Well, we all got to read about Socrates again as a class. However, our focus now is on wisdom rather than justice. Now this wisdom is something that alludes Socrates. It is something that Socrates has been in search for all his life.
An oracle once said that the wisest man alive is Socrates, so, Socrates went out to try and prove the oracle wrong. He went to the "wisest" people he knew and began to ask them questions. Much to his surprise, they didn't know that much. In fact, they seemed to be very ignorant in the eyes of Socrates. Therefore, after hounded by Socrates with all these questions, these people didn't take to liking Socrates at all. And he did this for politicians, artists, poets, and many more prominent people in Greek society.
Socrates, after numerous encounters, stated that, "Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is--for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I neither know nor think that I know" (Apology pages 31-32). This was the same conclusion after conversing with all these types of "wise" people.
Now the question comes up, "Where do we find this type of wisdom in today's society?" Well, I can't say that I always see it in higher education, nor do I see it in too many young people today. However, I see it in the men and women who have experienced many things throughout their lives, both hardships and great joy. These people with varying degrees of experiences are usually those that accept others for who they are no matter what. They understand that no one person is right or wrong, but agree that we are all one on this big ole thing we call Earth. These "wise" people do not see in color, nor do they see money as a means of measure. They simply see people. They see people for who they are and what they have experienced. This is what being wise truly is. It is a state that allows a person to enjoy the experience of interaction with many people and learning about others' experiences. And the great thing is, once one is wise, it seems to be a continuing cycle of becoming wiser because more connections will be made through more interactions. And more interactions means the sharing of more experiences.
Wow! I didn't know that this thing was actually going to come full circle with service learning, but I think I somehow managed to join it up. This wisdom that I've been speaking of is achieved in many ways. However, rereading the passage I wrote above, I see that service learning, when taken seriously and given a serious effort, can lead people to become wise. I have met many people that have given lots of time to service and service organizations, and each and every one of these people seems to be very wise when it comes to dealing with people in general. They seem to always think globally about the issues and the people involved. They are the ones who seem to be very wise in my eyes.
I've also learned another great thing about these "wise" people. They know that they cannot make a whole lot of change on his or her own. However, they do their thing every day and try to spread awareness of the issues they're involved in to try and help people by those means. If they were naive, they would simply take charge of everything and try to "change the world." But they do their tasks everyday, and they are changing the world the long and hard way--which is the only way since change is usually not taken too lightly.
Now, I believe this writing from Plato is something that first went in and out my brain when I read this for class three years ago. However, this time is a bit different. I do remember much of what I read, and surprisingly so, I have taken a message out of it. I believe that through these last three years, I have taken Socrates' meaning of wisdom to heart. I have learned that the smartest people are not always the wisest, and I see that in daily life. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that "The wisest are the willing." They are the ones who put in the extra effort in order to understand, and they are amazing people--my girlfriend is one of these people, and she'd never admit to being wise. These are the people that hear about an issue and conduct research before jumping to a conclusion. These are the people who have a deep understanding of humanity, and I definitely look up to these people whenever I run across one.
So, it seems that being wise is knowing that there is a lot to be learned and that you'll never know enough. Being wise is experiencing what all humans endure, but knowing that there are another few billion stories to understand before coming to a conclusion. No one person is wise, but we all have wisdom. And when we work together to help others, our wisdom is multiplied.
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2 comments:
I could go on and tell you how I thought this response was well written, but there is not a whole lot that I think was wrong with it. Since I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on wisdom and your experiences with it, I want to talk about the content of your response. After writing my own response to these questions, it was interesting seeing how we both thought similarly about some things by quoting the exact same passage from the Apology. Most interesting to me was the addition of some ideas that I had not thought about. There were a couple of quotes in particular that stood out to me.
The first quote was taken from the middle of the response. You stated, “I have learned that the smartest people are not always the wisest, and I see that in daily life. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that ‘The wisest are the willing.’” This was very well thought out and was something that I was trying to explain, but I did not do a very good job of it. I agree that the wisest people are the ones that put their heads down and do the work. They are the people who may not be the smartest or best in their field but are the ones that are dedicated.
“No one person is wise, but we all have wisdom. And when we work together to help others, our wisdom is multiplied.” This quote from your response I think is one that is something that can really be applied to our service learning class. As we all work together to do one thing at a time to help the Washington neighborhood, I believe our work will make more of an impact on the community and along with that a larger impact on ourselves.
Ryan:
I noticed too that you and Regan seemed to be on the same page--sometimes literally--when formulating your posts. I too was struck by your concise (and really provocative) statement that the wisest of those who are willing. In a class like ours, a willingness to act is crucial. But I noticed that you also said that wisdom was a willingness to "understand." Given all that is happening on this planet, I so dearly wish that more people were willing to understand a whole host of realities--from problems and practices to people.
Interesting that you chose to illustrate your point about understanding with a metaphor that Ellison's narrator would understand and appreciate, namely, "seeing." The wise become those not necessarily blessed with sight but those who are willing to see. jw
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