The Difference Between Knowledge and Wisdom (and Does IQ Matter?)

Let’s for a second imagine two very different people, with two very different backgrounds, studying the same thing in their own unique ways. In this case, it’s the sea. The first is a university professor, someone who is an expert on oceanography; the second is an old-fashioned fisherman. The professor went out into the world, conquered its many challenges, eventually finding himself at the most prestigious of universities, learning at the edge of our collective knowledge. The fisherman, however, did what he was expected: He graduated from high school — itself quite an achievement in his community — but then, he took over from his father, tending to the waters that surrounded them, just as his own father had taken over from his father before him. Over the decades, these men studied exactly the same domain but from different vantage points, with slightly different purposes. The professor knew all of the forces governing the bodies of water on Earth, but he spent little time in the actual sea. The fisherman, naturally, spent all of his time in the sea, but he knew little of the fancy terminology. Now, let’s ask an interesting question: Who out of these men has a deeper understanding of how the sea works — the professor or the fisherman? It’s a tough question, and it’s also an ambiguous one. If your first urge is to ask your own question in response to clarify what is meant by “a deeper understanding, ” I’d say that’s a good step. Context here matters. And yet, when in different forms this question is asked in philosophy (rationalism vs. empiricism) or in psychology (Do IQ tests measure something meaningful as it relates to the lived world? ) or in terms of the utility of logic (abstractions vs. reality), many people settle for one side and have a hard time reconciling the two in a way that does both of them justice.