The Way of Wisdom

A British Grand master of Memory Ed Cooke once been asked whether he have a Photographic Memory ability for his remarkable accomplishment on memorization. Cooke Chuckling and said, "Photographic memory is a detestable Myth". How could it be? wasn't he lied? Although scientifically it has been proven that a small amount of people in this world have PM ability, we should not diminished Cooke's word by taking it down. There was actually a hidden wisdom in his word, and that is to say, memory can grow, and it need to be train continuously. People who does not have PM, if they use and train their brain properly and consistently, they will owned PM-Like ability as in Cooke's case. Training and practice, are the keys! Not just in memorization, this apply also in the area of action, and the development of Character or to put it precisely, to be wise. Epictetus, a stoic philosopher once says, "...we forget what we learned and end up doing the opposite, and hold opinions the opposite what we should." The question is Why? The antidote for this as Epictetus says, is not just to learn but to practice and training. To be wise and decent, one should not just fond solely in learning.  It is not just about logos but Ethos. Of course, It is not easy road to travel. Yet, there are three practical ways to help us to live this Way of Wisdom:

1. Be Patient

       Aristotle describe two kind of human natures. The first nature (Basic Character) and the second nature (Acquired Character).  The first is via nature, and second via habit. Through habit, one can create a second nature or in Stanislavsky's rubric, "second reality".  Yet, to achieve this second nature, we need to be patient. People did not gain weight nor muscle in one day. Therefore, manage unrealistic expectation of ours, and never do thing in hurry for hurry kills us more than war does!

2. Be Consistent 
       
          To be consistent, one need to master the art of repetition. Maybe on the way, we will ask, why I need to keep doing this? If this happened, we need to stop asking but doing instead as Henry Thomas once summarized all the Dewey's philosophy in one word, "don't argue, do something". If we are doing something again and again and feel tired, don't quit, don't complain. Rest and then start to do it again afterwards. Doing something repeatedly was proven to be boring yet eventually, it will pay the dues nonetheless. Nothing great will ever be accomplished without constant repetition.

3. Be Aware

        We need to be mindful in whatever we do. We cannot do something repeatedly like eating without thinking (something we often does). By hindering automatic thinking, we can notice our own weaknesses and Strengths, and to know what further steps we need to take. There are three good questions we can asked to help us to be more mindful when we are doing things repeatedly, First, what am I feeling? Second, what is occurring at the moment? Third, what I can do next? 

          Hopefully, these three ways will be a helpful framework for Philosopher,  to practice and train what they already know, so the wisdom is not just stays "inside" but also moves "outside". Yet, In Christian Worldview, there is another way of Wisdom. Wisdom is actually given rather than being augmented by our own effort tediously. It's God who grant people wisdom. Not just a wisdom that stays in head, but moves and transform people to be completely different people, a totally new being, a wise-person who could know God and His will for them. This wisdom will also guide our acts in everything we do. The question for us, have we asked this Wisdom? If we never ask, how can we get? As 1 Kings 3:10 describes, "The Lord was pleased that Salomon asked for Wisdom."