Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy,talk.philosophy.misc,talk.religion.newage,alt.atheism,alt.pagan,alt.consciousness
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rochester!cornell!travelers.mail.cornell.edu!news.tc.cornell.edu!news.cac.psu.edu!news.pop.psu.edu!hudson.lm.com!godot.cc.duq.edu!newsfeed.pitt.edu!dsinc!ub!acsu.buffalo.edu!ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu!V116LVX4
From: v116lvx4@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (real name)
Subject: Re: Wisdom...
Message-ID: <Cz9vqu.3uz@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Sender: nntp@acsu.buffalo.edu
Nntp-Posting-Host: ubvmsa.cc.buffalo.edu
Reply-To: v116lvx4@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
Organization: University at Buffalo
References: <Pine.A32.3.91a.941026005434.69726I-100000-100000@homer01.u.washington.edu> <39k0e0$olm@quandong.itd.adelaide.edu.au> <39le9c$e68@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> <Pine.LNX.3.91.941112015515.9741A-100000@wilbur.protree.com> <3a33uc$5nn@nermal.cs.uoguelph.ca>,<1994Nov12.200656.10058@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 19:35:18 GMT
Lines: 39

In article <1994Nov12.200656.10058@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>, rdpe@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Hal Parmalee) writes:
>In <3a33uc$5nn@nermal.cs.uoguelph.ca> bmyers@uoguelph.ca (Brendan P Myers) writes:
>
>>Bob Garth (bgarth@protree.com) wrote:
>>:    Would anyone like to take a stab at defineing what the word "wisdom" 
>>: means?  I don't mean the dictionary definition, I mean, what it means to 
>>: you individually.
>
>>: -Bob
>
>>	Stab!  (bleed......)  sheesh, what a full word!    :)
>
>
>How about, "The ability to make the right decision on the basis of
>inadequate knowledge." ??? John Brunner, "The Jagged Orbit"
>-- 
>Hal Parmalee, MD, FACP          Time is breath -try to understand this.
>3101 Ridge Rd. West                      Gurdjieff (1873-1949)
>Rochester,NY 14626
>rdpe@uhura.cc.rochester.edu


    How about this one:  
          When you are young, you run blindly through doorways (hopefully
with the door open).  On the other side, however, there is a big monster
that knocks you on your butt.  You didn't see the monster because you
didn't bother to stop and look, or even consider the situation you were in
BEFORE running through the door.  
          Wisdom, then is that which is achieved after being knocked on your
butt *many* times.  That is, the ability to stop, LOOK before entering the 
door, possibly WALK through the door instead of running, CONSIDER the 
situation you are in, and quite possibly REFUSE to go through the doorway
if you feel it too dangerous to yourself or others to do so.

          How's that for a metaphor?

B*B
*Keeper*

