Wisdom

For other uses, see Wisdom (disambiguation).

File:Moses San Pietro in Vincoli.jpg

Rays of light, symbolically represented as horns on the head of Moses (Michelangelo), can be a graphic symbol of Wisdom

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Personification of wisdom (in Greek, "Σοφία" or "Sophia") at the Celsus Library in Ephesus, Turkey.

Wisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions (the "passions") so that universal principles, reason and knowledge prevail to determine one's actions. Wisdom is also the comprehension of what is true coupled with optimum judgment as to action. Synonyms include: sagacity, discernment, or insight.

Philosophical perspectives of wisdom

A basic definition of wisdom is the making use of knowledge. The opposite of wisdom is folly.

Dr. Kleinman suggests that by mentoring and caring for others, one comes closer to fulfilling the search for wisdom.

The ancient Greeks considered wisdom to be an important virtue, personified as the goddesses Metis and Athena. Athena is said to have sprung from the head of Zeus. She was portrayed as strong, fair, merciful, and chaste. To Socrates and Plato, philosophy was literally the love of Wisdom (philo-sophia). This permeates Plato's dialogues, especially The Republic, in which the leaders of his proposed utopia are to be philosopher kings: rulers who understand the Form of the Good and possess the courage to act accordingly. Aristotle, in his Metaphysics, defined wisdom as the understanding of causes, i.e. knowing why things are a certain way, which is deeper than merely knowing that things are a certain way.

The ancient Romans also valued wisdom. It was personified in Minerva, or Pallas. She also represents skillful knowledge and the virtues, especially chastity. Her symbol was the owl which is still a popular representation of wisdom, because it can see in darkness. She was said to be born from Jupiter's brain.

Wisdom is also important within Christianity. Jesus emphasized it. Paul the Apostle, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, argued that there is both secular and divine wisdom, urging Christians to pursue the latter. Prudence, which is intimately related to wisdom, became one of the four cardinal virtues of Catholicism. The Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas considered wisdom to be the "father" (i.e. the cause, measure, and form) of all virtues.

In the Inuit tradition, developing wisdom was the aim of teaching. An Inuit Elder said that a person became wise when they could see what needed to be done and do it successfully without being told what to do.

The Native American's philosophy about being a part of the natural environment contrasted to the European's culture of conquering nature's gifts. The Native American's wisdom about maintaining balance ecologically and socially was a common-sense approach to protecting and conserving natural resources.

Educational perspectives of wisdom

Public schools in the US have an approach to character education. In Benjamin Franklin’s time, it was referred to as training wisdom and virtue. Traditionally, schools share the responsibility to build character and wisdom along with parents and the community.

Nicholas Maxwell, a contemporary philosopher in the United Kingdom, advocates that academia ought to alter its focus from the acquisition of knowledge to seeking and promoting wisdom, which he defines as the capacity to realize what is of value in life, for oneself and others. He teaches that new knowledge and technological know-how increase our power to act which, without wisdom, may cause human suffering and death as well as human benefit.

Psychological perspectives

Psychologists have gathered data on commonly held beliefs or folk theories about wisdom. These analyses indicate that although "there is an overlap of the implicit theory of wisdom with intelligence, perceptiveness, spirituality and shrewdness, it is evident that wisdom is a distinct term and not a composite of other terms." Many, but not all, studies find that adults' self-ratings of perspective/wisdom do not depend on age. This stands in contrast to the popular notion that wisdom increases with age, supported by a recent study showing that regardless of their education, IQ or gender, older adults possess superior reasoning about societal and interpersonal conflicts. In many cultures the name for third molars, which are the last teeth to grow, is etymologically linked with wisdom, e.g. as in the English wisdom tooth. In 2009, a study reviewed which brain processes might be related to wisdom.

Researchers in the field of positive psychology have defined wisdom as the coordination of "knowledge and experience" and "its deliberate use to improve well being." With this definition, wisdom can supposedly be measured using the following criteria.

• A wise person has self-knowledge.
• A wise person seems sincere and direct with others.
• Others ask wise people for advice.
• A wise person's actions are consistent with his/her ethical beliefs.

Measurement instruments that use these criteria have acceptable to good internal consistency and low to moderate test-retest reliability (r in the range of 0.35 to 0.67).

Religious perspectives

Further information: Sophia (wisdom)

Some religions have specific teachings relating to wisdom.

Ancient Egypt

Saa represents the personification of wisdom or the god of wisdom in Ancient Egyptian Mythology.

Bible

In the Bible, wisdom is represented by Solomon, who asks God for wisdom in 2 Chronicles 1. Much of the Book of Proverbs, a book of wise sayings, is attributed to Solomon. In Proverbs 1:7 and Proverbs 9:10, the fear of the LORD is called the beginning or foundation of wisdom while Proverbs 8:13 declares "To fear the Lord is to hate evil". In Proverbs 1:20, there is also reference to wisdom personified in female form, "Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares." (Adan) Continuing in Proverbs 8:22-31, this personified wisdom is described as being present with God before creation began and even taking part in creation itself, delighting especially in human beings.

It has been posited that an ancient belief existed among the Jews and Samaritans that both the wisest and most aged among them would grow caprine horns, which were known euphemistically as "rays of light" (נקודת אור), hence the following ancient Hebrew dictums:

From Wisdom's ("Power" or "an animal horn") Authority is born.

His Wisdom shone (qaran) unto them like ("power" or "an animal horn") (qeren) of light - (perhaps a more poetic translation would be 'his wisdom shone like a powerful beam of light').

However this is most likely a mistranslation of the Hebrew 'Keren' which means 'pride/defiance' (Psalm 75:4-5; Psalm 74:5-6 in Douay-Rheims) in the emotive context but 'animal horn' in the Vulgate translation. Possibly one of the most famous results of this translation was Michelangelo's addition of horns to his statue of Moses. In a general sense the Hebrew for "horn" can be taken to represent the emotive and political concept of power. There is further reference to 'horns' later in the Psalm (Psalm 75:10, or Psalm 74:11 in Douay-Rheims which speaks of horns being 'cut' from the wicked or 'exalted' for the righteous.

The word wisdom is mentioned 222 times in the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible . Both the books of Proverbs and Psalms urge readers to obtain and to increase in wisdom. Here are some of the things that the Bible says that wisdom is responsible for:

Building and establishing a house (Proverbs 24:3-4).

Preserving life (Proverbs 3:21-23).

Safety and a clear path (Proverbs 3:21-23).

Better to own than gold or silver (Proverbs 16:16).

Giver of patience and glory (Proverbs 19:11).

She (Wisdom) is the primal architect (Proverbs 8:30)

Wisdom is also personified as a righteous woman in the Book of Proverbs.

Main article: wisdom (personification)

New Testament

Further information: Sophia_(wisdom)

Furthermore, there is an oppositional element in Christian thought between secular wisdom and Godly wisdom. The apostle Paul states that worldly wisdom thinks the claims of Christ to be foolishness. However, to those who are being saved Christ represents the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:17-31) Also, Wisdom is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit according to Anglican, Catholic, and Lutheran belief. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 gives an alternate list of nine virtues, among which wisdom is one.

Islam

In Islam, Wisdom is deemed as one of the greatest gifts humankind can enjoy. The Quran states :

""He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good. And none will remember except those of understanding.""

― Qur'an, sura 2 (Al-Baqara), ayat 269

There are a number of verses where the Q'uran specifically talks about the nature of wisdom. In Surah 22 Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage) it is said, "Have they not travelled in the land, and have they hearts wherewith to feel and ears wherewith to hear? For indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind." (verse 46). In another Surah Al-'An`ām (The Cattle) it's said,

""Say: "Come, I will rehearse what Allah (God) hath (really) prohibited you from": Join not anything as equal with Him; be good to your parents; kill not your children on a plea of want;― We provide sustenance for you and for them;― come not nigh to shameful deeds, whether open or secret; take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom""

― Qur'an, sura 6 (Al-An'am), ayat 151

Eastern religions and philosophy

According to Confucius, wisdom can be learned by three methods: Reflection (the noblest), imitation (the easiest) and experience (the bitterest). Wisdom is not told by self but unless asked for by another. This means a wise man never tells his wisdom unless asked person to person. According to "Doctrine of the Mean," Confucius also said, "Love of learning is akin to wisdom. To practice with vigor is akin to humanity. To know to be shameful is akin to courage (zhi,ren,yi..three of Mengzi's sprouts of virtue)." Compare this with the beginning of the Confucian classic "Great Learning" which begins with "The Way of learning to be great consists in manifesting the clear character, loving the people, and abiding in the highest good" one can clearly see the correlation with the Roman virtue prudence especially if one transliterates clear character as clear conscience. (from Chan's Sources of Chinese Philosophy).

Buddhist scriptures teach that a wise person is endowed with good bodily conduct, good verbal conduct, and good mental conduct.(AN 3:2) A wise person does actions that are unpleasant to do but give good results, and doesn’t do actions that are pleasant to do but give bad results (AN 4:115). Wisdom is the antidote to the self-chosen poison of ignorance. The Buddha has much to say on the subject of wisdom including:

• He who arbitrates a case by force does not thereby become just (established in Dhamma). But the wise man is he who carefully discriminates between right and wrong.
• He who leads others by nonviolence, righteously and equitably, is indeed a guardian of justice, wise and righteous.
• One is not wise merely because he talks much. But he who is calm, free from hatred and fear, is verily called a wise man.
• By quietude alone one does not become a sage (muni) if he is foolish and ignorant. But he who, as if holding a pair of scales, takes the good and shuns the evil, is a wise man; he is indeed a muni by that very reason. He who understands both good and evil as they really are, is called a true sage.

In Taoism, wisdom is construed as adherence to the Three Treasures (Taoism): charity, simplicity, and humility.

Knowing others is intelligence;

knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Mastering others is strength;

mastering yourself is true power.

(Tao Te Ching, 33, tr. S. Mitchell)

Hinduism

The Hinduism can be broadly classified further in Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhisam and several other small self constructed and modified form of following.

The major knowledge source in Hinduism is the vast knowledge achieved by the sages over thousands of years and stored in form of 4 vedas, 8 siddhis, 9 Niddhis and Major religious books, to say Ramayana and Mahabharata. Wisdom in Hinduism is considered a state of mind and soul where a person achieves salvation.

The God of wisdom is Lord Ganesha and knowledge is goddess Saraswati. The Sanskrit verse to attain knowledge is

"Om Asato maa sad-gamaya; 
tamaso maa jyotir-ga-maya; 
mrtyor-maa amrutam gamaya. 
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih".

The meaning is

"O Lord Lead me from the unreal to the real.
Lead me from the darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.
May there be peace, peace, and perfect peace".

- a Sanskrit invocation from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishads 1.3.28).

The Hindu religion talks about ayurvede, the wisdom of traditional Hindu medicine. Ayurvede means “knowledge of life”. It teaches that the mind and body are one (an ancient wisdom). In ancient times, it was used to try to cure disease. However, today it is used to help people relax and feel healthy. But this explanation is only a partial explanation for the word "Wisdom". Wisdom as per The Hindu religion is knowing oneself as the truth, basis for the entire Creation,i.e. "Shristi". In other words "wisdom" simply means a person with Self Awareness as the one who witnesses the Entire creation in all its facets and forms. Further it means realization that an individual, i.e. "Jeeva" Atma, through 'right conduct and living' over an unspecified period (it varies from individual to individual) comes to realize his/her true relationship with the creation and the 'God' who rules it.

In India science and religion are not opposed fundamentally, as they often seem to be in the West, but are seen as parts of the same great search for truth and enlightenment that inspired the sages of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Thus, in the Hindu scientific approach, understanding of external reality depends on also understanding the godhead. In all Hindu traditions the Universe is said to precede not only humanity but also the gods. Fundamental to Hindu concepts of time and space is the notion that the external world is a product of the creative play of maya (illusion).  Accordingly the world as we know it is not solid and real but illusionary. The universe is in constant flux with many levels of reality; the task of the saint is find release (moksha) from the bonds of time and space. 

"After a cycle of universal dissolution, the Supreme Being decides to recreate the cosmos so that we souls can experience worlds of shape and solidity. Very subtle atoms begin to combine, eventually generating a cosmic wind that blows heavier and heavier atoms together. Souls depending on their karma earned in previous world systems, spontaneously draw to themselves atoms that coalesce into an appropriate body." - The Prashasta Pada.

As in modern physics, Hindu cosmology envisaged the universe as having a cyclical nature. The end of each kalpa brought about by Shiva's dance is also the beginning of the next. Rebirth follows destruction.

Unlike the West, which lives in a historical world, India is rooted in a timeless universe of eternal return: everything which happens has already done so many times before, though in different guises. Hinduism arose from the discoveries of people who felt that they had gained an insight into the nature of reality through deep meditation and ascetic practices. Science uses a heuristic method that requires objective proof of mathematical theories. Yet both have proposed similar scenarios for the creation of the universe. Here is a look at Creation, Maya, Churning of Milky Ocean, Shiva's Cosmic Dance, Serpent of Infinity and a few articles on Hindu Cosmology.

Grandiose time scales

Hinduism’s understanding of time is as grandiose as time itself. While most cultures base their cosmologies on familiar units such as few hundreds or thousands of years, the Hindu concept of time embraces billions and trillions of years. The Puranas describe time units from the infinitesimal truti, lasting 1/1,000,0000 of a second to a mahamantavara of 311 trillion years. Hindu sages describe time as cyclic, an endless procession of creation, preservation and dissolution. Scientists such as Carl Sagan have expressed amazement at the accuracy of space and time descriptions given by the ancient rishis and saints, who fathomed the secrets of the universe through their mystically awakened senses.

(source: Hinduism Today April/May/June 2007 p. 14).

Professor Arthur Holmes (1895–1965) geologist, professor at the University of Durham. He writes regarding the age of the earth in his great book, The Age of Earth (1913) as follows:

"Long before it became a scientific aspiration to estimate the age of the earth, many elaborate systems of the world chronology had been devised by the sages of antiquity. The most remarkable of these occult time-scales is that of the ancient Hindus, whose astonishing concept of the Earth's duration has been traced back to Manusmriti, a sacred book."

When the Hindu calculation of the present age of the earth and the expanding universe could make Professor Holmes so astonished, the precision with which the Hindu calculation regarding the age of the entire Universe was made would make any man spellbound.

(source: Hinduism and Scientific Quest - By T. R. R. Iyengar p. 20-21).

Alan Watts, a professor, graduate school dean and research fellow of Harvard University, drew heavily on the insights of Vedanta. Watts became well known in the 1960s as a pioneer in bringing Eastern philosophy to the West. He wrote:

"To the philosophers of India, however, Relativity is no new discovery, just as the concept of light years is no matter for astonishment to people used to thinking of time in millions of kalpas, ( A kalpa is about 4,320,000 years). The fact that the wise men of India have not been concerned with technological applications of this knowledge arises from the circumstance that technology is but one of innumerable ways of applying it."

It is, indeed, a remarkable circumstance that when Western civilization discovers Relativity it applies it to the manufacture of atom-bombs, whereas Oriental civilization applies it to the development of new states of consciousness."

(source: Spiritual Practices of India - By Frederic Spiegelberg Introduction by Alan Watts p. 8-9).

Dick Teresi author and coauthor of several books about science and technology, including The God Particle. He is cofounder of Omni magazine and has written for Discover, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic Monthly. He says

"Indian cosmologists, the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than 4 billion years. They came closest to modern ideas of atomism, quantum physics, and other current theories. India developed very early, enduring atomist theories of matter. Possibly Greek atomistic thought was influenced by India, via the Persian civilization."

The cycle of creation and destruction continues forever, manifested in the Hindu deity Shiva, Lord of the Dance, who holds the drum that sounds the universe’s creation in his right hand and the flame that, billions of years later, will destroy the universe in his left. Meanwhile Brahma is but one of untold numbers of other gods dreaming their own universes.

The 8.64 billion years that mark a full day-and-night cycle in Brahma’s life is about half the modern estimate for the age of the universe. The ancient Hindus believed that each Brahma day and each Brahma night lasted a kalpa, 4.32 billion years, with 72,000 kalpas equaling a Brahma century, 311,040 billion years in all. That the Hindus could conceive of the universe in terms of billions.

The similarities between Indian and modern cosmology do not seem accidental. Perhaps ideas of creation from nothing, or alternating cycles of creation and destruction are hardwired in the human psyche. Certainly Shiva’s percussive drumbeat suggests the sudden energetic impulse that could have propelled the big bang. And if, as some theorists have proposed, the big bang is merely the prelude to the big crunch and the universe is caught in an infinite cycle of expansion and contraction, then ancient Indian cosmology is clearly cutting edge compared to the one-directional vision of the big bang. The infinite number of Hindu universes is currently called the many world hypothesis, which is no less undocumentable nor unthinkable.

"Anachronistic as this labyrinthine mythology may appear to the foreign mind, many of India’s ancient theories about the universe are startlingly modern in scope and worthy of a people who are credited with the invention of the zero, as well as algebra and its application of astronomy and geometry; a people who so carefully observed the heavens that, in the opinion of Monier-Williams, they determined the moon’s synodical revolution much more correctly than the Greeks."

" Many hundreds of years before those great European pioneers, Galileo and Copernicus, had to pay heavy prices in ridicule and excommunication for their daring theories, a section of the Vedas known as the Brahmanas contained this astounding statement:

“The sun never sets or rises. When people think the sun is setting, he only changes about after reaching the end of the day and makes night below and day to what is on the other side. Then, when people think he rises in the morning, he only shifts himself about after reaching the end of the day night, and makes day below and night to what is on the other side. In truth, he does not see at all.”

"The Indians, whose theory of time, is not linear like ours – that is, not proceeding consecutively from past to present to future – have always been able to accept, seemingly without anxiety, the notion of an alternately expanding and contracting universe, an idea recently advanced by certain Western scientists. In Hindu cosmology, immutable Brahman, at fixed intervals, draws back into his beginningless, endless Being the whole substance of the living world. There then takes place the long “sleep” of Brahaman from which, in course of countless aeons, there is an awakening, and another universe or “dream” emerges. "

"This notion of the sleeping and waking, or contracting and expanding, of the Life Force, so long a part of Hindu cosmology, has recently been expressed in relevant terms in an article written for a British scientific journal by Professor Fred Hoyle, Britain’s foremost astronomer. "

In Mesopotamian religion and mythology, Enki, also known as Ea, was the God of wisdom and intelligence. Wisdom was achieved by restoring balance.

In Norse mythology, the god Odin is especially known for his wisdom, often acquired through various hardships and ordeals involving pain and self-sacrifice. In one instance he plucked out an eye and offered it to Mímir, guardian of the well of knowledge and wisdom, in return for a drink from the well. In another famous account, Odin hanged himself for nine nights from Yggdrasil, the World Tree that unites all the realms of existence, suffering from hunger and thirst and finally wounding himself with a spear until he gained the knowledge of runes for use in casting powerful magic. He was also able to acquire the mead of poetry from the giants, a drink of which could grant the power of a scholar or poet, for the benefit of gods and mortals alike.

Sapience

"Sapience" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Sentience.

Sapience is often defined as wisdom, or the ability of an organism or entity to act with appropriate judgment, a mental faculty which is a component of intelligence or alternatively may be considered an additional faculty, apart from intelligence, with its own properties. Robert Sternberg has segregated the capacity for judgment from the general qualifiers for intelligence, which is closer to cognizant aptitude than to wisdom. Displaying sound judgment in a complex, dynamic environment is a hallmark of wisdom.

The word sapience is derived from the Latin sapientia, meaning "wisdom". Related to this word is the Latin verb sapere, meaning "to taste, to be wise, to know"; the present participle of sapere forms part of Homo sapiens, the Latin binomial nomenclature created by Carolus Linnaeus to describe the human species. Linnaeus had originally given humans the species name of diurnus, meaning man of the day. But he later decided that the dominating feature of humans was wisdom, hence application of the name sapiens. His chosen biological name was intended to emphasize man's uniqueness and separation from the rest of the animal kingdom.

In fantasy fiction and science fiction, sapience describes an essential human property that bestows "personhood" onto a non-human. It indicates that a computer, alien, mythical creature or other object will be treated as a completely human character, with similar rights, capabilities and desires as any human character. The words "sentience", "self-awareness" and "consciousness" are used in similar ways in science fiction.

Further reading

• Allen, James Sloan, Worldly Wisdom: Great Books and the Meanings of Life, Frederic C. Beil, 2008. ISBN 978-1-929490-35-6
• Miller, James, L., "Measures of Wisdom: The Cosmic Dance in Classical and Christian Antiquity", University of Toronto Press, 1986. ISBN 0-8020-2553-6
• Velasquez, Susan McNeal, "Beyond Intellect: Journey Into the Wisdom of Your Intuitive Mind", Row Your Boat Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9796410-0-8
• Freduci Philomathis, "What is this thing called wisdom?", Journal Behind the State of the Art, Maybell, Colorado, 2006
• E. F. Schumacher, "Small is Beautiful", Harper and Row, New York, New York, 1989.
• Sternberg, Robert J., Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins, and Development (1990). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36718-9
• Conover, Sarah and Wahl, Valerie, "Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents (This Little Light of Mine)", Skinner House Books, 2010. ISBN 978-1-55896-568-3

External links

• Atlas of Wisdom: Wisdom in Psychology and Spirituality
• From Knowledge to Wisdom
• Where is the Wisdom We have Lost in Knowledge?
• Wisdom in Perspective
• Ancient texts
• Hermetic scriptures
• Tiny Buddha wisdom quotes
• Occult/world scriptures
• Wisdom: The Interval Between the Notes
• John-uebersax.com, Wisdom Lexicon Project

Resources

• Book on Wisdom from psychologist Paul Baltes
• The Wisdom Page
• Share Your Wisdom Here
• The Defining Wisdom Project of the University of Chicago