In Homer’s Iliad, the best-known brain belongs to Odysseus. He’s the “man of a thousand wiles.” If you’re breaking into a walled city, he’s the fellow you want by your side. But there’s another character in the Iliad who is just as impressive intellectually: old Nestor, “wisest of the Greeks.” He’ sno help when you’r breaking into a walled city, but you need a Nestor, an Odysseus won’t do.

Wise. It’s not a synonym for “smart.” To be sure, it has something to do with smartness, but don’t look for it on Howard Gardner’s list of “multiple intelligences.” Gardner’s categories—mathematical intelligence, social intelligence, etc—are aptitudes that people are born with. Ditto for whatever IQ tests test.

Wisdom, by contrast, is linked intrinsically to experience. When the young are wise, we call them “wise beyond their years,” acknowledging that “years” and “wise” are related
It’s not enough to be old, either. Some elders are just geezers. Nor is it enough to have lots of experience under your hat. Been-there, done-that only equals jaded. Wisdom is a cross between what you’ve done and what you’ve made of it. As a type of intelligence (are you listening, Howard Gardner?) it might be defined as Read more

4 comments