So I got to wondering recently: what is the term for the opposite of wisdom?
This came about as I saw plenty of examples of behaviour that constitutes the opposite of wisdom - I’ll list some below - and wondered how to describe them.
I looked up a list of antonyms, of course, but - despite the list being excellent from a literacy point of view - a lot of those are either wishy washy nothings (a bit like calling people fools, which has next to no impact in the modern world - sort of “oh I wouldn't do that if I was you”) or had so many other meetings that they lacked specificity or impact.
I could try using something like un-wisdom, but that also covers neutral behaviour and lacks impact.
No, I suspect the term I am looking for is antiwisdom - a bit like antiracist is the term for the effective opposite to, or counter of, racism.
OK, so having adopted (developed?) that term, the examples.
But firstly, I am reading an utterly brilliant book titled “The Dreaming Path: Indigenous Thinking to Change Your Life” by Paul Callaghan and Uncle Paul Gordon (Pantera Press, Neutral Bay, NSW, 2022, ISBN 978-0-6487952-7-8; Amazon, Readings, Apple). I struggle for words to describe the book, so perhaps I can say it combines the best of all the spiritual growth work I have done over the last century with the best of Indigenous spiritual/personal/social growth thinking and practices in a way that warmly affirms what I have long thought whilst also building on that in ways I didn’t realise were possible.
Anything that is anti, undermining of, or in conflict with that book fits into my new category of antiwisdom.
Anything that is anti, undermining of, or in conflict with, the concept of antiracism - and all other version of antibigotry - constitutes antiwisdom.
The active evil that I wrote about here and in many other places is antiwisdom.
And the following from everyday life are ALL either antiwisdom or fail to take the opportunity to be wise:
- trying to “push though” illness or any other message from your body saying “slow down”;
- all views that we should be spending more than ~4 hours/day max meeting survival needs - “The Dreaming Path” suggests ~ 1-2 hours/day was adequate for the Indigenous people to meet survival needs, leaving plenty of time for self care, social care, and spiritual/personal growth care. Other sources I’ve read suggest 25 - 30 hours/week met gatherer-hunters’ survival needs, and there is probably some seasonal variation in this, but, given modern knowledge,. technology, and resources, really no-one should be spending more than 2 - 4 hours/day on survival needs - including housework;
- all views, actions, inactions and misconceptions promoting endurance/acceptance (such as toxic positivity and this) that support the patriarchy - specially when that is because those antiwise people are doing so because they are bored or do not know what to do with their time;
- similarly to the previous point for neoliberal capitalism;
- a recent advertisement I saw for a key DEI position which was using the “were touch and have egregious expectations” line of BS - an ad which clearly showed those who placed it were utterly clueless about what DEI requires ... and this ad was being placed because the company had been criticised for being abusive!!! (needless to say, I did NOT consider applying - there was nothing inspirational in the ad, only antiwisdom).
When I was in my 20s, another resident in the block of flats I was in had a mental health crisis after a relationship break up, and sometimes crept around the flats in the middle of the night calling out to other residents and even claiming to have a knife. The police were called a couple of times, and I wound up talking to them the last time they came out. I was asked my opinion, and said he had been struggling after a relationship breakup, and just needed a bit of guidance. They apparently did that - talked to him, and I was even thanked by the person concerned later, but he eventually continued to have problems as he wasn’t receiving the ongoing support he needed.
A similar incident occurred at work with a young man who thought it was OK to email a video of a police car bing machine gunned as “people needed to know what things happened”. Well, at that time I had a friend who was a serving police officer so I already knew what could happen, and made a complaint to management which led to effective support and counselling.
Good mentoring/counselling (in the informal sense) can make a difference, but that concept has also been abused by the antiwise (especially those who support white supremacism, the patriarchy, neoliberalism, or the antiwise forms of capitalism), which has, in the hands of those who struggle with nuance / ethics or are inclined towards “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” (possibly because they want to demonstrate what they mistakenly think is moral superiority), left a sour taste about such things.
There is the potential for good - wise - examples and guidance, and, frankly, the use of questionable phrases such as “don’t do stupid stuff” (Obama’s team), or “no ****heads” in some sporting clubs, often gets the point across to those who need to understand it.
Wise actions can be taken, but that sometimes needs courage as well a commitment to UDHR-style ethics.
In my case, I recently blocked a transphobe on Medium, and I am now feeling safe enough to post there (when I have the time and energy).
Businesses and the media (mainstream and social) need to avoid the antiwisdom trap of “bothsidesism”, and ensure the broader picture is fair, equitable and inclusive. Expressing hate or fear is NOT expressing an opinion. When someone does that, counter that antiwisdom by being wise and reining them in and countering the evil they have done - including contradicting the claims that it is free speech.
I had an example of that on social media when a troll said censorship - meaning the imposition of decency - was stopping people expressing their opinions. No, what was being complained about was stopping people indulging in hate speech. Trolls - such as the transphobic one I blocked on medium - are the ones who are stopping free speech.
And people with influence / power or in positions of responsibility need to stop being moral cowards and accessories to antiwisdom by taking a moral, principled, wise stand.
PS - a friend joked that the opposite of wisdom could maybe be wisdom teeth 😁
Assumptions / basis
In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following:
- decency matters, as does diversity, equity, and inclusion, and wisdom and mature, balanced spirituality;
Possible flaws
Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:
- there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”;
- I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
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Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.
