Information vs. Wisdom by Brady

I recently finished another book by Malcolm Gladwell called “Blink.” He analyzes in his normal, off the wall kind of way, the art of a gut decision. There are several intriguing stories that back up his theories and make for an entertaining read, but his conclusion at the end is what has me thinking right now. He says, “We live in a world saturated with information. We have virtually unlimited amounts of data at our fingertips at all times, and we’re well versed in the arguments about the dangers of not knowing enough and not doing our homework. But what I have sensed is an enormous frustration with the unexpected costs of knowing too much, of being inundated with information. We have come to confuse information with understanding.”

I frequently say it a slightly different way: “Information does not lead to transformation.” The Bible has a ton to say along this same line, especially in the Psalms and Proverbs. “Lady Wisdom” is an ancient Hebrew concept that is described as a person calling out to people in the noisy street looking for someone to listen to her (Proverbs 1:20-21). This reminds me of today’s “Information Age” and the crowded blogosphere world we live in (and to which I am adding to at this moment…irony). If you are on Facebook or Twitter, you know exactly what I am talking about. There are so many gurus and “pearls” out there telling you the key to life, yet it seems like it boils down to two things in Scripture: fear and discipline.

Gladwell says that learning to trust your gut instinct is a no-brainer, but you must learn to train it first. He talks about the obsessive discipline it takes to gain enough understanding to trust your gut. This means that you’ve got to be disciplined when it comes to your intake of information. All information is not equal or equally valuable. All advice is not equally beneficial. The only way to move from knowledge to understanding is to be disciplined in filtering out the bad information and looking for the few important pieces of data that are required to make sound decisions. In our quick-fix society, no one wants to take the necessary time to be disciplined, and certainly no one wants to receive discipline from God. But Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes the son he delights in.” Tough words for an undisciplined society to swallow.

The other key to this is, as I said, is fear. This is the ability to take in the brutal facts and important data and learn to use it as motivation. A book by Peter Senge talks about our inability to deal with the truth when it comes to our own life, and our propensity to lower expectations when we are confronted with the brutal facts of our lives. He says, “If the first choice in pursuing personal mastery is to be true to your own vision, the second fundamental choice in support of personal mastery is commitment to the truth.” This means that we must learn to be ok with failure and be willing to confront the facts. It also means that we cannot fear the information we receive, rather we learn to fear (have a healthy respect) for God over all other things.

Malcolm Gladwell closes his book by saying, “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.” I think all of us hope that our leaders in government and other important positions in our life have wisdom and understanding, but I fear that the majority of us are simply knowledgeable. Rare is the person that seeks out wisdom because it takes humility, discipline and fear. My prayer for myself and others around me is that God will raise up a new generation that is wise and full of understanding about the times that we live in. My hope is that this generation will be able to confront the major problems in our world today with full wisdom and understanding. And I believe that the more information we receive and the necessity for truly wise people rises, that masses will begin to understand where wisdom and understanding come from. It is as Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”