Do you ever contemplate the difference between knowledge, wisdom and education?
I do.
I know a lot of educated and knowledgeable people.
I know very few wise people.
A lot of people mistake these qualities as being the same thing. In doing so, they rob themselves of the opportunity to learn valuable lessons from people who they perceive as being less educated or knowledgeable than themselves.
Often, people mistakenly assume that education or knowledge are the only credentials a potential teacher should have. And by teacher, I don’t mean someone who stands in front of a classroom. I mean anyone. The guy that cleans your pool can be a teacher, if you’re humble enough to see that.
People seem to assume that education and knowledge guarantee wisdom. I disagree. In fact, I believe that, in some ways, if not approached carefully, a formal education can make a person less wise than before.
People forget that wisdom is what gets you through life’s challenging moments. Wisdom also ensures that you appreciate the beautiful moments.
Education and knowledge are handy and important. But, I’m going to put my foot down and say that I find them to be secondary requirements for me.
If I had to choose between having an educated friend or a wise friend, a wise friend would always be my choice.
Any thoughts?
(Yeah, I get that this is a weak post, but I’m trying to finish up a thesis chapter that should have been done about a week ago and I’m too spent to give you anything decent).
Posted by Faiqa on February 3, 2009 1:01 am • Seriously. I Have No Clue. About Anything. • 29 comments
29 Comments »
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Dave2 Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 1:22 am
It depends. If I needed to disarm a nuclear bomb, I’d very much like to have an educated friend who knew how to do it!
[Reply]
HoosierGirl Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 6:32 am
I would choose wise. My ex-husband is supposedly “educated”. On paper. There ain’t a wise bone in his body. Besides, I’ve had lots of really smart friends who have no formal education beyond high school. My S.O. being one of them.
Wise.
J.
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SciFi Dad Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 6:36 am
I have maintained a similar view to yours for a while now. My personal goal is to be considered wise… people call me knowledgeable and technically my degree makes me “educated”, but all I want is to become wise someday.
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Avitable Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 9:37 am
I think the thought that you can learn something from everyone is bullshit.
Being “wise” is still being intelligent. There’s the intelligence that’s built by education, and there’s native intelligence. Wisdom is an aspect of native intelligence – street smarts instead of book smarts, if you will, but it can also be supplemented by education.
The pool guy with the 6th grade education? Is never going to be wise.
[Reply]
Finn Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 10:07 am
My mother always told me that there is a fine line between genius and mental retardation… I believe it. Common sense and its attendant wisdom do not go hand in hand with raw intelligence or education. There are many people who are book smart and life foolish.
Some of the best teachers I’ve ever had were my dogs.
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Sheila (Charm School Reject) Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 10:45 am
I was going to jokingly call Avitable a wise man in reference to myself but then I read his comment.
My serious answer was going to be my dad’s oldest sister – she had to stop going to school in fourth grade to help take care of the family while my grandmother kept their farm alive because my grandfather had leukemia. She was the family matriarch and was, hands down, the wisest person I have ever known. If it were not for her, I would not have kept Travis – he would have another family somewhere. I was too scared to contemplate ever being in the position to be a halfway decent mother. Her husband? Also a very wise man and insanely smart in all things blue collar – he could build and repair anything. But he couldn’t read anything but his name.
BTW – my husband was a pool guy. Believe me, it’s a lot harder and mentally challenging than it looks.
So yes, you can learn something from everyone regardless of their intellect and education – even if it is just an “I’ll never be like this person”.
[Reply]
Sybil Law Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 11:04 am
Part of being wise is being humble, and most people are simply not humble.
You’re right, that being wise is more important than being educated. Anyone can get an education, but only wise people can learn from their mistakes or watching others and still be kind and genuine. You can be wise AND educated, but I’ve found that some overly educated people can’t accept that they don’t know the answer to everything, which automatically makes them stupid on my book.
I could go on and on but I have to shower.
You’re welcome! ha
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Miss Britt Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
*sigh*
Adam and I have this “discussion” on a regular basis.
The pool guy with a 6th grade education, I believe, can be very wise.
And I’d rather be friends with the wise pool guy than a pompous, oblivious, well educated ass.
(I mean, you know, unless the pompous, oblivious, well educated ass is paying me or something.)
[Reply]
Avitable Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
And I’d rather be friends with the person who knows the difference between “they’re”, “their” and “there”.
[Reply]
Faiqa Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 12:47 pm
@Dave2: This is a good point. I’m not sure what you do for a living or the details of your lifestyle, but having to disarm a nuclear weapon is a very, very low probability for me. So, I’m going to stick with wise.
@HoosierGirl: Yep.
@SciFi Dad: Me, too. I feel people don’t emphasize the need to cultivate wisdom within yourself enough.
@Avitable: You conceded that education is *supplementary* to native intelligence. Then you said the pool guy could not possess it. But, if education is supplementary and not requisite to intelligence, then the possibility that the pool guy’s native intelligence exceeds your own is a definite possibility. And sicne you refuse to accept the possibility that he might be smarter than you, you will never really know if your argument really holds any water. You’re just not making any sense. Education isn’t just a function of intelligence, it’s a function of wealth and social status. You’re basically saying that people who cannot afford to pay for an education are stupid. Which… is stupid.
@Finn: I think wisdom has something to do with making the right choices… choices that will prove beneficial not only to ourselves, but to everyone.
@Sheila (Charm School Reject): Your aunt and uncle are exactly the kind of people I have in mind. There are so many factors besides intelligence that play into the acquisition of education that I think it’s extremely short sighted for someone to assume that someone without a higher education is simply not intelligent.
@Sybil Law: That’s really the heart of it. Real stupidity is an unwillingness to be flexible about what you believe.
@Miss Britt: Paychecks do have a way of forcing compromise, don’t they?
@Avitable: A lesson that is learned in the 4th or 5th grade. So, Mr. 6th Grade Education and you may have a chance, after all.
[Reply]
hello haha narf Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 12:53 pm
i’ll take the wise person any day. especially if they are kind.
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Avitable Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
I misspoke earlier. Native intelligence only goes so far before it needs to be supplemented with education. Someone who’s wise is going to have both education and native intelligence. I don’t think you can have wisdom without both.
[Reply]
Miss Britt Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 1:01 pm
“Education isn’t just a function of intelligence, it’s a function of wealth and social status.”
Thank you.
By the way – I think we have our topic for tomorrow night’s show…
[Reply]
Slyde Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 1:13 pm
ive often said a similar statement.
and i’d take wisdom anyday over the other 2. a wise person can get by, anywhere…
[Reply]
kapgar Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 6:57 pm
There are situations where either is a good thing as Dave found a way to point out.
But I would rather have a little of both in my life. This sounds like something Katie and I talk about but instead of calling it wisdom and knowledge, we call it street smarts and book smarts. She’s the former and I’m the latter and we fit together nicely in sort of a yin-yang way. We’re complementary. Both are necessary in life.
[Reply]
Faiqa Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 8:34 pm
@hello haha narf: Wise people are always kind, right?
@Avitable: Ahhhh, in that case… I still disagree. Completely.
@Miss Britt: ::Alpha female high five::
@Slyde: Quit copying me. Damn.
@kapgar: Yes. They’re both important. Equally important.
[Reply]
Hilly Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 10:57 pm
I definitely prefer wise people to educated people if we’re just saying that they only have one or the other character trait. I’ve worked with people that have years and years of education and yet they have no common sense, no inner wisdom.
I think that education is definitely important…don’t get me wrong. However, I think it is super douchey when someone without a Bachelor’s Degree is looked down on by some educated prick who lacks wisdom.
Wise people seem to be less about proving that they know much more than you and more about just wanting to share their uh…wisdom.
[Reply]
Avitable » Learning something from everyone Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 12:00 am
[...] is a topic that Faiqa talked about yesterday and Britt and I have argued about before privately. It's also going to be the topic of [...]
Turnbaby Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 8:10 am
To value the ‘earmarks’ (degrees, titles, etc) of education rather than the actual knowledge a person possesses is to value form over substance.
I know a Harvard educated attorney who is a blithering idiot. My grandmother had to quit school at 16 because her father was killed (he was a policeman who was murdered) and the family needed her income to survive. She ran several successful businesses over her life in a time when not many women did. She was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.
The gathering of wisdom comes from many sources.
Some people have seemingly innate wisdom—some never have it–no matter how much education they have or how many times life smacks them in the face with the ‘wise up’ stick.
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Tariq Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 11:15 am
Although I would like to believe that a pool guy can have just as much wisdom as a successful/educated individual, it’s a game of probability and I would rather take my chances spending time with the successful person over the pool guy. However, I must add that I give more weight to someone’s personality over their level of intelligence. If a person can’t effectively (humbly) communicate his/her knowledge to others, in my opinion it’s useless being around such people.
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Miss Britt Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 11:58 am
Faiqa, you do realize that Tariq is like a cuter, less abrasive version of Adam – right?
[Reply]
ADRealty Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
I would like people to know me for my wisdom. I sometimes have it and other times not. My mother has alot of wisdom. She had to quit school in the 3rd grade to care for the family after her father left them. She was always getting promotions and raises at work. All of her supervisors were younger than her but would always go to her for advise. They had degress and accolades to their names but she still knew more than them but she never held it against them. She was always there to help. I’m the person that Avitable talks about, I get confused between they, their, there, and to, too and your, and you’re but that doesn’t make me stupid. Wisdom comes from experiences in life, whether it be my own, or from just having discussions from people through all walks of life. I hope to have wisdom one day. Lots of it, this way I can pass it on to my children, if they choose to remember it or not will be up to them.
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Ren Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
Ideally, education should be in a large part about taking advantage of the experience of others to more easily obtain wisdom. Of course, it isn’t — at least not very much in our society. Instead, it’s mostly about rote learning of rules and facts. Ugh.
Tangent — I think our educational system, at least at the primary and secondary levels, has way too much division of disciplines. I don’t think that Math or English/Language Arts should be separate courses at all but rather just side topics that are covered in Science, History and Philosophy. And, of course, Philosophy isn’t even a staple subject, even though it, in a weak attempt to tie this back to the topic, probably has the best chance of instilling wisdom. Well, that or making everyone depressed, I’m not sure which….
[Reply]
Faiqa Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
@Hilly: I’m sorry, what did you say after “super douchey”? I was laughing too hard to comprehend the rest… kidding.
@Turnbaby: Exactly. I know a guy who graduated from Yale that made a complete mess of our country in just eight short years… LOL.
@Tariq: I feel like you’re just disagreeing with me because you like seeing me lose my temper.
@Miss Britt: Yes. I’ve already come to that disturbing realization. Cuteness and diplomacy *do* score major points with me in the mating for life category, though…
@ADRealty: I agree. And regarding “your/you’re/their/they’re/to/too”… life isn’t a grammar/spelling bee. I really don’t see what that has to do with the intrinsic value of a person.
[Reply]
Faiqa Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
@Ren: That was very well said. Rote learning clearly illustrates how our society emphasizes knowledge over wisdom. Instead of realizing that the really noble products of our civilization are always the result of both. And your tangential point? YES. I vote for an education system like THAT.
[Reply]
Jessica Said,
February 6, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
There’s no question to me. Education does not equal wisdom. Just sitting in on one of my literture tutorials, you can get an accurate picture of how ignorant some formally educated people can be (included some venerated authors).
I believe that wisdom does come through experience or like Ren said learning from others experiences. Personally I find that people who’ve spent most of their lives in a privileged position, around others in that same position tend to lack wisdom and certain insights.
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Faiqa Said,
February 6, 2009 @ 5:19 pm
@Jessica: A sheltered and privileged life does set up conditions that would not be conducive to empathy (which I think is fundamental to wisdom). Still, I think the rare exception does come about now and then.
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Ren Said,
February 6, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
Still only half way through the Clearly You’re Retarded episode you spawned, but I wanted to add here:
Knowledge is knowing how to do something.
Intelligence is the ability to figure out how to do something.
Wisdom is knowing what should be done.
[Reply]
Clayton Said,
February 10, 2009 @ 11:02 pm
I’ve found regardless of education, wisdom or knowledge, the problem is action and inaction or lets say laziness.
So wisdom, knowledge, education etc. has been defined in some above posts
I teach students about information literacy which is defined as the ability to know when you need information, how and where to find it (higher quality is the goal) and how to use it. and believe all decisions are based on some bit of information. To get that information you need to be educated somehow, whether formally or informally. Knowledge comes with, in my opinion, not necessarily experience but rather some sense of purpose or genuine interest in this bit of information you’ve acquired. Formal education of course is through school, as an apprentice or perhaps through some training program (probably the case of “pool guy” ((our joe the plumber in this blog)) informal is anything from looking for tomorrow’s weather on the weather channel to your parent’s teaching you to tie your shoe. Wisdom, relies on education and knowledge, so a person who is educated and has had some purpose or genuine interest in a bit of information is likely to make wise choices related to that topic. So… a medical doctor, is less likely to make a wise business choice than an entrepreneur, lets say. And the pool guy, probably has wisdom when it comes to pool choices, perhaps sun protection and maybe even child safety around pools.
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