# “You can use other people’s knowledge, but you can’t use other people’s wisdom”

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 27, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775 "2023-11-27T15:38:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775/21 "2023-11-29T15:55:31Z")

</div>

I use “wisdom” differently. I would express it like this:

You can use other people’s wisdom, but you can’t use other people’s intelligence.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775/22 "2023-11-30T08:03:57Z")

</div>

There was an old saying about James I of England, that he was “the wisest fool in Christendom”. There’s obviously a distinction there.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775/23 "2023-11-30T15:44:04Z")

</div>

Cf. Lord Rochester’s mock-epitaph for Charles II:

Here lies our sovereign lord the king,  
Whose word no man relies on;  
He never said a foolish thing,  
Nor ever did a wise one.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775/24 "2023-11-30T15:50:37Z")

</div>

> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#):
>
> You can use other people’s wisdom, but you can’t use other people’s intelligence.

I use other’s intelligence all the time, along with the wisdom of others. I don’t see the point of these statements other than to differentiate between knowledge and wisdom.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775/25 "2023-11-30T16:18:57Z")

</div>

Exactly.

And while of course there is a difference between knowing things, and knowing how to effectively apply what you know and how to effectively learn more, the implicit premise is self/ego … individual … centered, devaluing the social nature of humanity, the fact that _individually we ain’t shit_, that our knowledge and our wisdom and our intelligence are all intergenerational group efforts.

If we couldn’t use the skills of others we’d still all be scrabbling in the dirt.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-use-other-people-s-knowledge-but-you-can-t-use-other-people-s-wisdom/993775.md?page=1)