- Do you consider yourself smart, or do you consider yourself wise?
- How would your close friends consider you?
- Lastly, do you understand the difference between being smart and wise?
If you're not sure, then, this blog is probably for you! So let's start by answering that last question.
Smart people are those who know a lot. But, no doubt, you've heard the phrase, "Jack of all trades; Master of none?" What that phrase means, essentially, is that just because you know a lot about different things and subjects, it doesn't mean that you know how to apply that knowledge to good effective use.
When you were in school (or, perhaps, you are now!) did you take notes on every last word the teacher wrote? Did you copy word for word? In elementary school as well as a good deal in high school, I copied everything my teacher wrote on the board or said in class. Then, when it came time to study for the test, guess what? It was torture. It took hours! What was the problem? I didn't paraphrase. Worst of all, I didn't filter out the good from the irrelevant.
In a similar way, knowledge is simply an attempt to glean information and store it in your head. Wisdom is the ability to take that knowledge and filter out the "junk" leaving the things that are relevant and aplicable. Most all, knowledge is latent. It's just information that sits in your brain. That makes you smart, and, there's certainly nothing wrong with being smart. But wisdom is the ability to turn your knowledge into action that changes the world and makes the world a better more ethical place for you and everyone around you. Wisdom is the ability to apply the knowledge to a constantly changing environment.
So, do you think you really understand how to turn your knowledge into wisdom effectively? If you're not sure, or if you think you could use some help (I think we all can,) then, come join this community. Learn from this blog and share your thoughts. You'll be seeing a lot more on learning and ethics, here, in this space.
As a matter of fact, stay tuned for the next entry, where I shall discuss my method to help you learn and become a wiser, more moral person.
1 comment:
as Houston Smith once said the wisdom is lost in knowledge and knowledge is lost in information,
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