How have you acquired most of your wisdom?

bobcat

bobcat

Well-known Member
Location
Northern Calif
It seems as we go about life, we garner bits of wisdom from reading, education, life experiences, parents, influential people, movies, etc....
Just wondering what things in life have been the most instrumental for you in acquiring wisdom?
 

There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge or intelligence. The following is an excellent well crafted summary of wisdom.

Wisdom
snippet:

Wisdom is one of those qualities that is difficult to define—because it encompasses so much—but which people generally recognize when they encounter it. And it is encountered most obviously in the realm of decision-making. Psychologists tend to agree that wisdom involves an integration of knowledge, experience, and deep understanding, as well as a tolerance for the uncertainties of life. There's an awareness of how things play out over time, and it confers a sense of balance.

Wise people generally share an optimism that life's problems can be solved and experience a certain amount of calm in facing difficult decisions. Intelligence may be necessary for wisdom, but it definitely isn't sufficient; an ability to see the big picture, a sense of proportion, intellectual humility, and considerable introspection also contribute to its development. Wisdom can be acquired only through experience, but by itself, experience does not automatically confer wisdom. Researchers are continuing to probe the social, emotional, and cognitive processes that transmute experience into wisdom.

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Some can certainly improve one's wisdom with education and experience if properly applied with the right attitude. But one can also receive flawed education and have misinterpreted experiences that results in the opposite if sources and application are not. Some adults, that were contaminated by warped experience growing up, may find a path to wisdom difficult. Unfortunately, many people will find the kind of education required for wisdom to be rather boring and will have difficulty thinking of its concepts.

Among education areas I believe can potentially increase one's wisdom, are courses and study in Logic, Critical Thinking, Interpersonal Communication, Critical Thinking, Debate, Vocabulary, Ethics, and generally much reading. Those are also some college 101 level courses one often takes for legal professions. In this era of books and the Internet, one need not do so via classroom schooling to gain such knowledge.

In particular, wisdom particularly involves our human brain language areas, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, the angular gyrus, and temporal cortex. A human needs to properly develop those areas via neural plasticity. I found a college course in Logic, a solid base into my own world of wisdom. IMO, critical thinking is sorely lacking in many people that is readily apparent by how they emotionally communicate. As an adult, once educated, one can also gain considerable wisdom in certain careers. For example, legal professions and technical fields requiring complex problem solving and troubleshooting, although many in those fields gain little wisdom.
 
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Reading isn't enough, by far.

Many people have a pretty sad level of reading comprehension and quite a few lack the background and exposure to evaluate what they read. This gets worse and worse for all of us now that we've become a culture caught up in confirmation bias.

You can read 20 books, but if they all tell you the same lie where are you? Not so wise at all.
 
I remember reading once that everyone is but a small child wandering upon the vast shores of knowledge. Every now and then finding a bright pebble of useful wisdom to navigate the future. Ironically, I suppose it takes a bit of wisdom to recognize wisdom and to understand how to integrate it and apply it. Music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

I have come to an understanding that there are different kinds of wisdom and it takes time to acquire them. That being said, I have also realized that wisdom isn't of much value if it's not passed on to the next generation. One thing I am fairly sure of is that it's not learned in a classroom.

I suppose it has been a combination of reading, experience, and reflection that has helped me grow in this area. There is so much to sift through to determine what is important and useful in life, and how much is just mind clutter. I am definitely a work in progress, but I am still searching for what wisdom has to teach me.
 
bobcat said:
I remember reading once that everyone is but a small child wandering upon the vast shores of knowledge. Every now and then finding a bright pebble of useful wisdom to navigate the future. Ironically, I suppose it takes a bit of wisdom to recognize wisdom and to understand how to integrate it and apply it. Music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

I have come to an understanding that there are different kinds of wisdom and it takes time to acquire them. That being said, I have also realized that wisdom isn't of much value if it's not passed on to the next generation. One thing I am fairly sure of is that it's not learned in a classroom.

I suppose it has been a combination of reading, experience, and reflection that has helped me grow in this area. There is so much to sift through to determine what is important and useful in life, and how much is just mind clutter. I am definitely a work in progress, but I am still searching for what wisdom has to teach me.
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Such a wise post
 
On the squad...'watch one, do one, teach one' but that is knowledge. Sooner or later you run into a situation in life that makes you go deeper into that knowledge and pull out the human experience involved in whatever it is you are doing that moment.

Wisom can also be knowing when to be quiet and when to speak.
 
bobcat said:
Ironically, I suppose it takes a bit of wisdom to recognize wisdom and to understand how to integrate it and apply it.
Click to expand...

I want to say wisdom almost boils down to the ability to recognize what is pertinent, useful, good or beautiful in whatever context it may arise. But it definitely isn’t just cerebral. Our hands and our feelings can also acquire wisdom.
 
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