WISDOM

What Does It Mean To Be Wise

What does it mean to be wise? To me, it has nothing to do with a person’s IQ or degree. A wise person is someone who applies common sense.

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Common Sense Is Not So Common.

That sounds paradoxical, right? Common sense is common after all. It’s about the insights, lessons, and wisdom everyone knows. But the problem is that not everyone applies what they know. Following are some of the qualities that many wise people have in common.

Think from first principles.

Thinking from first principles was coined by the Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle.

Elon Musk explained this idea in an interview.He gave an example of how people looked at the cost of batteries “People would say, ‘Today it cost $600 per kilowatt-hour, and so it’s not going to be much better than that in the future.’ First-principles means you say: Okay, what are the material constituents of the batteries,what are they made of ?”

Sometimes the facts of today will limit you. It’s looking at what is , and thinking what could be, keeping the laws of human nature and physics in mind.

Rely on facts,not assumptions

Most people make assumptions without realizing it. Every time we’re not sure about something, we’re making assumptions.

Most of our assumptions are based on our personal beliefs. The problem is we can’t trust our beliefs simply because they are so subjective.

Instead, rely on facts and avoid interpreting everything based on your ideas, beliefs, and feelings.

A quick shortcut you can apply is this: Observe your thoughts and ask yourself, “How do I know what I’m thinking is true?” You often find that you either need to ask more questions, do research, or simply wait until you receive feedback.

Read a lot and read widely

We feed our body by eating a food but what about our mind ? This is something not a lot of people take seriously.

Most people’s days consist of work and leisure. Buy At what moment do you nurture your mind??

It’s when you’re intellectually challenged. The best way to challenge yourself on an intellectual level is to acquire knowledge. The easiest way to do that is to read a book.

Wise people do something that challenges their minds every day. They read a lot. And they read widely because most mental stimuli comes from learning about new things.

Listen to other people

I find it funny that the most ignorant people have difficulty listening to advice while the smartest people are usually the first to listen to everyone.

Wise people love to learn from others and are always open to different ideas.?

Take enough time to make decisions

In our fast-paced world, many people think that smart people are “quick on their feet.” In some situations, it pays off to be a quick decision-maker.

But we often become quick decision makers by first becoming slow decision-makers. This sounds counterintuitive, but it’s the same process as running a marathon. No one runs a marathon on their first run. Similarly, no good decision-maker can be quick at the beginning of their career.

It’s important to take as much time as you can to decide. But no more. Otherwise we risk procrastinating for no good reason.?

Learn from your mistakes

Wise people see mistakes as lessons.

We all make bad judgments and mistakes. That’s not what matters. How do you respond after you make a mistake ? That’s the key.

Do you use it to learn? Or do you become more risk-averse after every mistake you make? The former will help you grow, the latter will advance your decay.?

As you go through life, it’s important to realize it’s okay to make mistakes. The smartest people in the world don’t necessarily make fewer mistakes. They just don’t let their mistakes go to waste.