Hindsight is a wonderful thing. It allows our wisdom to shine through in situations… after the event! I guess we all learn through our experiences, good and bad, but I sometimes think it would be a lot easier if the smoothed way was taken in the first place.
What if someone had written a book that contained a list of hindsights for your life. In other words, they had produced a series of short-cuts, pointing out possible pitfalls so that you could avoid them (assuming you chose to follow the advice) rather than learn by experiencing them.
That way, you could look forward with hindsight rather than backwards (in a sense).
It occurs to me that the Book of Proverbs might fit that bill. The uncanny thing for me is that the wisdom it contains (written >2,700 years ago) seems to be as relevant today as it was when it was written (compiled).
I’m no biblical scholar, and I’m not beating any particular religious drum, but it amazes me just how many of the Proverbs are ‘spot on’ IMHO.
What do you reckon? Was Solomon a very switched on guy? Did he ‘know’ the smoothed way forward?
I’m really interested to know if anyone out there knows of a better formula or ‘tip-list’ for getting through life smoothly. In particular, one that has stood the test of time, as The Book of Proverbs appears to have done?
Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise.
~Cato the Elder [234-149 B.C.,] Roman statesman.
Wise men learn by other mens’ mistakes, and fools by their own.
~Unknown
A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart
~Confucius [ c.551-479? B.C.,] Chinese philosopher
Um, you seem to be talking about the processes by which knowledge won by experience is passed down to succeeding generations. Is there a debate here?
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As the old sailor was stepping on the gangplank, about to be piped off the vessel upon his retirement, a voice came from the assembled crew on deck:
“Hey Chief, any last words of wisdom?”
The grizzled veteran looked back over his shoulder, settled his seabag on the plank, and slowly walked back to the junior officer who had spoken. Laying his hand on the young man’s shoulder, he spoke in a gravelly but gentle voice.
“Son,” he said (and the ensign and all who heard knew by the Chief’s voice they were about to hear Truth spoken aloud), “always shit before you shower.”
With that, he spun on his heel, strode across to the pier, and disappeared into the mist…
Only if you have eyes in the back of your head…
Maybe he is debating whether or not if our future selves gave us a book with all our future mistakes mapped out, would our lives be better? I would only want to know about life-threatening mistakes, the others, i would probably do anyway, since i have a habit of learning things the hard way.
“Thinking before you speak is like wiping your ass before taking a shit.” – Arne Anka, famous Swedish duck
The problem with advice is that it isn’t always easy to sort the wheat from the chaff. OK, if somebody tells you not to immerse your head in boiling water, it’s fairly clear that they are talking sense, but in the real world, unless you’re going to take the time to absorb all of someone’s anecdotal background as to why they think something is or isn’t a good idea, it’s never going to come home as readily as when you fould up for yourself.
Off the cuff, I can’t think of any hard and fast examples of advice that wouldn’t be obviously good or bad, but I suppose a lot of advice that people dish out regarding how you should best interact with other people might fall into this category.
Thanks for the above. I agree with the three examples of wisdom imparted. The point is, each of the above sentiments can also be found in Proverbs (allowing for different phrasing) which certainly preceded Cato and Confusius. I’m not sure if it precedes * ‘Unknown’ * 
but suspect that it does.
My point is, has anyone found a better book of wisdom than Proverbs, that has stood the test of time, is still relevant today, and is in effect a short-cut to our own ‘Manual of Hindsight’.
I know that a strong argument exists along the lines that learning through personal errors (or foul-ups) is sometimes more convincing than accepting advice from others. As a father of four, I can testify that my children have often rejected fatherly advice. Being freely given, it seems sometimes to be viewed as ‘worthless’. I was a kid myself once and guess what… I often knew best too.
Is this not perverse though, in some respects? If someone has already figured things out and can provide evidence to support their assertions, why do we choose ignore this ‘Wisdom’ in favour of our own * trial and error* strategy for getting through life. Do we simply enjoy self-inflicted pain?
By the way, I agree with the sailor’s advice on ablutions before showering, but I reckon Arne Anka’s advice has left a lot of people in difficult cicumstances… I think I’d prefer to engage brain (think) before I speak… I’ve found it keeps me out of a lot of trouble.
- Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgement. *Proverbs 10:13