Given that the electorate has decided in favor of change, I’ve been thinking about what comprises wisdom. Wisdom is famously cited in the Serenity Prayer as knowing when to accept the status quo and when to forge change. Surely a leader must know the difference, and surely this attribute of wisdom would be at the forefront of qualities inherent in a person worthy of leading. But what is wisdom?
I posed the question to a group not long ago and a hearty discussion ensued. The first reply was simple eloquence:
Book learning creates knowledge. Hard knocks create experience. Wisdom is the sinew that runs between, and affirms an ability to apply both knowledge and experience. – Bill Gemmell
But what happens when there is inequality? We all know someone with incredible academic knowledge who can’t get along in real life, an absent-minded professor. Is hard knocks learning more able to compensate for deficits in book learning than the other way around? Is one kind more valuable than the other?
Example: In Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless, the subject of the book/movie inserted himself into the Alaskan wilderness out of an idealistic admiration of and desire to emulate Thoreau, with very little preparation, experience or supplies. He relied upon a book to know what was edible, yet died because he ingested a poisonous plant that was very similar to one his book said would provide nutrition. The consensus among sportsmen-like types, who are pragmatic in nature, was that he really died of stupidity – or lack of common sense, to put it more kindly.
Is wisdom knowing that you don’t know, yet unknowingly doing the right thing? Is there a component of luck to wisdom? In the earlier discussion, Anne McCrossan suggested that:
Wisdom is about being able to live with paradox, finding the peace in the space between the magnets of head and heart, the expected and the unexpected.
and Jule Kucera cited the old quote : “Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.” This might explain why the Fed just hired the person who headed up risk management for the failed Bear Stearns. The recent economic tsunami appears to have been caused with some of our best educated and smartest at the helm. Should they be re-hired on as crew to our new, inexperienced captain in order to sail us out of this mess? It would appear that the majority might not object.
Almost thirty years ago, I feigned sufficient experience to land myself a job as a database administrator for a law practice. I sequestered myself on the first day and taught myself almost everything there was to know about the Radio Shack TRS-80 computer and its Magic Wand word processing floppy disk. Does confidence and demeanor make up for lack of wisdom? Is what Victor Davis Hanson called a “dazzling veneer” sufficient?
Is it indicative of wisdom if one can glibly recite as fact assertions that are less true than another whose delivery isn’t as smooth? Hanson reminds us that “Reagan was written off by intellectuals as a ‘dunce’, Truman was demonized by the Stevenson crowd as an intellectual embarrassment, and Ford reduced to a football-damaged jock in contrast to the “nuclear engineer” and social moralist Jimmy Carter.” The supposition of wisdom is highly subjective until after the fact.
Bonnie Larner responded to my original question by saying
Spinoza defined wisdom as seeing things sub specie eternitatis, in view of eternity; I suggest defining it as seeing things sub specie totius, in view of the whole.
Power doesn’t automatically confer wisdom, as we have seen. A philosopher is not always a pragmatist. If wisdom is knowing that your learning/experience is deficient, how do you compensate for that deficiency? If wisdom is really just knowing that you don’t know, what part does humility play?
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Peter and Betsy Wuebker are location-independent professionals who share what they know about travel, simplicity and integrating work with life. 
I don’t think wisdom is just knowing what you don’t know; I think it’s at the intersection of knowing what you don’t know and knowing what you do know. It’s having an accurate assessment of your own competence.
Humility is having the space and ability to recognize (and admit) that sometimes, you don’t even know what you don’t know.
Kate´s last blog post..Can Smoke Detectors Drink Kool-Aid?
Hi Betsy – This is an interesting question. I guess in the case of the guy who poisoned himself, most folk with an ounce of common sense would have also taken a book that told him what was poisonous. Then at least he would have seen there was a poisonous plant similar to the edible one and realised it was a smart move to eat something else.
I think wisdom is probably a balance between learning from books then learning how to apply what you’ve learned in real life. It’s probably also having the sense to choose which parts you’ve learned will work and which won’t. You’d probably rely on instint and life experience for that.
And some of it is just plain common sense. It’s a bit like studying Freud’s theories. They’re quite interesting but common sense would tell most folk that he’d based most them on what went on in his own head, so they’re not going to be too reliable in the real world.
Cath Lawson´s last blog post..Heroes Of Healing: Napoleon Hill
Hi Kate – and welcome! It’s so nice to have you here and commenting, as every time I read your blog I am impressed and entertained.
I agree. Looking at it in the light of day, I see I could have written it better. Saying “just knowing what you don’t know” doesn’t necessarily imply that one would have sufficient humility to make the admission. There are many examples of the wisest being the most humble, aren’t there? I’m glad you picked that up and ran with it. Thanks!
Hi Cath – Yes, that story was really troubling. He was such an idealistic kid. And, sadly, he wasn’t that far from help. He had more faith in himself than what my grandma would’ve called a “lick of sense.” Pete and I drove right past Stampede Road in Healy, Alaska, where the turn-off to his location was. It was a creepy feeling when we did.
It’s funny/strange about Freud, too. What a bizarre lens from which to view the world, and then to have so much influence in theory and practice for so long! Messed up! Your example is perfect when you think of the gullible place from which belief systems can spring, though, hey? Thanks.
Hmmm. Thought-provoking! A very simplified answer is that I view wisdom as a complete and deep understanding of something, a perspective on things that is not at first obvious but when pointed out seems very right; it resonates with my soul. Perhaps, then, wisdom is the language of our souls, though it is only accessible if we can transcend who we think we are, our many outer and superficial layers.
steph´s last blog post..What I Know for Sure, No. 2
Hi Steph – Wow! Yes, complete, deep and resonating, a knowing that doesn’t let ourselves get in the way. I like this definition. I want to think about it some more, too. Thanks!
I love the Bill Gemmell quote!!
I don’t think there’s any “luck” involved in wisdom other than perhaps the “luck’” that enables us to survive the “experiences” that ultimately lead to the cultivation of wisdom.
I think wisdom is like a plant. It starts as a seed (experience). Not all of our experiences grow into wisdom, just as every seed that is planted doesn’t grow into a plant. Only those experiences that we nurture and tend to grow into wisdom and I think that true wisdom requires DECADES of nurturing.
I remember when I was 16 years old and driving the brand new car my father had provided. I remember thinking, “I’m the best driver in the world. I’ll never know more about driving than I do today.” I was in 6 major accidents over the next 2 years with that stinking thinking!!!
I look back to when I was in my my 30′s and I thought I was so much smarter than I was in my 20′s. Now I’m in my 40′s and by gum and by golly – I just keep getting smarter. Except now I’m beginning to realize that I’ll be in my 70′s before I can lay claim to even the smallest nugget of “wisdom”.
I think humility is having the grace to tell others that you don’t know.
Matthew Dryden´s last blog post..My Generation Stands United
Hi Kathy – Loved the driving example! In the Stone Age when I learned to drive, we didn’t even wear seatbelts, so we had to be really good drivers!
I think there’s a quality to wisdom that is something like: the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. I’m okay with that because it keeps me curious.
Hi Matthew – I agree. Keeping it inside means you have to fake it, and when you do, eventually you’ll be found out. I think we saw that many times over in the latest economic meltdown. I found it amazing that Greenspan finally admitted he was flummoxed by what transpired and didn’t really have a suggestion. Thanks.
Betsy, the Serenity Prayer is a favorite of mine – it says so much about wisdom. And about realizing what we can change and what we cannot.
I think there is wisdom in realizing we don’t know it all – and in knowing what it is we don’t know. Then, we have the power to work at learning that we don’t know – however that works best for each of us individually.
Wisdom…much to think about here Betsy. What really does make a person wise?
Lance´s last blog post..Fear: Does It Hold You Back?
Hi Lance – Yes, the serenity prayer is meaningful. I remember a boss of mine said to me once, “You don’t need to know the why, can’t you just accept?” It’s still very hard for me not to want to know the why. I do think wisdom springs from the why, but is tempered with the accept. Thanks.
Very thought-provoking post Betsy. Wisdom is not merely knowledge, it is discernment, even in the gray areas of life.
For me, it brings to mind Ecclesiastes 7:12
“Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this:
that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.”
I can’t really explain why, but to me wisdom is something that comes with age. So maybe wisdom is related to more life experience or to a deeper/ wider perspective.
WOW! What a subject to run into on a first visit. And at 6:15 in the A.M. non the less. Nothing says good morning like the feeling of brain cells exploding in the morning
Anyway, these are my initial thoughts. I usually go with first thoughts.
Using the serenity prayer scenario: I can recite the serenity prayer to you at any given point of the day. I could probably tell you, if I tried, how many characters and words and phrases make up the serenity prayer. Why? Because I know the serenity prayer. Knowledge.
The feeling I get when the serenity prayer is applied in my life. The feeling I get when I contemplate each words application, maybe that’s the wisdom. It is gained from the knowledge of the prayer, but I can’t give you my wisdom, only my knowledge. I don’t think wisdom can be shared between two folks.
And humility? Well, that’s just too much for me to think about at this point. I’m sure I’ll run this through my head all day. I may come back with another answer.
Just my initial thoughts and feelings. Hope it’s not way off.
Scott´s last blog post..What’s Your Judas
Hi Jamie – Welcome! Yes, I agree, discernment is an important component. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t recognize the cite from Ecclesiastes, too. I want to study it, now. Thank you for providing it.
Hi Vered – Yes, I tend to think of wisdom that way, too. It’s why we remark when we encounter a child who seems “wise beyond their years,” isn’t it? I think older people – and I’m fast becoming one so hopefully this will be the case with me, too – view things with more equanimity. They can see all sides, but then apply their experience. Thank you.
Hi Scott – Welcome! Guard those cells!
You compared knowledge with application and also mentioned that application is unique to individual experience. So, wisdom is uniquely our own (or not). I’m going to think about that, too. Thanks!
This may be lengthy, if so…let me apologize in advance. Ya’ll, I’ll try not to ramble.
OK. I told you I’d be thinking about this all day (well, except for the nap I just took). I looked up the def. of humility. I know what it means, just wanted to read it. It said:
“the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.”
I think Mathew summed it up pretty well. Sometimes those with knowledge, book knowledge whatever the source, seem to think they have more wisdom. So, no matter the question or dilemma they face, their knowledge (and lack of wisdom) causes them to think they KNOW the answer.
Scott’s Thoughts: Someone with humility, when it comes to knowledge and wisdom, sets themselves on a ranking system that is right there with with everyone else. Someone with none is all knowing all seeing.
Gosh, I hope that made sense.
Scott´s last blog post..What Preparation Do You Do Before Writing
Hi Scott – I think it goes back to the more you know, the more you know you don’t know. So, if your attitude is cocky, you don’t know enough to be humble.
Seriously, though, I think we tend to assign more wisdom to a Gandhi or a Mother Teresa than we do someone who isn’t as self-effacing, if that’s a sign of humility. Thanks for coming back.
Gandhi and Mother Teresa never let themselves, their egos, get in the way, as you said earlier in response to my comment. They transcended themselves. I think there’s definitely something in that.
steph´s last blog post..A Little Bit of Nothing Much