Are you as wise as you think you are? - By: Helen Reid

If you were born with it, then you will never understand why others search constantly for it. If you possess none then you live in ignorance. If you are like 90% of those of us left then life just flows by without you noticing.
I refer to wisdom? But first, what are the conditions that render it desirable, if not necessary, and what is its essential purpose?
Life is a desire to live, and better still a wish to live happily. As we strive tirelessly to satisfy this desire, we encounter obstacles that complicate or frustrate our endeavours. This complication or frustration amounts to suffering because it stands in the way of satisfaction and thus happiness.

Wisdom is designed to help us cope with this suffering. It is an adaptive product of reason in the face of tough circumstances. Thanks to wisdom, happiness is conceivable and achievable in spite of everything. It is therefore the supreme good.

Actually, religion is a good that many rank equally high, since it serves the same purpose as wisdom, though perhaps differently. These differences lie in the way religion and wisdom portrays suffering and defines the meaning of life.

From the perspective of religion, suffering betrays a state of worldly imperfection that is in contradiction with the human desire for perfect happiness. Consequently, life here below - where humans are doomed to suffer - is absurd in itself. Or rather, life is meaningful strictly in terms of means to a heavenly end in the great beyond: A life of virtue prepares the way for an afterlife of bliss. The religious believe this in accordance with the teachings of an inspired spiritual leader, who claims to know the transcendental nature of the hereafter

While personally I cast a sceptical eye on these teachings, I keep my mind open. They are highly suspicious, but the transcendental nature of their object puts them beyond the reach of any discredit based on conclusive evidence.

Anyway, as I see it, wisdom and religion are independent of each other, though one can compliment the other. According to religion, life in itself has meaning, despite its imperfection that people can learn to accept. Better still, they can learn to value this imperfection as they realize that perfection, contrary to popular belief, is not infinitely desirable. But what of those who supposedly possess wisdom. Some lean towards religion others rebut it.

Indeed, perfect happiness leaves something to be desired. By definition, it excludes suffering and hence all forms of complication or frustration. It supposes that circumstances are absolutely favourable - that is, not tough in any way. Therefore, no effort is necessary while every dream is possible. At first glance, this sounds like the most wonderful situation imaginable, and yet taking another look at it will dispel this illusion.

Take the example of some who have won huge amounts of money one way or the other but then claim to lose all happiness and some indeed wish that they had never won in the first place. Yet the rest of us dream constantly of one day winning.

Others become possessed by some strange whim and are compelled to leave a cosy situation and embark on risky ventures that only they see succeeding. Perhaps such a whim is not so strange after all. A multitude of conquests have been made for the sheer joy of defeating great odds. The operative word here is pride accompanied by
excitement. To conquest minded people the infinite ease of heaven entails infinite boredom. The see life and the struggle that is integral to it as the very thing that perfect happiness leaves to be desired. Some would say that they ignore the wisdom of the masses for the opportunity to prove courageous and victorious and ignore the risk of complete and painful failure.

About the Author

The author Helen Reid has an interest in psychology and people. MoreInfo

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