- Feb 5, 2002
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We often mistake intelligence for wisdom, but only goodness helps us see reality as it truly is.
I had to tell a Catholic woman I know, a kind and thoughtful woman, that someone she had known had been a sex abuser. “But how could he have been?” she said, mentioning how nice he had been, and then added, “He was so smart.”
That wasn’t so odd a response as it may seem. We Americans, I think, tend to connect intelligence with insight and wisdom, as if having the first meant having the second, and to connect insight and wisdom with goodness. It’s more instinct and attitude than conviction. We think of Doctor Who more than of Dr. Frankenstein, Gandalf and Galadriel more than Sauron and Saruman. I’ve heard and read a lot of people say what the Catholic woman said.
The most famous, indeed notorious, example is the collective “best and brightest” who led America into the Vietnam War. The only aspect of their characters that made them the “best,” as they were called at the time, was being part of America’s intellectual elite. They were “best” because “brightest,” but it turned out that in trying to shape the world to America’s demands, they weren’t that bright, because they weren’t wise or good enough to see that they couldn’t control the world the way they thought they could.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
I had to tell a Catholic woman I know, a kind and thoughtful woman, that someone she had known had been a sex abuser. “But how could he have been?” she said, mentioning how nice he had been, and then added, “He was so smart.”
That wasn’t so odd a response as it may seem. We Americans, I think, tend to connect intelligence with insight and wisdom, as if having the first meant having the second, and to connect insight and wisdom with goodness. It’s more instinct and attitude than conviction. We think of Doctor Who more than of Dr. Frankenstein, Gandalf and Galadriel more than Sauron and Saruman. I’ve heard and read a lot of people say what the Catholic woman said.
The most famous, indeed notorious, example is the collective “best and brightest” who led America into the Vietnam War. The only aspect of their characters that made them the “best,” as they were called at the time, was being part of America’s intellectual elite. They were “best” because “brightest,” but it turned out that in trying to shape the world to America’s demands, they weren’t that bright, because they weren’t wise or good enough to see that they couldn’t control the world the way they thought they could.
The Limits of Intelligence
Continued below.
Some People Are Too Smart for Their Own Goodness
COMMENTARY: We often mistake intelligence for wisdom, but only goodness helps us see reality as it truly is.
