03
03
What wisdom isn’t
Written by Nathan on March 3, 2009 at 12:00 am from A Month of Wisdom.
Written by Nathan on March 3, 2009 at 12:00 am from A Month of Wisdom.
Perhaps with only two chapters committed to writing it’s early for broad declarations, but there are a few notable omissions or distinctions I’ve picked up on. Wisdom appears not to deal with business acumen or the possession of some sort of know-how. In fact, Wisdom seems to be set apart form knowledge and sense explicitly, as if there’s apart though obviously related.
Of course, Solomon started chapter one saying this was a manual for living rather than a guide to getting rich or finding love or even finding happiness. So perhaps he’s just reinforcing this book as a wisdom for life. But perhaps life is the exclusive territory of wisdom and when we try to parcel it to some meager portion of life we’re doomed to failure.
I suppose I’ll find out in either case over the next month.
I learned this about wisdom from Barry Swartz:
Practical wisdom is the combination of moral will and moral skill (Aristotle)
A wise person:
Knows when and how to make “the exception to every rule.”
Knows when and how to improvise. Real world problems are often ambiguous and ill-defined, and the context is always changing. A wise person is like a jazz musician, using the notes on the page, but dancing around them, inventing combinations that are appropriate for the situation and the people at hand.
Knows how to use these moral skills in the service/in pursuit of the right aims. To serve, not to manipulate.
Is made, not born. Wisdom depends on experience, and not just any experience. You need the time to get to know the people you are serving. You need permission to be allowed to improvise, to try new things, to occasionally fail, and to learn from your failures. And you need to be mentored by wise teachers. It takes lots of experience, to learn how to care for people.