Wisdom, Take It Or Leave It
The discussion last night dragged on for me. That is unusual. The topic was the relationship between science and wisdom. Science is an institution, and a method that yields knowledge, which defines the 20th and our own 21st century. Certainly from the comments shared among our group there is much controversy, disagreement about what is meant by science. How is the scientific method in fact practiced? Is science a collecting up of facts, as we’d sweep the floor gathering what the broom brings into the dustpan? And are facts, enough facts the sole, or the main source of wisdom?
What do we mean by wisdom?
It appears that we know a wise saying when we hear one. How to define what sets wisdom apart from knowledge? Its not a simple matter of description.
Driving home I remembered my time at Monsanto research labs, the time before Monsanto was a strictly Agri-chemical company. Monsanto now has been absorbed by Bayer. Sure the obvious tools of the work were the big Instron machines for tearing apart materials to measure tensile strength, the scanning electron microscope to assess the failure mechanism of steel and field trips to take measurements and gather samples. The lab work was that of running experiments. The samples, each with a variation in the materials that were being examined for their longevity potential. And the constant record keeping…… Wow. It was long ago but seems like yesterday.
Was the research successful? Yes from the point of view of a materials engineer, a physicist, or from my technician’s point of view. But, the end product never came to market.
What was each day at work like? It was like playing with friends in a sandbox to see what sand structures were possible with the toy front-end loaders, shovels, and buckets within our hands. That’s what my days were like as a technician. We played with big toys, and searched for a path forward.
Was any wisdom gained from the applied science? I’d say no. That is not why we were there, and not the reason for which earned we our paycheck. Wisdom did arise though, from the times spent together, as a research team with a common interest and a shared effort. Wisdom is the result of the practice of community. I still draw upon the lessons of wisdom drawn from my time at Monsanto. Wisdom was a byproduct, not anything that showed up on the Monsanto stock valuation report.
Here is a segment of the essay which formed the basis of our discussion last night. These words were the heart of the essay.
The basic aim of [scientific] inquiry
would be to help us discover
what is of value,
namely that our feelings and desires
would have a vital rational role to play
within the intellectual domain of inquiry.
If we are to discover for ourselves what is of value,
then we must attend to our feelings and desires.
But not everything that feels good is good,
and not everything that we desire is desirable.
Rationality requires that feelings and desires
take fact, knowledge and logic into account,
just as it requires that priorities for scientific research
take feelings and desires into account.
In insisting on this kind of interplay
between feelings and desires on the one hand,
and knowledge and understanding on the other,
the conception of inquiry that we are considering
resolves the conflict between Rationalism and Romanticism,
and helps us to acquire what we need
if we are to contribute to building civilization:
mindful hearts and heartfelt minds.
–excerpt Can The World Learn Wisdom
by Nicholas Maxwell
4 thoughts on “Wisdom, Take It Or Leave It”
Interesting thoughts and I look forward to the Thursday evening gathering exploring this topic further. My sense, on the scientific method, is that feelings and the desires of the individual researcher actually should be separate (for the most part) from the work. Not that the so-called work of someone like Mengele should be anywhere near a standard for non-feeling scientific research, yet I believe that the personal desires of someone should be kept at bay during research since it is likely to skew the vision (and therefore the potential outcome) of the data produced by a scientist. The is no room for ego in the scientific process.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is only partially derived through empirical scientific data and facts. Wisdom is also intuition, experience, mindfulness, empathy, compassion, curiosity, patience, and most of all an ability to listen and be completely open to the world around us without regard to agenda or ego. A wise person will readily accept being incorrect because the idea is not to be “right” but to be true to the world at large and be seeking the underlying tenets of both nature and human nature. This is what should be driving us.
Tobin, some thought provoking comments. As to the practice of the methods of science ie. the double-blind experiment, the effort to control all but the one variable for which the experiment is designed to examine causality, all imply “objectivity” an absence of prejudice or preconceived bias. Yet, without question it is interest which directs the researcher to a problem he or she judges worthy of solving. Emotion can be understood also as the intuition of value, which is crucial to judgment making. As you might guess, I enjoy philosophy of science.
Science is not unrelated to wisdom, though both are separate modes of human understanding. Wisdom is not derived from facts, nor is wisdom “fact free.” I think that wisdom is more like an art-form, an ineffable insight about how one needs to move within the world of facts. How would one know if and when one is “right” if a legacy of experimental failure, “trial and error” have not been welcome lessons? I look forward as well to our Thursday discussion at Taste of Paris.
The Hebrew sages/philosophers placed wisdom as higher than knowledge. They taught that wisdom should always be sought in all things. And, that knowledge was very important, but that even more important was understanding the knowledge, and that even more important than understanding the knowledge was gaining wisdom about the understanding and knowledge.
That would translate to just having the knowledge is very important, but understanding how to use the knowledge is even more important, and that knowing when and why and how to use that understanding and knowledge is even more important.
The Hebrew sages also placed having wisdom in one’s life was more important than material gain in one’s life.
They also acknowledged that full wisdom was never possible although gaining more was always possible, making a humbleness in one’s pursuits in life always an important factor. We can never know it all, though that should not deter pursuits of gaining more knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
Having thought long and hard on the outlook the Hebrew sages developed, I find myself comfortable with their outlook (or should I say wisdom.)
Just my experience.
Jeff
Jeff,
You present a collection of related ideas which have stood the test of time. That is, many including you personally have ordered their lives by the hierarchy of values which you describe. Wisdom seems to be an approach, a manner of living that enhances and conserves our humanity. Humanity is what we hold in common with others of our species and in an indirect manner –with all living beings. Thanks for adding your thoughts, to my reflection.