Information knowledge and wisdom lead to our destiny.

By Murli Chari

Of late there is an overload of information and knowledge. It is very difficult to filter them. Not all information is worth accumulating. However, some information is vital for survival. Weather, political situation and traffic snarls information are vital to decide whether to embark upon the visit or not. With the compounding growth of information on internet it has become a herculean task to sift the real from the fake. Many of us fall prey to malignant information. Many luring advertisements must be discerned before opting to take advantage of them. With so many quacks, charlatans, and manipulators a proper understanding of the information is imperative as one might fall to the shenanigans of these purveyors of spurious goods and services. Our world has become a landmine sprawling across the globe. It is possible, however intelligent we maybe we may fall prey to the fraudulent claims. With so much information overload human brains are not competent and equipped to remove the chaff from the wheat. Most of us believe that print media is gospel truth, but it is not so as many of the media are under the control of the vested interests of political parties or businessmen. Now having access to humongous information may prove to be a handicap rather than an advantage. Once we digest a ton of information, we get knowledge. Knowledge again must be precise and useful. Knowledge acquired should be pragmatic and proper. Once again it is vital that we have knowledge of right things. Knowledge of gibberish nature is of very little consequence. We need not confine ourselves to acquiring knowledge from formal sources where we must give exams as that knowledge does not sustain as they evaporate as they have lower shelf life due to that being emanating from rote. We mistakenly believe that once we have procured a college degree, we have known the subject well. There is a beautiful Chinese aphorism “I read I forget; I see I know, and I do I understand.” The knowledge must pass the litmus test of being useful in real life. This is the reason why we have so many failures of those who have scored great distinction in exams and have miserably failed in real life. Knowledge can be acquired by applying the principles we have learnt through theory and practical application. All theoretical knowledge must be substantiated by experimenting in practical life.

Now comes the most important leg of the tripod of information, knowledge, and

wisdom. That is wisdom. Wisdom is available as a treasure trove from time immemorial. There is a huge, documented wisdom from primordial times. Wisdom scores above information and knowledge in that it is the maturity on how to use the information and knowledge. Many of the aphorisms are quintessential wisdom. Wisdom is something which tells what to do and what not to do. Many of the wisdom is exercised by even illiterates lacking formal education based on their empirical evidence. We need maturity to understand the significance of wisdom. Wisdom is very profound and can save us lot of heartburns, frustrations, and misery. Many sayings like “Beat the rod when it is hot. Make hay while sun shines. These are all kernels of wisdom. Wisdom is the booster dose making us formidable. Most of us realize the importance of wisdom when we are blighted by bad experience. The more one is educated more one is a braggart and avoids the importance of wisdom. Many lives and misfortunes can be avoided if only pay heed to the brilliance of wisdom. It is quite a bit of challenge to integrate information, knowledge, and wisdom into an integrated whole. All the three are legs of the tripod of human consciousness. Right information, right knowledge is heavily reliant on right wisdom. It is an organic growth from information digested into knowledge and finally knowledge distilled into wisdom. It is also great wisdom to make use of wisdom at the right moment. Many of us keep repeating the same mistakes due to lack of wisdom or reluctance to make use of available wisdom. One must. be very humble to accept wisdom from an ocean of wisdom available in the world.