Information is everywhere, but wisdom is often hard to find. As a child, I believed my parents knew everything and held all the wisdom. But as I grew older, I began to question whether they were the only source.
By the time I was seventeen, I was convinced I had all the answers. Looking back now, I realize that was just a typical teenage mindset..
I sought wisdom everywhere: first from my teachers, then from professors, and even from religious voices in the pulpit. I turned to countless books, searching for answers. I accepted my own ignorance, but wisdom remained my holy grail.
But what exactly is wisdom?
It’s elusive and difficult to define, yet its technical definition is: “To apply knowledge, experience, and deep understanding judiciously and ethically to make informed decisions and solve problems that lead to a successful life.”
Seeking all of that within a single person is a daunting challenge. So, where can we access the collective intelligence, experience, and wisdom of the 100 billion people who lived before us and the 8 billion alive today? Could it lie within websites, books, videos, and audios that preserve humanity’s insights?
A good place to begin is with a tool we’ve relied on for over two decades: search engines. Google’s mission, “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” is a step in the right direction.
But information alone doesn’t equate to wisdom.
Yet there may be another emerging technology that captures collective human wisdom in digital form, offering a brighter future beyond a single solution. Artificial intelligence could be a glimpse into that promise.
AI is not artificial
At its core, AI isn’t truly “artificial”; it’s a reflection of our shared human history, experience, and knowledge, preserved in digital form—bits and bytes stored across vast data centers.
Machines organize and refine this information with the hope of serving humanity. The future holds both promise and peril: while dystopia looms, utopia calls. Whether we see it as one or the other depends on our perspective—optimist or pessimist.
Perhaps technology offers us a path beyond the flawed “human demi-gods” who claim to hold all the answers. Sometimes these figures are our parents, our society, our religions promising divine connection, or even our governments pledging to save us from ignorance and poverty.
With every election, leaders are seen as both the problem and the solution. But placing our hope for simple answers or solutions to life’s challenges in imperfect leaders can be risky. They cannot save you, and some may even seek to control you.
The formula to happiness, success and wisdom is not found at church on Sunday or a leader with big promises on election day.
It is found inside you.
I came across a biblical verse that speaks to this inner wisdom from over 2,000 years ago: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
Why wisdom matters
Wisdom matters because it elevates the quality of our decisions and actions, fostering more ethical, effective, and compassionate outcomes in both personal and community settings.
When individuals and societies apply wisdom, they can better navigate complex challenges, build meaningful relationships, and achieve lasting goals, contributing to a more harmonious and sustainable world. In many ways, wisdom is a pathway to true success.
But wisdom isn’t found in a single source.
Parents bring us into the world, but finding our way is ultimately our own responsibility. Many of us search for saviors, only to be let down. In the end, we each have to discover what truly works for us. Relying solely on answers from a Sunday sermon is a step away from personal responsibility.
Though “wisdom” may sound mystical and ancient, its relevance in today’s AI-driven, digital world has never been greater. Disinformation flourishes, fake news is widespread, and 15-second TikTok clips prioritize attention and fame over depth and insight.
The need for acumen, common sense, experience, and insight has never been more urgent.
A deeper dive
I once believed wisdom was exclusively human, but now I see we’re entering an era where it’s becoming a blend of human and machine insight. One person may have some wisdom, then others add their perspectives, building on each other’s insights.
This knowledge has been gathered over millennia, first inscribed on clay tablets, then passed down in stories by the fire, later published in books, and now shared through modern media like blogs, podcasts, and YouTube.
Across this vast span of media, we’ve preserved human wisdom—but its sheer volume and complexity demand an interpreter. AI, I believe, is that interpreter. It’s our “make-sense-of-it-all” machine.
AI is not artificial; it’s technology amplifying our humanity. It distills and summarizes the complex and noisy data, delivering clarity in a concise form. However, we must remember it isn’t perfect. AI, like religion, isn’t a solution we should accept without question, nor is it an infallible oracle of wisdom.
Wisdom itself is complex—a pinnacle of human cognitive and emotional growth. It emerges from pain, experience, knowledge, and much more, embodying the richest layers of human understanding.
I had a recent insight into how one wise man who lived to 99 and developed his “success mental models” over a lifetime that distilled information and knowledge into wisdom. He also became one of the richest men in the world. His name is Charlie Munger.
10 key ingredients of wisdom
As we attempt to create an imperfect description—and perhaps a somewhat messy recipe—for wisdom, I’m reminded of author Nassim Taleb, who wrote bestsellers like “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” and “Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and the Markets.” Taleb suggests that wisdom often looks wise in the rear view mirror.
In other words, wisdom is often seen in hindsight as built on foundations of skill, experience and knowledge but often luck transcends wisdom. The “I made a wise decision today” can often be seen as just “dumb luck” when you apply some honesty. But many of us with an ego will choose “I am wise,experienced and skillful” over just being lucky.
So let’s have a crack at what wisdom encompasses and the key attributes and skills needed.
Here is the matrix of wisdom in 10 key ingredients. This is not prescriptive but a conversation about what needs to be considered.
1. Knowledge and experience
Wisdom involves a deep understanding of people, objects, situations, and events, which comes from a broad base of knowledge and experiences. It goes beyond knowing facts to understanding how things work and how principles apply in various situations.
2. Judgment and decision making
Central to wisdom is the ability to make sound decisions and judgments. This means considering not only what is true or most efficient but also what is right and beneficial in the long term. Wise decisions are typically characterized by their balance, fairness, and insightfulness.
3. Insight and intuition
Wisdom often involves a strong intuitive component—a sort of insight that goes beyond analytical thinking to include deeper, often subconscious understandings. This can include an ability to read between the lines, to sense what others might be thinking or feeling, or to grasp complex patterns within chaos.
4. Ethical integrity
Ethical considerations are a cornerstone of wisdom. Wise individuals are known for their moral commitment and their ability to navigate complex ethical dilemmas. They act consistently with their values, even in challenging situations.
5. Perspective and life skills
Wisdom implies a capability to see the big picture and to take a long-term perspective. This includes understanding and accepting multiple perspectives and adapting one’s views as necessary. It also involves practical life skills that help manage day-to-day tasks and relationships more effectively.
6. Emotional regulation and empathy
Managing one’s emotions effectively and displaying empathy towards others are also signs of wisdom. Wise individuals are able to control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage their emotions in healthy ways, support their emotional well-being, and understand the emotions of others.
7. Adaptability and Problem-solving
Being wise includes the ability to adapt to new situations and to solve problems efficiently and creatively. This involves applying past knowledge to new challenges and being flexible in thinking and behavior.
8. Reflectiveness
Reflectiveness, or the habit of thoughtful analysis of one’s experiences and actions, is another aspect of wisdom. This enables continuous learning from successes and failures and fosters a humble, teachable attitude.
9. Compassionate leadership
Wisdom often manifests in leadership through compassion and a genuine concern for the well-being of others. Wise leaders seek to understand and nurture others, promoting collective growth and success.
10. Transcendence
Finally, wisdom can involve a sense of connection to larger existential realities, transcending one’s immediate concerns. This can be spiritual or secular, but it generally involves a commitment to larger principles and a sense of meaning and purpose.
These elements combine in various ways in different individuals, cultures, and contexts, making wisdom a complex but universally valued attribute.
7 ways AI can accelerate wisdom
Here are several ways in which wisdom has been transformed and accelerated using the contrast between the past and the present. The past is without AI and the present and the future is with AI.
1. Access to information
- Past: Wisdom was often associated with the elderly or scholars who had devoted years to studying texts and life experiences. It was transmitted through oral traditions, religious teachings, and philosophical writings, often accessible only to a select few.
- Today: Information is abundant and instantly accessible to almost anyone with internet access. This democratizes knowledge but also presents challenges in distinguishing between high-quality information and misinformation.
2. Speed of knowledge exchange
- Past: The transmission of knowledge and wisdom was slow, occurring through books, letters, or in-person teachings and discussions, often limited by geographical and cultural boundaries.
- Today: Information and ideas spread globally in seconds via the internet, social media, and digital communication. This rapid exchange can accelerate learning and the application of wisdom but also requires faster adaptability and critical thinking to manage the overload of information.
3. Multidisciplinary integration
- Past: Wisdom was often domain-specific, linked to particular fields of study like philosophy, religion, or specific crafts and trades.
- Today: Modern technology promotes a multidisciplinary approach to wisdom. People are encouraged to integrate knowledge from diverse fields—science, economics, psychology—to develop more comprehensive solutions to complex problems, as seen in Charlie Munger’s advocacy for mental models.
4. Collective and collaborative wisdom
- Past: Wisdom was typically considered an individual attribute, developed through personal experience and reflection.
- Today: The digital age has fostered collective intelligence platforms where communities share and build upon each other’s knowledge and experiences, such as open-source projects and collaborative platforms like Wikipedia.
5. Role of Artificial Intelligence
- Past: Wisdom was purely a human trait, derived from human experiences and cognitive abilities.
- Today: AI and machine learning are starting to play significant roles in decision-making processes, potentially embodying a new form of ‘wisdom’ based on data analysis and predictive models. This raises ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of wisdom and decision-making.
6. Change in cultural values
- Past: Traditional wisdom often upheld longstanding cultural values and norms.
- Today: Modern wisdom must navigate a rapidly changing landscape of cultural values, often driven by global interaction and the influence of media. This can lead to new interpretations of what it means to live wisely.
7. Ethical and global challenges
- Past: While historical wisdom dealt with ethical questions and life’s challenges, these were often within a more localized or philosophical context.
- Today: Wisdom today must address global challenges such as climate change, global pandemics, and international conflict, requiring a more globally oriented and ethically nuanced approach.
Overall, while the core essence of wisdom—applying knowledge and experience to achieve good judgment and decision-making—remains consistent, the ways in which wisdom is acquired, distributed, and utilized have changed significantly due to technological advances and a more interconnected world.
The bottom line
Wisdom could be seen as “the skill and information gleaned and learned and informed from experience to make good decisions that lead to an ethical and successful life.” And I think that AI can certainly help us achieve that goal.
But sometimes I feel that good luck and fortuitous randomness has more to say about success instead of wisdom than we care to admit.