Knowledge and Wisdom

文、译/林巍

 By Lin Wei

As an idea people used to talk about but could hardly put over clearly, the relations between knowledge and wisdom are closely related to their daily life, such as in learning, education, science and technology and so on.

Knowledge may be understood as systematized facts about the physical world that have so far been recognized. Wisdom, on the other hand, is hard to define precisely; the common definitions found in reference books are barely satisfactory, since they are often confused with those of capability or cleverness.

Unlike many others, I believe that knowledge underpins wisdom since it is hard to imagine a wise man who is ignorant. For example, the strategy of Zhuge Liang (an embodiment of wisdom in China’s history) in harnessing the east wind to fire on his enemy was based on his profound knowledge of astronomy and geography. Likewise, the Old Man on the frontier (a legendary figure in Chinese folk tales) regained his stallion (plus an extra one) by knowing the habits of the horse very well. In a sense, Aristotle regarded wisdom as a kind of knowledge.

And yet, in no way can having knowledge be equated with having wisdom, because an illiterate may gain insight into a complicated issue while a professor of philosophy could do something quite stupid in some simple matters.

Confucius said, “Learning without thinking throws one into perplexity, while thinking without learning leads one into jeopardy”. “Learning” and “thinking” could here be denoted respectively as acquiring knowledge and applying knowledge, with the latter being transformed into wisdom.

Knowledge can only be possessed and accumulated externally, while wisdom is brought into play and sublimed internally, as Lao Zi elaborated: “Acquiring knowledge results in daily personal growth, while pursuing Dao (the highest wisdom) results in daily contraction.”

Learning, as a consistent objective, has to be categorized into different logically-connected disciplines for acquisition; wisdom, on the other hand, is applied holistically and creatively. There are no such things as good and evil in knowledge, which can only be induced and summarized, but they invade wisdom, which is manipulated quite differently by individuals.

In dealing with specific cases, capability needs to be guided by wisdom. Cleverness, in a narrow sense, may also be regarded as wisdom.

Wisdom, which also includes sentiments, character, ideas, virtue, temperament, mingling with various external factors and convenient conditions, is actually beyond words, culminating in great wisdom that looks like folly. To be precise, wisdom of this kind, excluding knowledge, capability and cleverness, can never be replaced by any artificial intelligence.

大赛原文（汉译英）

知 识 与 智慧

文/林巍

【1】知识与智慧的关系，是人们历来愿意谈论而又似乎谈不清的问题；然而，它的确与人们的学习、教育、生活、科技等方面有关。

【2】“知识”可以理解为“人类至今对于物质世界里客观事实系统化的认知”，而“智慧”则很难定义。查阅了各种工具书，其解释都难以令人满意，因为所谓智慧常与能力或聪明相混淆。

【3】不同于许多人的观点，我以为，知识是智慧的基础，因为不可想象，一个有智慧的人是无知的。作为智慧化身的诸葛亮所以使出“借东风”的计谋，是因他有着丰富的天文地理知识；“塞翁失马”所以复得，是因他熟知马的习性。故而，亚里士多德说，在某种意义上，智慧是一种知识。
【4】但是，有知识绝不等于有智慧。一个大字不识的人，可能把某个复杂的问题看得很透，而一个哲学教授却可能在某些简单事情上做出蠢事。
【5】孔子说，“学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆”；这里的“学”可理解为获得知识，“思”则是对于知识的运用，形成智慧。
【6】知识可以占有，智慧只能发挥；知识向外求得，智慧于内感悟；知识越获越丰富，智慧越凝越升华。老子说，“为学日益，为道日损”。
【7】对于人的智力，知识是分学科的，而智慧则是打通的；知识具有客观性、一致性、逻辑性，智慧则具主观性、个体性、创造性；知识没有善恶，智慧却可善可恶；知识最终为智慧所推论、总结、应用。
【8】能力，是智慧在某一具体环节上的运用；聪明，则可理解为狭义的智慧。
【9】智慧其实无法尽用语言概括——还包括情感、品格、观念、德行、性情以及天时地利等综合因素的整合, 而其最高境界是“大智若愚”。所以，应当厘清概念：人工智能只可代替知识、能力和聪明，却永远也代替不了人的智慧。