It has been wisely said, "we see the world not as it is, but as we are".
I had a boss who was always plotting schemes against his peers and superiors. Not surprisingly he was paranoid that others were doing the same. He'd always ask, "what game is so-and-so up to"; and at the same time he could never trust his subordinates fully. So, I once repeated to him the above quotation. He looked at me blankly and said with confusion, "I don't understand what you mean!" And,yet most people would have called him a clever, smart man. He was just not a wise man.
In this world wisdom is less valued than cleverness. How often have I heard someone say, "so and so is the smartest person I've ever met". Just once I'd like to hear someone say, "so and so is the wisest person I've ever met." I suppose the problem is that you'd have to be wise to recognise wisdom, but cleverness is evident even to those who are not clever.
The above quotation is very wise. I recognise that even if I myself am not so wise. At least I know that we do not really "see the world as it is", but rather through a personal map based upon past perceptions and judgements about those perceptions. That's okay for we are not as gods, but must humbly recognise that we are limited in both capacities. We are gifted as animals in our capacity to generate these personal maps of the "world", but we must remember that the maps we generate are imperfect; and like cartographers of old we often feel inclined to put on our maps, "beyond this point, there be dragons".
Sam Keene once wrote, in his book Hymns to an Unknown God that these maps form our belief system (abbreviated B.S.) and we should hold on to those belief systems lightly. Hard to do, but even harder if you don't at least recognise the need to do so.
The article puts the above situation very well in both a personal context and in poetic context. The simple fact is that the "real world", which seems to always remain a mystery to us, will not allow us the luxury of decisions that forever leave our current B.S. intact.
Further the article raises issues well discussed by Carl Jung and his followers, such as the over-identification with particular virtues or traits - and in so doing imagine ourselves as "gods" or the projection onto others of our traits which we refuse to face (i.e. the demonisation of others). Sometimes rather than face our failings entire nations demonise the other. The US and the Soviet Union did this to each other until Gorbechev said, "I'm not playing this game anymore. You aren't our enemy." So hard was this to accept that Western Soviet analysts actually cheered the attempted coup. With only one second of reflection on their part should have been ashamed.
As for good judgement and luck - Napoleon said, "Don't give me clever generals, give me lucky generals".
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I had a boss who was always plotting schemes against his peers and superiors. Not surprisingly he was paranoid that others were doing the same. He'd always ask, "what game is so-and-so up to"; and at the same time he could never trust his subordinates fully. So, I once repeated to him the above quotation. He looked at me blankly and said with confusion, "I don't understand what you mean!" And,yet most people would have called him a clever, smart man. He was just not a wise man.
In this world wisdom is less valued than cleverness. How often have I heard someone say, "so and so is the smartest person I've ever met". Just once I'd like to hear someone say, "so and so is the wisest person I've ever met." I suppose the problem is that you'd have to be wise to recognise wisdom, but cleverness is evident even to those who are not clever.
The above quotation is very wise. I recognise that even if I myself am not so wise. At least I know that we do not really "see the world as it is", but rather through a personal map based upon past perceptions and judgements about those perceptions. That's okay for we are not as gods, but must humbly recognise that we are limited in both capacities. We are gifted as animals in our capacity to generate these personal maps of the "world", but we must remember that the maps we generate are imperfect; and like cartographers of old we often feel inclined to put on our maps, "beyond this point, there be dragons".
Sam Keene once wrote, in his book Hymns to an Unknown God that these maps form our belief system (abbreviated B.S.) and we should hold on to those belief systems lightly. Hard to do, but even harder if you don't at least recognise the need to do so.
The article puts the above situation very well in both a personal context and in poetic context. The simple fact is that the "real world", which seems to always remain a mystery to us, will not allow us the luxury of decisions that forever leave our current B.S. intact.
Further the article raises issues well discussed by Carl Jung and his followers, such as the over-identification with particular virtues or traits - and in so doing imagine ourselves as "gods" or the projection onto others of our traits which we refuse to face (i.e. the demonisation of others). Sometimes rather than face our failings entire nations demonise the other. The US and the Soviet Union did this to each other until Gorbechev said, "I'm not playing this game anymore. You aren't our enemy." So hard was this to accept that Western Soviet analysts actually cheered the attempted coup. With only one second of reflection on their part should have been ashamed.
As for good judgement and luck - Napoleon said, "Don't give me clever generals, give me lucky generals".