Wisdom: Application is Key

Wisdom: Application is Key
Originally uploaded by lorenzodom

Application is Key

Keith Yeung asked me to be an administrator for a new group that he has created called Wisdom.

Albeit I usually veer, steer and stay clear away from anything that requires me to administer or manage anything, Keith asked kindly and convincingly enough that I thought I'd give it a try and see what I might be able to do to pitch in.

Thus, my first action was to add a few key search words in the description: wisdom, sabiduría, sagesse, Weisheit, saggezza, wijsheid, sabedoria, мудрость, visdom, 智慧

Secondly, I created a new proposed icon for the group. The original one had English words on it, and although English is a relatively "universal" language, I think images, especially photographs, speak louder than words, are worth a thousand words themselves, and truly serve as an universal language that everyone can understand. It's kind of like love.

So, here it is. I've separated the two hemispheres to create a sort of flickr ying and yang, man and woman, a whole of two where one cannot do without the other. Granted, Phineas Gage might have begged to differ with me, but I think (ergo sum) you get the point.

If I may quote from one of my all-time favorite books, Symposium by Plato:

Haphaestus, with his instruments, came to a pair lying side by side and said to them, 'Do you desire to be wholly one; always day and night to be in one another's company? For if this is what you desire, I am ready to melt you into one and let you grow together, so that being two you shall become one ~ there is not a man of them who when he heard the proposal would deny or would not acknowledge that this meeting and melting into one another, this becoming one instead of two, was the very expression of his ancient need. And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love.

So, once again, I guess wisdom (or at least this icon of) is a lot like love.

In closing, although there is much to be said about what wisdom really is (or whether it is only the fool who tenders that love is wise itself), I believe there is a distinct difference between intangibles like knowledge, common sense and lessons learned—and wisdom. For wisdom is all those things applied.

Common sense is knowing the right thing to do. Doing the right thing yourself is wisdom—at least, in my mind.

lorenzo