I’ve come across many people from all walks of life. Some rich as kings and swiss francs is their primary currency, others without a dollar to their name. Some are highly knowledgeable but unable to utilize that knowledge. Others are navigating the world with limited knowledge but in ways that outsmarts the rest.
I’ve heard labels given to men such as my father as being wise. He was a man who did not complete high school but yet others looked up to him as a very wise man. He used to talk about how engineers with their degrees would join his team in the factory and are unable to think outside the box to solve problems.
So there is a distinction between wisdom and knowledge. But there is also something else in between, which is the ability to understand the knowledge. We may call this intelligence.
Knowledge can be mistaken for intelligence and intelligence can be mistaken for wisdom.
I’ve come across men whom I would refer to as wise and intelligent, whom have deduced knowledge for themselves without building this data bank from existing systems such as books and school. They’re not well read but they are able to decipher when false knowledge is presented to them. They have limited knowledge but are very intelligent and wise with what they have.
I’ve come across men who are well read, but unable to decipher false knowledge or apply that knowledge. They seem to not understand what they’re reading. They are fooled and controlled by other men, they part with their time and money easily. They are very knowledgeable but lack intelligence and wisdom.
I’ve come across men who are well read and are able to explain what they’re reading, in the context of what they’ve read, but are unable to apply that knowledge and intelligence outside. They cannot connect the dots from a systems perspective properly. They are very knowledgeable, intelligent but not very wise.
I’ve come across men who are well read, able to detect when they’re being fooled and ask the right questions. They are able to connect the dots across multiple fields and disciplines to tell a full comprehensive story. They are knowledgeable, intelligent and wise.
I’ll try to break down how to observe each group, how they use and misuse these mental tools.
The knowledgeable man
This man can be well read. They will read a lot of books. They will know many facts and names of things. They are like an encyclopedia and an indexable search engine. They may remember the names of all the specie of birds, all programming languages or design patterns.
The knowledgeable man will consume content at a rapid pace. They will read books very quickly or get through many YouTube videos in a short time.
However, the knowledgeable man may have low intelligence and wisdom if they do not dedicate mind power to understanding that knowledge. Their analytical and comprehension abilities will allow them to only act as a data bank, unable to connect the dots between the pieces of knowledge.
When these men lack intelligence and wisdom, questions will make them uncomfortable. They usually display this knowledge as a measure of worth, and will get into a lot of intellectualism pissing contest. You can know this when they put you down with statements such as “you never knew that?”.
The intelligent man
This man may or may not be well read, but they usually are. Their knowledge spans many systems, but leans heavily towards theoretical knowledge. They learn by reading and doing.
They may not know all the names of the birds but they can explain the migratory patterns of some birds to tell how the planet may be changing.
They can collect knowledge through real world experience and spend time to understand how it works.
They are able to connect the dots across many pieces of knowledge. Or they are able to deeply understand a few pieces of knowledge. This man will ask questions to understand how it works.
The wise man
This man is usually both knowledgeable and intelligent. Their knowledge leans heavily towards experiential knowledge. They learn by doing, experimenting, failing for themselves and understanding why they failed. The failure gives more insight into why it works. This is the foundation of the scientific method of design of experiments and observations.
They may not have to be very knowledgeable as they are able to get to the truth in a very short timespan. They devise systems that produces knowledge.
These men have a highly refined system of their conscious and subconscious minds as they are tuned to their instincts.
Whatever they need to know. They will ask questions to understand why it works. They may not need to have high intelligence, meaning they do not need to spend time to understand the knowledge. They just need to understand the why and have enough intelligence to make it applicable to their problems.
The wise man may see that the migratory patterns of birds are changing and begin to ask questions about its effects on the current ecosystem. They may not need to know the names of the birds nor understand their migratory patterns, but just the knowledge of what is happening can trigger more questions. They will draw upon many disciplines to connect the dots from a systems perspective with a first principles understanding.
The wise man has a level of intuition to know when they are being fooled. While knowledge can help against this, by knowing the facts, the knowledgeable man may not know everything. The intelligent man may not understand everything. But the wise man needs no knowledge and intelligence to detect when they’re being fooled.
There are many wise men at all levels of society, men who may not be educated to be knowledgeable but are wise enough to outsmart those at their level and elevate themselves.
The trifecta of balance
The wise man will be hungry for knowledge and understanding as they want to know why they’re here.
Knowledge is the foundations of all of this. But the type of knowledge matters. Connecting the knowledge will help them understand how they’re here.
The wise man will also realize that nobody knows and understands anything so some questions cannot be answered.