Smart vs. Wise

What is the difference between a smart person and a wise person? I know lots of smart people. As a matter of fact, most folk I know are smart, they are just smart in different areas. Some are smart in their chosen field of work, some in current events, some in parenting, some in school work, some in memorizing things, some in sport statistics, etc. I also know some folk who are wise. But the question remains what is the difference even though most of us can feel the difference.

Adam Grant, who has a PhD in psychology, states it this way. “Wisdom is the ability to make sound judgments and choices based on experience. It’s a virtue according to every great philosophical and religious tradition, from Aristotle to Confucius and Christianity to Judaism, Islam to Buddhism, and Taoism to Hinduism. According to the book From Smart to Wise, wisdom distinguishes great leaders from the rest of the pack. So what does it take to cultivate wisdom?”

I like his definition. He then goes on to give some things that indicate wisdom.

First, you don’t have to be old to be wise. Sometimes we refer to that as being “old souls.” Some folk are wise at thirty and some with never be wise just entrenched. Again, it is how we process experience. Little children often say very wise things and some old folk just say stupid things.

Second, according to Grant, wisdom is the ability to see the world in shades of grey not black and white. The example he gave was one I experienced. The problem he put forth was a 15-year-old girl says she wants to get married. Most folk would just respond no way, she is far too young. But what is the context. I was at a youth retreat when such a thing happened and everyone came down on that girl as being just plain wrong. I spent sometime just listening to her. She had thought through her options quite clearly, and the conditions of her life did not indicate to me that this would injure her life but more likely enhance it. She also might have been a year or two older. But after awhile, I said, “seems okay to me.” And, it gave the whole group a manner to process information they might just write off without thought.

Grant’s third point was “balance self-interest and the common good. If you read my blog at all you know I go on and on about the common good. I don’t mean to demean enlightened self-interest, we need to do that to be happy, but a lot of folk just get stuck with plain self-interest, which is far from enlightened. I’ve used the words ego-centric vs. egotistic to make the distinction. Egotistic folk are just full of themselves and look at the world primarily from their own self-interest even to the point of taking advantage or hurting others, rather like the modern tax plan that favors a small group at the expense of a larger group. Ego-centric people, in my estimation have a healthy sense of self and its importance. If you don’t know who you are, and what you think and have examined your values, how can you be helpful to others? We need strong egos to make contributions.

Grant’s fourth point is “challenge the status quo.” Oh, do I resonate with that one. We need to constantly challenge the rules. In church life we say the statement of a dying church (it can be any institution) is, “we’ve always done it that way.” We need to constantly re-examine of values, our ways of doing things, in order to keep them relevant or better mouse-traps will never get invented. A good example here is the Swiss watchmaker companies that concluded quartz in watches was just a passing fancy and would never sell in the long run.

Grant’s fifth point is “Aim to understand, rather than to judge.” Oh, how we love to judge in our society. We have somehow gotten the idea that to be a critical thinker is to criticize everything. No, critical thinking is examining life and evaluating what we are doing. Wise folk listen well before rendering judgments. They are the one’s who try to talk in another’s moccasins/shoes. Rather that just condemning another’s behavior, it is better to wonder, “Why are they acting the way they do?” If you do that they you can offer wise advice rather than just pass on your prejudices.

Grant’s sixth and final point is “focus on purpose over pleasure.” There are lots of folk who get up, eat, go to work, come home, have a beer, eat again, watch TV, go to bed, and then repeat the process day after day. I heard on Good Morning America this morning Will Smith’s son pontificating on something like “I only want to do the things I want to do.” He’s a kid, but lots of folk seem to think the only point of life is to have fun, fun, fun. I think God wants us to have fun as the catechism says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Enjoyment is there, but there is a purpose to it, to do the things God calls us to do; that is having a purpose. It is like the three great questions in life wise folk ask: Who am I? Where am I going? Is it important? Unhappy people lack purpose, happy people have a purpose that in beyond personal enjoyment. If fun is our only goal we are likely to sing the old Peggy Lee song, “Is that all there is?”

Grant ends this particular piece by quoting Benjamin Franklin,

“Who is wise? He that learns from everyone.

Who is powerful? He that governs his passions.

Who is rich? He that is content.

Who is that? Nobody.”

When I realized that I was going into the ministry I made one prayer realizing what a difficult and overwhelming action I was about to take, one I was ill-equipped to undertake; I prayed for wisdom. My prayer was not just to be smart but also to be wise, so that I could be of help to others. As the scriptures (Proverbs 9.10, Psalm 111. 10 say, “fear (awe) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It has been my continuing prayer. It is for others, or better yet, the deity, to judge whether that came true.

Wisdom does not begin with self but it is a gift of grace to make you who you are.