Are You Wise or Intelligent?
This is actually an important question for all of us to ponder on. If someone asks you this question, what would you say? Did you even know that both these words are indeed different from each other? I don’t think so. You might have heard a lot of people appreciating others for being intelligent. Sometimes people who have intelligence, lack the quality of being wise.
Wisdom vs. Knowledge
- Intelligence can be defined as the amount of knowledge or information gathered by a person. Whereas wisdom is the ability of that person to use his knowledge wisely.
- In the technologically advanced world today, we can gather information on any subject via the internet. In fact, knowledge can be acquired by pressing a few buttons. Wisdom can be achieved only through life experiences.
All of you might have heard the aphorism, “Knowledge is Power”. This phrase is being used since the ancient times to teach others about the importance of gaining knowledge. But the major difference between our predecessors and us is that though they lack the resources to gain knowledge, they had wisdom. This must be the main reason for which they had developed this phrase.
Lack of proper education was the only thing that restricted our ancestors from being successful. But now the knowledge is ubiquitous. Right from childhood, all have information or knowledge on one thing or the other. The main problem of our generation is that we lack wisdom. Attaining high levels of education do not make a person wise. If he doesn’t know how to make proper use of his knowledge, then his entire life will become useless.
The Benefits of Being Wise
- Only a person who is wise will be able to make good decisions without making a fool out of himself.
- One of the most important qualities to become a leader is wisdom. Only people who are led by a wise leader can succeed in their ventures.
- Wise people always stand out in the crowd and will be respected, for the good decisions made by them.
- Wisdom is the foundation of a person’s character. Such people also help to create a positive impact on others.
- Your ability to make good judgements and decisions can easily influence others. There will be a large group of people who would want to follow your path to wisdom and success.
Wisdom plays a very important role in our lives. The success in our professional and personal lives lies entirely within this quality. If the leader of an organization does not have the wisdom to effectively utilize the resources, the failure of that organization is certain.
Ramifications of Lack of Wisdom
- Poor judgement
- Spoils the reputation of the person
- Creates a negative influence on people
- Acts on impulse
An intelligent person without wisdom always tries to flaunt their knowledge without thinking about the situation. Even though we say that a person gains wisdom through the experiences he has had in his life, age cannot determine the wisdom of a person in general. We have seen great young leaders who had both knowledge and wisdom.
A person who rectifies himself after having endured the consequences of his own poor judgement or decision cannot be considered as a completely wise person. Such a person will only be wise enough to not repeat the previous mistakes. If he would show his wisdom in the future or not, will always be an uncertainty.
A wise person, when provided with an information or a situation will not immediately jump to any conclusion. He would put forward his opinions only after considering all the consequences. He would always try to solve a problem effectively rather than using it as a chance to showcase his intelligence.
Also read: Importance of critical thinking
There is no certain way to attain wisdom. Each person endures different experiences in life which makes him wise. Hence, you cannot try to live in the same way as another person to develop wisdom.
Developing both intelligence and wisdom together is a very tough job. You might have the highest educational qualification but still may not be wise. The amount of wisdom in you depends solely on how you react to each and every situation. In the long run, to become the most intelligent person in our group, we do not realize that without wisdom, all these efforts will be a waste of time. Like what Albert Einstein said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”