Growing wisdom via comparison

What can we do to become more wise?

It seems to me that wisdom comes about when
we take time to compare experiences with each other.

Comparison.
Assessment.

The quality and quantity of experiences effects this.

So, what kind of experiences boost our wisdom?

I would consider the outside world as a form of truth.
Experiences in nature and the natural world,
seem to be bound to produce some kind of wisdom.

What kills wisdom?
I would guess, excess negativity.
Pure experience is a calm or happy thing.
Distortion on the other hand, extremes.

Pain drives to madness,
but pleasure addicts to obsession.

How can we ever avoid the anti-wisdom?

Probably you can’t really avoid it. But you can learn to distinguish it from wisdom.

Laughing at yourself is one excellent way of approximating this.

To me, distinguishing is a part of the comparison process.
Distinguish, compare.

I think if truth wasn’t so obvious and unavoidable,
we wouldn’t be able to find it.

Truth… such an ideal.
Almost holy.

I agree, almost holy. To me the distinction between philosophy and religion becomes extremely blurry. Maybe one could use the discipline of the other and the other the wonder of this one.

Yes, to compare wisdom to anti-wisdom, or compare experiences such that you become able to distinguish between cases of wisdom and cases of anti-wisdom, is probably itself wisdom. So maybe it’s about maximazing the instances of wisdom, and hanging up some signs, for the inevitable moments of anti-wisdom. This is why it’s good to laugh at one’s self.

Some of this process has to do with the subconscious mind.
And that part of the mind is hard to know.
Wisdom comes from things other than wisdom,
like milk from a cow. The cow isn’t milk,
but it makes the milk.
Likewise the mind is not wisdom, but it makes wisdom.
The making here, is where the subconscious has an effect.
Cognitive processes take on a variety of causes.
The world is a part of it, but then the inner self
also expresses itself in the process of “truth”.
It would make sense that truth requires a mind.
Truth that we have now is mental.
It’s basically thought.

Probably wisdom can be defined as an approach of the inner self towards the world. It’s the clash, the marriage, that makes it special. Too many variables to ever know ultimate truth, probably blasphemy to speak of such a thing anyway. So wisdom is a characteristic of the way some inner selves approach the outer world.

I am always surprised when i see people who already know some of this stuff.
I wonder what % is genetic and what % this is virtue of the modern-age.
Virtue of the modern age, wikipedia and youtube are always in use.
Learning is faster, and easier.
Connecting with other people is also easier and faster.

I don’t think the modern age has done much for wisdom. Maybe it has made it easier for people that have some idea of it, or have thought about it some, to get in touch or know about eachother in real time. But, generally speaking, an increase in the amount of known variables of the outer world doesn’t necessarily correlate to the characteristic of approaching it or them that is wisdom. People mistake facts for truth, they miss the rather large chain tying any given fact to any given unfathomable abyss of history, and back to any given manifestation and or purpose.

Some people are born more naturally curious, more naturally brave. Some people are born with more privilege, kinder parents who sorrund them with nature and wise people. Probably both can be adjusted or influenced without a need for very special genetics.

Maybe wisdom isn’t one single thing, but a kind of hue that can manifest in a million different situations, circumstances. Maybe a person who knows nothing and is even a little slow but approaches things in a certain way is wiser than a phd graduate with all the privileges and genes and youtubes one could ask for.

Maybe it’s wise to look at what ingredients make up wisdom in most cases. I see courage, honesty and a sense of humour as three big ones.

Being “Quick to listen” / “Heedful” seems to also be one.
Being patient and flexible is also vital.

Now we’re talking about virtues related to acquiring wisdom and truth.
That is the purpose of virtue isn’t it?
Making the life more truthful and wise?

I don’t know that it’s the purpose of it, but it’s certainly an effect.

Maybe at a certain point, following certain tracks, the possibility of wisdom suddenly kicks in, like a magical click or gear shifting into a groove. And then maybe wisdom becomes a goal, rather than a simple effect.

I’ve only become wiser in my life through constant testing/debating/challenging.

Agon.

You cannot grow stronger defeating weaker opponents.