THAT RED STUFF

KNOWLEDGE IS KNOWING A TOMATO IS A FRUIT . . . WISDOM IS NOT PUTTING IT IN A FRUIT SALAD.

What’s so funny about this? I’m kind of taking a chance, using a well-known actor’s photo for this joke. By the time you hear or read this, I might have had to take it down, but let’s see what happens. I’m not demeaning Charlie Sheen in any way; it’s just that he has the perfect facial attitude for this joke. Enough about that. This joke contrasts two similar terms, knowledge and wisdom. They are easy to confuse and many people do. I’m sure this occurs in many if not most languages. There are many kinds of knowledge, which can be defined as what you know. There is book knowledge, or more recently media knowledge. Then there’s the stuff you learn in the “School of hard knocks” or life’s experiences. But wisdom is what you do with knowledge, how you put it to use, for good or for evil, perhaps. Aikido and other martial arts are good examples. They teach you a set of physical skills. That’s knowledg