The difference between knowledge and wisdom

I flatter myself that I know quite a lot of things – I speak several languages, have a Master’s degree in psychology and am a rather avid reader. (I also play guitar and sing, but somehow this doesn’t seem to fit into the category of knowledge... If I remember correctly it belongs to the procedural memory, that’s stuff like tying your shoe lace or riding a bike: pretty much automatic activities that is.) Surely there must be a fair bit of facts and figures stored away in that big storehouse of mine – my brain. But I also know that I have forgotten a lot of things. For example how exactly a PET scan works (which I studied in university) or how to fix a flat bike tire (something I was taught in grade 3. Although – that might also have had to do with my ridiculous unhandyness). And innumerable other things. Which is sad, right? I mean I spent so much time studying for exams and countless hours reading and memorizing, but most of it seems to have been retained for only a short amount of time. And I’m asking myself why that is. Maybe the sheer amount of information we’re trying to cram into our heads is just too much for our intellectual capacity? My dad told me that his dad’s “intellectual fodder” consisted of only a few books, six maybe, timeless classics, and that he would read them over and over again throughout his lifetime and gain something new and valuable from them with every rereading. Surely he basically knew them by heart after the umpteenth time through, no danger of forgetting the names of the main characters or the lessons learned with so much repetition.

I am still reading “Evolve your mind” (as always I have started dozens of books over the past months and weeks so that it takes me forever to finish one – a really bad strategy when it comes to staying motivated by the way) and just finished the section on learning. Now learning and its counterpart teaching happen to be particular interests of mine. I’m sure every single one of you can remember his or her teachers from high school that actually managed to implant something permanent into your brain cells and the ones that – excuse my French – absolutely sucked at that. I’m talking about the ones that made you fall asleep after five minutes of class. The difference according to Joe Dispenza, the author of “Evolve your mind”, lies in the quality of the experience. In other words: When we experience emotions in a situation it is much more likely that it will leave an imprint on our brain structure because new synaptic connections are being formed. The fascinating thing about us humans (apart from having invented ice-cream and Friends) is that we integrate new knowledge by building on top of what is already there, kind of like adding a new storey to a house. So when we manage to perceive a connection to what we already know (and this doesn’t have to be a conscious process!) it is much more likely to stick. That’s why analogies and metaphors are so great because they show you these connections in a playful and yet superefficient way.

In olden times the young were taught mainly by the arts: songs, stories and paintings were used to drive home the lessons that were important to the respective society. Because they were made up of familiar elements (for example a young hero the listener/spectator could identify with) and spoke to them emotionally (how many of you are being transported to a very specific time and place just by hearing a song from your past?) they worked. And were fun at the same time! Unfortunately teachers forgot about this magical trick over time and nowadays to my great regret and dissatisfaction a vivid imagination is not among the prerequisites for being admitted to teachers’ college.

Now some of you might ask: What does all of this have to do with the difference between knowledge and wisdom? The answer is: everything. Just close your eyes for a moment and remember some of the lessons you’ve learned in life – from “don’t go down stairs on roller blades if you like your bones whole” to “you reap what you sow” (a fucking awesome metaphor – doesn’t everybody know exactly what it means even if you can’t explain it? That’s great teaching!) – and then remember how you learned them. Did you read them in a text book? No, you experienced them first-hand. And that’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Your guts will know. Trust me.