Caltrops - Rants - Re: The Price of Wisdom?

Forum Overview :: Rants

by Rightbug 01/27/2003, 3:33pm PST

Random thoughts:

1) Not everyone gains wisdom. Some people never learn. Some people are not introspective. In fact, I might go so far as to say that those of us who consciously learn something from our experiences are the exceptions, not the rule. A disproportionate number of people in this forum will fall into this exceptional category because you are mostly all intellectual, thoughtful people. (And it is intellect, not intelligence that is a factor here.)

2) Some people develop the oposite of wisdom in response to painful life experiences. E.g., someone who has a particularly bad experience with love and becomes a misogynist. Or someone who is abused and becomes an abuser.

3) Life would suck if it was all just jolly happy fun time and not just because we would take our happiness for granted. I saw a great movie last night -- The Claim. It was beautiful because it was sad. It was moving in the same way that life is often moving. Life beats the living piss out of even the best novel you could ever hope to read. Our life experiences are rich and poignant because they are varied and it is that variety that makes us whole. Any wisdom we pick up along the way is a bonus. (None of which makes pain any less painful. It's just a perspective that puts the pain in context so you are not left wondering why.)

-Rb