On Wisdom and Method: A Question of Virtue

There is an overwhelming propensity for people to declare that wisdom is a byproduct of age - a concept not completely incorrect to avow, yet a little shortsighted. To my mind, sheer physical deterioration and wear and tear of the body do not arrogate the path. If one were to ask a group of people around them, it would be highly probable for participants to claim naivety as the antithesis of wisdom. Although this can be true, I feel as though one could be paying too much by way of compliment to the elderly if they attribute this noble quality to everyone. Wisdom is not an axiomatically obtained characteristic of aging; there are many individuals who exhibit this plain fact. One of the most salient reasons for this misfortune is the lack of familiarity with a concept that I believe is just as valuable a method to attaining the subject at hand - self reflection. 

Though this may seem to be a bit platitudinous upon reception, introspection is a necessary activity for personal growth. It may be cheap and overstated to say that intelligence does not equate to wisdom, yet one can approach this honorable quality by appealing to academia. One of the noblest traditions in my opinion is the philosophical - the method which sired humanity's most respectable and fruitful system - science. Philosophy encompasses and addresses a myriad of different considerations: ethics, epistemology, existentialism, cognitive science, personal maturity. These are but a few of the topics with which philosophical inquiry tangles. Maturity includes perseverance and modesty, thus it is mandatory to not only constantly question the world around you but also your own motives. This ties in with the running trope that I have previously asserted and established - the supremacy of how to think over what to think. In essence, mental acuity and enlightenment is better defined by doubt and humility than by regurgitation of rapidly memorized information. 

Banal, I know. Yet ironically I can only speak from personal experience. Ever since I adopted skepticism, strove to accept uncertainty, and acknowledged the importance of intellectual honesty, I have witnessed incalculable improvements in the quality of my life. Like any another human being, I fence daily with my ego and the over-sized adrenaline glands in my brain that try to impede and misdirect my ambitions. Crosses we all must bear, and stamps of our lowly origins that cannot be so easily subdued, let alone eradicated. Herein lies a conclusion that I believe to be wise; there is more honor in accepting the existence of circumstances that reside out of our control, than to arrogantly combat their reality and profess integrity in doing so. Perhaps another trite statement, yet I leave my reputation in the safekeeping of the audience - because to foolishly attempt otherwise would violate reason and result in pure strife. The stoicism derived from that recognition is invaluable, yet my mammalian mind will always struggle to absorb its truth. This does not indicate the failure of the method, but rather the shortcomings of the agent. We should remain diligent and determined, surely an admirable quality will arise - maybe just the virtue we have been seeking.

Yours to consider, a fellow primate