Wisdom

What person do you have in mind when you picture a wise person? © Mirjam Letsch | Varanasi, India

WISDOM ~ They say ‘with age comes wisdom’. Is this true? And what is wisdom anyway? Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English words wis (‘of a certainty’) and dóm (‘ judgment’). So defined in a broad sense, wisdom could well be described as the capacity of judging rightly in life matters. Right? 

Well, if that's a commonly accepted definition, I tend to disagree that wisdom comes with age, based on what I see around me. People who are older may tend to stay in the comfort zone they created for themselves. Nothing wrong with this, of course, but does it make them wiser? Will they remain receptive to new ideas? New experiences?

I guess that my problem with the expression ‘with age comes wisdom’ is that it contains no reference to the process that leads to wisdom. It only says that one day you will ‘be wise’, as in ‘you will have it’. The pitfall here, I believe, is that you may think that wisdom is the same as the possession and use of the knowledge and experience that you have built up over the years. Having knowledge and experience is undoubtedly important in order to be able to better assess life issues. And of course, we all build up knowledge and experience as we grow older, simply because we live. But does that make us wise? Look around you! Judge for yourself what people of age are doing to this world: many actions show a total lack of wisdom. 

I believe it was Oscar Wilde who wrote: ‘With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.’ I would rather argue: most of the time age comes alone.

So what would make a person wise? Would love to hear your thoughts. What person do you have in mind when you picture a wise person? A man with a white beard? In control of his emotions and always calm?

Professor Carstensen says – and I am very much inclined to agree - that as a wise person, you’re not only regulating your emotional state, you’re also attending to another person’s emotional state. You’re not focusing so much on what you need and deserve, but on what you can contribute.

I highly recommend the article from which I quoted her. I’ll link it below.

So if wisdom doesn't necessarily comes with age, what does?
Grey hair.
And stiff limbs.

Happy New Year, try to grow wise(r) in 2023 and look after each other! Can you contribute?