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My middle school teacher once asked me this question one time a long time ago, and I forgot what he said about it... (damn). But anyways, I was hoping you guys could give me your input on the situation.
So the story goes something like this,
Two twin boys grow up in the same town in almost the exact same way. After finishing high school, they are given a challenge by their father to obtain "wisdom." The first son decides to take a plane and go visit many different parts of the world. Experiencing different cultures, meeting new people, and observing nature. The second son decides to spend most of his days in the worlds biggest library reading every book he can possibly find. Learning about all the great philosophers and their beliefs, reading all the great novels and living vicariously through the characters in each story, and learning all about the natural world.
After five years, the brothers meet back at their house.
The question is... at this point. Who is wiser?
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Baa?21244 Posts
This sounds like one of those stories designed to encourage people who fail at school that "street smarts" are better than "book smarts."
That's probably what your teacher said isn't it.
My personal opinion is that that's a bunch of bull, so yeah.
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Primary vs Secondary sources.
the son who travels is wiser imo
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The thread title should be
Whose Wiser
Obviously shows that you aren't
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Their father deemed them both unwise.
GG!! 
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On February 24 2009 15:08 Folca wrote:
The thread title should be
Whose Wiser
Obviously shows that you aren't
lol.
that is all.
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FuDDx
United States5015 Posts
On February 24 2009 15:06 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
This sounds like one of those stories designed to encourage people who fail at school that "street smarts" are better than "book smarts."
That's probably what your teacher said isn't it.
My personal opinion is that that's a bunch of bull, so yeah.
I agree and heatedly disagree with you.
Now I'm more of a street smarts person being raised by biker/striper/tattoo artist does that to you.But unfortunately in this world if you went into o say a tattoo shop or a biker bar I know how to act and how to survive those environments.I doubt a book smart person would be able to even if they had the knowledge(or desire), just an example but always a blend of street/book is gonna help you more than just one or the other imo.
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On February 24 2009 15:11 overpool wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2009 15:08 Folca wrote:
The thread title should be
Whose Wiser
Obviously shows that you aren't lol. that is all.
lololol. oh the irony.
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I don't think the question is phrased correctly. If the sons were asked to obtain knowledge, and they went about it in different ways, then one way may be wiser than another. But I don't think you can just go out there and obtain wisdom in a mechanical way like that. Also, the question doesn't quite make sense because they had to apply wisdom before they obtained it....why would they have to go seek wisdom if they are judged on their wisdom before they find it?
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On February 24 2009 15:08 Folca wrote:
The thread title should be
Whose Wiser
Obviously shows that you aren't
lol...
who`s = who is
who is wiser
"whose wiser" doesn't make any sense
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On February 24 2009 15:11 FuDDx wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2009 15:06 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
This sounds like one of those stories designed to encourage people who fail at school that "street smarts" are better than "book smarts."
That's probably what your teacher said isn't it.
My personal opinion is that that's a bunch of bull, so yeah. I agree and heatedly disagree with you. Now I'm more of a street smarts person being raised by biker/striper/tattoo artist does that to you.But unfortunately in this world if you went into o say a tattoo shop or a biker bar I know how to act and how to survive those environments.I doubt a book smart person would be able to even if they had the knowledge(or desire), just an example but always a blend of street/book is gonna help you more than just one or the other imo.
Not trying to challenge you, (I wouldn't want to incur the wrath of your awesome dad! ) but the opposite can be said just as easily.
I could argue that your average biker couldn't hack it in a room full of theoretical physicists. I know what you are thinking, 'what are the chances of a biker going to a theoretical physics convention?' And my answer is about the same as that of a theoretical physicist walking into a biker bar.
Edit: Upon further inspection of your last line, I think we might be in agreement. In that case, sorry for wasting your time. 
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and isn't wisdom different from intelligence? first guy is wiser, second guy is more intelligent
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Reading books doesn't make you more intelligent, it makes you more knowledgeable.
Because one has knowledge of the world firsthand and the other doesn't, or the other has knowledge of many things and the other is uneducated doesn't mean either of them will have obtained any wisdom from the knowledge they have acquired, firsthand or otherwise.
The question is a pile of shit.
On February 24 2009 15:15 29 fps wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2009 15:08 Folca wrote:
The thread title should be
Whose Wiser
Obviously shows that you aren't lol... who`s = who is who is wiser "whose wiser" doesn't make any sense
This is where he claims he was joking and we are stupid.
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Those are 2 different types of wisdom, and they can't be compared on the same scale (like lemonwalrus' example). For example, who would you say is smarter? A student getting 100 in chem vs a student getting 100 in physics (assume difficulty, prestige, etc. are all equal).
One way to demonstrate which one is wiser could be compared with who will earn a larger income/be more successful based on the knowledge they gained. The one who stayed in the library could probably become a Ph.D making innovations that improve humanity, whereas the other could become a CEO/entrepreneur because of meeting people and knowing real-life environments. It is hard to decide at this point. But if both of these sons are able to achieve the examples of what I mentioned above, the one who stayed and studied in the library if more beneficial to the world. We could probably do without a CEO of a large company (eg. walmart) whereas almost any bio/technological inventions improves our well-being.
This doesn't answer who is wiser btw.
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FIRST GUY
WITHOUT A DOUBT :D
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doubleupgradeobbies!
Australia1250 Posts
Depends on the definition of wisdom in this case.
The two common varieties are
a) ability to make the right/better decision.
b) possessing a large amount of of knowledge.
One would think the one that traveled would be wiser under definition of a). As he would have a better instinctive understanding of how things work, having seen alot first hand.
The other ones wins under definition b). Reading has a much greater potential rate of knowledge obtained per unit time by so much compared to experience it's no contest. Assuming he is capable of understanding/retaining the knowledge and not just reading and forgetting about it.
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The first guy is wiser because he chose not to spend 5 years in a library.
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EPT
