Knowledge Does Not Equal Wisdom
If you believe that to be wise is to know everything, then in your understanding nobody can ever be wise. No one person can know everything there is to know, especially since the world has not yet discovered everything there is to know. Nevertheless, there are people that the world idolizes because they are believed to be wise. People such as Buddha, Confucius, and Gandhi, and Socrates, all of whom were mere men, are treated as gods due to their presumed wisdom. If these men are wise however, it cannot be a result of them being all knowing, since nobody can know everything. The teachings of these men insinuate that to be wise is not to know everything, but simply to be aware of yourself and those around you. …show more content…
For if one can see or feel something, how can it not exist. This is why people so often say the phrase, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Because for us anything we detect with our eyes is real. However, this is not always the case considering that, as with everything else, our senses are not perfect. As a result of this imperfection, they can be deceived. An example of this provided by Schultz is that of Sailors being deceived by mirages. John Ross on an expedition for the English royal navy, went in search of a northwest passage. Upon arriving at its predicted location however, he found that there was a mountain range where the passage should be. William Parry, Ross’s …show more content…
As Socrates said, “I am wiser than this man…he thinks that he has knowledge when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do not think that I have” (Plato 26). The belief that we have the ability to know everything and that our beliefs can never be unfounded, is the opposite of wisdom and is the cause of all of the worst moments in human history. These seemingly trivial ideas are what causes wars. Because of this our society would be better off celebrating wisdom as awareness of yourself and others instead of trying to achieve the
If you believe that to be wise is to know everything, then in your understanding nobody can ever be wise. No one person can know everything there is to know, especially since the world has not yet discovered everything there is to know. Nevertheless, there are people that the world idolizes because they are believed to be wise. People such as Buddha, Confucius, and Gandhi, and Socrates, all of whom were mere men, are treated as gods due to their presumed wisdom. If these men are wise however, it cannot be a result of them being all knowing, since nobody can know everything. The teachings of these men insinuate that to be wise is not to know everything, but simply to be aware of yourself and those around you. …show more content…
For if one can see or feel something, how can it not exist. This is why people so often say the phrase, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Because for us anything we detect with our eyes is real. However, this is not always the case considering that, as with everything else, our senses are not perfect. As a result of this imperfection, they can be deceived. An example of this provided by Schultz is that of Sailors being deceived by mirages. John Ross on an expedition for the English royal navy, went in search of a northwest passage. Upon arriving at its predicted location however, he found that there was a mountain range where the passage should be. William Parry, Ross’s …show more content…
As Socrates said, “I am wiser than this man…he thinks that he has knowledge when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do not think that I have” (Plato 26). The belief that we have the ability to know everything and that our beliefs can never be unfounded, is the opposite of wisdom and is the cause of all of the worst moments in human history. These seemingly trivial ideas are what causes wars. Because of this our society would be better off celebrating wisdom as awareness of yourself and others instead of trying to achieve the