Wisdom.

Do you, my fellow ATSers think you'd be wiser to work out things for yourself, through contemplation or whatever means you adopt? Or would it be wiser to learn what you want from the teachings of other wise people?

The way i see it is, if you think about something deeply and arrive at a satifactory conclusion. Then not only have you arrived at it by your own means and got your answer/piece of mind. You've also trained your mind to go through the whole process.

If you simply read or listen to other wise peoples take on it. You'll save yourself a lot of time but should something that no ones discussed come along, or your not satisfyed by their take on it. Then you'll have to take route A anyways.

Is there a middle ground? both taking other people views on board and adding some of your own. Could you really be sure that you came to your own conclusions if you did this?

Let me know what you think.

Bye the way, if i question what you've wrote its not because i think its wrong im just trying to get as much knowlege as i can out of the thread by exploring everywhere. If i do think what your saying is wrong then ill let you know

Jose mourinho said a mystical thing once.

"He could of saved himself so much work if he just watched some videos on the net". I personally think he was talking about going through the degrees in free masonry. I was paraphrasing, its out there in an interview.

For those that do not know, he is real madrid soccer manager. I bet he is well into that stuff, and many of the things here.

reply to post by KrypticCriminal


Good post. I would say the middle ground is: coming to your own conclusion, then weighing it against other wise man's conclusions, then further contemplating on both until you reach a satisfactory conclusion. This is truly a never ending process though, as everything changes in due time.

All knowledge comes from experience.

If I needed a wilderness guide, I'd trust a guy who spent a year stranded on an island fending for himself until he finally got rescued, over a guy who's read every book on survival ever written.

Any day.

Yep just accept you know nothing, and you may find some truths in your life.

Remember your answers are yours alone, and thats what is good about the mystical, no one can take any thought you have and understand it or apply it to them.

Originally posted by andy1033
Jose mourinho said a mystical thing once.

"He could of saved himself so much work if he just watched some videos on the net". I personally think he was talking about going through the degrees in free masonry. I was paraphrasing, its out there in an interview.

For those that do not know, he is real madrid soccer manager. I bet he is well into that stuff, and many of the hings here.

lol, im well aware of "the special one" and that sounds exactly like something he would say.

I guess what he means is theres no substitute for experience. So i think he would be a think it out for myself kind of guy.

Originally posted by LifeIsEnergy
reply to post by KrypticCriminal

 

Good post. I would say the middle ground is: coming to your own conclusion, then weighing it against other wise man's conclusions, then further contemplating on both until you reach a satisfactory conclusion. This is truly a never ending process though, as everything changes in due time.

I understand what your saying, but could'nt that just lead to more confusion than is necisary?

Originally posted by NewlyAwakened
All knowledge comes from experience.

If I needed a wilderness guide, I'd trust a guy who spent a year stranded on an island fending for himself until he finally got rescued, over a guy who's read every book on survival ever written.

Any day.

But what about things that you have no experience of, philosophical or theoretical matters if you like. Where theres no true answer yet its something that you need to explore.

Originally posted by andy1033
Yep just accept you know nothing, and you may find some truths in your life.

Remember your answers are yours alone, and thats what is good about the mystical, no one can take any thought you have and understand it or apply it to them.

Im not sure what you mean by the mystical, but if you read someone elses take on it and except it. Then your ideas and thoughts are'nt your own.

reply to post by KrypticCriminal


mystical meaning : Of or having a spiritual reality or import not apparent to the intelligence or senses.

Something like that, but of course no dictionary can truly explain what a word means to any of us, we just use a word that closest resembles what we mean.

The middle ground is to listen to 'wise' people (basically any philosopher thinks he/she is wise, so this is a subjective call) and then see if their reasoning is correct.

Originally posted by filosophia
The middle ground is to listen to 'wise' people (basically any philosopher thinks he/she is wise, so this is a subjective call) and then see if their reasoning is correct.

Yeah, who decides who is wise and who is'nt. Thats a good question. What if you just take the word of a fool because you cant be bothered to work it out for yourself. That would strike me as a good reason to think for your self from the start. What if your attemts are hampered or sent in the wrong direction by listening to someone who you thought was wise but was'nt. This also leads to the question. If when you've arrived at your coclusion.How do you even know what you think is right.

Thanks

reply to post by KrypticCriminal


I think that all wisdom is useful in a sense when it comes from others. The most important thing is to understand it yourself and not to take them at face value. Also I think that wisdom from others might give you new perspectives and ideas on things that you've never thought of before. Would Newton have come up with gravity if he had not seen the apple fall? Could he have eventually discovered it with his own contemplation?

reply to post by KrypticCriminal

Here is where one can discern the difference between knowledge and understanding.

Knowledge is that which we learn from other people and sources and in this way knowledge is taught, it is finite as it is often forgotten and it can very well be false. Understanding cannot be taught, as we come to it on our own, it is never false nor is it ever forgotten. Understanding is infinite. I also like to say that Understanding is divine.

So being taught the true path of wisdom is therefore a false statement as we all must come to understanding in our own way and time, wisdom is understanding. I think it is important to learn the teachings from wise people but this can only take you so far, from this point it is up to you to decide to continue on and how far you go.