Continuing from the last article – https://insightsandexperiences.com/how-to-benefit-from-philosophy/
What I have learned is this – The society we live in and civilization as it exists now may have its flaws (and it definitely does) but it has survived for many thousands of years. These practices work for humanity. And a system that has survived for so long must have great inherent strengths and we must learn from them.
Conventional wisdom is conventional for a reason. The people who have run society over the past centuries may have behaved like idiots for part of the time but overall – most of the time – they had good sound reasons for doing all that they did. The same applies to the ordinary folk who make up the human race. They have survived and there are good sound reasons for their having done so. There are sound reasons why conventional wisdom is accepted by society. It has worked to keep mankind together and preserve society and civilization.
I remember Geoffrey Boycott – the retired cricketer and commentator – praise orthodoxy in bowling and especially batting. Boycott knew from personal experience that an orthodox batsman with a good technique is more likely to score runs in a long career as compared to the flamboyant geniuses. So before you try to be a genius and exercise your creativity, learn the conventional skills and imbibe the wisdom of the day. That is the low hanging fruit compared to following the road less travelled.
How to gain Conventional Wisdom
The way to learn conventional wisdom is two-fold. First learn from your elders and people who have experience and secondly be selective in your choice of books to read. Read the classics of whatever field of study you are interested in.
I’ll start with learning from your elders. This is important firstly to show respect for people whom you depend on or for the people who have raised you. Secondly the elders can give you advice tailored for your situation. There is a difference between reading a medical textbook when you are ill and visiting a doctor. The doctor will give you advice that is suited to you and your complaint. Whereas the books you read will not have been written specifically for your situation and will most of the time be general advice that applies to many people.
Also, if you read something in a book and you don’t understand the concept you cannot ask the book to explain in further detail. Whereas with the elders who are giving you one on one instruction you can raise your doubts with them and they should be able to address the situation be explaining further.
Thirdly you learn by doing. The elders will be supervising your activities and demonstrating how to do what they are telling you to do. They will be able to correct your mistakes and make specific points through which you can improve.
Do not underestimate the value of the guidance that you can get. There is a reason why people are apprenticed to experts when you are learning a trade. If you want to become a Chartered Accountant for example you need to spend a certain number of years as an articled clerk with a qualified CA who will give you tasks related to Accounting and Auditing (or Tax and so on). He will demonstrate how the work is done and then let you loose to exercise your own intelligence. He will also be able to correct your mistakes. This is the traditional way to learn a skill or a trade and it has worked for centuries.
The second way to learn conventional wisdom is to read the classics and generally speaking be wise and selective in your choice of books. You may be interested in self help books, novels and bestsellers. But according to the English philosopher Francis Bacon: Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention.
Learn to distinguish between the books that are to be chewed and swallowed and your other reading. And for most part those books will be the classics.
And while I am on the subject of classics, I cannot recommend The Essays by Francis Bacon too highly. I read the book because Will Durant praised it in The Story of Philosophy which is another classic that deserves to be read repeatedly. I think possibly both books are in the Public Domain which means that you can download them for free online. But I would recommend that you buy both books and preferably the print version. You will need to study and imbibe the mind of the masters. It is not just that you will gain some lessons or concepts that will be useful to you in your life. You will change as a person if you read these books repeatedly. Your nature will change and you will become a better person.
Just go to https://en.wikisource.org/ and do a search for Francis Bacon or Will Durant to obtain copies of both books online.
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