Philosophy Now Forum

I have been thinking about wisdom recently and I don't think I can really grasp what it means any more, it's used for really odd things, so that it has become stretched so thin that there is no longer an actual wisdom any more.

Can someone bring me back down to Earth perhaps, what the hell is it, and what do people mean when they say someone is wise or someone has wisdom?

My take is its those who've learnt from experience and can tell you how and what.

Avoiding the pratfall is clever. Not doing it twice is wise.

Pretty much what Arising said. He is also right about School for Scoundrels. Terry Thomas' finest hour. Genius.

There's no secret what wisdom is. Wisdom is the efficiency of knowledge. So if your knowledge is efficient: it is dependable and creates desirable effects, then it is efficient, and then it is wisdom.

It's very simple, refined knowledge. Many wise people can only parrot wisdom, and goes terrible wrong if the world changes around them and makes their wisdom obsolete.

Efficiency of knowledge is something a computer sort of does. Wisdom has much to do with the human application of knowledge. Don Juan Matus said that 'Wisdom without kindness and knowledge without sobriety are useless'.

HexHammer wrote:It's very simple, refined knowledge. Many wise people can only parrot wisdom, and goes terrible wrong if the world changes around them and makes their wisdom obsolete.

Wrong. Wisdom doesn't go obsolete like technology. Wisdom can change all the time in its value, because it truly depends on the situations available to it. The Art of War by Sun Tzu may have many aspects of medieval warfare that does not apply to our world, but as soon as people start playing with light sabres again (to pick a more fun example) those things about medieval warfare might very well start to matter again. Other points are about the basic relationship between supply chains and forces, and are more timeless, although for instance wisdom concerning having high ground to fight from would be altered to fit the fact of improved artillery and aerial bombardment, such that you no longer put infantry on high ground but perhaps use high ground to increase anti-air, anti-artillery and anti-tank firepower.

wisdom is the disgarding of ignorance .the self cannot be attained but it can be unclogged.the ugly ducking is realy a swan .

My guess is that wisdom is something obtained throughout years but the person has to be at least clever at their young age to achieve wisdom later. If you're a bit of an idiot at the age of, let's say, 27 then there is very little chance for progress in the future. My apologies

An example of wise is for example the verdict of the king Salomon in the Bible:

two women claimed a child to be their own.

Salomon said: cut the child in two parts.

One woman agreed, the other one preferred to let the child live and to stay with the other woman.

The second woman was the true mother, decided Salomon.


Do you have other examples of "wise" ?

Then we could try to deduce a general definition from the particular examples.

The Voice of Time wrote:There's no secret what wisdom is. Wisdom is the efficiency of knowledge. So if your knowledge is efficient: it is dependable and creates desirable effects, then it is efficient, and then it is wisdom.

A king wanted to make his country even more rich.
He realized that the old did not work and used resources.
So he decided that everyone old who did not work should be put to death (in a pleasant way).

The solution seems to be efficient.

Is it wise ?

Blaggard wrote:I have been thinking about wisdom recently and I don't think I can really grasp what it means any more, it's used for really odd things, so that it has become stretched so thin that there is no longer an actual wisdom any more.

Can someone bring me back down to Earth perhaps, what the hell is it, and what do people mean when they say someone is wise or someone has wisdom?

A wise man knows the difference between asking "what is wise?" and "what is wisdom?"

This answers your headline question, with an example. It might also shed light on your confusion in the content of your post.

As for wisdom. That is the ability a person holds whereby he or she is able to apply their experience and knowledge with good judgement.
Wisdom is noted by others, in cases where outcomes are noticeably good. It's only when the dust settles that judgements are proved good or ill.

duszek wrote:

The Voice of Time wrote:There's no secret what wisdom is. Wisdom is the efficiency of knowledge. So if your knowledge is efficient: it is dependable and creates desirable effects, then it is efficient, and then it is wisdom.

A king wanted to make his country even more rich.
He realized that the old did not work and used resources.
So he decided that everyone old who did not work should be put to death (in a pleasant way).

The solution seems to be efficient.

Is it wise ?

A week later the King was assassinated by a boy who missed his grandmother.

Once Dalai Lama was interviewed and he poured out his endless wisdom, but when asked if it was legal to invade Iraq he was totally clueless, so wisdom are only refined knowledge and knowledge can be obsolete.

It was a very basic question any adult western should be able to answer, but the Lama fell tragically short of an answer. Ofc some time after he had to have satisfaction, so he had read up on it and was oooohhh soooo wise suddenly again.

..sigh!

So, wisdom without experience and updated knowledge can get obsolete fast, always stay updated, always be intelligent.

Lev Muishkin wrote:

Blaggard wrote:I have been thinking about wisdom recently and I don't think I can really grasp what it means any more, it's used for really odd things, so that it has become stretched so thin that there is no longer an actual wisdom any more.

Can someone bring me back down to Earth perhaps, what the hell is it, and what do people mean when they say someone is wise or someone has wisdom?

A wise man knows the difference between asking "what is wise?" and "what is wisdom?"

This answers your headline question, with an example. It might also shed light on your confusion in the content of your post.

As for wisdom. That is the ability a person holds whereby he or she is able to apply their experience and knowledge with good judgement.
Wisdom is noted by others, in cases where outcomes are noticeably good. It's only when the dust settles that judgements are proved good or ill.

What is wise?