5 Principles to Living a Wise Life

I recently read an article by Mark Murray, “’Downhill’, ‘Divisive’: Americans sour on nation’s direction in new NBC News poll”.  The article chronicles the general pessimism and gloom across the country regarding the future of the United States. 

I understand that the article was trying to capture the current political mood of a nation.  However, the article did not reveal anything new to my understanding of the general attitude that I have observed for the last decade. 

If my observations are correct, there is a consensus that there is something deeply wrong within the society of the United States.  The cause of the problem is vigorously disputed but I see very few claiming that there is not a problem.  

I see a lot of fingers pointing to problems that are “out there”.  I hear the shouting of insults from one group at the perceived source of “the problem” and the vitriol response of “the problem” back at the origin of the original insults.  Around and around, we go with hope and optimism the victim of every cycle.  We have ridden this merry-go-round of mutual destruction to the point that we sit in our self-dug holes of pessimism and gloom. 

What are we to do?

This is not the world that I want to live in.  I want this destructive discourse to stop but the question is how.  I believe that the solution that plagues is not out there.  The true problem that inhibits us is within you and within me.  The true problem is that we all lack wisdom.  We lack wisdom and we are being played as suckers because of it.

I follow a simple definition of wisdom:

Wisdom is the application of knowledge and experience to address real problems. 

The solution to our problem lies in being intentional about who we listen to and who we are led by.  We are awash in content.  Most of that content lacks wisdom.  Therefore, we are being blown all about by non-sense. 

The following are four principles of wisdom that I apply in my attempt to stop being played.

Knowledge without Experience is not Wisdom

There are a lot of individuals with credentials telling us what we should do and how we should respond.  Yet, they have never had to implement any of their own ideas.  This is not wisdom.

I was given an article of the Harvard Business Review with a recommendation to read an article.  I immediately flipped to the end of the article, which is my practice, to read about the authors of the article.  The authors were university business management professors who, according to LinkedIn, have never held a job outside of academia.  Also, they had just released a book on the same topic of the article. 

I still read the article, but I read it with a degree of pessimism as to actual practicality of their ideas.  Clearly, they have not implemented their own ideas with the consequences due their own business.  As Nassim Taleb has stated in his book “Skin in the Game”, they have no skin in the game; they bear no risk of the implementation of their own ideas.  At least, they have no skin in my game.  Their game is to sell books and/or meet the academic objective of publishing an article. 

This article provided me knowledge, but not wisdom.

In the same publication, there was another article.  It was written by the President/CEO of a mid-sized organization.  He wrote about his management approach and his experience in implementing that approach with the associated results.  He had “skin in the game”.  He has experience running a complex organization and understands how to apply knowledge to his organization to solve actual problems.  That is wisdom. 

I saved that article because it was written from the point-of-view of wisdom.  I will allow this author to influence me.

We need to be discerning about who we allow to influence us.  The reality is that we all cannot be wise regarding every topic.  However, we can be wise regarding who we will allow to speak into our lives and provide us the basis upon which we make decisions.  Our decisions should be based in wisdom.  If it cannot be based on our own wisdom, then make sure the advice that you are acting upon is coming from wisdom.  Make sure that those you listen to have “skin in the game” and actually have experience in bearing the risk of applying their own advice.

Experience without Knowledge is not Wisdom

I am an engineer.  I have heard the slur on more than one occasion that “I am an educated idiot”.  The premise of this insult is that engineers have the knowledge of engineering but no understanding how things work in the practical world.  There is some truth to this insult.  Many engineers, particularly early in their careers, don’t have the experience to know how things actually work.  They lack wisdom.  They have knowledge but lack the experience.  The career goal of an engineer is to become “wise” in their profession.

The problem with the insult is a diminishment of the need for knowledge.  There is a fundamental difference between being aware of a cause-effect relationship and an understanding of how the cause results in the effect and how to predict or avoid such a relationship.  That takes knowledge; typically, a deep knowledge.

That is knowledge that cannot be learned from a few hours of research on the internet or through watching a couple of YouTube videos.  The knowledge associated with someone who has spent years studying a specific subject in depth should be respected.  There is value in that knowledge because it works in harmony with experience to produce wisdom.

We are often too quick to ascribe knowledge to someone who can recite fundamental facts and statistics, when we need experts.  We need individuals who have devoted themselves to a field of study that results in a deep understanding of their topic.  This doesn’t have to originate from the academic world and there are reasons to be skeptical that the academic world is still providing this knowledge.  True knowledge is still essential; however it is obtained.

I find it shocking how much of the content on the internet fails this test.  There are many people spuing out content that they have derived from their own limited internet searches.  They have no true knowledge.  They find a few articles, re-package them, and publish them as a list of essential recommendations that we either need to start or stop doing.  This is not wisdom.  Why would we allow it to influence us?

The same principle applies to knowledge as with experience.  The content that you are consuming should be based in true knowledge of the subject.  Do not let Google determine the “expert” that you allow to influence your opinion and decisions.  Research the knowledge base of those you listen to.  If they have no deep background in the subject that they are pandering, then don’t accept it as wisdom.

Solving Created Problems is not Wisdom

I don’t need to go looking for problems.  Enough problems have found me.  Yet, I am regularly accosted by solutions to problems that I did not know even existed.  I continually feel the anxiety of needing to have an opinion about a crisis that has no basis within my own life or to express outrage about things, which are beyond my control.  These are problems that are not relevant to my life or for which I have no power to effect.  

Therefore, the first step of wisdom is to determine whether the problem is real or as bad as it is portrayed.  There is a lot of truth in the statement of Rahm Emanuel:

You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.

Rahm Emanuel

The reality is that most of the discord in our society are solutions looking for a problem that can be exploited.  There are many pushing a political, social, financial, environmental agenda that need a problem to achieve their goals.  All one has to do is follow the news for any length of time.  An existential problem will arise that needs immediate action otherwise there will be dire consequences and then it just goes away into the wake of the next crisis.   It is not wise to expend your energy on those manufactured problems.

Wisdom is recognizing that all problems are not real.  The question of who benefits should always be asked.  If there are people getting rich by expounding a problem and/or its solution, then you should be hesitant about how much credence you give to them in your opinions and decisions.

There are other problems that are real, but you have no practical way of addressing them.  Wisdom is understanding that you cannot solve the world’s problems.  They can grieve you, but everyone has limits to the power they possess to change their world.  We need to apply our wisdom to the community that we live within.  The level of energy we expend solving problems should be greatest at the personal level and diminishing as you expand outward.  We all have personal, family, work, city and county problems.  Those problems need wise solutions.  You have the best perspective of understanding whether those problems are real. 

The reality is that if we spend time applying our knowledge and experience to solving the problems in our personal and family lives, we will be going a long way to resolving the real problems in our greater community and not those manufactured problems designed to capture our attention.

The Lack of Virtue nullifies Wisdom

As has already been stated, the purpose of wisdom is to solve real problems.  Inherent within this definition is a necessity that one can trust the application of knowledge and experience of the wise in forming the consensus to solve the real problem for the benefit of the whole community.

The reality is that there are “wise” individuals, who are willing to use their “wisdom” to manipulate others to get them to do what they want them to do.  They are willing to manipulate their knowledge, the information that they possess, so that they can achieve a pragmatic result. 

The result of this manipulation is that these individuals cannot be trusted.

The collapse of trust in our society’s institutions is well documented; just look at any poll.  These institutions have long been the sources of wisdom that we could rely upon.  However, consider the collapse of trust in the institutions of government, media, academia, religion, etc.  The fundamental cause of these institutional collapses has been that those within them have lacked virtue, specifically individuals within them have a pattern of lying, cheating, stealing, and pursuing their own interest at the expense of others.

We need to demand more from the “wise” in our society. 

We need to stop being influenced by persons with knowledge and experience when they demonstrate a lack of virtue.  We need to refuse to vote for them.  We need to refuse to buy their products.  We need to refuse to continue to support them.  We need to refuse to give them our most precious commodity, our attention.  We need to demand virtue in all those we allow to influence us.  Otherwise, we will continue to get corrupted “wisdom” and we will continue to be played as suckers.

It might be strange to place so much emphasis on virtue at a time when there are so many unresolved moral ambiguities.  Therefore, I will keep my premise of virtue as simple as the Silver Rule.  Nassim Taleb, in his book “Skin in the Game”, defined the Silver Rule as:

Do not treat others the way you would not like them to treat you.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, “Skin in the Game”

As Taleb points out, “we know with much more clarity what is bad than what is good”.  A virtue becomes the opposite of that bad act that you do not want done to you.   Gerhard Von Rad, in his book Wisdom of Israel”, noted that the ancients were much more pragmatic in the definition of what was good or bad (evil). 

Both good and evil create social conditions; in a completely ‘outward’ sense they can build up or destroy the community, property, happiness, reputation, welfare of children and much more besides.

Gerhard Von Rad, “Wisdom in Israel”

Therefore, the person who uses their wisdom to build up our community, property, happiness, reputation, and welfare for everyone is acting with virtue.  The person who uses their wisdom to destroy our community, property, happiness, reputation, welfare is acting without virtue. 

We need to stop allowing ourselves to be influenced by those who divide rather than unite; those who create the “us versus them” scenarios; those who gain an advantage at the expense of someone else.

Choose Your Team

We all make individual choices about what team we are on.  How about we reject all those teams and make a new team?  A team dedicated to wisdom guided by virtue.   To join this team, you must start by pointing your accusing fingers at yourself.  It is the only way that I can see to get off the merry-go-round of gloom and pessimism.  It will give us the best hope of being able to address real problems as a true community.  

That is a world I want to live in.

Promiscuous Mind

This is the time of year that Spotify provides the summary of your listening habits for the year.  I have started to see these posts from friends and family Instagram.  Therefore, the timing was perfect to run across this quote by Epictetus.    

I look at the hours devoted to specific podcasts and muscians and I wonder if we haven’t just handed over our minds. I have not gotten my Spotify summary yet, so I am not judging or confessing. I am making a plan. I know what I will be looking for when my summary comes in.

Have I had a promiscuous mind?

I am not against intellectual inquire, but let’s be honest, that is not what Spotify is primarily about. It is mostly about entertaining, amusing, distracting, and simply filling the time. Consider who you have handed your mind over to? Consider who has become your primary influencer? Before we ever offer the parts of our body to sin, we offer up our minds.

Thinking Highly of Faith

I read this quote from “The Kierkegaard Collection” by Soren Kierkegaard –

“I do not however mean in any sense to say that faith is something lowly, but on the contrary that it is the highest thing, and that it is dishonest of philosophy to give something else instead of it and to make light of faith. Philosophy cannot and should not give faith, but it should understand itself and know what it has to offer and take nothing away, and least of all should fool people out of something as if it were nothing.”

So often, we tend to apologize for living by faith and not by philosophy.  As if philosophy were the higher of the two alternatives.  Philosophy assumes an understanding of reality’s rules that cannot be realized and therefore must always be in subjugation to Faith based on reality revealed.

Start reading this book for free: http://a.co/eVajECF

QUOTE (Alexander Graham Bell)

 

In honor of Alexander Graham Bell, a Scottish-born scientist, inventor, and engineer, who received a patent for the telephone on this day in 1876.

Resources:

This Day in History March 7th

QUOTE (Alfred Edersheim)

“So true is it that all sin is ultimately against the Lord; so bitter is the root of self; and so terrible the power of evil in its constantly growing strength, till it casts out all fear of God or care for man.”

“The absolutely highest stage of intercourse with God is the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the New Testament Church, when man’s individuality is not superseded nor suppressed, but transformed, and thus conformed to Him in spiritual fellowship.”
~ Alfred Edersheim

In honor of Alfred Edersheim, an Austrian Biblical scholar and author,  who died on this day in 1889.

Resources:
Today in Christian History
Alfred Edersheim>Quotes

“BIRDS OF A FEATHER…” – Feb. 29

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”  John 10:27

My wife and I recently were in a local appliance store.  As we perused our freezer options, a cowboy sauntered in from the back of the store.   I say sauntered because that is exactly how he walked.  His boots making the familiar clack-tap with each step on the hardwood floor.  It seemed like a slow, relaxed echo from a saloon of the old-west.

As I turned, I saw exactly what I expected to see.  The epitome of a cowboy -worn cowboy boots with a little manure clinging to the heel, Wrangler jeans, large belt buckle of rodeo origin, leather vest over a western shirt, a handle-bar mustache, and a dirty black cowboy hat.

I watched him make his transaction and he sounded exactly as I expected.  He talked with the cashier in a slow, western drawl, about the weather, hunting, work to be done, and the superiority of cash to credit cards as he pulled two hundred dollars of twenties from his leather wallet.

“Now, there is a unique individual”, I thought but then I immediately wondered “is he?”  Could he really be my personified ideal of an individual if I knew exactly what he would look and sound like?  He was the epitome of cowboy; that is not unique.

In a society that idealizes the concept of individualism, I see few examples of truly unique individuals.

Consider the labels:   Cowboy Nerd Hipster Poet Biker Goth Academic Artsy Devote Musician

The images associated with these labels that flash through our brains are probably very similar.  There are stereotypes for even those who many consider the most unique of our society.

It seems that there are few truly distinct individuals and I wonder the extent to which any human lives uniquely.  Even the most unique among us still end up in some stereotypical flock.  We often confuse individualism with genius or exceptionalism or independence.  For me, the truly unique individual is the one who lives outside the imposed influence of society in general and his own neighborhood in specific.

Yet, is that even possible?  More importantly, is that a state that should be desired?

I was recently watching some videos on birds flocking.

The mesmerizing movement of these flocks make it seem like an orchestrated control over the mass.  Yet, we know that the actions are the agglomeration of each animal’s individual decisions based upon a local perception of their surrounding.

Science does not know how birds flock without sheer chaos and crashes.  Wayne Potts studied birds flocking in 1984.  He found that the turning of flock can spread from bird to bird three times faster than any individual bird’s reaction time.  This suggests that there is not much thinking occurring within each individual bird as they fly along.  They are most likely responding unconsciously to the actions around them.

The most interesting explanation of this phenomenon has come through the attempts to simulate flocking in computer animation.   Craig Reynolds developed three rules that are still the basis of flocking simulations:

1. Avoid collisions with nearby flockmates
2. Attempt to match the speed of nearby flockmates; collisions are unlikely if the velocity of the individuals are similar.
3. Attempt to stay close to the nearby flockmates; there is a stronger influence of nearby neighbors than distant members of the flock.

I wonder, if we could achieve a broader perspective, whether the activities of man would appear more like the random motion of a flock’s unconscious decisions rather than a choreographed pattern of deliberated reason.

How many times have you wondered, “how did I get here”?

Just as a bird may be baffled by how it came to alight in a field miles from its origin, I often feel swept away from principles and priorities to find myself in a cultural landscape far from my origin.  We are all influenced by friends and family.  We are inundated by beliefs and values through education and entertainment.  It seems as if norms are cast aside without much thought or consideration.

I’m baffled by where we often find ourselves.

I wonder if we humans are more influenced by the Reynolds’ rules of flocking than we care to admit.  Soren Kierkegaard referred to it as being lost to the finite, which is mindlessly following social conventions.  It is accepting the current paradigm of expectations without consideration.  Consider the bird in a flock; that bird probably thinks that it is acting as an individual but it is really at the mercy of those around it.  That bird has lost its individuality to the finite influences of the flock.

The scary part is that the bird doesn’t even realize what it has lost
– its individuality.

Let’s use Reynolds’ rules of flocking to evaluate the individuality of our personal decision making:

1. Are you conflict adverse? Will you go along with ideas or activities that you don’t agree with simply because you don’t want to offend or be excluded?  If your first tendency is to subjugate your actions to those of others, then you might be flocking.
2. Do you simply accept the ideas of experts? Do you match the actions of those you respect because surely they have thought it through?  If your tendency is to receive thoughts rather than think them, then you might be flocking.
3. Is your identity associated with affiliations? Do you follow along with the group for fear of being left behind?  If you tend to move with your community even when it is turning away from core beliefs, then you might be flocking.

Every person who has bucked these rules have found themselves outside the flock.  I think that the reason we see so few true individuals is due to the fact that living outside the flock is hard.  In fact, I don’t think that we were ever meant to live outside the flock.

The problem is that we often choose the wrong flock.

I believe that we created flock.  We were created to flock to God.  We were meant to instinctively know and follow God.  The problem arises when we substitute the voice of God with the voice of man.

The truly unique individual is the one following the voice of the Shepherd because only He truly knows each person in the unique personhood.  True self is only found in relationship with God.

Let’s use Reynolds’ rules of flocking to consider what flocking to God might look like:

1. You avoid collisions with God. You know that sin causes conflict with the Shepherd.  Therefore, you strive toward obedience to the will of God in your life.  If your first tendency is to subjugate your actions to God, then you’re probably flocking to your Shepherd.
2. You match everything to the Word of God. You don’t simply accept the ideas of others but you examine those ideas to the scriptures to see if they are true.  When you match your beliefs with the Bible, collision with God are unlikely and you’re probably flocking to your Shepherd.
3. You strive to stay close to the leadings of the Spirit. The Shepherd takes each of us through life with many meandering turns.  If your tendency is to follow even when you don’t understand, then you’re probably flocking to your Shepherd.

The Church should be a conglomeration of truly unique individuals.  It should be a beautiful flow of individuals, each participating from their unique personhood revealed through their relation to the Good Shepherd.

There should be a stereotypes for those who are in Christ – the image of Christ and the Fruit of the Spirit.  Unfortunately, that is often not the stereotype that Christians are known for.  The problem rises from the fact that too many who profess Christ are still lost in the finite and flocking to the mentality of man.

We, as unique individuals in Christ, have the continuous task of keeping our flocking instinct focused on the correct initiator.  The hardest of all tasks is to recognize when we are quietly losing our self to the influences of the world rather than influencing it.

Living as a unique individual in relation to God is rare because it is hard.

Obedience to God will result in conflict with people.
You may be hated for your refusal to follow the flow of man.
“…but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you.”  John 15:19b
But take heart, God has overcome the world!
We will always be secure.

Following the Bible as the inspired Word of God will result in being excluded.
You may be ridiculed for clinging to traditions or supposed doctrines of bygone days.
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?  
There is more hope for a fool than for him.”  Proverbs 26:12
But take heart, we have a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul,
the hope of those who through faith and patience
will inherit the promise – eternal life.

Following the path God has laid before you will result in periods of isolation.
You may find yourself abandoned and alone as others drift after the ideas of man.
“I know your works.  Behold, I have set before you an open door,
which no one is able to shut.  I know that you have but little power,
and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”  Rev. 3:8
But take heart, we are never abandoned or forsaken.  
We are loved!

Living as a truly unique individual, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, will be hard but the promise of the joy set before us will be so worth all that we may have to patiently endure.  Keep your eye on Jesus!  He will never fail you.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to truly follow you and you alone.  Help me to hear you voice.  Show me where I am being influenced by the ideas and opinions of people.  Enable me to resist my inclinations to go along with the flock.  Give me strength to stand alone.  Give me endurance to stay on course to the open door that you have laid before me.  Help me to keep your word.  Father, I want to imitate you.  I want to be a reflection of your loving kindness. I want to embody the hope that you have given me.  Lord, may all I do bring glory to your name.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss – an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. – is sure to be noticed.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

QUOTE (Victor Hugo)

“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” ~Victor Hugo

In honor of Victor Hugo, a French author best known for his novels Les Misérables  and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, who was born on this day in 1802.

Resources:
Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo>Quotes

QUOTE (Epictetus)

“If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, “He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ”

“He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.”

In honor of Epictetus, a Greek speaking Stoic philosopher, who died in 135.

Resources:

Episode 12 – The Hellenistic Age Pt. 3 – Hallmarks of Stoic Ethics
Epictetus>Quotes

QUOTE (Francis Schaeffer) – Jan 30

“The reality of living by faith as though we were already dead, of living by faith in open communion with God, and then stepped back into the external world as though we are already raised from the dead, this is not once for all, it is a matter of moment-by-moment faith, and living moment by moment. This morning’s faith will never do for this noon. The faith of this noon will never do for supper time. The faith of supper time will never do for the next morning. Thank God for the reality for which we were created, a moment-by-moment communication with God himself.”
~ Francis August Schaeffer

In honor of Francis Schaeffer, American Evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor, who was born on this day in 1912

Resources:
Today in History – January 30
True Spirituality – Page 78

QUOTE (Thomas Aquinas) – Jan 28

“God Himself is the rule and mode of virtue. Our faith is measured by divine truth, our hope by the greatness of His power and faithful affection, our charity by His goodness. His truth, power and goodness outreach any measure of reason. We can certainly never believe, trust or love God more than, or even as much as, we should. Extravagance is impossible. Here is no virtuous moderation, no measurable mean; the more extreme our activity, the better we are.”
~ Thomas Aquinas

In honor of Thomas Aquinas, an immensely influential theologian and philosopher whose Summa Theologica is one of the most influential documents in medieval theology.  He was born on this day in 1225.

Resources:
Today in History – January 28
Thomas Aquinas > Quotes > Quotable Quote

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