We know that acquiring both knowledge and wisdom can give us an edge in dealing with life. But what is the difference between the two? Why is wisdom more important than knowledge and how do we transform knowledge into wisdom?
Knowledge is understanding and learning facts, information, or skills and the ability to use the information in identifying things and situation. It is acquired through education or experience and is the psychological product of learning, observation, and reasoning. Wisdom, on the other hand, is the ability to apply and utilize the knowledge we accumulated over the years,together with insight and common sense, to make a sound judgment and make better decisions.
What is Knowledge and Wisdom
Just a simple illustration. You can tell when it’s about to rain. You know what rain clouds look like. You might even know about stratus, cirrus, and cumulus – their most common types. That’s the knowledge you acquired, perhaps from your science class. But if you plan of going out and you know it’s going to rain, what would you most likely do? Because you have the knowledge, you now utilize that information using intuition and experience and so you bring an umbrella or a rain coat with you. You act sensibly. Now, that’s wisdom.
In life, it is important that we are not only knowledgeable but also wise. Keep in mind that not all the information we get are correct, legitimate, and logical. Knowledge is what we know and understand but wisdom is how we see and feel. It is tapping into the heart and soul and making sense of what the mind finds difficult to grasp and handle such as feelings, uncertainties, and faith. Wisdom is linked through experience and could develop over time. Sometimes we become wise by going through failures and mistakes. We become more sensible and more prudent because of humbling experiences although we can also learn this by heeding the wise.
Nowadays, information are made easily accessible with the help of technology. We can have knowledge of almost everything and practically everyone has become conversant with their own field of interests. But being able to discern the wise from the unwise and having the ability to make a sound judgment and decision to promote the common good – that’s wisdom. In this world, do not just strive to be well-versed. Strive to be well-equipped with wisdom to effectively deal with life’s challenges. Do not just acquire the tool – master the craft.
Wisdom is natural instinct and is mother of knowledge. Knowledge is gained by virtue. If you have no wisdom then there is no knowledge. Hence try to develope wisdom to achieve knowledge.
i love it. its every ones desire to be wise. its the greatest resource.