Smartness vs Wisdom

Would you rather be smart or wise? Being smart, according to standard definition, constitutes having much intelligence and knowledge, along with a high degree of mental ability. Being wise, on the other hand, is defined by keen understanding, discernment, and sound judgment. Simply put, smartness is having information, while wisdom is having the ability to use that knowledge.

In a perfect world, where all information is accessible, being smart would be exactly the same as being wise. This is because all information, including standard knowledge itself as well as the ability to use such knowledge, is clearly at arms reach to anyone, and there is no clear distinction between being smart or wise. Even experiential or sensory knowledge could be easily accessible, as experiential or sensory methods to transmit such information would be available. But we are not in such a perfect world. As such, many times, there is a dichotomy between being “smart” or “wise.” For example, one person might know everything about World War II. But that person does not know how to use that information. That information is simply held within their brain. A wise person would, despite not knowing much about World War II, make use of such information by, for example, making a YouTube channel dedicated to explaining World War II to earn profit.

In this example, the distinction between being smart and wise in our imperfect world is established. The wise one knows how to use information, despite potentially having a lack of it, while a smart person simply has that information. Now that it has been established what exactly being smart or wise is, we must now define the value of being smart or wise. Is having a massive database of information worth more than knowing how to use such a database?

To answer this question, an analogy can be made. In chess, a perfect world would be where every single possible move is known, both for black and white, and thus the perfect sequence of moves is known, thus “solving chess.” In our world, that is not the case. In this chess world, we can also make the dichotomy of knowing a move, and knowing how to move. A smart person may know more moves than the average person, seeing that the queen can move across the board and a knight can give a check to the opponent’s king, while a “dumb” person may not. A wise person, on the other hand, knows how to use that information. Through their wisdom, they can come to a conclusion of which move is best towards creating an advantageous position. 

This ability to discern what is best does not come as easily as information. Information is easily accessible. By simply looking across the chess board, one can become “smart.” Similarly, one can use the internet easily to gain vast knowledge about any topic today. But wisdom does not come to people as easily as knowledge. It is built through experience, and can be used flexibly across a variety of situations, regardless of the information level. That is why anyone can see the moves on a chess board, from a toddler to a teenager to an old man, but only those at the highest level of chess can see the best moves. Therefore, in the short run, wisdom is better. It is far more effective and harder to reach, making it more valuable. While in the future this may not always be so, for now, it is.

Regardless of whether or not what type of information is viable, another question naturally arises: of morals. Assuming one had perfect knowledge, what should that person do, especially in ethical dilemmas such as the trolley problem? This can only be left to human variance. Even if someone had perfect knowledge, there are specific human biases that influence our decision making. Even in scenarios where the rational decision based on knowledge and wisdom seems obvious, irrational decisions have often arisen that contradict common sense. 

Throughout this, a connection to physicalism and dualism can be made. We only make a distinction between smartness and wisdom due to our lack of information. Similarly, we only make a distinction between the mind and body due to our lack of information, as we do not have a rational explanation yet. In the case that such information becomes accessible, which seems quite likely considering the exponential trajectory of human growth, such distinctions become blurred. Therefore, the distinction between being smart and wise exists insofar as the lack of information creates that distinction. Without that lack of information, being smart or wise becomes meaningless.