Monday, August 24, 2009

The Smartest Guys in the Room




I heard something this morning in a podcast that I thought was amazing. It's something that is very common sense, I just liked the way that it was worded.

I was listening to a podcast from Northpoint Community Church and the speaker was discussing the difference between intelligence and wisdom. He put it this way:

Intelligence is the gaining and pursuing of knowledge. Wisdom is the application of said knowledge.

Brilliant. Sometimes it's difficult to explain the difference.

4 comments:

  1. I've always thought intelligence has more to do with one's capacity to learn and reason rather than pursuing. Or I guess it could be used as a noun to mean a manifestation of that capacity. I guess it depends on the context.

    I never saw that Enron movie. Any good?
    Have you seen District 9 yet?

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  2. I've never seen that movie either, but in the podcast he used Enron as an example of what it means to be very smart, but not very wise.

    I have seen District 9 and we loved it! I love it at the end when the aliens all die...

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  3. I've seen The Smartest Guys in the Room. It was very interesting....it's unbelievable to me that people can be so unethical and greedy. Greed at the top leadership level perpetuated a culture which played on man's most basid instinct - self-preservation. It was interesting to see how even regular people would succumb to seriously unethical practices just to keep a job. I recommend it. there was a lot more to it than what was in the press. (Shocker)

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  4. About intelligence and wisdom. I like the statement you quoted. Proverbs says they aren't unrelated. I was just reading this morning and came across this:

    "The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out."
    Prov. 18:15

    Gaining wisdom is never passive.

    "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice."
    Prov. 12:15

    The first part of Proverbs 2 says it all, I think.

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