WISDOM
ABOUT WISDOM
Have you ever found yourself in the presence of a person who offers a practical solution to a thorny problem and thought to yourself, “That was obvious. Why didn’t I think about it?” It’s not an uncommon phenomenon, especially if the person is older than fifty. And, if the person were younger, you might just say that she was wise beyond her years.
We use the word, wisdom, to convey respect and appreciation. But what, exactly, is it? A sampling of synonyms calls up such qualities as insight, perception, understanding, acuity, judgment, knowledge, common sense, acumen and prudence. Yet wisdom is so multi-faceted that no one word can begin to capture its essence.
The gerontological neuroscientist Dilip Jeste also has a hefty list of its qualities: wisdom is “a combination of emotional regulation, pragmatic decision-making, tolerance, self understanding, prosocial attitudes and behaviors, and a capacity for reflection.” The psychologist, Todd Finnemore, says it even better: “Older brains are more diversely wired and use many more connections than younger ones, because we’ve made so many associations over the course of our lives.”
But the most intriguing definition is attributed to the late Oxford don and philosopher, Isaiah Berlin. “Wisdom is the knowledge on how things fit together, what can and cannot be achieved, how to achieve it and what hangs people up, all this without being able to explain why or how we did it.”
First and foremost, we older persons have the knack at seeing “how things fit together” — the big picture. We’re good at seeing patterns. We’re natural systems thinkers. Experience also brings with it the capacity to anticipate unintended consequences. In other words, we know intuitively how to “make a map.”
Second, we older persons have experienced enough of human frailty to be able to cut to the chase on “what hangs people up” and to understand that the most powerful forces in any system tend to gather behind the status quo and draw upon our deep seated fear of change. In other words, we know intuitively how to “mind the gaps.”
Third, we “know what can and cannot be achieved and how to achieve it.” By this stage in life we’ve learned enough about time management to calculate what and how to get results, particularly how much pressure to apply depending on the situation. In other words, we know intuitively how to “build the app.”
And finally, how true it is that we are “unable to explain why or how we did it.” It could be our own tacit knowledge at work. It could be our intuitive powers. Or it could be that wisdom is like what they say about pornography, or art? That is, "we just know it when we see it.”
While we may not be able to put into words our intuitive powers, we are now armed with a methodology that directly draws on our natural strengths.
Have you ever found yourself in the presence of a person who offers a practical solution to a thorny problem and thought to yourself, “That was obvious. Why didn’t I think about it?” It’s not an uncommon phenomenon, especially if the person is older than fifty. And, if the person were younger, you might just say that she was wise beyond her years.
We use the word, wisdom, to convey respect and appreciation. But what, exactly, is it? A sampling of synonyms calls up such qualities as insight, perception, understanding, acuity, judgment, knowledge, common sense, acumen and prudence. Yet wisdom is so multi-faceted that no one word can begin to capture its essence.
The gerontological neuroscientist Dilip Jeste also has a hefty list of its qualities: wisdom is “a combination of emotional regulation, pragmatic decision-making, tolerance, self understanding, prosocial attitudes and behaviors, and a capacity for reflection.” The psychologist, Todd Finnemore, says it even better: “Older brains are more diversely wired and use many more connections than younger ones, because we’ve made so many associations over the course of our lives.”
But the most intriguing definition is attributed to the late Oxford don and philosopher, Isaiah Berlin. “Wisdom is the knowledge on how things fit together, what can and cannot be achieved, how to achieve it and what hangs people up, all this without being able to explain why or how we did it.”
First and foremost, we older persons have the knack at seeing “how things fit together” — the big picture. We’re good at seeing patterns. We’re natural systems thinkers. Experience also brings with it the capacity to anticipate unintended consequences. In other words, we know intuitively how to “make a map.”
Second, we older persons have experienced enough of human frailty to be able to cut to the chase on “what hangs people up” and to understand that the most powerful forces in any system tend to gather behind the status quo and draw upon our deep seated fear of change. In other words, we know intuitively how to “mind the gaps.”
Third, we “know what can and cannot be achieved and how to achieve it.” By this stage in life we’ve learned enough about time management to calculate what and how to get results, particularly how much pressure to apply depending on the situation. In other words, we know intuitively how to “build the app.”
And finally, how true it is that we are “unable to explain why or how we did it.” It could be our own tacit knowledge at work. It could be our intuitive powers. Or it could be that wisdom is like what they say about pornography, or art? That is, "we just know it when we see it.”
While we may not be able to put into words our intuitive powers, we are now armed with a methodology that directly draws on our natural strengths.