Literature | Essays
3. Knowledge and Wisdom
Bertrand Russell
Knowledge /ˈnɒlɪdʒ/: facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or
education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject or awareness
or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.
Knowledge
refers to facts, information, and skills acquired through learning and
education. Knowing and understanding a specific subject and, being aware of
certain ideas, subjects can be defined as knowledge. We acquire knowledge
through learning, education, and training. Knowledge can refer to both
theoretical and practical aspects of a subject. For example, when we learn a
language, we learn new facts, information about that language; we also acquire
skills through language learning. The result of this learning process is
acquiring new knowledge.
Wisdom /ˈwɪzdəm/: the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good
judgment; the quality of being wise.
It is
the ability to know what is true or right, common sense or the collection of
one's knowledge. It means the ability to think and act using knowledge,
experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with
attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge,
self-transcendence and non-attachment, and virtues such as ethics and
benevolence. Wisdom is the ability to recognize or judge what is true, right,
or lasting. Wisdom consists of knowledge, experience, and good judgment. A
person cannot have wisdom without knowing, but being knowledgeable about
something does not necessarily indicate wisdom.
What is the
difference between wisdom and knowledge?
The
primary difference between the two words is that wisdom involves a healthy dose
of perspective and the ability to make sound judgments about a subject while
knowledge means understanding the subject matter simply. Anyone can become
knowledgeable about a subject by reading, researching, and memorizing facts. In
common sense, knowledge means to understand something and wisdom is the
sensible application of that knowledge in practical life. For example, you may
know how to use a weapon, but wisdom means knowing when to use it. Wisdom
cannot be simply acquired through learning or education; one needs experience as
well as sound judgment to gain wisdom.
Bertrand
Russell
v Bertrand Arthur
William Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British
polymath a person of wide knowledge or learning,
v He is a philosopher,
logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist,
and Nobel laureate.
v He is famous for
championing logicism, and a campaigner for peace,
v Popular writer on social,
political, and moral subjects,
v He published more than 70
books and about 2000 articles,
v He married four times,
About the
Essay:
In this
essay "Knowledge and Wisdom" published in 1954, Russell defines
knowledge as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined
as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom
is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization. In
this essay, Russell defines what wisdom is in the first part and in the second
part he talks about how it can be attained. He says that wisdom and knowledge
must go ahead simultaneously. He has defined wisdom giving several components
with philosophical and common examples. According to him the factors that
contribute to wisdom are:
Ø A sense of proportion or
ratio,
Ø Comprehensiveness without
narrow feeling,
Ø Emancipation from
personal prejudices and tyranny of sensory perceptions
Ø Impartiality
Ø Awareness of human needs
and understanding
Summary:
The
knowledge has surpassed all ages. In comparison to the people in previous ages,
in recent time many people have gained knowledge. But wisdom has not been
increased that much to the knowledge. People have been changed, time has been
changed, and knowledge has become more and more advanced, but the degree of
wisdom that the people should have has not been as much expected. People have a
different opinion on wisdom when we try to define it and talk about the
components that promote it.
According
to Russell, several factors contribute to wisdom. The first thing is the sense of proportion or
ratio. It means the capacity to give exact value to each reason of a
problem. We must have a sense of which reason has what percentage of role to
that problem. To develop this ability, we must have specialized knowledge,
skill and technique related to that field. But this is not possible for all
people.
For
example, as if we are engaged in research for making medicine for reducing the
infant mortality rate. This task is too difficult and we invest the whole of
our intellectual energy. We are successful in our discovery but we can't find
out the effects of that discovery on other fields. Our discovery might be
successful in reducing the infant mortality rate all over the world. But it has
an involuntary result. This reduces the food supply and quality of life because
it contributes to population growth.
You may
study the composition of an atom despite your disinterest in desire for
knowledge. When you give your knowledge to some powerful lunatics, it means you
are giving your knowledge to destroy the entire human race because they use
your knowledge to produce an atom bomb. It must be used in the right way not
for making bombs. In this way, the pursuit of knowledge may become harmful
unless it is combined with wisdom. It doesn't mean that a person, who is a
specialist in one sector, may know another sector.
Comprehensive in one area is not
enough to have wisdom. We must be aware of the goals of human life. Your
knowledge must have a positive impact on the human race. Even a person having
broad knowledge can ruin the human race if he twists it with personal emotion
and passion. Let's take an example of the study of history. Like Hegel (Georg
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, August 27, 1770- August 27, 1770, a German
philosopher and historian) many historians have harmed because they view the
facts through distorting medium of their passion. They became much more
subjective while viewing the facts. Hegel had a wide knowledge of history from
ancient times to his age and influenced the future. But what he concluded is
that Germany had been the most important nation since 400 A.D. to his time.
This made Germany proud and arrogant that caused the most devastating wars: 1st
WW and 2nd WW. In this way, even a well-known historian twists the facts with
their own emotion. Even a person with wide knowledge lacks wisdom if he has a narrow feeling.
Wisdom
is also needed in private life. It is needed in the pursuit of the self-goal
and emancipation
of prejudices. We should find our target wisely if it is attainable. Even our
pursuit of knowledge is noble but unattainable, we must not spoil our lives running
after it. In the past, many people spoiled their life in search of the
philosopher's stone and the elixir of life. These aims are a noble one, and
beneficial for the humankind, but it is unattainable.
To be
clear about this, let's see this simple example. Mr. A and Mr. B hate each
other. They think of destroying each other. Suppose you go to Mr. A and say,
"Why do you hate Mr. B?" He will give a list of vices of Mr. B. When
you go to Mr. B and ask the same question to him and Mr. B does the same. Now
you come back to Mr. A and Mr. B and tell exactly to them what they said to
each other. When you do so, you will increase mutual hatred. But if you have
sufficient patience and sufficient persuasiveness, you may succeed in
convincing each that the other has only the normal share of human wickedness
and their enmity is harmful to both. If you can do this you will have instilled
some fragment of wisdom.
To have
wisdom is to be able to emancipate yourself from the tyranny of the egoism of senses. Our sense organs are
attached to our body and we are unable to be free from the perceptions through
them. We trust in our sensory perceptions. But our emotions start from
ourselves and we can control them. Let's take an example of an infant. He
doesn't rely too much on sensory perception except he is aware of his physical
condition. Gradually his horizon widens, if he makes his thoughts and feeling
less personal and less concerned with physical states, he achieves growing
wisdom. We can't view the world as being completely impartial. If anyone could,
he would hardly be able to survive. But it is possible to make a continual
approach towards impartiality by knowing things somewhat remote in time or space and by
giving to such things their due weight in our feelings. This approach towards
impartiality constitutes growth in wisdom.
Wisdom
can be taught in this way. It must be one of the aims of education. We are told
on Sundays that we should love our neighbours as ourselves. On the other six
days of the week, we are encouraged to hate. The precept "We should love
our neighbours as ourselves." exemplifies the parable of Good Samaritan.
Samaritans are good people and they help all people, even they are Jews. Jews
hate all Samaritans however Jesus told them to love their neighbours. During
the time there was rivalry between the USA and the USSR however some
organizations were preaching peace and unity. People might say that it is good
to hate those who harm. Russell doesn't think so. To hate our enemies is to
become harmful equally. Hatred of evil is a kind of bondage of evil. The middle
path is found through understanding. Resistance is also needed in preventing the spread of evil.
Our conflict should be combined with the greatest degree of understanding and
the smallest degree of force that is compatible with the survival of the good
things that we wish to preserve. For most people, it is true, what Russell says
is incompatible in action. It is not applicable. During the time of Queen
Elizabeth I in England and Henry IV in France, people were divided into the
protestant and Catholic. But both of them remained free. Abraham Lincoln
conducted a great war without ever departing from what has called wisdom. It is
much more than the moral lesson. In the course of giving knowledge, the
disastrous results of hatred and narrow mindedness to those who feel them can
be pointed out incidentally. Wisdom indeed has nothing to do with the kind of
specialized knowledge required for various skills. But it should be
supplemented in education. It needs in everyday activities. It helps to make
everybody be a good citizen. It is the most important human quality needed for
all people, no matter they are scientists, historians, doctors, researchers,
and so on.
Understanding the text
Answer the following
questions.
a. What are the factors that
contribute to wisdom?
Ans: - In the essay
“Knowledge and Wisdom”, Bertrand Russell talks about several factors that
contribute to wisdom. According to him, the factors that contribute to wisdom
are: i) a sense of proportion, ii) comprehensiveness with broad feeling, iii)
emancipation from personal prejudices and tyranny of sensory perception, iv)
impartiality and v) awareness of human needs and understanding.
b. What message does the writer
try to convey with the examples of technicians?
Ans: - Russell has given
some examples of technicians to convey the message that the lone technical
knowledge can be harmful to humankind if that knowledge is applied without
wisdom. They can’t find out how their knowledge in one field can be harmful in
another field. For example, the discovery of medicine to decrease the infant
mortality rate can cause population growth and food scarcity. Similarly, the
knowledge of atomic theory can be misused in making atom bombs.
c. Which leaders does Russell
say were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly?
Ans: - According to
Russell, Queen Elizabeth I in England, Henry IV in France and Abrahan Lincoln
can mix knowledge and wisdom soundly. Queen Elizabeth I and Henry IV remained
free from the errors of their time being unaffected by the conflict between the
Protestants and the Catholics. Similarly, Abraham Lincoln conducted a great war
without ever departing from wisdom.
d. Why is the wisdom needed
not only in public ways but in private life equally?
Ans: - Wisdom is not only
needed in public ways but also used in private life equally. It is needed in
the choice of ends to be pursued and in emancipation from personal prejudice.
In the lack of wisdom, we may fail in choosing the target of our life and we
may not have sufficient patience and sufficient persuasiveness in convincing
people.
e. What, according to
Russell, is the true aim of education?
Ans: - The true aim of
education, according to Russell, is installing wisdom in people. It is wisdom
that makes us utilize our knowledge in practical life purposefully without
making any harm to humankind. Along with knowledge, people must have the wisdom
to be good citizens.
f. Can wisdom be taught? If
so, how?
Ans: - Yes, wisdom can be
taught. The teaching of wisdom should have a larger intellectual element more
than moral instruction. The disastrous results of hatred and narrow mindedness
to those who feel them can be pointed out incidentally in the course of giving knowledge.
For example, while teaching the composition of an atom, the disastrous results
of it must be taught to eliminate its misuse such as making an atom bomb.
g. Why does the world need
more wisdom in the future?
Ans: - When we observe the
growth of knowledge in various sectors in the present time, it is obvious that
there will be even more development of knowledge in the future. In the absence
of wisdom, most people are misusing knowledge bringing several negative impacts
and this reality will continue in the future too if knowledge is not mixed with
wisdom. It is only wisdom, that makes people use the acquired knowledge wisely.
For a better future, more wisdom is needed.
Reference to the context
a. According to Russell, “The
Pursuit of Knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.”
Justify this statement.
Ans: - Humans are curious
creatures and they always want to learn new things. Most people have spent
their whole lives in pursuit of knowledge. Some pieces of knowledge are noble
and beneficial for humans whereas some pieces of knowledge are harmful to us.
The knowledge which is combined with wisdom is useful for us because it
addresses the total needs of mankind. The knowledge of atomic composition has
become harmful to mankind because it is used in making bombs. Similarly, Hegal,
though he had great knowledge about history, made the Germans believe that they
were a master race. It led to the great disastrous wars. So, it is necessary to
combine knowledge with the feeling of humanity. We need it an event to decide
the aim of our life. It makes us free from personal prejudices. Even noble
things are applied unwisely in the lack of wisdom
b. What, according to
Russell, is the essence of wisdom? And how can one acquire the very essence?
Ans: - According to
Russell, the essence of wisdom is emancipation from the tyranny of being
partiality. It makes our thoughts and feeling less personal and less concerned
with our physical states. It is wisdom that makes us care and love the entire
human race, it takes us into the higher stage of spirituality. It makes us be
able to make the right decision, install a broad vision and unbiasedness in our
minds. We can acquire the very essence by breaking the chain of the egoism of
our sense, understanding the ends of human life, applying our knowledge wisely
for the benefit of humans, finding noble and attainable goals of our life,
controlling our sensory perceptions, being impartial gradually and loving
others.
Reference beyond the text
a. Why is wisdom necessary in
education? Discuss.
Ans: - It is wisdom that makes
our mind broad and unbiased. When we gain wisdom, our thoughts and feelings
become less personal. It makes us use our knowledge wisely. It helps us to
utilize our knowledge for the benefit of humankind. When we have wisdom we love
even our enemy, we completely get rid of ego, we don’t have any kind of
prejudices. If education/knowledge is one part of human life then wisdom is
another part. If one compasses these both parts appropriately, then s/he become
a perfect being. The goal of education is not only imparting knowledge but also
creating good citizens. People may misuse the acquired knowledge if they don’t
have wisdom and it doesn’t come automatically, it must be taught. It must be one
of the goals of education and must be taught in schools. It must be planted and
nursed in one’s mind with practical examples.
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