The Quest for Wisdom

For me, the hallmark of mankind isn't so much our intelligence, or our ability to wield tools, or our civilization, but rather our ability to learn. Of course learning is not a skill that's exclusive to humans (even animals can learn), but without it all our past accomplishments (as well as our failures) become irrelevant. Perhaps on a subconscious level, we're all aware of this. That's why most societies respect their elders, not just out gratitude for all they've accomplished, but because of the wisdom they are reputed to possess. Of course the assumption there is that with age comes experience, and with experience wisdom. But that's not always necessarily true.

I'll first tackle experience. From a theoretical point of view, it seems that age equals experience. After all, you have longer years to live compared to a child, hence you should have more experience than one. However, is that really the case?. For one thing, life isn't unfair as much as it is unequal. We're born into different backgrounds, equipped with different talents and flaws, each leading us into an easier or more difficult life. The other factor is free will. While we can experience the richness of life, we don't necessarily choose to do so. It might be because we're afraid to leave our comfort zone, or we have other priorities, or simply something else is holding us back. Take for example a child born into war and poverty, and a man who's lived a posh and comfortable lifestyle. The latter will never experience the rigors and trials of the former, and he won't really be tempted to venture forth from where he is, unless he suddenly feels bored or empty. That's not to say that the former will always have more experiences than the latter, but by default, the poverty-stricken child was raised in adversity, while the comfortable man has to search for further experiences (and honestly, how many people are truly tempted to look for problems?). That's also not to say that the latter doesn't have anything to teach the former. Everyone has something to teach, it's just that the experiences each of them faces is different, and some are more sedentary than others.

The second assumption of course is that with experience comes wisdom. But anyone who's attended school knows that as much as our teachers try to teach us, we don't necessarily absorb everything they tell us. The same goes for experience. While there are always new lessons to be learned with each encounter, we don't necessarily learn them, or even realize them in the first place. Using the same example from the previous paragraph, the war-torn child might have more experiences, but he might not learn from what's being thrown at him. The comfortable man might end up being more wiser, especially if he maximizes his current environment. Just because you're given more doesn't necessarily mean you do more. In the end, it's what you do with what you're given. And quite frankly, not everyone takes the opportunity to learn. It might be due to pride, ignorance, or selfishness, but when we're presented with the chance for growth or truth, we shirk away from it, or even ignore it. In the end, it’s not a question of how much you’ve experienced, but rather how much you’ve learned from your experiences.

If we could channel age into experience, and experience into wisdom, that'd be great. But that's not always true. Perhaps the comforting fact about all of this is that we don't necessarily need age to have a lot of experiences, and just because we don't have a lot of experiences doesn't mean we can't be wise. It's about wanting to be taught, discerning what there is to be learned, accepting the lessons there is to be found, and making the most out of it. An old adage is that knowledge isn't wisdom. And that is very true. I think the last step is an important part as well. Because we can be the most knowledgeable person in the world yet if we don't do anything with it, we're about as effective as a fool. Knowledge lies in the theoretical, while wisdom is the actuality of it. If we don't act on what we know, then there's really no point in knowing if we're just going to act in the same way. It doesn't mean our accumulated lore should be translated into physical works, but it could be something as simple as appreciating your family, friends, and country. Even in the very act of appreciation, there is a change within the human spirit that other people can see.

There's also a misconception about where we can obtain knowledge. A lot of people prize formal education too much, perhaps to the point that it becomes unhealthy. Many fail to value the importance of informal education, of experiencing life in other ways. I'm a product of formal education myself, but if my life revolved solely on it, then I wouldn't be the person who I am now. School, after all, is a simple albeit difficult life. Your teachers tell you what needs to be done, and you know what needs to be accomplished. The only problem you face in school is how to go about finishing those tasks. However, that's only one facet of life. More often than not, the problems we face isn't getting to our destination, but discovering what our actual destination is. And formal education does little to remedy that. Moreover, while I value what my teachers taught me, I valued even more what my classmates, what my environment was teaching me. Society, especially societies of children and young adults, can be quite an awful place. And perhaps what's special about that kind of society is that it's natural, we don't hold back and there are little pretensions of civility: we act without restraint. And while there is much good that arises from that, there is also much wrongness. As a child, we're blunt, for example. We speak what we think. And sometimes, our selfishness rises to the surface, and no one else is as important as ourselves. There's a lesson to be learned from all of that, a lesson that is often tinged with nostalgia. Formal education might teach us how to accumulate knowledge, but it’s the environment surrounding it that teaches us how to be human, for good or for ill. We might not remember what’s been taught in the classroom, but we definitely remember our experiences, our emotions, our friends from that part of our life. Perhaps what most people yearn for when they think of their childhood isn’t so much the lessons itself, but the environment formal education gave us.

And if there’s any reason why we should understand and value our ability to learn, it’s because it shapes our beliefs. Everyone values virtues, although the hierarchy might vary between each individual. Some even have different definitions of virtues, and one can engage in an endless debate on matters of love, truth, and justice for example. It’s people’s ability to learn that shape these ideologies, these belief of ours. I think first and foremost, people want to find a truth, a universal law that governs their lives. As much as we know the world is complicated, we want to simplify things to the point of oversimplification. We cling to certain ideas as if they were the only truth. In some shows I watch, villains are usually portrayed as believing in the ideology of survival of the fittest or that the strong rules over the weak. One might think those are extreme examples, but they’re actually a reality. Hitler, for example, believed in the ideology of utilitarianism. One of the reasons he condemned the Jews was because he found them useless, at least from the perspective of his country. Yet this utilitarianism belief is still prevalent, albeit not a powerful political force as it used to be. Every time we exhibit prejudice, that’s being manifested to a certain extent: the way certain people look down on retarded babies, the way some people condemn homosexuals because they can’t procreate, or simply the believers of an opposing religion because they don’t fit into their cosmological concept. I mean just the other day, I found an American blogger who wanted to kill all Muslims because of some extremists who were perpetuating acts of terrorism. These are the result of oversimplifying things and looking for a general rule to govern our lives. It doesn’t even have to be a political ideology, it could be a religious one, or even propaganda such as good always wins (as if who was "good" could be identified, or that "evil" will never win a battle). Of course these beliefs of ours, whether they are truly applicable or not, result from our own experiences and our ability to learn. Most people usually base their decision on what they decide is true. Centuries ago, people believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. When presented with a different theory, even when proof was showed, they were skill skeptical. I’m not interested in who’s right or who’s wrong, but rather their motivations for choosing which one to believe. In that era, it was easier to believe that the Earth was the center because everyone else encouraged it, including an influential force, the church. Sometimes, we refuse to embrace other ideas because we already have a pre-existing one. It’s like an empty slot that once we find something to fill it with, we refuse everything else. Another problem with oversimplification is that we tend to polarized ideas. As Bush would say, it’s either you’re with us or you’re against us. And perhaps the problem with that kind of mentality is that it leaves little room for further growth. We can’t learn new ideas if we’re not open to them. And perhaps what’s debilitating is that we attempt to destroy those other sources of learning.

Our mistake isn’t so much in believing various truths, but in believing there is only one and final truth. A lot of people take offense at other ideas because pride gets in their way. They think an attack on their ideology is an attack on themselves. What they forget is that we’re human, and we keep on learning everyday. So what if what we learned wasn’t true? We can always adapt, always change. If we trip, we can pick ourselves up again and try once more. That’s the beauty of learning: we have other opportunities and we learn from our past experiences. However, some people simply don’t see it that way. That’s why people look for scapegoats. Once they’ve pinned the blame on someone or something, they stop looking for alternatives. Once one possibility is discovered, they stop looking for others. Because honestly speaking, to do so is more difficult. We shirk away from further learning because sometimes, it’s really the harder path. And as much as humans prize learning, they want simplicity and easiness when it comes to life. Can I blame them? I sympathize with them because we all yearn for the same things but in the end, learning is a choice, and we have no one else to blame if we refuse to see the lessons being taught.

What I find peculiar is how people fight for ignorance. People usually rally under the banner of terms like innocence or childhood. It’s what happens when parents don’t want their children to see the news, or complain that the schools are exposing their children to the real world, or even in terms of certain forms of censorship. It’s not that these types of people don’t know the truth, it’s that they fear that the truth they think they know will cripple their children. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that the world around them is really the world in reality. Children, for example, might not experience violence in television, but they will eventually experience it, most likely from school (whether it come from themselves or from other children). That’s not to say the full brunt of reality should be forced upon the children, but rather we shouldn’t stifle the learning experience. And in the end, children are still people, and they possess free will. No matter how much we try to raise them right, they will still make mistakes. And sometimes, no matter how much we screw up, they will still turn out for the best. We’re not the only source they learn from. We can be thankful for that.