Month: September 2023

Education implies LEARNING. This encompasses KNOWLEDGE which may lead to WISDOM, depending on how this knoweldge is applied/actioned.

Every country has differing education systems. Most have a government controlled department but, there are ever- increasing private educational curricula being offered,  When initiated, these  need to have government approval and are annually accountable to government scrutiny.

One such system that has gained world-wide recognition is the Steiner/Waldorf Education Movement.

A bit about Rudolph Steiner: born  1861; died, 1925. He was an Austrian, social reformer, architect, esotericist. He gained initial recognition at the end of the 19th century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom.  He was born in what is now Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He died in Switzerland.

To learn more about Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy visit this link.

Traditionally, we have been told that we have 5 senses, taste, smell, touch, hearing, and sight with a sixth, intuition being recognized by many.

However, according to Rudolf Steiner, there are twelve senses and, it’s important to develop and use as many of these senses as possible because each sense reveals another aspect of our sensory reality.

This sensual reality which we can term sensory perception also forms the basis of our relationship with ourselves, our surroundings, and the people around us.

With practice, we find ourselves observing more and more, as the different senses complement each other.

Steiner’s twelve senses can be grouped into three categories. He distinguished senses which relate to the perception of:

• our body: the senses of touch, of life, of movement, of balance
• the external world: smell, taste, sight, temperature
• the non-material, spiritual world:  thought, ego, beliefs, parahuman attributes

Will, feeling, thought

• The first four senses, the lowest, are called physical senses, or senses of the will because they are largely used to perceive one’s own body.
• The middle four senses are the senses of feeling. Observations made with these senses arouse feelings within. These senses are also reflected in our language.
• The last four senses, the highest, the meta-senses, focus particularly on the metaphysical. These are the spiritual or knowledge senses, and are used in the observation of other people as well as our metahumanness.

(Above image courtesy of Pinterest)

Knowledge Vs Wisdom

Knowledge helps you in your daily living. Wisdom helps you in living your life.

Wisdom is an important element in achieving life satisfaction. However, we seem to focus on gaining more and more knowledge without applying it to develop wisdom.

For example, knowledge can be instrumental in acquiring financial rewards but without wisdom it won’t be long lasting.

Yet, time was when wisdom was highly prized. Those with wisdom on a broad range of life experiences were sought out to dispense advice and to deliver the pearls of wisdom people craved.

Now, though, it’s all about grades and acquiring the next set of qualifications to boost us up the salary rankings and self-aggrandizement which goes with pursuing success.

Being intelligent and hardworking isn’t everything. Your excellent academic achievements show that you’re capable of logical thinking, understanding concepts, and are equipped with heaps of determination and grit when it comes to getting down to work.

Research indicates that intelligence is not an indicator of well-being. It seems that our obsessive pursuit of knowledge has been to the detriment of cultivating wisdom. That in turn has resulted in a diminished overall life experience.

So, what IS the difference between wisdom and intelligence. The dictionary says:

Wisdom: The ability to use your experience and knowledge in order to make sensible decisions and judgments.

Intelligence: The ability to think, reason, and understand instead of doing things automatically or by instinct.

The key difference would seem to be that wisdom uses the perspective gained from life experiences, whereas intelligence is down to the acquisition of empirical facts and knowledge.

Applying the nature/nurture debate is another way to distinguish between the two:

Intelligence is generally accepted as being something you are born with to some degree (although it also requires nurturing to fulfil its potential).

Wisdom, on the other hand, is not something innate, needing time and experience as well as observation and contemplation to develop and ultimately blossom.

Another way to discern a difference is to say that intelligence is knowing how to do something; wisdom is knowing if and/or when one should do it.

Intelligence may mean knowing how to hack into your work’s computer network, but wisdom is understanding that that is probably a bad idea!

What does it mean to be wise?

Unsurprisingly, the list of quotes on the subject of wisdom is long and enlightening. Here are just a few:

Pierre Abelard: “The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question and by seeking we may come upon the truth.”

Albert Einstein: “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

Marilyn vos Savant: “To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.”

Socrates: “The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing.”

Benjamin Franklin: “The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.”

Confucius: “To know what you know and to know what you don’t know. That is real wisdom.”

There’s a common theme running through these wise words and that is humility, a somewhat alien quality in our society right now, where trumpet-blowing is what it’s all about.

(Adapted from The Conversation: (https://theconversation.com)