posted
I'm sure someone in history has said this, but it just popped into my head, and it's given me a good idea as to why this election was so screwed up. It deals with the idea of wisdom, what it is and what it means to be wise. The reason I've been thinking about this is simple. I've seen a lot of bickering lately. More often than not, it is caused in great part by peoples' desire to prove they are more intelligent, or more capable of debate, or better at fact finding than other people. This is the main difference between intelligence and wisdom. The smart man will give his opinion and attempt to outsmart and outwit those who oppose it. The wise man will give his opinion when it is asked of him specifically. He will speak his mind and leave it be. The Smart man tries to prove he is smarter. The Wise man attempts to give his wisdom to others in the hope that they can find truth for their life in his words. So from what I've seen lately, there are an awful lot of smart people in the world today. But what happened to the Wisemen?
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posted
But in all seriousness, I think the problem is the information overload. Every moment of the day one is exposed to commercials and messages and stories and nonsense. Radio, TV, print, whatever. So to even be noticed among the chaos anyone who wants to be heard has to practically whack people on the head to get their attention. If you're competing for an audience that is growing scarce (not even 70% voter turnout- what were people doing, watching "Nanny 911"?) you have to beg for attention, and if you have to do that it is very, very difficult to appear wise, even if you are. Not that I think (to continue with my example) that either of the presidential candidates are wise.
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posted
I don't think they are either. I think there are some incredibly wise men in Washington, however, who are overlooked for the very reasons you mention. Bugs the snot out of me.
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posted
So, Boris, would you say you started this thread out of wisdom or the desire to demonstrate your intelligence?
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quote: So, Boris, would you say you started this thread out of wisdom or the desire to demonstrate your intelligence?
I was actually hoping to start a philosophical conversation (And though I don't appreciate the obvious attack on my character, I understand your feelings given the fact that my thread intro was poorly written). Obvisously that went south somewhere at...Eating babies???
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posted
S'allright. I guess people need comedy more than philosophy. :trips on ottoman while leaving thread:
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quote:More often than not, it is caused in great part by peoples' desire to prove they are more intelligent, or more capable of debate, or better at fact finding than other people.
What leads you to believe this? It seems to me that it is equally likely that it is caused by peoples' attempts to share their wisdom with others. After all, when two people are both wise yet disagree, and both want to share their wisdom with the other - won't argument result?
It's easy to assume one's 'opponent' is merely out to prove he or she is more intelligent than you are, but I think that is more often than not just an excuse to explain away why he or she disagrees with you. I think it's not very common for someone to be just out to 'win' an argument.
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posted
I think if you look at Tom's response to you as simply denigrating, it in part reflects more on you than him. It's certainly an interesting question that could help expand your opening post's thesis.
quote: So from what I've seen lately, there are an awful lot of smart people in the world today. But what happened to the Wisemen?
Wisemen don't care about the payoff.
Bush said it himself:
quote:"Americans are expecting a bipartisan effort and results," Bush said in his first news briefing since winning re-election.
As soon as you put a premium on results and effects, you've already turned your back on wisdom, as you have described it.
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posted
I think, in an argument, wisdom would cause both people in an argument to realize that neither person is either completely right, or completely wrong. The result would cause a person look at ideas from a perspective outside of personal experience. It seems to me, though, that this never really happens. I've not seen many arguments in which someone has been shown facts that prove them wrong or, at the very least, question their understanding of a situation that the person won't almost automatically dig in and refuse to accept the fallibility of their position. This will happen on both sides of the argument, almost without fail. What I wonder, is whether or not this is because of the way people respond, how they present the disputed facts, or if it is some other cause...
(On a side note, originally, I started this thread to point out the fact that so many people have been called "stupid" for voting a certain way. I admit I was being self-righteous when I wrote the initial post and would certainly do things differently now.)
But really, I am trying to understand people and what makes them do the things they do. I think understanding is the way to true peace. But I also don't think enough people on either side of any argument trully want to understand the other person's view. Anyway, enough rambling.
[ November 04, 2004, 06:54 PM: Message edited by: Boris ]
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