Ultimate Paradox of Thought

Prv. 4:3-4,5

“This, then, is the the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot think.״

Søren Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments

How do we wise up? Every cultural tradition explores ways of being wise, and wiser, and strategies for smarts. Whatever we are born with - education is one of the ways wisdom takes hold, and there are many stakeholders in this human project. In many cultural contexts this duty falls on the parents or the elders - not just on the professional educators. And in many cultures this sacred duty depended on simple, short and juicy teachings that could be transmitted from one generation to the next, often orgally, and often with little or no formal education. That’s how formulations like the paradox came to be known and popular in the ancient world - from Greece to Egypt, to the Book of Proverbs and the philosophical musings of Kierkegaard and others. 

There is extensive evidence that at least part of Proverbs was inspired by Egyptian wisdom literature in which it’s often the advice of fathers that is directly imparted to their sons: 

“Do not let your heart grow proud because of your wisdom; true wisdom is hidden, more precious than fine jewels.” 

This Egyptian advise is echoed in today’s chapter, in which the author - perhaps King Solomon, recalls the education he received from his father - perhaps King David: 

כִּֽי־בֵ֭ן הָיִ֣יתִי לְאָבִ֑י רַ֥ךְ וְ֝יָחִ֗יד לִפְנֵ֥י אִמִּֽי׃ וַיֹּרֵ֗נִי וַיֹּ֥אמֶר לִ֗י יִֽתְמׇךְ־דְּבָרַ֥י לִבֶּ֑ךָ שְׁמֹ֖ר מִצְוֺתַ֣י וֶחְיֵֽה׃ רֵאשִׁ֣ית חׇ֭כְמָה קְנֵ֣ה חׇכְמָ֑ה וּבְכׇל־קִ֝נְיָנְךָ֗ קְנֵ֣ה בִינָֽה׃

Once I was a son to my father,

The tender darling of my mother.

He instructed me and said to me,

“Let your mind hold on to my words;

Keep my commandments and you will live.

The beginning of wisdom is—acquire wisdom;

With all your acquisitions, acquire discernment.

Prv. 4:3-4,5

There is a tenderness to these words, the recall of being a beloved child taken care of by one’s parents, and receiving valuable teachings for life. What wise words and valuable teachings did we each receive from our parents and elders? What will we hand over in turn?

This is the key question of this book.

And there’s also a hint of a paradox here - perhaps as part of what wisdom and life lessons are all about. 

If the beginning of wisdom is to acquire wisdom - what comes first? In this nod to the nature/nurture debate, this teaching seems to indicate that it’s on each of us to go out of our way to wise up, and to invest in intelligence, education and deeper understanding of the way the world works. And yet it does begin with what one’s parents hands down. 

There are also two subtleties of knowledge here -- Chochma, often translated as “wisdom”, and Bina, translated here as “discernment.”

These terms will become important in the mystical vocabulary and we’ll get to that eventually. But for the Talmudic readers of these verses, the two qualities are complementary and build upon each other: 

“The one who has wisdom but no discernment is like one who has a slice of bread but nothing to put on it. And the one who has discernment but no wisdom is like one who has a plate full of cooked food but no bread or instruments to eat it with. But the one who has both wisdom and discernment is like one who has both the bread and the cooked food and is satisfied.”

 What is it that we each want to know, discern, discover? What did our parents give us and what will we hand over to the next generations? This relay race, sometimes paradoxical and quite complex, calls on us to pay attention to the subtle ways with which we handle education, and how we prioritize curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge - one paradox and proverb at a time. 

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