Difference Between Intelligence and Wisdom

Intelligence vs Wisdom

* Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.

* Wisdom is the accumulated knowledge that gives the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; gives the common sense; gives insight.

There is a wealth of a difference between the two terms, namely, intelligence and wisdom. Intelligence is normally construed to be the amount of information gathered in the human brain. Wisdom on the other hand is the intelligence that we gain in the process of learning from the mistakes that we commit.

Intelligence on the contrary implies the cause of anything executed impeccably. If a younger person is adept in avoiding mistakes then we usually hear the famous phrase ‘he is wise beyond his years’. It is thus understood that wisdom is nothing but intelligence in personal experience. All you have to do in gaining wisdom is know how best not to make mistakes after committing them.

One of the main differences between intelligence and wisdom is that intelligence is the knowledge gained without making a mistake, whereas wisdom is the knowledge gained by making mistakes.

You can define wisdom in another way too. It is absolutely right to define wisdom as intelligence that is used. It would quite naturally mean that if intelligence is not properly put to use then you are not considered a man with wisdom.

If a person is considered highly intelligent but not wise enough, then it means that the person is not learning from the mistakes he has been making. His intelligence simply survives on the knowledge he gained by the few mistakes that he has not made.

It once again shows that a man with wisdom should naturally be endowed with sufficient intelligence too. This is because of the fact that he has gained a lot of knowledge by making mistakes and thereby gained intelligence too in the process since he might have gained knowledge even by not making the same mistakes. It is important to note that wisdom cannot be taught where as intelligence is gained when something is taught.