Intellect and Wisdom

After a particularly thoughtful week I have a question I would like to ask everyone as I am interested in each persons response. The person who discussed such with me, so I have felt compelled to ask this, knows who they ae, and I thank them for them opening my thoughts to this question.

So I will ask all who would wish to reply - What's the difference between intellect and wisdom?

Peace and Love

Whilst I appriciate your input, FirmFare - I do already know the different and set dictionary definitions but I desired the thoughts and responses of individuals. In such, you have given me your thoughts, which are definition based (I think You for that) - but other people may look beyond anothers words, and give me theres. So, I thank LaM for observing my question to be of a personal nature.

I thank everyone for responding sofar.

Peace and Love

i do not necessarialy agree that a child can be wise. i think wisdom is an accumulation of experience, tempered with a kind heart and an open mind. Much of wisdom is attained simply by being capable of listening...something not everyone can do.

Intellect is a characteristic of a person, just as a hair color is...each one of us has it to greater or lesser degrees and in differing varieties. One of my girlfriends is a talented musician. Another is a brilliant accountant. My own kid is talented in many ways, including car repairs. i am unable to understand the rudimentary concepts involved in any of these endeavors, but i do have some other intellectual power.

i also believe intellect waxes and wanes over a person's life. i remember the controversy as my kid was growing up over whether to attempt to teach a second language in grammar school. Proponents of the idea had marshalled quite a bit of data showing younger children were better able to learn and retain languages than older, middle school children. i think such "windows" go on all our lives. i also believe there comes an age where life's responsibilities begin to ease off, and you enter a "use it or lose it" phase of intellectual development. The brain is a poorly-understood and fascinating organ; and for so many of us, our sense of being an intellectually-gifted person is tied to our egos.

i will also add this footnote: throughout my "interesting" childhood and so forth, i rested not on my looks, which brought me as much pain as happiness, but on my sense of being the Smartest Person In The Room. Chances are, i was most of the time, given my circumstances. Then i began law school and had THAT particular peg knocked out from beneath me. My point is, whatever may be your sense of yourself -- i'm smart; i'm average; i'm dumb; it is all relative. It all depends on the people surrounding you. In my opinion, i would like to be the dumb one; i want to learn all my life; so i'd prefer to hang out with the Smart Kids, even if i cannot always keep up. Ego can take a back seat.

pinkpleasures

It is patently obvious that Lam is correct. Take two babies..send one home with a two parent, wealthy family who can afford to let one parent remain at home until the child reaches 1st grade; provide the child with activities outside the home, and provide educational toys and other stimuli. Send the other child home with a single mom who already has 2 kids; sends the baby to day care at 6 weeks; day care is sub-standard and no one plays with the baby; she cannot afford to give the baby toys and she has little time for him

Now make the assumption that both babies were born with identical "intellects". It's readilly apparent the first child, of wealthy parents, will enjoy an advantage over the second child, of a poor single mother.

pinkpleasures