Knowledge Vs. Wisdom

[Bodhi123]

This movie scene is a good illustration of the difference between knowledge and wisdom. I ask you, would you rather be knowledgeable or wise?

 

[Bodhi123]

I’ll give my answer, I’ll take wisdom.

I would relate knowledge to information. I would relate wisdom to the perspective gained through experience.

I have gone through school and college and in the process have accumulated a bit of information on different topics. However, I can’t really say how this information has improved my life and made me a better person.

However, I can clearly see how gaining perspective through experience has improved my life and made me a better person. I now have a deeper understanding of myself, emotions, other people, and life in general.

I don’t know… sometimes when I reflect back on the education system I went through… I feel like it taught me how to pass a test and not much else.

My thoughts.

[Prabhaker]

34 minutes ago, Bodhi123 said:

I feel like it taught me how to pass a test and not much else.

Knowledge has its uses, it is not absolutely useless. But if you are going inwards it becomes more and more useless; the deeper you go the more useless it is. If you are going outwards, the farther you go into the world the more useful it becomes. The world respects the knowledgeable person. It needs experts; it needs all kinds of people carrying information, knowledge, expertise. But in the inner world the question does not arise: in the inner world the same knowledge becomes a hindrance. That which is useful in the outside world becomes a barrier to the inner. It is a bridge to the world; it is a barrier to the inner exploration.

Those who are explorers of their subjectivity, it is utterly useless. There, something else is needed: not knowledge but wisdom. Knowledge is information; wisdom is transformation. Knowledge is borrowed; wisdom is your own. Knowledge is ego-fulfilling; wisdom happens only when the ego is dropped, utterly dropped, totally dropped. Knowledge gives you the feeling that you are higher than others; it is a certain kind of power, just like money. Knowledge is power. So if you have a postgraduate degree you feel better than those who don’t have postgraduate degrees. If you have a Ph.D. you feel a little more egoistic. If you carry a D. Litt. of course you become very special. If you have many degrees, then you start feeling that you are not an ordinary person.

[Nahm]

@Bodhi123 Aren't they at least somewhat two in the same? Did the time you spent in school and college, and all the people and experiences that came with it become the events, in hindsight, where you gained the wisdom?

[Bodhi123]

@Nahm You’re right. The college experience really did change me in many ways. Now that I think of it… it is in an Eastern Philosophy class that I first learned about Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Thanks for pointing that out to me.

[jse]

16 hours ago, Bodhi123 said:

Knowledge Vs. Wisdom

Knowledge can build precision-guided intercontinental missiles.

Wisdom can dismantle them.

[Nahm]

@Bodhi123 That made me remember my first World Religions class. It blew my mind when the teacher started the first day with writing on the board "Unanswerable Questions", and then proceeded to sum all religions up with that. I was thinking - holy shit, every person in here is about to tell her what an idiot she is! (Because that's what I was used to people saying to me as I grew up in a predominantly religious neighborhood and I did not care for it) First time I heard someone, especially a teacher when I was that young, express what I thought was normal. Instant mind expansion. Man I was innocent then. Lol!

[Genghis Khan]

A kindly old man who performs good deeds can also be well read, and a genius in science and worldly knowledge. Why not take both? They don't contradict eachother. 

A mad scientist versus an Indian guru. 

Not everyone will fall into either extreme.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Genghis Khan

[Loreena]

I don't see the contradiction here. What's the contradiction here. Both are essential. I say 3 things are important. Knowledge, wisdom and experience. 

Knowledge without wisdom is like a ship without a compass

Wisdom without knowledge is like a surgeon without tools.

 

knowledge or wisdom without experience is like a beautiful palace made of glass!

[Bodhi123]

I agree that it isn’t an all-or-nothing situation… you can very well be both knowledgeable and wise.

I guess the main point I wanted to make is… school and books are not the best teacher… life is the best teacher.

It is my opinion that we should all strive to experience life fully. This means seeking out new experiences, meeting new people, getting acquainted with ourselves, taking chances, daring to love, making mistakes, and accepting both success and failure.

Lets not make it our goal to venture through life unharmed… but allow life to knock us around a bit and teach us some lessons.

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman

 

[egoeimai]

I prefer knowledge. By having knowledge you can earn wisdom. But with wisdom you cant earn knowlege.

Knowledge is power.

Wisdom is the application of knowldge. Without knowledge there is nothing.

Edited March 5, 2017 by egoeimai

[pluto]

Knowledge is knowing tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in the fruit salad.

 

Edited March 5, 2017 by pluto

[Nahm]

I think the knowledge and  experience and important, but what is generally most under appreciated is the diet and excercise components. When the topic of enlightenment comes up, knowledge, wisdom and experience always come up. Too rarely do we understand the importance of the care for the "lens' itself. The body is the temple. It is the vehicle. It is the communicator - the receiver - the processor.  Excessive weight on the body causes resistance in the mind and a gross lack of clarity. To make matters worse, if the knowledge factor is high, being out of shape and lethargic from over eating only serves to increase the ego's illusion because we tend to create beliefs that support our poor health. Watch out for that trap. "It's an Illusion!"

[egoeimai]

7 minutes ago, Nahm said:

I think the knowledge and  experience and important, but what is generally most under appreciated is the diet and excercise components. When the topic of enlightenment comes up, knowledge, wisdom and experience always come up. Too rarely do we understand the importance of the care for the "lens' itself. The body is the temple. It is the vehicle. It is the communicator - the receiver - the processor.  Excessive weight on the body causes resistance in the mind and a gross lack of clarity. To make matters worse, if the knowledge factor is high, being out of shape and lethargic from over eating only serves to increase the ego's illusion because we tend to create beliefs that support our poor health. Watch out for that trap. "It's an Illusion!"

Very interesting! 

[Nahm]

@egoeimai Thanks....I think.    How so?

[egoeimai]

@Nahm about the excess weight theory. 

Abe doesnt believe the same,so...

Its kinda interesting.

[Nahm]

@egoeimai Can you elaborate?