The only real way to acquire wisdom

The only real way to acquire wisdom The only real way to acquire wisdom It’s often been said  that  wisdom is the art of knowing that you are not wise.The great philosopher Socrates famously  denied being wise  more than two thousand years ago, and since then, we have taken him at his word.There is a truth there, but that  definition  isn’t very helpful.  I mean, I’m all for respecting uncertainty, doubting oneself, and realizing the limitations of my mind, but I think we can  do better. Maybe  even take a few steps forward.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!  More importantly, I think we can create our own definition that separates it from just mere intelligence and then use that definition to illustrate why the distinction matters and how we can practically engage it in everyday life.Intelligence is commonly  associated  with knowing something.  Often,  it also means that we can confidently  apply what we know in a particular context.Wisdo m, to me, is different. It’s different  because  it has more dimensions.  Wisdom not only knows, but it also understands.  And  the  distinction between knowing and understanding is what makes things interesting.Knowing is generally factual. You have learned a particular kind of knowledge and you know its truth as it applies to a particular problem.Understanding, however, is more fluid.  You have learned a particular kind of knowledge, but you don’t see it as a fact or a truth applied rigidly to one thing.Rather,  you  understand that knowledge’s essence and you can see how it relates to everything else,  with  nuances  and contradictions included.The difference is  subtle  but  potent.  While  intelligence gives you specific  utility,  wisdom inspires flexible  versatility.  It  provides a more textured lens for interacting  with reality,  very much changing how you think.Building relational knowledgeEvery time you have a  perspective shift, big or small, you gain knowledge.Y ou learn something new that you maybe didn’t know before, and as a result, your mind then changes itself regarding whatever that knowledge pertains to in the future. Next time, there is an added clarity.If the acquired knowledge is understood, rather than just known, however, there is another step that occurs every time your mind shifts.If you’re a student, for example, and you’re writing an exam, and it’s a difficult one, let’s say you decide to cheat. Now, unfortunately, when you cheat, you get caught. It leads to a failing grade in the course.The thing to learn from this experience that would add to your intelligence would be the fact that cheating on an exam has consequences, and  those consequences, while  improbable,  have a  disproportionately  negative impact on your life.  It’s simply not worth it in the future.The extra step that would translate the intelligence in that particular scenario into broadly applicable wisdom  would be to realize that not only is  no t worth cheating on an exam due to the harsh consequences,  but that  most things in the world that carry  disproportionately  costly risks should be approached  cautiously, whether they be financial decisions or personal life choices.This is, of course, a very simplified  scenario,  but  the point is that  knowledge is relational and the understanding of wisdom recognizes that rather than treating it simply as an isolated information point.Instead of the lesson being that cheating is bad, you  combine the essence of the knowledge learned from that experience with your  existing  latticework  of previous knowledge  to really  hammer  home the underlying principle.This way, you understand how taking shortcuts may harm your personal relationships, how your new understanding of risk may inform your business practices, and  how  what you say matters beyond why you say it.Knowledge is always best  leveraged  when it’s connected to other knowledge.Creating an information networkIn  netw ork science, there is a now-famous effect called  Metcalfe’s  law.It was first used to describe the growth of telecommunication networks, but over time, the application has been extended beyond that.  It essentially states that  the value of a network rises with the number of connected users.In any network, each thing of interest is a node and the connection between such things is a link.  The number of  nodes  themselves doesn’t necessarily reflect the value of a network, but the number of links between those nodes does.For example, ten independent phones by themselves aren’t really all that useful. What makes them useful is the connection that they have to other phones.  And the more they are connected to other phones, the more useful they are because the more access they have to each other.Well,  the relationship between different kinds of knowledge in our mind works the same way.  The more  connected  they are to each other, the more valuable the information network that w e have in our brain is.Every time you gain knowledge, you are either isolating it within a narrow context  where it’s addressing a particular problem,  or you are breaking it down a little further so that you can connect that knowledge to the already existing information you’ve  accumulated  so far.In this scenario,  intelligence is found within a pocket of information by itself.  Wisdom, however, is accumulated in the process of creating new links.Each node of knowledge in your mind is a mental model of some aspect of reality, but  that  mental model isn’t fully complete until  it’s been stripped down and  re-contextualized  in light of the information contained in the other mental models of knowledge around it.The only way to acquire wisdom is to think  in terms of the whole information network rather than the  individual  nodes that it contains.That’s where  nuance  is considered, that’s where the respect for complexity comes in, and  that’s how specialized informat ion finds its flexibility.The  strength of your mind depends on the value of your information network.The takeawayThe  quest  for wisdom is an age-old effort. It’s one many have recommended.It’s been said to be as useful for finding inner  contentment  as it is for fueling external successes.  It’s a more  prudent  way of interacting with reality.While not everyone’s definition of wisdom is the same, it doesn’t seem too  far-fetched  to distinguish it by a mode of deeper understanding.  One that goes beyond just the knowing we commonly associate with intelligence.When we think of the  acquisition  of  intelligence, we think of new information inspired by  a perspective-shift that tells us a truth about one aspect of reality.Wisdom goes further  than  that.  It  strips  that same information  down to its essence so that it can relate the underlying principle of that knowledge to the existing information network  that exists in the mind.It’s the  connectedness  of this net work that separates it from mere intelligence.The more links between each pocket of information, the more valuable the whole network will be when  tackling  any other problem.  It adds an extra dimension to each mental model contained in the mind.Simply knowing this doesn’t make a person more equipped to  soak  in wisdom, but with  awareness and practice, new thinking patterns can be created.The way you do this shapes everything else. It’s worth working on.This article originally appeared on Design Luck.You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people