A Pee-H-Dee in Idiocy, The Pride of a Fool

   Having a university or college degree does not grant wisdom. Not saying that a wise person can’t also possess a degree, just saying that knowledge does not necessarily grant wisdom; and in this day and age, a degree doesn’t even imply knowledge. A degree simply means that a person had the money and time to go to an institution and get through whatever was necessary to claim the scroll. Some folks might balk at the accusation that a degree doesn’t involve knowledge, OK, I’ll grant that it involves some kind of knowledge. Is all knowledge good? Is all knowledge useful? If a person learns something that isn’t true is it really knowledge? Is it possible that a head full of nonsense could be some kind of anti-knowledge?

There was a time when universities and colleges carefully guarded the content of what was taught. For generations humanity attentively pruned the tree of knowledge that had been handed down. Like building a cathedral, the foundation was strong and the main beams were calculated carefully. As the walls of the cathedral of knowledge went up the bricks and stones were laboriously inspected, anything that didn’t stand up to scrutiny was rejected, sometimes entire walls had to be demolished and rebuilt. Now granted, the trim, the curlycues, and the lighting were changed occasionally to fit the style and technology of the times; but the main structure was tall and sound. The building withstood wars and storms. The builders had been careful, thoughtful, and imaginative. The entire city had benefited from the construction, many other structures went up around the cathedral using the techniques and style of the mighty building; the effect was one of strength, and breathtaking beauty.

Somewhere along the way a new breed of men appeared, they were deceitful, and weak, and lusting for power. The edifice of knowledge and wisdom was in the way of their plans to fundamentally change everything in the city; the very presence of the building was an affront to their empty and corrupt nature. These hollow men preached novelty and gimmickry; they wanted to tickle the citizens ears, gain a following, and the cathedral stood as an affront to their vacuity. The cathedral of knowledge had stood longer than the memory of the people, so the hollow men began to call it “outdated” and “obsolete”. A “fresh wind” was blowing they said, and knowledge must “keep up with the times”. The people began to look at the edifice of knowledge with different eyes, and thought a change might be “refreshing”. Out came the tools for “advancement”.

The spires that thrust into the sky were “pretentious”, so they were knocked down level to the roof. The windows were smashed out to let the air flow into the “stuffy corners”, some holes were knocked out of the walls to “let more light in”. The doors were considered “alienating” to the “less able” and were removed. Some shingles were removed from the roof so the people could experience the “realness of real rain”, and any blocks in the foundation that were “bigger” and “unequal” were removed. Now the walls sagged (considered “artistic” and “authentic”) and the elements made the building damp and chilly. The cathedral now inspired nothing but depression and delusion. The real genius of the hollow men was that they kept the building standing, the people still had the “cathedral”. If the cathedral of knowledge were razed to the ground, the builders and the accomplished men would have been inspired to build another, but who needs two cathedrals of knowledge?

I could go on with the analogy, talk about how the “new” cathedral made a bundle of money by handing out certificates of “cathedral accomplishments” to anyone who set foot in the dreary building (and paid the “admittance fee”) but you get the picture. Our culture has made a religion out of “education” and now it prints cash selling “indulgences” to boorish narcissists. What I meant by leaving the building standing was that some real education must prevail, things would fall apart if the engineering students were taught to question the laws of physics and mathematics, people would die if all the past data of medicine were thrown out to “start fresh”. But don’t worry, with “diversity” becoming ever more important than “merit”, one will soon see collapsing bridges and overflowing hospital morgues. Let’s face it though, most young people who make the education scammers rich are not going into the hard sciences or engineering fields, the young folks are borrowing vast sums of cash to have a “college experience”, and come away with advanced degrees in such things as lesbian dance theory and the socioeconomic effects of insect oppression.

So if the hallowed halls of higher learning are barely pumping out knowledge, let alone wisdom, where is wisdom to be found? Wisdom is one of those words that is hard to define, but one can see it when it is encountered. Wisdom is a combination of knowledge, experience, prudence and common sense. Intelligence is often found, but not a requirement for wisdom. To keep it simple, let’s call wisdom the application of knowledge, with the knowledge of experience tipping the scale. So what would be the biggest impediment to wisdom in this case? Well, youthfulness would be one thing, not enough experience yet. That used to be common knowledge, not anymore, now “youthfulness” is considered “advanced” or “fresh”, and held in high esteem, old folks are “stuffy” and “outdated”. I must add, at this point, that one can be old and foolish as well. Age does not guarantee wisdom. Willful ignorance can strike a person when young (such as having overblown pride in a worthless college degree) and true learning stops. What else might impede the flow of the practical application of life knowledge? What if a person lives in a state of escapism? Never getting off the couch and away from an entertainment screen? Not having a “real” life might kind of skew things a bit eh? However, “escape”, can take on many forms. One might have had many experiences to gain lessons from, but push those lessons away via mind altering substances or mental “safe spaces”. There is one very insidious and sneaky element that makes us immune to even the idea of wisdom; the ego.

This is a tough one for many people to understand, I will again use an analogy. Think of your ego as inflatable. When we deal with challenging people or situations we respond kind of like a puffer fish, our ego makes us appear bigger, scarier, tougher. People that would walk over our true character are scared off, “puffing up” even makes us FEEL less vulnerable. Some people go around “all blowed up” all the time, they like the “power” of it, and begin to think they’re actually a big scary fish. Other people are loath to puff up, and just skirt the edges of any kind of danger. There is a problem though, humans, unlike the puffer fish, are blind when inflated. The bigger the inflation, the more vision is lost. When you’re blind to your past, you cant learn from it. When your peripheral vision is impeded you cant learn from other’s experiences either. And with your forward vision blocked, you just have to stumble forward, into the unknown. So how does one gain wisdom in dealing with ones own ego? Well, there is an ancient text that talks much about wisdom, it has been used for hundreds; even thousands of years. This text is called the Bible, and it was even in use when that cathedral of knowledge was still a grand edifice of human understanding.

I can hear the groans of “here comes the religious stuff”, but to those that have ears, let them hear. The bible has much to say about wisdom, but I will hold it to one lesson for now. That one lesson is the beginning of wisdom, a good place to start. The bible states that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom”. Now I don’t think that this means a run-away-screaming kind of fear. It’s more like how I “fear” my chainsaw. I still use my chainsaw a lot, but I never forget that it could saw into my face or leg if failed to appreciate its power; think of it as a very awesome and respectful kind of fear. So what does that have to do with wisdom? Well, go back to that ego problem, where we were lost in that inflatable blindness of pride. It’s very hard to be puffed up with importance, when standing before the All-Mighty. Once one gets beyond selfishness, and the ego deflates to a manageable size, suddenly things become more clear. With vision restored, one can learn from past mistakes, understand others struggles, and be able to map a way forward. Another little “secret” about gaining wisdom? The bible also says you should ask God to grant it to you, just like Solomon did; what have you got to lose?
May you trod the path of your adventure with wisdom by your side.

– Ranger