Consider the statement...

[Iron Chob]

....one which I'm sure many of you have heard spoken as an empowering truth....

"Everything in moderation"

If the statement is true, then it applies to moderation being employed/enjoyed/experienced in moderation.

If it doesn't encompass the former, then the statement is false.

(Moderation, in this context, is defined as the avoidance of extremes in behaviour)

I have begun to wonder if the societal malaise which afflicts a great many people worldwide can be viewed thus, using this as a starting point.

I am not talking politics here btw - rather, the panorama of individual experience in the day to day existence of people living their lives.

Consider social media as an example - doom-scrolling or being endlessly plugged in and abreast of a constant stream of useless but exciting and conversation-worthy information....

Or the cutting edge particle physics researchers, who probe ever reducing quantities of matter in an effort to understand the basis of the firmament....

Perhaps the endless search for knowledge is itself a doorway to a peculiar madness, as our limited minds try to hold, store and interpret increasingly (meaningless?) and sometimes complex concepts that, of themselves, yield ultimately irrelevant information from a purely survival perspective.....are the properties of a quark essentially akin to what Dua Lipa is wearing to the next media photo shoot, and will masterful knowledge of either make the fields produce more food or produce rainfall which marks the end of a drought?

Perhaps the apex of wisdom, a quality as yet unchampioned and seemingly derided by vast swathes of people, is the understanding that....

....everything, everything, is to be enjoyed in moderation.....simply as an expression of healthy environs, both physical and metaphysical.

[Toxigen]

go big or go home, pussy

[magnetaress]

Bhuddist monks are the epitome of moderation. Only doing what is necessary for enlightenment and services to others usually no more.

The key to wise behavior is, is it effective? Doom scrolling isn't. It's a symtom. Sympathy. Of a disease process. Also is being in denial of doomsday. It's just like a teenager thinking they are immortal.

G-d bless.

[Duik]

A *moderate number of* things in moderation.

[Swish]

Where's the fun in that?

[magnetaress]

Go hard or go home.

If it's worth doing it's worth overdoing.

Not sure I agree with the above butt I've done both.

[Ciderpress]

Itt: OP discovers what "the exception that proves the rule" means.

An exception can only be an exception if it has a rule to be an exception to. Once a rule has too many exceptions, it ceases to be a rule. The rule in that case becomes the exception.

[Pulgasari]

Itt: OP discovers what "the exception that proves the rule" means.

An exception can only be an exception if it has a rule to be an exception to. Once a rule has too many exceptions, it ceases to be a rule. The rule in that case becomes the exception.

If I may beg the question -

It rains every day but Saturday.

It's not raining today.

:p

[magnetaress]

It's rained on Saturday and u know it.

Don't be such a clown. 🥸

[Iron Chob]

Itt: OP discovers what "the exception that proves the rule" means.

An exception can only be an exception if it has a rule to be an exception to. Once a rule has too many exceptions, it ceases to be a rule. The rule in that case becomes the exception.

That's an interesting point, but purely a satellite one and not really relevant to the latter half of the OP.

The point I am making, and as stated I used "everything in moderation" as a starting point, is related to the endless pursuit of knowledge.

If we presume that the knowledge pyramid is true (information leads to knowledge leads to wisdom), then why is it we live in a world inundated with information, yet seem increasingly crippled by a lack of understanding around both the acquisition of the information and it's transformation into knowledge?

(Thought exercise: Use (mis/dis)information as a starting point. Remove self-interest from the equation.)

If we are to presume that knowledge is applied information, it then follows that wisdom is....applied knowledge?

But that seems counter-intuitive, since I can know everything there is to know about a car, but that doesn't in itself convey the ability to drive the car. But, even if it did, it doesn't necessarily lead to good decision-making (ie, wisdom) about whether it is safe or appropriate to drive the car in less than favourable conditions, or indeed allow a value judgement about whether my skills are sufficient to drive the car at all.

By allowing the mind to be filled with information, which is then applied and thus gain knowledge....does it ultimately make any difference to the quality of the lived experience?

(Thought exercise - Ignorance is bliss, sometimes, yes?)

And if bliss is considered a top tier outcome of the lived experience (The Pursuit of Happiness?), why does it seem we are, at best, no more happy as a species than we were 100/500/1000 years ago?

Has the knowledge gained by humanity as a whole made a lick of difference to the satisfaction of the species?

And where does equity, fairness, empathy and the like enter the equation?

FWIW - it appears we pursue knowledge to enable a hierarchical system. If I have a bow and arrow and you don't.....likewise, if I've invented a FTL propulsion system and you haven't....

(Thought exercise - If the last statements are true, then knowledge isn't required to lead to wisdom...it is simply required to advance my goals over yours. Whilst that might make ME happier than you, I return again to the removal of self-interest and thus ponder.....why?)

Taking an alternate view - if we presume that a singular AI will ultimately gain an infinite amount more knowledge than any person, or group of people have.....it must therefore, according to the knowledge pyramid, be wise. But wisdom is generally accepted to begin firstly as a learned skill or derive from a lived experience and not purely a zero sum acquisition of knowledge. Can wisdom be commodified/exploited/utilised in the same way knowledge seemingly can ? (see above bow and arrow etc)

[Pulgasari]

That's an interesting point

It really isn't.

Ooloo misunderstands the statement 'the exception that proves the rule'.

I explained this above.

e: Ok well not above, but the last page. :p

[Tropica]

Everything in moderation.......including moderation!

[arvidez]

if life were a magic eye poster, knowledge would be the seemingly random shapes that cover the poster. wisdom is letting go of the knowledge. then you see.