Back again for another week –
Kellen: Myka and I were chatting and we want to encourage any feedback, reactions, or disagreements. Whether in a comment, responding to an email, or a quick phone call or text. This is meant to be an active, alive, and on-going dialogue despite all our different timelines.
We hope to feature one response from the week and engage with it in the following post. It will be anonymous, unless someone is craving attention and wants their exhibitionist desires to be met.
This week we feature a response from SK:
“Bro idk if anything in my life was actually earned 🤔, maybe surfing and soccer are two things I can remember putting in a lot of effort to improve and that is why I consider them to be a sacred part of my world.”
Kellen: SK’s response brings up the concept of what is sacred to us, perhaps a word that even surpasses that of value. What we hold close to us is what we put into it, rather than what we receive from it. Reflecting on what has been earned and unearned acts as a barometer to inform us about what in our lives we have invested in.
Perhaps put our soul into.
Myka: I don’t know if I agree with the sacred surpassing value. I interpret the sacred as a higher level that still falls under the context of value. Sacred-ness is just nearing the peak of maximal value.
What’s a rock → compared to a diamond → compared to a family heirloom diamond?
In my mind, the sacred refers to a certain density of value, in which, the inherent true value is highly disproportionate to its perceived value.
Soccer and surfing are apparently both sports. Upon closer inspection, they are activities that represent pinnacles of the human experience. Soccer is a global sport that transcends language barriers. Surfing is a ancient cultural phenomenon that is a powerful example of Hawaii’s significant contributions to the entire world.
In any past time, there are people who say things like, “life is a lot like a game of soccer” or “life is like finding the perfect wave.” With things that near the sacred level of experience, there is such an abundance of value that any activity inside those domains can level you up outside those domains.
The value you earn by partaking in the sacred, is yours to keep.
Kellen: Thank you for sending your response, SK! More for us to contemplate.
Today’s Lineup:
Side A - Unearned Wisdom of Online Reviews
Side B - A Visual Breakdown of Wisdom
Side C - Wisdom in Review
Experiments for Earning Wisdom
Unearned Wisdom of Reviews
Kellen: Online reviews are one of my favorite examples of unearned wisdom. They are a proxy visit that imitates an actual experience - an illusion of experience.
In desperation for preserving time and maximizing efficiency, we attempt to capitalize on these pseudo-experiences because they give us sensations of knowing something without actually going through it.
For example, take “Bob from Honolulu” and his Yelp review of my favorite Japanese spot “Sanoya Ramen.”
Bob gave a 2-Star Review expressing his distaste for the inauthentic flavor compared to ones in Japan. I do not doubt Sanoya has earned some low reviews. Their service may take variably long at times, and yes, the food may not be replications of the traditional quality of a Tokyo-run restaurant.
What Bob missed was the charm of the 2-person run enterprise that sustains itself late into the early morning, long after Honolulu streets have become quiet. He did not mention the quality and consistency of their dashi base that punches way above its weight class. The atmosphere that allows you and whoever you are with to look each other in the eyes, and connect over the brail grooved plastic cups filled with ice cold water. And the feeling that you are actually the only customers there.
Sadly, Sanoya is now closed, but the point is, if I only used Bob’s review before going, I may not have ever found this place.
It was my parents who first took me here. I was the one that found my “Today’s Special” chicken katsu and udon set, which I ordered almost every time. The “Today’s Special” never changed in the over 10 years I went there.
Bob from Honolulu’s 2-Star review gets equal weight amongst all the other diners.
How is this objective in measuring the value of a place?
A Visual Breakdown of Wisdom
Myka: What is Wisdom?
Currently, my idea of it is something like this:
Reality exists.
Data is a specific Reality.
Information is a perception of Data.
Knowledge is interpreted Information.
Wisdom is utilized Knowledge.
To me, wisdom is like an interconnected assimilation of perception of reality.
That’s kind of convoluted, so to help out, I just made some graphics →
Wisdom in Review
Myka: Wisdom is one’s personal network of knowledge that represents an exponential amount of data, which is still just a fraction of reality.
Reality is something that is maximally objective. It exists. And then, as we experience it, view it, interpret it (or not), we create connections between seemingly disparate points of data. And with those connections, we build a useful framework for ourselves.
All things considered, because of this interconnectedness, someone else’s wisdom could be useful to you.
However, it is very important to realize that every point of connection that created that network adds a bit of subjectivity. Your experience with your own eyes, might differ slightly than someone else’s eyes, but would differ immensely from someone without eyes at all.
To go back to Kellen’s story with our pal, Bob.
Bob’s experiences in Tokyo has given him the perception of what he believes is a ramen-standard. His wisdom is built on top of his knowledge of ramen, which came from the restaurants he tried, which are probably just dots across all of Tokyo. In each restaurant, there is probably a variability for who was there, who was cooking, how Bob felt that day, etc.
(a bowl of pho is great, but a bowl of pho after a night of drinking is life-saving. The bowl doesn’t change, the eater does)
Could Bob’s review be useful for other Ramen Snobs Bobs? - Sure.
Is Bob’s review taking into account the sacred level of value that comes from a family’s favorited frequent restaurant? - Of course, not.
Is this a plea for only living be first person experience? Not at all. The power, beauty, and value of wisdom, both earned and unearned, is that it can inform.
Kellen: The key to unearned wisdom is considering whether the information has been vastly oversimplified. In our fast paced world, it is safe to bet that it has been reduced.
There is a cost in attempting to experience everything directly and never taking anyone else’s word. That is on the other extreme of foolishness. The focus here is when it comes to unearned wisdom, we are unconsciously exposing ourselves to pseudo-experiences that will cost us down the line.
Experiment / Application
Kellen: I have obsessed over reviews from dentists to restaurants and I have found that it to only quells my anxiety about uncertainty momentarily.
There is something special about stumbling on a place and trying it out, with no expectations and no prior input other than your own experience.
I guarantee that you will remember this more than a place that you looked at a review for and then went to.
Instead of looking online at a review the next time you want to eat out, go somewhere where you can wander. See what appeals to you – is it the store front? The type of food? The weather influencing what you want to eat? Go inside and talk to someone there, what do they recommend? What is their specialty? If it doesn’t appeal to you, leave and tell them thank you for their time.
You could also leave all this out and just go with your gut sense and order on a whim, and if you are disappointed, think of it as a trade for some earned wisdom.
Learn your lesson the real way.
I once knew a guy who knew tons of random facts/stories that he learned from Reddit. That was his entire personality essentially and he was freaking annoying to me. But I never dove deep into why it annoyed me, I just know it did. Your description of unearned wisdom reminded me of this guy. Your article describes the effects of unearned wisdom on yourself, but what about the effects of unearned wisdom on others?
Wisdom is perceived as power. To that end, people may attempt to gain wisdom the quickest and easiest way, albeit unearned.