Wisdom

It’s been quite some time since my last post but that is actually because things have been going quite well. I had treatments on July 10 and 17, moving up to full doses and tolerating them quite well. I had to add a dose of Atropine to kill the in-chair reaction to Irinotecan, but that’s pretty minor. And overall, I’m learning how my body reacts to the treatment and hopefully will get better at countering the side effects. (Note: Atropine is a potion made from Deadly Nightshade, Jimson Weed and Mandrake, which I think means that the recipe can be found in the “Muggle’s Guide to Harry Potter.”)

On my off week, Robbie, David and I went back to Cape Cod for a few days and this time, we got to sail a boat much like the one in the picture from my last post! We returned for my next two treatments which were on the 24th and yesterday. So now I have the coming week off and hope to return to the Cape one more time. After all, what better cure is there to one’s ills than cool salt air, sandy beaches and fresh seafood?

In the meantime, I have been catching up on various items of personal business and doing some reading. One thought that I’ve been curious about lately is the definition of, or perhaps better put, the elements of “Wisdom.” It seems a topic akin to Justice Brandeis’ definition of pornography – I can’t define it but I know it when I see it.

Some “academics researchers” define the elements of wise reasoning to be 1) dialecticism — realizing that the world is in flux and the future is likely to change; and 2) intellectual humility — recognizing the limits of one's own knowledge. But this definition would lead to someone making a decision to never plan for the future, as it is both uncertain and one could reasonably feel that s/he lacks sufficient knowledge about it. But taking the (in)action to not attempt to plan for one’s future is surely unwise.

A more recent scholar posits that the 5 crucial aspects of wise reasoning are:

1. Willingness to seek opportunities to resolve conflict
2. Willingness to search for compromise
3. Recognition of the limits of personal knowledge
4. Awareness that more than one perspective on a problem can exist
5. Appreciation of the fact that things may get worse before they get better

This also leaves me flat as it addresses more of a societal philosophy built upon the idea that all individuals should act for the “greater good” of their circle, town, country or world. While I applaud that concept, it seems to me that acting for the “greater good” is but one aspect of wisdom, not the sum of it.

So I ask you, Great Sages, what is wisdom? And to ease the mental strain of thinking about that topic, above is a serene photo from last week’s visit to the Cape! BB