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1982 (revised 2006)
(Wisdom cannot be communicated in words.)
Wisdom: The compassionate use of knowledge.
I can only remember hearing it, or something like it, at a general semantics seminar, at which it was, to the best of my vague memory, attributed to Don Fabun. So far I have not been able to document it as actually having come from him. I thought it was in his little book, "Communications: The Transfer of Meaning", but I could not find it there. So far, the only similar quote I find is, "We will fulfill that promise only if we succeed in transforming research into wisdom in the compassionate use of knowledge in the affairs of mankind." [italics original] by William J. Fowler, A Foundation for Research in Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 72(1975) p. 2847. (2006 revision)
My analysis:
What differentiates wisdom and intelligence?
- Wisdom requires knowledge and intelligence.
- Intelligence requires knowledge.
Wisdom includes discerning the difference between desire and need. (This comes from the Sufi.)
Intelligence, with knowledge, provides means to realize both desires and needs.
- Creativity requires intelligence.
(abstracted from Joy: Expanding Human Awareness by William Schutz)
- Having a knowledge base.
- Being open to new information or experience.
- Being able to make associations with knowledge.
- Being able to communicate new associations.
- Pursue the new idea into independent existence.
The following is my acronym and mnemonic device to remember the above.
| third person | <-> | first person |
| Knowledge. | 1 |
Remember |
| Association. | 3 |
Correlate |
| Perseverance. | 5 |
Commitment |
| Expression. | 4 |
Communicate |
| Reception. | 2 |
Listen |
Knowledge Association Perseverance Expression Reception = KAPER
Creativity is really a KAPER.
The essential character of creativity is error. One is creative when one makes an error, that is, does something differently, and is aware enough to discover that the result was better than the old procedure or process. Creativity is deviating from past learned processes and discovering that the deviation produced a "better" result. One must remember, however, that more often than not deviation from the standard, that is, making a mistake, is "just plain wrong". (2006)
- Understanding requires knowledge.
- Understanding requires intelligence.
- Understanding requires reception.
- Empathy is understanding focused on persons.
- Wisdom requires understanding.
- Compassion requires empathy.
- Compassion requires action.
- Wisdom requires compassion.
- Wisdom requires commitment.
Commitment : I :: Perseverance : they.
(Commitment is perseverance)
- Intelligence requires knowledge.
- Intelligence requires association.
- Intelligence requires reception.
- Creativity requires intelligence.
- Wisdom requires compassionate action.
- Creativity requires expression.
(Knowledge is the ability to use information.)
- Knowledge requires information
Source Ralph Kenyon 1982