Personally I do not think any definition would help. a proverb states that a
person who thinks he is wise, is a fool; and somoeone who thinks himself as
a fool, is wise. definitions can sometimes be limiting.

i do not think wisedom can be thought, it is often a journey one has to take
alone. however, the methods to aquire wisedom is a different issue. i do
think we can teach the methods. so maybe we should explore methods, after
all universities are meant to equip students with methods to survive in the
world. and maybe, just maybe someone can teach me english...

peace
yunus

>From: Cherryl Martin <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Group concerned that academia should seek and promote wisdom
> <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: What next?
>Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 17:29:40 +0100
>
>To Wilfred,
>
>Does this definition help?
>
>
>
>Noise becomes data when it has cognitive pattern that can be registered in
>our minds
>
>Data becomes information when you can assemble it into a coherent whole
>which can be related to other information, to become ‘the difference that
>makes the difference’
>
>Information becomes knowledge when it is integrated with other useful
>information in a form useful for making decisions and determining actions
>
>Knowledge becomes understanding when it can be related to other knowledge
>in
>a manner useful in conceiving, anticipating and judging
>
>Understanding becomes wisdom when it is informed by ethics, principles,
>spirituality, memory and imagination’
>
>DEE W HOCK: Founder and CEO Emeritus VISA USA and VISA International
>
>
>Isn't wisdom the evaluative function of the brain? I agree with you that
>some people have never developed the function, for whatever reason, often
>due to childhood trauma (Remember transactional analysis - I'm OK - you're
>OK?) and social conditioning. Sometimes even due to physical abnormalities
>and mental illness. Others never develop it because they are just too lazy
>to think. Thinking is hard work and most people avoid it.
>
>But I still contend that, like any other skill, critical evaluative
>thinking
>can be taught.I have taught it myself with results that have astounded me.
>I
>agree with you too, that we either have it or we do not. That goes back to
>the Christian parable of the Sower - the same seeds can fall on very
>different types of ground and many never take root. Others may take root in
>ways we could never have anticipated. 'The spirit blows where it will' -
>but
>I don't think that is an argument for depriving people, especially children
>in their most formative years, of the chance of receiving those seeds. If
>we
>never scatter them we will never get a harvest. I think the key question
>isn't 'should we?' but 'HOW do we? Judgement is very subjective and much
>damage has been caused many times in the past by the teaching of evaluative
>skills in ways that promote hidden agendas, good and bad. I suggest the
>starting point should be, as others have suggested, to define what we mean
>by success.
>
>Best wishes
>
>Cherryl
>
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Group concerned that academia should seek and promote wisdom
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Drs.W.T.M. Berendsen
>Sent: 18 May 2006 4:40 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: What next?
>
>Mat and others,
>
>Once again, I am pretty sure wisdom can not be taught. Knowledge can, but
>wisdom not. Wisdom is a part of the individual and like I said someone has
>it or does not have it. Anyone not agreeing to that statement should just
>put his effort in just picking someone or just pick whatever bunch of
>people
>from the street and make them wise. I wish them a lot of success in that
>case.
>
>The phrase on the left hand column of the website of friends of wisdom
>“This
>is an association of people sympathetic to the idea that academic
>inquiry should help humanity acquire more wisdom by rational means.” Does
>not tell anything about helping people acquiring wisdom. At first instance
>not, a least that is my perception of the sentence. I is quite generally
>about helping humanity to acquire more wisdom. In my point of view we still
>have to decide on the means. Whether that will be only the people or also
>information resources like f.i. the Internet. And which people we would
>like
>to gather more wisdom and through what means. Whether it is about more
>wisdom or about acquiring wisdom (which is not possible in my opinion since
>I regard wisdom as something a person has and being wise as a certain level
>of wisdom which is different for each person to call someone wise since the
>definition wise is also a relative definition). But, that is my opinion
>based on what I regards as wise and wisdom.
>
>To me wisdom also has to do with personal capabilities and to me yes of
>course people have it or have it not. It is mostly agreed upon that most
>people in the madhouse do not have wisdom normally speaking. Although some
>might have it at certain clear moments, but then again it has to be a
>capacity of that person. So that is why I remark about facilitation rather
>then teaching wisdom. Knowledge can be teached and leads to more wisdom and
>a wiser person. But wisdom itself like I define it for myself can not be
>teached in any way. Karl Popper does mention it also in his excellent book
>"the open society and its enemies" that some people "see" things and others
>are "blind" for it. That remark of him had no direct connection with
>wisdom,
>but I think the general capacity to "see" things does.
>
>Wisdom for sure has to be valued, cherished and encouraged and I suppose
>all
>the people here agree on that otherwise we would not be on this list.
>
>Mat, you are referring to "your" definition of wisdom. Which is probably a
>mixture of the definitions of other people and some anotherness of
>yourself.
>But I would be interested to know that definition?
>
>
>“Wisdom is taken to be the capacity to realize what is of value in life,
>for oneself and others. It includes knowledge, understanding and
>technological know-how, and much else besides.”
>
>I fully agree also with the definition above.
>
>
>Kind regards from the Netherlands,
>
>Wilfred Berendsen
>
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