As I began this assignment , my first thought is what is this word we call

wisdom ? Is wisdom the same as knowledge? My search for the definition of

wisdom led me to many different definitions. The most simple of these was

that wisdom is simply the use of knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge can

actually be both similar or completely different. Whichever it is sometimes

depends on the person. You can be very knowledgeable about something but

how you use that knowledge shows how wise you are. Wise people know

how to put the knowledge they have to good use.

There have been many people with great wisdom who have been here

throughout time. Their backgrounds doesn’t seem to play a impact on the

amount of wisdom they have. Great philosophers have come from the poorest

of economical situations. Wise people have sometimes made mistakes in

their lives and learned from that mistake. From this mistake they take away

the knowledge of how to handle the problem if it comes their way again. People with wisdom place very high standards on their life. Their wisdom has

taught them to listen to their conscience which most of the time tells them

what is the right thing to do.

Are we taught wisdom or knowledge in school ? I believe we are taught

knowledge of things in school and wisdom arises from this knowledge and

tells us how to use the knowledge we have been taught. I think of it like this

with my degree I am pursuing at FIT I can gain all the knowledge possible but

until I put this knowledge to work I won’t really know what it is all about.

Wisdom is being to keep a clear mind in regard to solving problems. Wise

people know how to realize when there is a problem and have the knowledge

to solve it. Another huge part of wisdom is knowing that the outcome of a

solution to a problem affects not only them but sometimes other people

around them. The solution to a problem sometimes creates a problem for

someone else. If everyone used this little bit of wisdom when solving a

problem the world might be a better place for us all.

I think my mother is a great example of someone with great wisdom. She

is 87 years old and sees both the wisdom side and the practical side of most

all situations. She has always told me to learn from my mistakes and don’t

make the same mistake twice. “ Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice

shame on me,” is something I have heard all my life from my mother. I once asked her how she got so wise, she replied , “ you learn from your mistakes

and apply this wisdom to solving your next problem when it arises.” As a

teenager I asked her where to look for this wisdom ? She laughed and said ,

“you don’t look for wisdom, you let it find you .”

I think Socrates would have a great many things to say about my thoughts

on wisdom. Whereas I think wisdom should be valued a great deal in our

lives, he seemed to have thought wisdom was worth very little. After

questioning many affluent people their knowledge on different things he came

to have the belief that people think they know something about things when

they really know nothing at all. From this he came to assume that a wise man

has no idea what knowledge truly is. I think knowledge and wisdom go hand

in hand so to speak. Socrates told us that wisdom was a strange thing and that

to have it we must forget we have it. I must not be very wise because I don’t

see how you could be a very wise person and forget you were.

In conclusion my final thoughts are that knowledge is attainable in

everything if we reach high enough for it. We can gain wisdom by applying

our knowledge to find answers to our everyday problems. I have one thing in

common with Socrates . This is in my everyday life I have found there are

many people who think they have great wisdom about many things, but in

reality they have neither wisdom or knowledge about not much of anything. http://plato.stanford.edu http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wisdom