Knowledge vs. Wisdom

He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.
(J.R.R. Tolkien)

Humans have an insatiable quest for knowledge. We use it to create a more profitable life. Science is funded by businesses and government. Government determines what science it will fund based on what research will create the most benefit to the nation. Most of the time that benefit is measured in jobs. We are a knowledgeable nation. But we are not wise. Native Americans were wise. They left the world untouched and recognized that they were part of something larger. They lived within the larger system. We try to remove ourselves from the system. We gain more insight into the system so that we can control and mimic it. When we learn to control and mimic the system, we learn to profit from it. Salmon farming.

We think we are wise. I think we are knowledgeable. We are on borrowed time. Someday the human species will collapse and start over again. If we are lucky. Homo Sapiens have been around for 250,000 years. Modern Civilization has existed for 6,000 years.

I think civilizations rose and fell before. The pyramids are from an older civilization from before the ice age. It was a demonstration of their knowledge. They are too perfect for a civilization that just learned how to farm.