Is moderation actually a sign of wisdom?

Paul Campbell3 said:I’m not talking about that specific kind of spending.😉

Neither am I.

hollowviper72 said:Of course you shouldn't be obsessed with money. But I suppose a healthy amount of planning is usually necessary if you actually want to get anything done. Then again, all our plans are basically just houses of cards... so it’s vital we don't build them too high or lean on them too hard. We end up right back at the middle ground. 😉

Has that experience actually made you wise? 😁 Only you can say for sure.

It isn't really about planning, though. It's about setting priorities. Just like everything else in life, I guess. Simply put—I care way more about getting to the coast to relax than I do about having every single cent meticulously accounted for all summer just in case things go sideways.
It's the exact same thing when it comes to shoes. If I buy the pair I want right now, and it makes me happy because they're the only ones I truly love (Paul Campbell3—it's not like I buy shoes every time I feel like it), then regardless of the price tag, I'm buying them. Sure, I'll have less cash left over, but honestly? Who cares?

Well, uh... setting priorities is pretty much an essential part of any solid planning process. 🙂 For instance, I’ve always dreamed of taking a trip to see Beijing. Now, that requires some serious cash—money that isn't exactly easy to come by since I don't have a steady nine-to-five job right now. I might also want to pick up a new video game I've been eyeing, or maybe upgrade my phone, or whatever else pops up. But if my goal is to actually get to Beijing in a reasonable timeframe, then I have to make some sacrifices. That's really what I'm getting at—we can't just blow through our funds every time we feel a sudden impulse to spend. I think you'll find yourself agreeing with me on that one.

As for the specifics, if I happen to have $1000, I’d set aside $2,000 for a vacation and tuck away another thousand just for emergencies. To me, $2,000 is more than enough for two weeks of a really nice getaway (last time, even $1,000 was plenty and I actually had some left over!), and even if I end up spending the whole chunk, I still have that extra thousand sitting there for everything else that has nothing to do with travel.

Indulgence is like fine wine. Enough will make you feel pleasant, but too much will just leave you drunk. It’s just wise to strike a balance between what we want and what we actually need. 🙂

Half the time, what we crave isn't actually what we need—and what we need definitely isn't always what we want.😁

But how the hell are you supposed to figure that out without pushing things to the absolute extreme?

Real wisdom comes from living through that mess and learning the hard way.

So, maybe wisdom isn't about playing it safe or being moderate; it’s about having the guts to tell the difference between a whim and a necessity for yourself.

Because what I absolutely need might look like total overkill to someone else, and vice versa.

Here’s how I look at things:
If there’s something I want, I’ll figure out a way to make it happen—whether it’s a specific person or whatever else 😁. I suppose I believe modesty is a virtue. Not that I mean being too humble to ever visit Beijing, since that takes a hell of a lot of hard-earned cash, but more that I’ll go to Beijing and have the time of my life without feeling the need to sit at a cafe on Broadway with every single one of my buddies every single day.
The best things in life really are free!

Paul Campbell3 said:because what’s absolutely essential to me might be totally excessive for someone else (and vice versa).

I have my doubts, honestly. I don't really see the point of something like a dishwasher 😕. Sure, I get that a washing machine makes life easier by saving you some time, but in an average American household, I guess every person can manage to wash their own plates after lunch.

velvetpilot212 said:Here’s my general philosophy:
if I want something, I’ll find a way to make it happen—whether it’s a specific gadget or... well, you know what I mean 😁. I truly believe there's value in being modest. Now, I don't mean modesty in the sense of "I'll never visit Beijing because it costs too much hard-earned cash"—far from it! I'd go to Beijing in a heartbeat and have the time of my life. I just mean I won't be spending every single afternoon grabbing lattes with every buddy I have on a street corner in New York City.
The best things in life are free!

👍 Well, yeah, I'm with you there. Especially on that last point.

Paul Campbell3, I wanted to jump in quickly and say that moderation isn't actually the definition of wisdom; rather, true wisdom is what leads to moderation. I'm making that distinction because we stumbled over that bit of causality once before. 😉

But how can we ever really know? Maybe we actually *do* have to stick our hands in the fire sometimes—though I still maintain that shouldn't be a universal rule. For instance, if I hadn't been so reckless with my money when I was a kid, I probably wouldn't be nearly as careful with it today. Or maybe I would have been anyway. Either way, nobody is born wise. Experience is everything in this regard. The only real question is—whose experience are we talking about? Our own, or someone else's? 🙂

Just my experience.
I’m calling people out.😁
If I can say something, I will—that's just how I am.😎

hollowviper72 said:Experience matters immensely in all of this. The real question is—whose experience? Ours, or someone else's? 🙂

I mean, I’ve never actually caused a scene over money. Ugh, honestly, I guess I was just born this way. 🥳

While there’s certainly wisdom in learning from the mistakes of others—and believe me, I try—there’s really no point in being afraid of making our own. At the end of the day, we can't exactly stop ourselves from tripping up; most of the time, we don't even realize we've messed up until the consequences actually hit us right in the face.

velvetpilot212 said:I’ve honestly never caused a massive mess when it comes to money. Oh well—I guess I was just born this way. 🥳

Yeah, you're clearly perfect. 😁 As for me, I definitely made a huge mess of my finances once... but I think I'll keep the details to myself so I don't embarrass myself too much. My only real excuse is that I was just a kid at the time. 😛

hollowviper72 said:Sure, learning from other people's screw-ups is smart, but you can't be afraid of making your own. At the end of the day, we can't stop ourselves from tripping up—mostly because you don't even realize you messed up until the damage is already done.

Personally, I don't think there’s such a thing as a mistake.
Just necessary lessons.😁

It's wise to listen to what others have been through, but can you actually gain wisdom just by listening to their stories?
To me, that sounds like more empty "wisdom" fluff.
Look, if wisdom comes from experience, then our own experiences are the only things that actually count.
Everything else is just talk.
Other people made their own "mistakes" by repeating exactly what happened to them. I highly doubt anyone gets truly wise just by eavesdropping on someone else's failures. 😁

Paul Campbell3 said:But can you actually gain wisdom just by listening to other people's stories?

I guess not through listening alone. I mean, true wisdom comes from observing what people actually do—watching their actions and really chewing on the causes and effects behind everything they set in motion.

velvetpilot212 said:It’s not about listening—it’s about watching what everyone else is actually doing and trying to wrap your head around the cause and effect behind their actions.

But that assumes we actually have control over our own moves and can somehow predict the fallout ahead of time.
I don't buy it. We aren't even the ones pulling the strings here.
And honestly? Watching other people and overanalyzing their mess isn't going to get us anywhere.
Because our own actions aren't ever going to produce the same results twice.
The only thing worth observing or dissecting is what we're doing right this second.
Maybe true wisdom is just realizing that whatever happens, it was bound to happen.😁

Perhaps. But I find myself nodding along with what velvetpilot212 is saying here—there are simply certain truths we can't reach entirely on our own. Without others to act as a compass and light the way, we’re basically just stumbling around in the dark. That is the true strength of being human, isn't it? The ability to build upon the foundations laid by those who came before us. Knowledge is the mother of wisdom, after all.
And even if we manage to learn from someone else's blunders, we still have to carry the weight of their actions and the consequences they faced when we eventually find ourselves in a *similar* bind. We’ll do what we must at that moment—but that doesn't change the fact that learning from the mistakes of others was just as necessary for us to get there. 🙂

And it’s not like we’re necessarily going to follow in someone else's footsteps.
I mean, Paul Campbell3, do you honestly believe humanity would have even reached this level of development if every single person had to learn everything strictly through their own firsthand experience?
I have this theory—maybe it's just me—that experiences are somehow encoded in our genes, almost like a form of dark matter, but I guess that’s a whole different conversation.

velvetpilot212 said:Seriously, Paul Campbell3, do you honestly think we’d even be standing where we are today if every single person had to learn everything through trial and error?
I mean, I like to think our experiences are hardwired into our DNA like some kind of dark matter, but that’s a whole different rabbit hole.

And what "level of development" are we actually talking about here?🙄 😁

If we're talking about actual wisdom, humanity has never been more clueless or numb than it is right now.😁

Paul Campbell3 said:If we're judging by any standard of wisdom, I guess humanity has never been this mindless or completely checked out before.😁

Do you happen to be acquainted with some other civilization or something? 😕

The media serves up this completely distorted version of reality—they’re just obsessed with chasing sensationalism at any cost. Believe me, back in the Middle Ages, humanity was far more oblivious and, frankly, much less enlightened than we are today. As a species, we can see further and grasp significantly more than we ever have before.
Sheep will always be sheep, I suppose. We shouldn't try to measure the true potential of an individual by looking at the behavior of the masses.

Look, this thread was meant for something else entirely. But clearly, you guys and I aren't even living on the same planet.😁
There hasn't been this much depression, this level of aimlessness, or this total lack of basic common sense—this "collective delusion"—since the Dark Ages.

The mainstream media is feeding everyone a completely different story.

Are you seriously trying to measure human progress just by looking at "advancements" in science and technology? Is that really your metric?