Wisdom

HEY ALL: I got a little lost in this post, and I forgot where I wanted to go with it. So excuse me, please. I will post it as is, but this is not all that I wanted to say. I will revisit it and finish it up.

This idea has been incubating for a while now. It's time to post it.

I've been thinking a lot about wisdom, knowledge, and experience. I'm 24 years old, and I feel that that age is already sufficient to have taught me a lot in relation to that which many people I meet and already know posess. I think about all the "do as I say, not as I do" propaganda we are subjected to as kids. Adults expect us to listen to them, and heed their advice of the bad things to be wary of. Even though this kind of propaganda is for our own good, I find that for many, this creates the "forbidden fruit syndrome." It may work in many cases in discouraging its intended audience from the activies it condemns, but it also will peak interest in many others who are rebellious enough to slander authority.

For people to find out that something is bad, they need to experience it. It's like those Camel ads from approximately 50 years ago: experience is the best teacher. It's the only way to truly learn, in my opinion. Everything else is just book smarts (and please excuse me here for my offensive stance on education - I am actually a huge proponent of school and education in general, but for the purpose of this example, I can best formulate my argument by ripping on it).

Now, having said all that about favoring experience to informative preceptions, the problem with wisdom, i.e. something that is gained only through experience, through living through situations that those with less life experience than you, is that it makes you stubborn and skeptical. All that knowledge that is supposedly power begins to taint your opinions and viewpoints through time. It makes you inflexible. Knowing too much, and having seen too many things is a curse. I believe that it can destroy one's eagerness for life.

This is where a person's individual nature determines how they are affected by their experiences . . .

Reminds me of a quote: (I'll tell you the quote tomorrow when I get to work lol . . .)

Anyway, for some people knowledge is like a unique pair of glasses. It gives them clarity of thought, and an acute view of that which is overlooked by the unenlightened. Knowledge can allow a person to be objective because they know that nothing in life is concrete . . . or it could make them subjective, under the assumption that they know more than their counterparts, and hence are unwilling to swerve from even their most shallow convictions.

Interestingly enough I would have to agree that experience is the greatest purveyor of wisdom . . . I could go on forever . . .

Your turn:)

:) Ha ha, to be continued...

Let's look at this, shall we.

Through time, man has learned everything through experience. As duly noted by JD. The only thing I want to say about knowledge though is this. Schools are there to show you the theories. It is my belief that, the individual, has to interpret what is taught. Through the experience of that person, they interpret that information different than let's say you or me. My point in all this is, while experience is the best way, knowledge gives you an edge. By knowing beforehand what possible results may come from our decisions, we can devise a different solution to which may bring us our goals.

So let's say for example JD, if I were to tell you that going into neighborhood A is dangerous, right there you have the knowledge. You've been informed of something. Now you interpret that information and come up with some possible conclusions. Then as human beings always are, you investigate for yourself what I told you. You find out yes it's bad, but, you learned to what degree of danger. You understand what I'm getting at? That experience taught you that it is dangerous, but not that dangerous or it was too dangerous.

In the end, you'll realize that knowlege and wisdom go hand in hand. So your offensive stance can only come from either not willing to wait and get the knowlege first, or just eagerness to experience what life has out there. Either way, you're experiencing an internal debate as to which is a more solid developer of experience and knowledge.


I hope that made sense, cuz I don't know if I did.

About that quote: "Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you." - Aldous Huxley

My sentiments exactly!!

JD . . . you better come back with more . . . I like this thread . . .

Yeah, I know, sorry, I'm real distracted lately.. in everything. I'm a victim of internet crime, and I'm trying to get the crook here, while also trying to get the parts together to get my car running on all thrusters again. She's probably burning over a quart of oil every thousand miles, so I need to get everything all set.

However, excuses are for the pathetic and weak, so I have no defense for not having returned to this thread. BUT I WILL. And please, honestly, keep bugging me if I don't get back on the ball!

"Time is teh best teacher, unfortunatley it kills all it's students."