The Way of Wisdom

June 6, 2018

Summary

In a TED talk given by Barry Schwartz the argument is made that the modern west has gone mad with bureaucracy because of our loss of “practical wisdom” (see here). Schwartz argues clearly that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire and yet we continue with them, in the vain hope that a few more will do the trick. The antidote? Wisdom. Without wisdom we will make a mess of our life. Life is too complex for laws or rules to cover all that we encounter, but what is wisdom? Where is it found? How do you get it and apply it? In this series we will consider these fundamental questions and then consider some practical examples.

  • The beginning of Wisdom, June 10, (Proverbs 1:1-7 and 2:1-11)
  • The source of Wisdom, June 17, (Proverbs 8:1-31)
  • Training in Wisdom, June 24, (Proverbs 3:1-12 and 4:10-27)
  • Anger, July 1, (Proverbs 14:29-30; 15:1,18; 16:32; 19:11,19; 24:28-29; 25:21-22)
  • Beauty, July 8, (Proverbs 5:15-19; 11:16, 22; 30:18-20)
  • Wealth, July 29, (Proverbs 10:4, 15-16, 22; 11:1, 4, 18, 24, 26; 12:11; 13:23; 15:16-17; 28:6, 25, 27; 30:8-9)
  • Wise words, August 5, (Proverbs 8:6-9, 5:3-4, 6:16-19, 10:19, 17;28, 18:13 , 29:20 , 17:27, 15:23, 25:11, 26:7, 26:9, 10:21, 16:24, 15:4)
  • Pride, August 19, (Proverbs 11:2,12; 13:10; 15:25,33; 16:18-19; 21:4; 28:26)
  • Laziness, August 26, (Proverbs 8:1-4; 10:4-5; 12:10-11; 15:19; 22:29; 27:18)