Let's say a person is extremely ill. The person goes to a medical doctor to find out what's wrong. Beware if the medical doctor calls you into the office, stares briefly at you and then says "You've got liver cancer and will die within a year. There is nothing you can do!". What would your response be? "I want a second opinion!" Why? The good doctor's opinion was not based on facts!
The doctor failed to learn more about you, he failed to examine the symptoms and he failed to run tests. He is a charlatan! It may be that he "guessed" right, but the odds are tremendous against that. His opinion would therefore be a "guess" and his prognosis would be misconceived. Misconceptions can do great harm because people who have opinions without what I call a "portfolio", can do great harm!
If the patient digs more deeply, it may be that the doctor may not have had the education he needed, had little prior experience, was immature in thinking that he didn't need qualifications or he was just too lazy to learn more. "Shooting from the hip" so to speak was an impressive maneuver, but merely that!
Even when we go to a doctor, we expect that doctor to have all the education necessary to be a doctor, graduate near the top of the class, have the appropriate credentials to doctor what he specializes in, has diagnostic tests and knows how to interpret them and has successful prognosis in treating the sicknesses before. These things are his portfolio. It's the documentation which demonstrate his credentials. We first look for diplomas on his wall and what the diploma was for! Others have said "He is a good doctor!" All these things and many more show that the good doctor is qualified to diagnose and treat. Otherwise, he should just stay out of it!
Many doctors are smart enough to know that they haven't the background to diagnose and treat whatever malady to which he is confronted. That wise doctor doesn't have the knowledge to provide an opinion and sends the patient on to a specialist who is qualified. That doesn't mean the doctor is stupid. It means he's smart. Smart people know when to express an opinion and when to keep quiet. That is the exercise of wisdom.
Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain both get credit for saying:
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."God said it this way:
Proverbs 17:28 "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding."In other words "People who speak without credentials are foolish." or "Wise people remain silent when the discourse is beyond their credentials!" Ignorant people, and not ignorance in terms of IQ, but on the subject matter, should remain quiet. Their opinion is non-value added and any advice forthcoming is misconceived!
I have been honest with my credentials. I do not have a doctorate. I can't offer complex scientific advise except in my field. When I find myself speaking "out of place" I apologize to the person. I too sometimes get puffed up in my own perceived insight. I have an opinion about everything, and most of them are misconceived. When things shift from my portfolio and credentials, I endeavor to remain silent. As Twain implied, "If I open my mouth about things of which I have little knowledge, I am in danger of revealing my ignorance." It's simpler to take the position "This is out of my area of expertise!" and refer to another as a good doctor would do!
Charlatans base beliefs on little knowledge. Somehow they have this perception that because they're smart, the facts and background have little significance. Before they administer advice, they fail to ask probing questions on which to base opinions. These people of opinion shout from the rooftops wrong advice and shove the verbal victims over the edge. Then they don't even linger around to clean up their mess. They move on to the next misconceived notion and start another fire.
With that said, my own commentary are opinions. I base my beliefs on supreme wisdom, but what is commentary must be contextural, inspired, understood, be truthful and I must have the background to expound upon what is opinion. Part of my credentials are my intelligence, or ability to comprehend; formal education, experience, wisdom to apply all those, and the ability to formulate systematically all the inputs to reach conclusions. Since most of my commentaries are political or religious, the logical conclusion is that part of my credentials are being a "born-again" Christian, read and study my Bible, explore various biblical doctrines, understand the nature of God, and have an understanding of political ideologies, government, and human nature.
When I was young, I had vast opinions, but said little. I was a wall-flower and merely hovered around the periphery. When I did say things, I was often wrong, so out of embarrassment for showing my foolishness (see Twain), I kept my opinions to myself! I was young, ignorant and inexperienced, but I was wise! I had the wisdom to know my limitations! However, I didn't want to remain in ignorance all my life. I sought improvement!
Believe it or not, the farm provided much wisdom! Those who farm gain experience in life, make tough educated decisions, and learn from others. My practical knowledge came from old time farmers like Dad, Thaddeus Bridges, Leon Buis, Tom McCammack and many others. I credit them to teach me what's practical. Since I was around six years hold I started doing farm work. Work was the norm and fun didn't seem to be part of my life. "Fun" is not my forte'.
After my farm years I moved on to working at a gas station where I taught myself to overhaul car engines. Jim Bumgardner, my mentor, gave me a system for fixing things:
- Know that you're can do this by studying (I studied the manuals).
- Don't break anything.
- Watch how it's disassembled and keep parts in some order. (Have a system).
- Clean everything thoroughly.
- Don't reuse worn or broken parts.
- Reassemble in reverse order.
- Use the right tools.
- Adjust to factory specifications.
- Take time to do it all right.
- Test before moving on.
- Don't take poor performance as success.
Just look at these steps to fixing a car! Many of them pertain to anything which you'll run across. Doctor's use their version of this! Practical knowledge is what's required to do anything! If a person has done few things with their life, their knowledge may be mere education. Education is important, but wisdom is the application of that knowledge.
Secondly, I loved to learn! I graduated just shy of double credits, filling all my school hours with learning. I majored in six curricula and worked in addition to school. I enjoyed learning and endeavored to do it well. I made the National Honor Society my freshman year (at least A- required). I belonged to various technical clubs and even the History Club, and was a young Republican, not because I was indoctrinated, but because I widely read! My record was six biographies of presidents (high school level) when I was in the fourth grade IN ONE ALL NIGHTER! I read the biographies of all the presidents and of people from Babe Ruth to Andrew Carnegie. I hated ignorance and as my ignorance subsided my opinions became more founded.
Then I majored in Mechanical Engineering in college and finished half my masters in engineering, realizing that at a factory, that had little use, I changed to the field of psychology, then Family Counseling and then education. I worked throughout all my education years and graduated from all without owing anyone and without borrowing from anyone.
What is more important, is that I've studied history, politics and theology on my own from fourth grade until now. I have 56 years of learning experience, and most of what a person learns is outside the classroom! All this study doesn't make me smart, but thanks to God I was born a 1% (in IQ only). Until now I have only shared this was three people. I never even mentioned it to my Dad. It's a blessing, not an achievement and I credit God for my mental health and never take it for granted! My IQ did help! We can learn things, but we must have gray matter on which to process what we take in. God did that for me!
Although I am like Paul and do things I don't want to do, God gave me other things to supplement my portfolio. He gave me a conscience and the will to do something about it. He gave me the gift of "discernment" and that's a gift one should never take lightly. It's the insight to know what is right and wrong in our lives and select the best, or more Godly, path.
God gave me insight into scripture, his word.
Proverbs 23:23 "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."
Hebrews 5:14 "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."These two passages are wisdom in action. Truth is imperative and we are to use our reason to discern good and evil. Truth is from scripture and discernment is the application of that truth. I've read the Bible many times in different orders. I've studied God's word for about 40 years. I've written commentary for many years now. With age and wisdom, coupled with education and practice, my portfolio has grown. God has inspired me often. However, most of the time, I keep my mouth shut on things of which I'm ignorant and if I recognize my ignorance, for it disguises itself, I seek to gain knowledge so that next time I can have a valid opinion. I just want to know and wish I had the capacity to know more.
My fields of ignorance are many: sports, music, art, languages, economics, and social graces. There are too many more to mention, but on those subjects, I keep quiet so as to not appear a fool!
I'm proud of my accomplishments and hesitate to mention them. However, my readers should know that I'm not a doctor, I have limited knowledge, but I am inspired and my opinions expressed are based on things of which I have knowledge and experience. On a global scale my opinion is as valuable as those with similar portfolio, but there are millions to whom I feel meekness. However, the opinions of the meek are as important as the powerful. It's just that few people value what the meek have to say!
I merely add, "Thank you Lord for any seeds that I may plant, but forgive me for any wrong opinions I may propagate."
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