Defining Information, Knowledge and Wisdom
In order to figure out what wisdom is, it is useful to compare wisdom with knowledge, and with merely having information.
1 Information
Every observation we make, every claim we hear, is information. Seeing a trash can outside our window is information that there is a trash can there. Reading a news headline about a storm approaching is information that a storm is approaching. Hearing a person cough is information that a person coughed. When we feel a part of our body itching we are receiving information that this part of our body is itching. As you might be able to tell from the examples, information isn’t necessarily useful. On the level of information, no distinction is made between an important message like a phone call from the landlord saying that you are going to be evicted from your home, or a useless observation that there is a drop of water on the pavement. It is all just information. Also, on the level of information, no distinction is made between true and false. If you first read that broccoli is good for your health, and then read that broccoli is bad for your health, then from the perspective of information you have just gained additional information. But the two pieces of information contradict each other, so the additional information isn’t helpful, in fact it makes you know less than before. So more information isn’t necessarily better. Another characteristic of information is that it doesn’t have to make any sense, or be possible to understand, in order to count as information. An excel sheet with a collection of thousands of numbers contains a lot of information. It doesn’t matter whether you know what those numbers mean.
2 Knowledge
Knowledge is built up from information, but differs from mere information in two important respects: first, information only counts as knowledge if the information is true, and second, knowledge involves an integration between different pieces of information so that they form a more coherent whole, which allows the information to make sense and be understood. So for example, if you know that frogs are small animals, that they have long legs, that they can jump high, that they have a long tongue, that their tongues are sticky, that they can shoot their tongue out really fast, then you begin to have a certain knowledge of frogs that goes beyond a simple piece of information. The pieces of information are connected to form a more coherent knowledge. And when you have knowledge about something, it is easier to deal with new information. So if you are later told that frogs eat flies, the knowledge you already have of frogs allows you to make sense of this new information. The fact that flies are fast and hard to catch, might normally have made you sceptical that an animal can catch and eat flies. But when you know that frogs have long and sticky tongues that they can shoot out really fast, then you can understand how they are able to catch flies, despite the fact that flies are fast. Similarly, if you have a certain level of knowledge about something, then you can more easily tell when new information is likely to be incorrect. So if you are told that frogs catch and eat buffalos then your knowledge that frogs are much smaller than buffalos and that frogs only hunt their prey with their sticky tongue, then you can make the correct judgement that the information you were just told must be false. The new information does not make any sense given your existing knowledge. If, on the other hand, you had known nothing about frogs other than the fact that they are animals that eat flies, and then are told that frogs eat buffalos, then you would not be so sure in your judgement. Perhaps frogs eat both flies and buffalos, or perhaps the previous information that frogs eat flies is incorrect? Without the additional knowledge about frogs; their size, their anatomy, the actions they can perform, new information is harder to evaluate and make sense of.
3 Wisdom
So what, then, is wisdom? Wisdom is built up from knowledge, but differs from mere knowledge in an important way: wisdom is knowledge that allows you to lead a good life. So for example, you may have a great amount of knowledge about frogs, but unless you live in an area where there are lots of dangerous frogs that you need to deal with in order to survive, then this knowledge of frogs might not help you lead a good life. In that respect, knowledge about how to find food, how to know if you can trust another person, how to avoid hurting yourself, etc, may be more effective in dealing with the world in a way that makes your life better. You may of course find joy in having knowledge on certain topics, and in that way that knowledge enriches your life, but for the knowledge to classify as wisdom it is necessary that it guides your action in ways that bring about positive results, rather than just being fun to know in itself.
Thus we can define information, knowledge and wisdom in the following way:
Information is any observation or idea, whether true or false
Knowledge is the integration of several pieces of true information
Wisdom is knowledge that allows us to lead a good life
So that is how we answer the question of what wisdom is: it is knowledge that allows us to lead a good life. Now we can dig deeper and find the first principles of wisdom. What are the most fundamental laws and facts about wisdom that are always true and give us a foundation for further developing our understanding of wisdom? Let’s start by zooming in on the most important part of the definition of wisdom: “leading a good life”. What does it mean to lead a good life? If we don’t understand this, then we will have a poor understanding of what wisdom is. Our foundation will be unstable, and everything else in this project is at risk of having to be rebuilt.
So let’s then turn to the question “What does it mean to lead a good life”?
Next: What does it mean to lead a good life?
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