PhilGoetz comments on Morality is not about willpower - Less Wrong

9 Post author: PhilGoetz 08 October 2011 01:33AM

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Comment author: PhilGoetz 08 October 2011 02:19:03AM *  -1 points [-]

This suggests you don't understand what people mean when they use the word "wisdom". As a first approximation think of wisdom as meaning real world experience.

I was parodying that view when I said it is "acquired automatically as a linear function of age." If you know of any studies that attempted to measure wisdom, or show correlations between different tests of wisdom, or between wisdom and outcomes, I'd be very interested in them.

I can't offhand think of any good uses of the word "wisdom" that would not be better replaced by some combination of "intelligent" and "knowledgeable". It is often used as a way to claim intelligence without having intelligence; or to criticize intelligent statements by saying they are not "wise", whatever that is.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 08 October 2011 04:56:52AM *  2 points [-]

It has been observed that people with high intelligence, nonetheless, frequently do stupid things, including stupid things that many people with less intelligence get right (I don't think this is controversial, but can provide examples as necessary). I am, therefore, using "wisdom" to mean whatever is necessary besides intelligence to avoid doing stupid things.

Comment author: PhilGoetz 08 October 2011 03:13:14PM -1 points [-]

Luck?