Defining Wisdom
This book describes several habits that tend to result in better ends and offers explications of comparatively foolish notions. But this begs the question: Just what is wisdom anyway?
The term is variously defined in dictionaries. Some explain wisdom only by enumerating the acquired or innate human qualities that the word encapsulates. The Oxford English dictionary declares wisdom to be: “The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as: “ability to discern inner qualities and relationships, (or) good sense”, while the American Heritage Dictionary defines it as: “The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.”
Other sources couple action to such qualities. The Collins dictionary says it is: “the ability to use your experience and knowledge in order to make sensible decisions or judgments”. Dictionary.com defines wisdom as: “…knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.” Perhaps most succinctly, the Macmillan dictionary defines wisdom as: “the ability to make good decisions based on knowledge and experience”.
Wisdom has also long been the subject of scientific inquiry. The book: The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom, (Michel Ferrari and Nic M. Weststrate) collects a range of this scientific research and serves to illustrate the diversity of thought around the topic. The editors divide the book into four sections representing distinct perspectives in scientific thought and research on wisdom:
The first grounds the understanding of wisdom within the cognitive sciences, seeing wisdom as an enhancement of cognition which incorporates relevance. Wisdom may simply grow from the memory of profound life experiences or may have a neurobiological basis wherein certain brain systems are foundational to the expression of wise traits.
A second section of the book explores how contextual factors impact the development of wisdom, seeing it as a “real-life process” that involves the integration of conflicting ideas. Here, perspectives emphasize the importance of cultural, master narratives of wisdom, including religion and spirituality, or cultural influence.
The third section focuses on the transcendent and contemplative qualities of wisdom such as are embodied within Buddhism, Sufism, and mystical Christianity. Noted here are the inherent paradoxes of wisdom that make it “difficult to conceptualize and measure with rigor”. Clearly, the analysis of wisdom isn’t as simple as being caught in a Kansas cyclone.
Remarkably, the final section of this scientific compendium offers an entreaty to actively cultivate wisdom rather than merely seeking to understand it. It even advocates for re-envisioning the mission of higher education around wisdom inquiry, not merely knowledge acquisition, suggesting that students should leave university not just smarter, but wiser.
Quite so.
These definitions and scientific perspectives serve both to capture essential elements of wisdom and to highlight its complexity. Yet, despite the thoughtfulness of these explications, I think a simple analogy distills the action and impact of wisdom in a more concrete and accessible way:
Think of a connect-the-dots puzzle, the type that family restaurants print on paper placemats to keep children busy while waiting for their food. The child draws lines to connect numbered dots printed on the placemat and, when connected in proper order, the picture of a monkey emerges to the delight of the child.
Wisdom is the ability to perceive the picture that a situation’s dots represent in advance of lines being drawn. Whatever neurobiological basis it may have, in practical terms wisdom is the capacity to recognize the patterns that lead to good ends or to bad ends, a capability gained only through study of history’s lessons and through long experience married to objective reasoning. The wise are able to perceive patterns in the world and the outcomes that those patterns portend because they’ve connected the dots of a lot of pictures over time and have seen many similar examples directly and through allegories.
But like the child in the restaurant, the naïve simply can’t connect situational dots to see the picture in advance. They lack sufficient exposure to the patterns of wisdom. By contrast, some who do have decades of experiences never seem to gain much wisdom and forever connect the dots in whatever way paints the picture of their presuppositions or imaginings. They are blind to the real shape of things and often try to blind others to the obvious as well. This is the opposite of wisdom: foolishness.
Still, wisdom can be acquired with the right approach. The naïve (say, a little girl from Kansas for example), can acquire wisdom through stories, examples, and through mounting experience, so long as reason guides her exploration of these things. Meanwhile, the foolish dismiss wise examples by allowing emotion to guide them instead, seeking comfort rather than facing discomforting wisdom. They draw whatever picture makes them feel good in the moment by affirming presuppositions rather than following the dots. And if wiser people can still perceive the monkey beneath their scribblings, the foolish are inclined to grab a fist full of crayons to blackout the picture entirely if they can. Media, politics, and popular culture are the crayons of our foolish age.
Yet, whether or not one can perceive it, the monkey is right there on the paper. Wisdom lets you mentally connect the dots of a situation to see how things really fit together, empowering you to take actions that will lead to better ends.
But wisdom does not come easily, and you might want a guide.
How about a wise, aerial simian?