Monday, May 19, 2014

Motivational Monday & PoP Midway Reminder: Wisdom

If you are new to my blog and would like to know why I started Motivational Mondays, please go HERE.
 
Hello and happy Monday to you all.  It is time to share this month's Motivational Monday passage.  I have also included this reflection as part of the midway post over on my Path of Positivity challenge blog where the theme this month is WISDOM.  So, if you are in the habit of checking in over there as well, you'll be able to skip the top half of that post.  On with today's thoughts...  

KNOWLEDGE, INTELLIGENCE & WISDOM


Knowledge, Intelligence, Wisdom.  While these words are often used interchangeably, they really mean different things.  Knowledge is the body of facts that we look to obtain through study or experience.  Intelligence is the capacity for being able to learn, reason and understand the body of facts before us.  Wisdom is the ability to make good judgements based on what you have learned from the knowledge you have gained.  

There are some important distinctions to note.  Just because someone is intelligent, does not necessarily mean that the person will be wise, and on the flip side, just because someone is wise, does not necessarily mean that the person will be intelligent.  I have often been baffled by the fact that with many of the people I have met, it seems that the higher a person's IQ, the less wisdom they seem to display.   While their minds may be filled with knowledge, they often don't seem to have the ability to discern that information in order to make wise choices and decisions.  On the other hand, I have met people who never finished grade school, that happen to be among the wisest individuals I know.  Maybe it is because the person with the higher level of intelligence has only studied the possibilities whereas the wiser person has learned through their experiences and is thus better equipped to put their knowledge to use.  Being able to process through a large storehouse of facts, analyze that information and then utilize it effectively is definitely a skill that needs to be developed through time and experience.

Now to be fair.  There are people out there who display both a modicum of  intelligence and wisdom at the same time.  This certainly would be the ideal to strive for.  However, what if you could only choose to be one or the other.  The debate has raged on through the years as to whether it is more important to be intelligent or more important to be wise.  I don't think it will be settled any time soon.  Personally, I think that wisdom is more important than intelligence. Just having knowledge is not enough, one must be able to know what to do with it.  Of course, I've just covered the surface of this vast topic.  It would take years to fully research and delve into the roots of the subject.  Maybe if I ever get the opportunity to continue my degree in psychology, it is a subject I can further explore.  In the interim, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the subject.  Intelligence or wisdom--which would you choose?

References:
Author Unknown. (2011). Difference Between Wisdom And Intelligence. Available: http://sharpkiwi.hubpages.com/hub/Difference-Between-Wisdom-And-Intelligence. Last accessed 17th May 2014.
Brown, P.R.  (2013). The Difference Between Being Intelligent & Being Wise . Available: http://theprbrownreport.blogspot.ca/2013/03/the-difference-between-being.html. Last accessed 17th May 2014.
Graham, Paul. (2007). Is It Worth Being Wise?. Available: http://paulgraham.com/wisdom.html. Last accessed 17th May 2014.
Horowitz, Eric . (2012). ‘Tis Better to Be Wise Than Intelligent. Available: http://www.peerreviewedbymyneurons.com/2012/08/10/tis-better-to-be-wise-than-intelligent/. Last accessed 17th May 2014.

On-line Dictionary References (All last accessed 17 May 2014):

Cambridge Dictionaries On-Line (2014)
"intelligence."  Available:   http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/american-english/intelligence_1?q=intelligence.
"knowledge." Available:   http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/american-english/knowledge?q=knowledge. 
"wisdom."  Available:   http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/american-english/wisdom?q=wisdom

Dictionary.com (2014)
"intelligence."  Available:   http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intelligence?s=t.
"knowledge." Available:  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/knowledge?s=t. 
"wisdom."  Available:   http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wisdom?s=t.

Merriam-Webster (2014)
"intelligence."   Available:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intelligence.
"knowledge."  Available:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knowledge.
"wisdom."  Available:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wisdom.

Oxford Dictionaries (2014)
"intelligence."  Available:  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/intelligence?q=intelligence.
"knowledge."  Available:  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/knowledge?q=knowledge.
"wisdom."  Available:  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/wisdom?q=wisdom.
 
__________________________________________________________________________________
Next up, that brings me to a couple of freebies.  The first was offered up at the challenge start and the second was just offered up today for the midway...

Font Information:
 
Font Information:
 
Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  All of these fonts are free for commercial use.
You will notice that the sentiments may appear huge depending on what software program you download it into.  You can always reduce the size without distorting the overall look.

Credit Notes For This Creation:
© 2014, Lisa L. Décosse. PUO. However, you are allowed to use the sentiment on handmade projects that you intend to sell on a small scale basis provided credit is given. You also need to include a credit note and a link to this blog should you use any of my images in your creations and post them on your blog. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with my full terms of use found in the 'Download Instructions & T.O.U.' tab at the top of this page. Of important note:  Please do not share my images with family, friends, etc. Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Box®, 4-Shared®, etc. Instead, please direct people to my blog(s) so they can grab the image for themselves. If you would like to post a watermarked version of the image, please contact me to obtain one.

_______________________________________________________________
I invite you to go and check out, not only, the wonderful creations some members of my Design Team had the opportunity to create over on the Path of Positivity (click HERE for the midway) but also some of the great entries into this month's challenge (click HERE for the challenge).  I also invite you to come over and enter a project yourself, if you haven't already.  There are only two projects so far this month and we have three prizes available.  The odds stand pretty good at the moment.
 
Well, that is it for today!  Have a great week ahead everyone!
 
Until next time,

No comments: