Toward Wisdom - Softcover

Macdonald, Copthorne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0888821514 ISBN 13: 9780888821515

Publisher: Dundurn Press, 1993

Synopsis

Toward Wisdom addresses the nature of wisdom, humanity’s need for it, and ways and means of developing it. The situation the world faces today is extremely complex. Long-cherished values have begun to conflict with each other: material comfort vs. an uncontaminated world; economic growth now vs. economic well-being for our grandchildren.

Toward Wisdom takes the position that the only way to make the world a better place is to make it a wiser place. Wisdom is no longer an option or a frill. We, and the world, need wisdom-based analyses of our problems followed by wisdom-based action. In the past, becoming wise was left to chance; a few people became wise before they died, but most did not. This lackadaisical approach will no longer do. Wisdom can be developed intentionally, and Toward Wisdom shows us how. The book examines some of the key impediments to wisdom; what they are, how they work, how they came to be; and introduces us to techniques for getting beyond them.

About this title

About the Author

Copthorne Macdonald is a writer, scholar and communications engineer. He has followed the story of the Confederation Bridge from the time it was discussed in the mid-1980s to its completion. He has published 125 articles. His work has been featured on the CBC Radio series IDEAS. He has lived in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island since 1975.

Review

Wisdom is often confused with knowledge (information, data). Copthorne Macdonald began his personal journey as a narrowly focused engineer who understood how "things" work, but not how life "happens". In Toward Wisdom, Macdonald shows the reader the difference between wisdom and knowledge, and in so doing explains how that understanding is critical to our survival. Drawing from a variety of spiritual sources (from Christian mystics to Maslow) and from his own real and inner-world experiences, Macdonald says that we no longer see ourselves as part of one miraculous living process. As a result, we've become need-based exploiters of our own appetites and of the natural world. To become wisdom-oriented, we must begin to see the unity behind the illusions of separateness to "recognize" that we were always "waves in the ocean". We arrive at this point, Macdonald insists, not by acquiring more information but by re-experiencing our place in the greater scheme of things. Toward Wisdom challenges us to move beyond an information-based society to a wisdom-based one. Toward Wisdom is thoughtful, insightful, provocative reading and a significant contribution to the philosophical understanding of our place in the scheme of things. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0888821514
• ISBN 13: 9780888821515
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 184