scientific learning; ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; insight; good sense; a wise attitude or course of action;"
From the basic definitions, it seems that virtue and wisdom support each other?
I cannot imagine how a wise person would not have virtue (strength; courage; commendable quality or trait; capacity to act; moral excellence; beneficial qualities).
And I also cannot imagine how a virtuous person would not be wise (accumulated learning; ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; insight; good sense; wise attitude or course of action).
Wisdom and virtue both provide a foundation for the other....what do you think? Can you think of a situation where a person may NOT have all of these qualities?
John Dunbar 10+
Leo Genazzano
If we think of a typical evil villain (let's say a mad scientist wishes to destroy the world) he may "have" wisdom but he chooses to ignore it. On the other hand, is he really wise if he ignores it?
On the other hand, imagine a villager who is innocent to the point of gullibility. He is charitable and kind and loving, bla bla bla. If he gives away all his possessions in order to rid his village of poverty and lets himself be tricked by men who wish to get a bit of free money, he is most certainly unwise. But no one can argue that he is not virtuous.
John Dunbar 10+
Colleen Steen 500+
Using the example of an evil villain who wishes to destroy the world, who may have wisdom and chooses to ignore it, you ask Leo,..."...is he really wise if he ignores it?" In my perception, he is neither wise OR virtuous! It seems unwise to ignore wisdom in oneself for the purpose of destroying the world! I do not think wisdom can be ignored, because, in my perception, it is a "knowing".....too much a genuine part of us to be ignored.
Regarding the villager who gives away all his possessions...
I agree with Brian that there could be many underlying influences for his decision, so I could indeed argue that he may not be virtuous.
Leo Genazzano
Thanks for writing here. I have a question about something you wrote in your text.
Words. Wonderful words. Why are they important? You said : "Language is prior to understanding everything; words convey thoughts." So if I come from a setting where words are used seldom and my vocabulary is limited, am i less wise? Am I stupid because I am often speechless? And if I like to think in colors and pictures, am I inferior to others?
Yours sincerely
G
Nicholas Lukowiak 50+
I don't feel frequency (amount of words) is as important as the context or content.
No words at all... That's a situational concern. When and why would you have nothing to say, is as important as what you are not/reject responding to.
I feel it is 'how' you think and not 'what' you think that matters most. The process, not the results - should be continually analyzed. However, the 'what' and the results are still important.
So, if you use less words, does not mean anything. Speechlessness is the state prior to finding something to say, so not stupid. I doubt anyone purely thinks in colors and pictures, but if they did, I (or anyone) has a way to determine if it is interior in anyway.
Linda Taylor 50+
Too bad corporations and companies have forgotten this.