What wisdom and being wise entails

Wisdom builds upon, but is not synonymous with, knowledge and experience. A person can be knowledgeable, yet make unwise choices. Experience typically increases the likelihood of wise choices and action, but does not ensure it. As a matter of fact, foolish acts are sometimes committed by people with lots of experience who think that they know best. Overconfidence or a lack of an understanding of one’s own limitations may lead a person astray.

What characterizes a wise person

Wise men and women possess qualities that make them admirable in the eyes of others, and rightfully so. Without attempting an authoritative definition, I dare suggest that the following are typical attributes in a wise person:

• Patience: A wise person has the patience to watch, listen and learn prior to making his decision, passing judgment, or moving into action. Such a person quite simply understands and appreciates what other people oftentimes overlook: Many issues are more complex than they appear at a glance, and a correct assessment requires a full understanding of all relevant aspects. An impatient person will tend to jump to conclusions as a matter of temperament or convenience, and even a moderately patient person tends to neglect the type of due diligence consideration that a wise decision will entail.
• Integrity: A person whose judgment is clouded by vanity, insecurity and similar deep-seated emotions is unlikely to be wise. Wisdom tends to be an exclusive domain of those capable of making a more or less deliberate choice to be independent, above the fray, and not easily influenced by what others think about them.
• Realism: Not all wise people are modest, and some have a considerable ego proportionate with their influence in society and world affairs. However, a person who is outright immodest in the sense that he has an exaggerated idea of his own importance is unlikely to be wise. Such a person will tend to err in judgment sooner or later, as so often happens to the “best and brightest” in politics when their confidence gradually grows into overconfidence.
• Timing: A wise person understands that timing is everything. There is a time to sow, a time to harvest, and then there is the time to say little and do nothing at all. Being active and outspoken are inherent qualities in most people, and that is how it should be, but the urge to do so may not lead to optimal results. A wise person will rather sit back and wait for the right moment than making premature decisions, however compelling they may seem to others. A wise man also knows that some things have a way of sorting themselves out; if not, it can be better to let others deal with it, and then wait for the appropriate time to personally intervene.
• Interest: A wise person is interested in knowing many things and in fully comprehending how things actually are. He or she will tend to be a good listener and a keen reader; oftentimes without the urge to immediately respond. He differs fundamentally from a curious person, who merely seeks instant gratification. The curious person tends to be eager to relay to others what he or she has just managed to sniff up, whereas the truly interested individual will have no difficulty in absorbing information quietly over longer stretches of time.
• Clairvoyance: A wise man looks through the haze to eventually see things for what they really are. No matter how complex a problem may be, the nature of decision-making is such that we are forced to narrow it down to a limited number of possibilities, then finally to make a choice. A wise man understands the pitfalls. If he is uncomfortable with being in this position, he will know how to position himself outside the realm of politics and social affairs, seeking instead a more suitable role as a philosopher or analyst.
• Confidence: A wise man knows that reaching good decisions are not necessarily synonymous with making everybody happy. In fact, quite the opposite may be true. A person cannot be wise unless they have the personal confidence and courage to follow the imperatives of their logical mind, and that regardless of the personal cost to themselves.

Be true to yourself!

Having read this, you may be asking yourself: “Am I wise enough?” or “Should I try harder to be more wise?”

If you aspire to wisdom, the bad news is that the absence of foolishness isn’t synonymous with wisdom. People who are unhappy about their unwise decisions, actions, or statements merely have to learn from their past mistakes. Such adaptation is a rational decision, which is a part of human nature – it is about self-preservation, not about becoming a role model for society at large.

The good news is that while being wise is admirable, it is not necessarily something attractive that we all ought to strive for. Wisdom usually isn’t that compelling compared with the readily available alternatives: Spontaneity, impulsiveness, the pursuit of personal happiness, the sheer joy of being “just human,” and other types of good clean fun.