Conventional Wisdom

The Oxymoron of the Century

I see this particular phrase all over the place and it strikes me as being a particularly meaningless combination of words. Most of the time when it is used, the phrase "Common Knowledge" would be more correct. The word "Wisdom" refers to some knowledge or idea that is not well known and is passed to the rest of us by individuals we generally agree are wise people. Let me make that a little clearer. A "Wise" person is not necessarily well educated but is likely to be intellegent and curious; a thinker, one who frequently breaks barriers that the rest of us consider unbreakable. The fact of the matter is that almost anyone who has that drive to ask questions could easily come to be considered wise. There is also a tradition that wisdom and truth are somehow linked, though that is not always the case.

Some may consider that those involved in research of almost any kind are in the process of searching for wisdom. There again, I disagree. Research of whatever kind is the hunt for facts. The wisdom of research comes from what we do with those facts once they are found and proven.
One of the causes of the financial crisis we are experiencing today was the "conventional wisdom" that said giving tax breaks and other goodies to large corporations and rich people would pump money into the pockets of the nation. It didn't work! So was it wise? Obviously not! Our government in Canada did the same thing as did most of the rest of the world, which is a big part of the reason the crisis became global.

So what should we do about this term "conventional wisdom"? My preference is we ignore it in others and stop using it ourselves. We could replace it with things like "the experts say" or "It is generally agreed" or similar phrases. Anything including the word "wisdom" should be reserved for those ideas or actions that have been proven to work out well.

I will never forget something my Grandfather told me many years ago. He said, "Never forget that true wisdom often comes from the most unlkely sources and is lost on those who are not listening".