Mention wisdom, and some bring up AI—Artificial Intelligence. Now, I have no expertise in this, but I have a few educated guesses about AI. I suspect, like all technology, it will be useful in some applications (like helping physicians scan multiple blood samples for abnormalities), and worse than useless in others (like writing music or making art). It’s not that AI can not generate musical scores or create a sculpture. It’s that the human element, so essential and central to music and art, is absent.
I am told it’s possible that AI can so imitate human interaction as to cause someone to mistake it for another person. About that, I would point out that deceit and dehumanization have always been characteristic of our fallen world.
All human technologies in a broken world bring both blessing and curse. AI is not an exception. One thing about AI is clear to me. At best it is another form of knowledge. It is not, nor can it ever become, wisdom. Even if it is calculated to look and sound like it. Wisdom is not achieved by tapping into all known knowledge. It requires more. Most of which is countercultural in our world of advanced modernity. The Bible prizes wisdom and maturity; our modern culture prizes knowledge and youthfulness.
Wisdom is cherished in Holy Scripture. “Blessed be the name of God from age to age,” the prophet Daniel exulted, “for wisdom and power are his” (2:20). St. James urges the followers of Jesus who lack wisdom to request it from God, “who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly” (1:5). “Happy are those who find wisdom,” the Hebrew proverb says (3:13). And in more than one of his letters, St. Paul prays “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom” (Ephesians 1:17; Colossians 1:9).
An article by Chip Conley, author of Wisdom at Work, caught my interest in Inc. magazine (September 2024; pp. 20, 22). Though brief, only two pages, the print version has a long title: “Human wisdom is more valuable than ever. But true wisdom requires these six skills.” Though details vary from individual to individual, Conley says, “I can tell you there are several distinct commonalities among the leaders who have effectively tapped into their wisdom.” He lists six:
“Pattern recognition
“Unvarnished insight
“Self-reflection and presence
“Openness to dissent
“Comfort in the face of paradox
“Lifelong curiosity”
I agree with Conley these are worthy skills or characteristics to cultivate. (Conley provides a bit more definition and information about each in his piece. His article could provide an interesting small group discussion or source of reflection—I commend it to you.)
“The smartest person in the room is often stroking their own ego,” Conley notes. “The wisest person in the room stokes curiosity and builds trust.” Which is why wisdom includes nourishing the virtue of humility and being at home with mystery, ambiguity, story, and proverb.
“I will emphasize,” Conley says, “that while lifelong learning is important, accumulating knowledge isn’t the same thing as distilling wisdom. Wise leaders explore the art of long life learning, which teaches how to live a life that’s as deep and meaningful as it is long.” A good point, I believe. Since I haven’t read his book, I don’t know what Conley includes in long life learning, but I like the distinction he makes here.
Without disagreeing with Conley, I would include four things necessary for growing in true wisdom he doesn’t mention in his brief Inc. article.
To become wise, we must dwell in a tradition of wisdom. Wisdom requires far more than individual effort; it requires a covenant community with ancient roots. Jeremiah quotes the Lord saying, “my people have forgotten me, they burn offerings to a delusion; they have stumbled in their ways, in the ancient roads, and have gone into bypaths, not the highway” (18:15). It’s easy to be sidetracked, especially in our world where novel ideas, theories, ideologies, activities, distractions, and lies pelt us 24/7. I need the wisdom of my spiritual ancestors, not because they were perfect, but because their different cultural circumstances gave them insight I can never have. Wisdom is honed over time, refined over centuries. What is novel is not always what’s best or true. It may simply be the latest delusion. I need to live and love in a tradition that has not only spoken of wisdom but demonstrated it. I need both ideas and practice, and a careful, thoughtful, prayerful refining over not just months or years but centuries and millennia.
True wisdom is rooted in the fear of God. This, for me as a follower of Jesus, is merely a statement of fact. “The fear of the Lord,” Holy Scripture tells us repeatedly, “is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10; 15:33). This is not the terror of the guilty before a judge or the fear of a criminal before the executioner. It is the fitting and natural response of a person finding themselves before a Being so Holy, so Majestic, so Beautiful, so Powerful, so utterly Beyond all we can think or imagine that we innately realize that raising our eyes to look will result, appropriately, in our annihilation. This is why the Scriptures record angels and God reassuring humans “Do not be afraid” when they appear. This is why apostles and prophets fell down as though dead before an appearance of the Almighty. It is the fear of God that births a proper humility in us. And wisdom without humility is impossible. How can we be wise if we do not know our proper place in reality?
Wisdom is focused in and delights in worship. The Second Person of the Godhead, St Paul argues, “became for us wisdom from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). It is in Jesus Christ himself, the apostle says, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom” (Colossians 2:3). This means that when we find true wisdom, we find not a book, not a list of sayings, but a person, Jesus. Wisdom is personal and loving, never impersonal or coldly rational. Meeting with the people of God for word and sacrament is not merely a command, or a way to prepare for a week in secular circles, or a chance to make friends. It is a covenant gathering in which the divine personification of true wisdom is truly present with us. One could say that worship is the true expression of wisdom, the practice those who are wise cultivate with care. When else are we so close to the ultimate source and exemplar of wisdom?
A wise person understands that knowledge and facts are insufficient to deal with our deepest loves. Wisdom realizes that discussions or debates about data and truth often fail to be decisive. Which means that someone wise demonstrates love, sacrificial love. It includes patient listening, asking questions, caring, serving, and affirming. Reason alone does not make one wise. When we’re talking about the deepest things of life and death, we’re talking about our deepest loves and fears. Those who are wise follow a wise master in a deep tradition of wisdom. We can find shortcuts to learn knowledge, some of which work. There are no shortcuts in being a disciple, what Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction.”
Alan Jacobs’ email posting of 25 September 2024, thoughtfully connects Scripture with the sort of wisdom we need now in America:
Listening to the readings in church this morning, I couldn’t help thinking that the epistle (James 3:13-18) might serve as a good meditation for … well, for everybody, but especially Christians who are caught up in the raging fevers of today’s American politics:
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
“The saddest aspect of life right now,” Isaac Asimov said, “is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” This is a place where the followers of Jesus can make a positive contribution to our society. St James says, “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy” (3:17).
A very worthy goal, and part of our calling.
Photo credit: Photo by Cliff Johnson on Unsplash.
