Knowledge and wisdom are interesting conceptions. Knowledge, on the one hand, tends to refer to factual information; we know that the room is 31 degrees Celsius, for instance. We know the who, what, where, why, when and how of the situation – very steeped in the historical critical mode of understanding. Understanding the fine details of these is a very powerful act, no doubt, and represents significant achievement in many fields.
However, knowledge tends to be contrasted as potentially falling short of wisdom; perhaps you have the information, but you don’t know what to do with it. That’s where the wisdom comes in. If knowledge is science, wisdom is art. Both are governed by principles, not always different.
While I love learning about new things, and try to recognize something interesting in just about everything, attempting to compile the world’s information, the world’s knowledge is something that only a computer can do. Humanity’s strength lies in our potential understanding of the art, the wisdom. Long ago, I realized that it would be impossible to learn all the facts there are to know, to come to understand all of the governing principles across an ever-growing number of fields. At one point in time, I thought that sort of approach may be necessary, and I reasoned to myself – even with my best efforts to learn, I will find myself in situations where I don’t know the truth of it. And so, I concluded that it would be wise to put my efforts into learning how to come to the truth in any situation, how to find it. Rather than relying on knowing it, I became adept at the practice of finding it.
So what is one to do when trying to ascertain and live a life in line with what may be considered ‘the truth’ ?
This is where intuition comes in. It is literally us attempting to feel our way to the truth. Not blindly; it is a sense that can be developed, refined and deepened through practice. Strong associations with what is meant by ‘using our sense.’ It is not necessarily an instruction to mentally recall and check the situation against all of our various knowledge of facts and figures, but rather for us to use the sum of all the blocks and layers of our intelligence to infer things beyond our ability to know.
Knowledge of facts and figures are essential for informing one’s self, and broadening the base of our intuitive faculty, however the extrapolations that occur extend over and above that base. Knowledge will reduce our naivety, but it is our intuition that helps us understand the spirit of the law over its letter.
Refining our intuition starts as an act, that eventually becomes an ingrained habit, of auditing our conclusions, seeing where they don’t fit the greater context of our various frameworks, and then either reforming the conclusion or advancing the framework in order to be able to accommodate the results.
People who are actively learning are always questioning their conclusions til satisfaction. Unquestioned conclusions is where ignorance will quickly worm its way in. For many, refinement of the intuitive process happens in an iterative sense; one reason why dialogue and dialectic are among the premier forms of teaching, however for the wise, this mostly happens behind the scenes, so the initial thoughts being presented come across as being of higher relative quality. It can help when speaking with such wise people to remember that this conversation was not the start of their practice, and they represent a good form to aspire to.
Also, one thing many wise people have in common is that they are slow to speak; they take time to consider their words, and make efforts to use them effectively. It’s amazing how much situations slow down and become more comprehensible when you aren’t in a rush to blurt your piece in order to be heard!