THIRD WAY Arthur M. Jackson
Copyright 2001, 2003, 2006
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THIRD WAY OF WISDOM: Seek to understand. Pursue knowledge and Wisdom
All we are and all we become depends on our knowledge and understanding, and our ability to apply Wisdom to this knowledge and understanding. Primarily we depend on our society to help us take the path of Wisdom. When we are lucky our society provides us knowledge, data, and experience in such a way as to permit us the best understanding currently possible; i.e., Wisdom. This Wisdom helps us to see that for all practical purposes we live in a boundless universe, with infinities in every direction we look. However, because our knowledge is always finite, therefore, our understanding is always time-specific and open to change.
But when our knowledge is combined with Wisdom then it can serve us in achieving a Sustainable Belief that our Life Has Meaning. All data becomes knowledge as it is compared to or measured in terms of a reference system. Therefore, it is critical to find the best reference system available to use in the interpretation and application of data. It is our wisdom that allows us to find the best reference system. In the absence of a correct reference system all data, experience, and knowledge may be misapplied, or misunderstood and lead one in the wrong direction. It is the search for an Ultimate Reference System that has been at the core of the Wisdom quest throughout human history.
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However, until modern time almost all search started at the wrong point (God), and has, therefore, led to wrong conclusions. Unfortunately, up to this time those who have rejected God as the Ultimate Reference System have done little better than those who accepted God in clarifying the elements of a sustainable belief that their life has meaning. Their thinking tends to be so mis-focused by the God concept that they have been diverted from understanding the goal of their search.
Once one has found the best reference system their wisdom permits, then they must interpret their available data in terms of this reference system. SCIENCE OF ETHICS utilizes Human Beings As the Ultimate Reference System. For anyone accepting this approach it will be clear that the next step is to learn everything they can, particularly those things necessary to use that knowledge to help achieve a sustainable belief that their life has meaning.
Mastery of the general ideas of a Science of Ethics might be the most productive step possible in achieving this Way of Wisdom. However, there are many ways to achieve knowledge. To the degree that one's society has organized its data in useful ways that are open to revision with additional understanding, to that degree will the individual benefit from mastering such knowledge. In so far as the society has misfocused its data, to that degree will the person be misled by their society unless they can find a way to escape being duped or learn how to recover from this deception. Nevertheless, normally the individual will benefit by pursuing formal education. This is particularly true if this teaching includes a good portion of science, critical thinking, logic, reasoning, questioning, analysis, study of real things -- left brain activities. The broader their studies and the more sources they draw from the more likely it is that they will be able to correct the errors that are included as part of any teaching.
But until one achieves the wisdom to determine what their knowledge is for they will primarily be assembling data and will be misguided on how to use it to help them become their own best self. It is with knowledge that we tap into the abundance of the universe. With knowledge we learn how to use the unlimited power of the sun. We learn how to produce bountiful food of a healthy, nutritious, delicious character. And with knowledge we learn how to create and maintain a joyful life not only for ourselves, but also for all people on this earth.
By mastering the knowledge slowly accumulated by our species over its history we prepare ourselves to achieve each of the WAYS OF WISDOM in general and in particular the NINTH WAY OF WISDOM: Work to increase knowledge and all creative and artistic endeavors. Adopt an inspiring life goal. To fill our brain and mind with good, clear knowledge is a long step toward Wisdom. This is the point where efforts to achieve wisdom using so called "wisdom traditions" get one off track and end up leading not to wisdom, but to positions that are fundamentally based on intuition and tradition; i.e., are not theory-based, and therefore not falsifiable. They are not based on wisdom in the context of Science of Ethics. Rather they are narrow-focused insights about how to use the mechanism of the brain to achieve simple goals. Under certain conditions these practices utilizing mysticism can produce an illusion of great understanding.
These traditions are sometimes represented as relying on "objective" knowledge because if the student follows the training faithfully they often achieve the predicted results. But these results tell us how the human brain behaves or can behave under certain circumstances. They don't tell us how to increase the food supply, cure disease -- except in a very limited way -- produce nuclear energy, or maintain our species in this chaotic universe. However, they normally have a story designed to convince their students that the foregoing things are unimportant or possibly should not even be thought about. This issue is discussed in greater depth elsewhere.
With Wisdom based on knowledge -- rather than the illusion of wisdom provided by severing the brain from outside contact as mystical experiences depend on -- we can make ourselves immune to all the systems that depend on ignorance, confusion, and error. As we gain sufficient knowledge based on empirical data we increase our ability to achieve true Wisdom. With true Wisdom we can assess all ideas and thereby move toward total congruency so that all of our knowledge and all of our activities support each other and help us become an Enlightened Person.
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