Philosophy Now Forum

In addition to a way of thinking and a set of opinions I think wisdom is also an order of priorities.

Wisdom and enlightenment are the rejection of all mystical propositions.
It is the mysticism, the beliefs and the dogma that needs to be destroyed to achieve wisdom.

As we all know, that very much depends on the definition of mysticism. It is true that there is an old, outdated, and in my opinion, obsolete, definition of mysticism that renders your stayement correct. But as the times change, often the meaning of words change. In this case, I think what must be rejected is something closer to "sophistry." It has been describesd as WHAT IS NOT. And when we rid ourselves of What Is Not, we are left with has been called WHAT IS, i.e. the truth; and surely, wisdom is, above all, the apprehension of the truth. In this case, we might call mysticism the process of enlightenment. They say, "Before enlightenment, a rock is a rock. During enlightenment, a rock is not a rock. After enlightenment, a rock is a rock." We'll call the middle one, during the process, mystical (for now). That means you are correct. Eventually, we return to the ordinary. But discovery is seeing the same things with a new set of eyes. Therefore, we must skew our vision in a corrective way to find the view we are looking for.

Jaded Sage wrote:As we all know, that very much depends on the definition of mysticism. It is true that there is an old, outdated, and in my opinion, obsolete, definition of mysticism that renders your stayement correct. But as the times change, often the meaning of words change. In this case, I think what must be rejected is something closer to "sophistry." It has been describesd as WHAT IS NOT..

The same false argument is made about theism too. Goal post changing silliness.

Mysticism is as empty now as ever it was.

True mysticism is always ahead of its time. That is its very nature.

Wisdom is the capacity to predict the future or have insight into what is real based on abstractions.

Systematic wrote:Wisdom is the capacity to predict the future or have insight into what is real based on abstractions.

Future prediction is the foolish claim of the so-called mystic.

Jaded Sage wrote:Haj, do you have answers to my questions?

No, but you don't have any, either.

Which is fine; perhaps you are not putting forth a theory, but you are purely and truly seeking information.

What I noticed in the progression of this thread has been:

Somebody:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage:
Nah. That's intelligence.

Somebody else:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage: Nah. that's cleverness.

Somebody:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage:
Nah. That's resourcefulness.

Somebody else:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage: Nah. that's intuition.

Somebody:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage:
Nah. That's insight.

Somebody else:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage: Fools! You have no perception!! That's streetwisdom(*).

Somebody else:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage: Nah. that's streetsmartness(**).

Somebody:
Wisdom is such-and-such.
Jaded Sage:
Nah. That's enlightenment.

(*) Streetwisdom: forwardformation(***) of “streetwise”
(**) Streetsmartness: forwardformation of “steetsmart”
(***) forwardformation = formation in opposite direction to “backformation”

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In order to save time and energy, I propose that we treat the following concepts as already uttered substitutes for what we, the unwashed masses, mistook for wisdom, and Jaded Sage has corrected us to the clear knowledge of what a particular situation, description or definition might instead be best described as:

Foresight
Mental fitness
Femdom and maledom
Wile (backformation of “wily”)
Mindfulness
Smartness
Onniscience
Survival skill
Problem solving ability

Hobbes' Choice wrote:

Systematic wrote:Wisdom is the capacity to predict the future or have insight into what is real based on abstractions.

Future prediction is the foolish claim of the the mystic.

In a typical state-run lottery, there are roughly (on the average) 14,934,993 foolish mystics for every true oracle.

In a horse race, to every seven horses, six foolish mystics, and one true oracle.

In the population of marriage proposers,... well, you do the math this time.

Jaded Sage wrote:True mysticism is always ahead of its time. That is its very nature.

Absolutely correct!! Right on!

And this is why ALL mysticism can be declared false to its very objective.

hajrafradi wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote:

Systematic wrote:Wisdom is the capacity to predict the future or have insight into what is real based on abstractions.

Future prediction is the foolish claim of the the mystic.

In a typical state-run lottery, there are roughly (on the average) 14,934,993 foolish mystics for every true oracle.

In a horse race, to every seven horses, six foolish mystics, and one true oracle.

In the population of marriage proposers,... well, you do the math this time.

Winning a lottery does not imply prediction.

Hobbes' Choice wrote:

hajrafradi wrote:

Hobbes' Choice wrote: Future prediction is the foolish claim of the the mystic.

In a typical state-run lottery, there are roughly (on the average) 14,934,993 foolish mystics for every true oracle.

In a horse race, to every seven horses, six foolish mystics, and one true oracle.

In the population of marriage proposers,... well, you do the math this time.

Winning a lottery does not imply prediction.

You are right. I wrote that thing in jest. Sometimes it's hard to see when I try to make a joke.

This has been the bane of my life. People NEVER understand when I'm joking.

Hobbes' Choice wrote: Winning a lottery does not imply prediction.

Winning a lottery is ad acta. It is the fulfillment of a prediction.

I'm not sure that buying tickets to a lottery does not imply prediction. If there were no prediction made, including possibly a statistical probability of winning, then why would anyone buy a lottery ticket?

"I have a one in roughly fifteen million chance of winning. Therefore I buy a lottery ticket because (Now substitute the more likely part:) ... Because I am quite sure I won't win, (or) ... Because I feel I have a better chance to win."

Either way, the ticket purchaser makes a prediction.

Or at least he has hopes to win.

I mean, he chooses a set of numbers. He must have a reason (false or true) for thinking these numbers, his set, is more likely to win the big prize. This is a prediction. "I do have faith in my numbers having a better chance of winning than any other set of numbers."

Some lottery players let the machine choose their numbers. They make a prediction too: "I predict that any set of numbers has an equal chance of winning to other sets of numbers. Therefore I predict that one random arrangement of numbers will be the winning numbers, and my chances of my numbers matching the winning numbers is very small, but not zero; and I predict that my return on investment is going to be negatively impacted by the return / risk ratio, but hey."

Wisdom as I appreciate it is the conscious understanding of universal laws, how they interact, and what they produce. Rationalization tries to improve upon it but it never works. Universal laws are universal laws and no amount of insult or wishful thinking can change them.

...that which defeats stupidity required mostly by those who have the most power. Unfortunately its power that most succumb to yielding the field to shallowness, ineptitude, imbecility and corruption. If you allow it some space, wisdom is that which defeats a malfunctioning ego.