Why Wisdom Is Still Scarce In The Age of Knowledge Abundance
The limit of your knowledge is the beginning of wisdom
Wisdom is not the same as knowledge. You can have a lot of knowledge and remain unwise. But you can be knowledgable and wise at the same time.
Knowledge is gathered over time through learning or experience. Many people aim to find, curate and store as much knowledge as possible but fail to take the most crucial step of the knowledge acquisition process.
They buy as many books as possible. Read hundreds of books a year — as fast as possible. But still, make fall short of becoming wise. They don’t aim to apply what they know or gain experience through practice.
E. O. Wilson explains it beautifully, “We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely..”
Almost everything has been figured out, if you know where to look and what to do with what you find. In the age of knowledge abundance, we can access many answers as quickly as possible on the supercomputers in our pockets.
Knowledge is handy, but many people are starving for wisdom because they don’t make time to act on what they know or adjust their behaviour when they find new knowledge.
The path of true wisdom is the application of knowledge
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” ― Confucious
Wisdom is the application of the right knowledge when you need it. It’s the understanding of the relationship between ideas and when to use that to advance your life or career.
When you are wise, you have knowledge, experience and good judgement. You can also discern which information or knowledge is relevant for specific problems.
