What is the wisest thing you know? Did you learn it or did it come to you out of the blue?

Question

Remember that this is the philosophy category and the subject is philosophy. It is not about just anything that just happens to come to mind. This is a thinker'sQ and the subject is focused on deeply meaningful matters that are related to the meaning and purpose of your life. It should be something you as a thinker would like to pass on (or teach) to others or alternatively something you would appreciate learning if someone stopped to tell you!. Hopefully it would be something that could be considered objective rather than purely subjective.

I have no idea who thumbed down your A, Don. It was not me. I think to discriminate the good from the bad is not the kind of judging you are referring to. The kind of judging I mention is necessary. Still one can judge the behaviors and not the person. All are deserving of respect until they intentionally cross that line of respect broadly defined in appropriate moral ways. I'm speaking in generalities but I am sure, that you understand the drift of my views. Your position is admirable but there are some who do not appreciate it. Narcissistic people like the thumbs down dwarf who has showed up to thumb down good A's. Happy Holidays to you Don. I always enjoy your POV esp when it makes me think or rethink my positions on philosophical issues. THX

I did not and will not thumbs down any A here. So if you see it, you know it was a troublemaker or immature person lacking any real knowledge. I wish they would dump that feature and replace it with the 5 star system. It's been recommended by me and others to no avail.

Someone has said: "since this is the philosophy section, you don't need to elaborate or extend an explanation on how to answer a question here." My reply: Gosh, how I wish it were so! The more Q's you ask the more you see that added details are required. So many YA Answerers try to turn the Q to personal agendas. Or their A's are unfocused digressions or disorganized mind dumps. The Answer gems (like Don's)are few and far between.

There are no final Answers in open-minded philosophers and Q&A is a dialectic were nothing is beyond questioning and discussing. Discussing here is not allowed, but asking additional Q's and staying within the YA Q&A format is.

John Gardner's book about "Grendel", of Beowulf story fame, was a great read and I can highly recommend it to everyone!

"an answer can be objective, but it is the justification that makes it subjective." Interesting pt! Look for my Q asking about it. I always recommend testing your ideas and thinking by posing them as Q's?

" the fact that I know nothing." I hope you learned that all empirical knowing takes time and effort and that it's not free. Not even a priori or innate ideas come free. It takes effort to discover them too, much more than many think/know!

Answer 1

An excellent question, and difficult to answer.

I would have to say, for me, the answer is that all things are impermanent. All things.

This seems at one level a simple enough "truth," and yet it was not until I began thinking about it deeply (as part of my study of Buddhism) that I came to understand just how much energy I and most human beings invest in trying to convince ourselves that it ISN'T true, or that we can forestall its inevitability so that it seems as if it's not true.

We cling tenaciously to any number of things and people that give us what we need and desire: order and structure, reassurance and certainty, happiness, pleasure and peace. We also cling to things that are not so positive: anger and hatred; greed and revenge; a troubled history.

We do this because we are human, and because it is perfectly natural to desire connection with things and people who give us these qualities. Even in the case of those less positive qualities, we cling to them because we find something in them that we believe enables us to cope. In some instances, the clinging (attachment) is so intense and so deep that we are not even aware of it until the person or thing is no longer there.

The difficulty this presents is that it is in the nature of life itself that these things and people are impermanent. Every person and every thing we attach ourselves to, good or bad, eventually changes, leaves or, ultimately, dies. The more attached we become to these things, the greater is our suffering when we encounter evidence of their impermanence.

The value for me of understanding this fundamental law/truth has been immeasurable. With this awareness, I am better able to step back, appreciate the experiences for what they are (not what I would like them to be), and redirect the energy I have saved to finding ways to reduce the suffering of others.

Thank you for asking this question. Happy Holidays to you.

Answer 2

A long time ago I thought that love was something that you reserved for some special set of people that you had judged worthy of it.

After a while I got to thinking about what Jesus had said about turning the other cheek and loving our neighbor I put the two together and realized that he had made no exceptions in these statements. It became obvious to me that he intended that we exclude no one from the love that we are supposed to be giving. I started thinking about my idea of love and suddenly realized that I had not been loving anyone at all. I had simply been judging everyone and every thing.

Judging someone worthy of love is not love, it is only judgment. I actually started to cry when I realized this. I saw just how much of my life I had wasted being judgmental, thinking of myself as a Christian, when I was actually doing just the opposite of what Jesus had asked us to do.

I thought about the verse judge not lest ye be judged, and I understood it for the first time.

I realized that I have a lot of catching up to do. So many opportunities were wasted. I now try to apply the love that I have for the world in a universal way like Jesus asks us to do.

If I start to feel afraid and think that I see someone that I should not love because of something I have thought or heard I try to catch my mistake as soon as possible. I tell myself that I have forgot the truth and have fallen for the same old trick that had cost me so many opportunities to be loving in the past. The horror of this realization is often all that is necessary to bring me back to my senses and make me drop the judgmental nonsense I was thinking.

I still have a lot to learn about love, but at least I’m making progress.

Love and blessings

Your brother
don.

Answer 3

since this is the philosophy section, you don't need to elaborate or extend an explanation on how to answer a question here. wisdom which is 'being wise" is a trait different from intelligence. the wisest thing i've learned is that there are questions better left unanswered. it came to me as from out of the blue, yet i chose to learn from the coincidence. an answer can be objective, but it is the justification that makes it subjective.

what i mean by not needing to "extend an explanation" is to let those who will answer use their own analytical framework to be able to answer your question, counting their theoretical perspective but not disregarding their personal experience as part of their knowledge. personal experience and personal agenda have a thin line of difference. to know the wisest thing you have learned is to know that is it part and applicable to your personal life. their objectivity cannot be pure, there will always be experience and personal criteria for each answer given.

Answer 4

How about a wise thing that is both subjective and objective? A thing that seamlessly explains the lack of transition between self and other, between inside and outside, between the smallest particle of dust and the megaverse beyond imagination would fit you description.

A scholar in China of the sixth century reduced hundreds of volumes of sutras and commentaries to such a thing. That thing was epitomized by adding the verb namas. The recitation of that thing takes the person to wherever and precipitates physical realities out of the realm of potential.

Answer 5

The most knowledgeable thing i learned is that i always make mistakes and the key is to learn from them.I understand that this is probably a new thing in American philosophy and American academic life.That this is due in part to the work done here,at American universities,by the late Sir karl Popper,i will say no more.
One of the wisest short pieces Sir karl wrote is chapter 10 of his book In search of a better world; the chapter is called 'Emancipation through knowledge, and when i first read (it as a young man)it
'blew-me-away'.
It should be taught to the youngsters,too.

Answer 6

Do not resist the winds of change.

Nature abhors stagnancy.

"The essence of life is to be found in the frustration of established order. The universe refuses the deadening influence of complete conformity."-John Gardner, "Grendel"

Answer 7

Before being an indian,a muslim i am a human being and to be a real human being is the toughest of all this is the wisest thing i had learnt and i am proud tolearn it from Quran.

Answer 8

That's an easy one, the fact that I know nothing. It was a hard lesson I learned early in life.

Answer 9

that depends on your definition of "wise". however the "deepest" thing i know is my theory of life. its a bit of humanism, existentialism, spirituality, etc. i feel that "complete reality" is like a bubble and each person has his or her own complete reality, but the "reality" that you and me are used to, incorporates the common feature of ALL the realities.and life is about exploring this common reality. but we choose what we want in our common reality(in other words there are "laws" that limit us but within those "laws", we have a choice of what we want in our life and what our experience should be). life is also about recognizing your "true" self. we do this with our interactions with different people which bring forth different traits in us and by looking inside ourselves we know exactly why they exist. this is part of reaching the highest level of consciousness, which i think life is all about. if you dont reach it in your life time, you are reborn over and over again till you reach it. i didnt exactly learn this from anyone, ive read about the terms and everything but all of these came about as a result of series of peak experiences when i meditate. its long and complicated.

Answer 10

Reality is just a philosophical person who gives you a head start but most always overtakes you anyways.

Out of the blue.