Saturday 11 August 2018

The difference between knowledge and wisdom.

What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?

No need to get all deep and philosophical. Wisdom is knowledge coupled with good judgement. Simple as that.

Oxford defines knowledge as:

'knowledge /ˈnɒlɪdʒ /
▸ noun [mass noun]
1 facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject:
a thirst for knowledge
her considerable knowledge of antiques.
▪ the sum of what is known:
the transmission of knowledge.
▪ information held on a computer system.
▪ Philosophy true, justified belief; certain understanding, as opposed to opinion.
2 awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation:
the programme had been developed without his knowledge
he denied all knowledge of the incidents.
3 archaic sexual intercourse.
– PHRASES
come to someone's knowledge
become known to someone.
to (the best of) someone's knowledge
as far as someone knows; judging from the information someone has:
the text is free of factual errors, to the best of my knowledge.
– ORIGIN Middle English (originally as a verb in the sense ‘acknowledge, recognize’, later as a noun): from an Old English compound based on cnāwan (see know).'

And wisdom as:

'wisdom /ˈwɪzdəm /
▸ noun [mass noun] the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise:
listen to his words of wisdom.
▪ the fact of being based on sensible or wise thinking:
some questioned the wisdom of building the dam so close to an active volcano.
▪ the body of knowledge and experience that develops within a specified society or period:
Eastern wisdom.
– PHRASES
in someone's wisdom
used ironically to suggest that someone's action is not well judged:
in their wisdom they decided to dispense with him.
– ORIGIN Old Englishwīsdōm (see wise1, -dom).'

Then, there is the difference between being wise and being knowledgeable, again, I quote from Oxford:

'wise1 /wʌɪz /
▸ adjective having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgement:
she seems kind and wise
a wise precaution.
▪ sensible or prudent:
it would be wise to discuss the matter with the chairman.
▪ having knowledge in a specified subject:
he is wise in the ways of haute couture.
▪ (wise to) informal aware of, especially so as to know how to act:
at seven she was already wise to the police.
▸ verb [no object] (wise up) [often in imperative] informal become aware of or informed about something:
wise up to the flavours of North Africa.
– PHRASES
be wise after the event
understand and assess a situation only after its implications have become obvious:
it is easy to be wise after the event.
be none (or not any) the wiser
not understand something, even though it has been explained:
she said an awful lot but he wasn't any the wiser
I am still none the wiser about the meaning of the word.
– ORIGIN Old Englishwīs, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wijs and German weise, also to wit2.'

'knowledgeable /ˈnɒlɪdʒəb(ə)l / (also knowledgable)
▸ adjective intelligent and well informed:
she is very knowledgeable about livestock and pedigrees.
– DERIVATIVES
knowledgeability /nɒlɪdʒəˈbɪlɪti/ noun
knowledgeably /ˈnɒlɪdʒəbli / adverb
knowledgeableness noun'.

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