What Is Wisdom? What Is It Worth?

Editor's Note What Is Wisdom? What Is It Worth? During a small group discussion of recruitment and training in research at a recent national meeting, a senior resident and a first-year faculty member from the same institution brought up the topic of wisdom . They work at an excellent facility that is justifiably admired for its research productivity, but the cycle of their department is such that although there are many young and bright midcareer investigators , there are no senior faculty . They felt bereft of the opportunity to seek out faculty who are wise. The others in the group pressed the two to describe what they meant by wisdom . It seemed connected to the possession of a broad view, a willingness and an ability to be life as well as goal focussed. Because of a busy agenda, the group discussion had to move on rather quickly, but these young researchers' comments have led me to ponder the concept and importance of wisdom . According to dictionaries, wisdom denotes the ability to choose the best means by which to acquire an end. To be wise , it is necessary but it is not sufficient to be smart. Judgement, discernment , and knowledge are also necessary for wisdom . These traits are often linked with smartness , but not always. They require time as well as intelligence. To obtain them , one must in life have had more than a few trials and even some errors. Wisdom does not require brilliance, but it does require that a smart person keeps his or her eyes and ears open and remembers what works, what does not, and why. Wisdom connotes not only knowledge of the world but also of oneself. These are not necessarily the persons one would seek out for the pharmacokinetics of a just-released medication or for the statistical approach that will best answer a difficult methodological question. For these answers, one usually asks faculty members who are immersed in their scholarship. Parenthetically, movement along the continuum between smart and wise is seen every day at the Journal, where we must press these excellent researchers to consider how their findings fit into the big picture , how they might have implications for clinical practice . In most research oriented departments , it is necessary for pretenure investigators to publish both often and well if they are to climb the ladder to security. Their viewpoint is usually, and necessarily, narrow and concentrated. They too often have insufficient free time for themselves and their loved ones and even less time to aid and comfort up-and-coming faculty siblings. Tenured and senior nontenure track faculty have more experience , a broader viewpoint of academia , less to fear about losing their positions, and, usually, more discretionary time. They may also realize that their research is no longer on the cutting edge and that the positive feedback from helping to launch new investigators and from vicariously being involved in these persons' discoveries can provide important and unique gratifications. Wisdom suggests balance. Wise people are not flaming optimists or hoary curmudgeons. Cynics believe themselves always right, but that is just part of their cynicism. Too much narcissism is also incompatible with wisdom. Wisdom requires confidence, but a true narcissist has neither the empathy necessary to understand the world nor the interest to help others to understand it. A paradox inherent in this scheme is that as one becomes older it becomes more difficult to remember accurately what the personal needs are of a young person, who mayor may not be married , have preschool children, or be deeply in debt. The wise person, however , knows not to give comment or advice until first knowing the data. Such updates and a reacquaintance with youth are, however, important perks that make her or him all the wiser. How does a department .or division assure itself of having some wise faculty? Age alone is certainly no guarantee. There is no fool like an old fool. Tenure is an institution that at least, in part, helps to assure a faculty place for wisdom. A process that selects smart, productive people and then allows them to age certainly raises the odds that there will always be some wise people around. Two current dangers to the acquisition of wise faculty are the abolition of tenure at some schools and the general abolition of a mandatory

retirement age. One fears with the latter that only the wise faculty will know when it is time to leave. The others will remain at salary levels that will shrink the department's capacity to hire new assistant professors who, after all, provide the vibrancy for any scholarly environment. Just as those two young investigators knew that they needed mentors who were wise about life as well as mentors who were smart about science, departments and divisions must provide a balance of faculty that allows both for wisdom and a flow of new people who are stimulating, understood, and guided. John E . Schowalter, M .D. Assistant Editor

J.Am.Acad. Child Adolesc . Psychiatry, 30 :6, November 1991

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