Is moderation actually a sign of wisdom?

Look, Alexander, I’m really not about to try and "get to the point" when I haven't even had the chance to properly digest what everyone else has been saying. How can you expect to actually connect with someone if you aren't even listening to their side of the story first?

Sapienti sat, truly. She latched onto a single word and suddenly thinks she’s finished the entire novel. 🙄

As for me—I actually make an effort to listen to others; or, at the very least, I try my hardest to read and truly grasp what people are attempting to communicate. I’ll be the first to admit I don't always get it right, nor am I perfect at interpreting everyone's intentions. But honestly, this entire debate feels a bit circular—the fundamental premise was simply that moderation is born from wisdom, which is an undeniable fact. There was never any need to "twist my philosophy," because there wasn't much there to twist in the first place! If you had actually followed the thread of the discussion, it would have been obvious. In fact, your comment about agreeing with Dog just means you actually agree with me too, since the back-and-forth between Dog and me was basically just one long game of telephone. So, there's "the point." If I didn't know better, I'd say you just showed up as Raven's version of "reinforcement." 😉

Thanks for understanding, Alexander... that really does mean a lot to me. 😘

Mr. Pes said:Well, I actually made my point a long time ago! Why didn't you just agree with me right away instead of letting me rant through five whole pages? 😁

Or maybe you’re just as good at listening to me as I am to you? 😂

Looks like we might need to work on our communication skills... 😛

Well... err... hmmm... 😁

To be honest, you seemed to be having such a blast that I just couldn't bring myself to interrupt. Yeah. That was... well, it was out of... out of... hm... out of pure empathy! Yes, total empathy for all living beings!

😉

Baphomet said:The number 220 represents the total lines found within
The Book of Law , that tantric-magical text penned by the Prophet of the New Aeon (which, for the uninitiated, is Aleister Crowley). It was composed in Cairo back in 1904, supposedly dictated by an intelligence known as Aiwass.

The letter V stands for Typhon, Set, Satan, the Devil's hoof...

Alternating current is the brainchild of Nikola Tesla. Through gematria, TESLA transforms into AL-SET; where AL equals God, and Liber AL refers to The Book of Law, while SET is that ancient Egyptian deity one could debate about indefinitely. NIKO LA—well, I guess it's just a blatant allusion to "nobody," to nothingness... "nothing is where I am" (that's a quote from The Book of Law describing God, and so on), LA=AL... you get the idea. 😁

Hmmmm... I suppose it gets a bit terrifying when you read too many books. 😈

Hm, what does any of this have to do with moderation? Honestly, nothing... because in the quotes Gaudrath provides, I don't see any sense of moderation at all. Instead, it's just pure, concentrated action aimed at a single result, which seems totally incompatible with being moderate.

Since you're already on this roll, you might as well try to find a connection between any two random things on Earth just to leave us all feeling confused. Or maybe the whole point is to highlight one specific link, then laugh behind our backs while we struggle to make sense of it—because, frankly, what you wrote above doesn't actually matter for anything in this world, precisely because you can connect absolutely everything to everything else if you try hard enough.😁

A wise man stays calm right before he pulls the trigger.
Why?
Because he needs to really listen to that sudden spark of intuition.

But once he actually moves—can that action ever be "moderate"?

My own "unwise" impulse? I thought about hitting the beach this weekend—a totally reckless move considering my current bank balance.

But since I’m clearly lacking wisdom, I guess I won't realize how stupid that is until I've already committed to the "impulse." 😛

😁
😉

Later! I'm off to go hunt some snakes!
👋

mrkenangelo said:Since you’ve clearly decided to embark on this journey, why stop at one connection? You might as well map out every single link between every random object on this planet just to leave us all utterly bewildered. Or is that the actual point? Is the trick to highlight one singular thing, let us struggle and lose ourselves in the weeds of it, while you sit back and smirk because what you wrote above doesn't actually matter to anyone in the slightest—simply because, in a world where everything can be tenuously linked, nothing truly holds weight?😁

What I am attempting to convey is that truth often resides in the most unforeseen corners. When the mind is sufficiently saturated with a vast array of facts, it possesses the capacity to derive profound insights from even the most mundane sentences.😁

The big shots are just too clever for their own good to actually make a move... 😁

Ryan Wilson2 said:I just wanted to point out that truth tends to hide in the most unexpected places. I guess when a mind is saturated with enough facts, it can find all sorts of miracles hidden within ordinary, everyday sentences.😁

Exactly... I mean, isn't that basically what I was saying too?😁

velvetpilot212 said:That is... well, isn't that exactly what I just said? 😁

Precisely. 😁

Ryan Wilson2 said:Yeah. 😁

blah... 😁 (😂 )
and one more, just because I can— 🙂

Dragonfly, of course you can take a moderate approach. Look, you could head down to the coast for a getaway, but always keeping in mind that you’re stretching your household budget a bit—meaning you spend enough to actually enjoy yourself, but not so much that you end up behind bars later. Or, you could opt for the "ramen noodles and tap water" lifestyle for those couple of weeks... alternatively, you could hit the beach by putting a massive second mortgage on your house, blowing through cash like a maniac, bathing in milk, and hiring two personal assistants just to fan you with gold-plated palm leaves. 😉

But either way, have a good one! 👋

So, where’s the catch here? 🙄
In the first scenario, you’re just running the numbers. In the second, you just go all out and follow the menu if you're starving after hitting the beach. As for the third... honestly, that option is just too stupid to even consider. Plus, where would she even find the cash? And you know how people in places like Dallas can be... they aren't exactly looking to help out... 😁
I honestly think she’d just blow through everything she owns. She’ll live this "perfect" life by the ocean without giving a single thought to her bank account, and then, once she’s back home, reality hits. That’s when the struggle begins. If there's even enough left for groceries. 😁

I mean, that’s just standard behavior for women. They tend to think a man’s primary role during a shopping trip is just to be a glorified bag carrier—but in reality? A man is there to act as a buffer against the inevitable bankruptcy that would hit if they were actually allowed to run wild. 🙂

As for what constitutes a "good time"... well, I suppose that depends entirely on your definition. Personally, I don't need much, and I usually stick to places where it's hard to blow too much cash anyway—you just grab some groceries and you're done. 🙂 For me, the real joy is being by the ocean, which naturally involves dodging those maniacs on jet skis and the tourists who think that's peak entertainment (and while you're at it, they'll drain your wallet faster than a hungry mosquito—actually, scratch that, mosquitoes suck blood, but these people suck money even faster). 😁

My ex was absolutely clueless when it came to finances. She had a pretty decent salary, yet she’d go out and drop everything on a new iPhone for $667 or some other luxury indulgence, leaving her completely broke by the end of the month. It got to the point where she’d have to beg friends to lend her a few bucks just so she could afford bread and milk. I mean, sure, you *can* live like that, but the question is: would a sensible person actually choose to? 😉

I wouldn't call him wise just yet, but if he never actually goes through it, how is he ever going to get there? 😁
Most people gain their wisdom by surviving all the crap life throws at them first.
The guy who spends his whole life overthinking, weighing options, and running calculations... well, he’s basically already retired and won't have any time left to actually become wise. 😁

And let's not even get started on how a truly wise person doesn't even need a smartphone. 😁

Being wise isn't about someone who can't afford their expensive cravings because they're too pricey.
A wise person is the one who doesn't even want them in the first place. 😂

Maybe. Or maybe not. If that’s the case, then what exactly defines an enlightened person? 🙂

Look, do you *have* to stick your hand in a campfire just to realize it's hot? Maybe. But there’s a difference between being "street wise" and being "book-wise." A "street wise" person is someone who has been burned more than a few times and managed to squeeze some gritty, practical wisdom out of those scars. On the flip side, "book-wise" describes someone who learns through the experiences of others—history, literature, and all that. In my experience, it's incredibly rare to find someone who is strictly one or the other.

A truly wise person doesn't go overboard—and that applies to how they spend their money, too. It’s not that a wise person can't have a good time; it's just that they don't go looking for trouble or act completely reckless in the process.

So come on—honestly, have you ever *not* learned something from watching someone else's mistakes? 🙂

hollowviper72 said:Maybe. Or maybe not. If that isn't it... then what actually defines an enlightened person? 🙂

Just a lonely soul out here... 😁

So, I mean... do you really have to stick your hand directly into a flame just to figure out that it burns?...

Yeah. 😁 Maybe it isn't even about acquiring "knowledge," per se... it’s more like a sudden, sharp realization of what fire, a burn, or actual pain really means...

Come on now... honestly... what have you never learned from watching other people's mistakes? 🙂

Me???
I don't exactly claim to be some kind of sage... 😂
Thank God... 😁

Back in my younger days, I used to be so obsessed with that old saying... I’d actually get frustrated with myself because I wasn't learning from other people's mistakes fast enough. It was like I thought I had to experience everything firsthand just to understand it... such a waste of time, really...
In the meantime, I'm not holding any grudges...
So, based on everything I just laid out... that’s really the bottom line of why you ought to just go ahead and get burned... 😁
If I don't go sticking my own finger right into the flames... if I don't rely on you and everyone else to help me push through it... I could probably sit you down and give you this whole serious lecture on the fire itself—you know, all the causes and the fallout and everything... but even then, I still wouldn't truly grasp what it actually is... 😉
I don't even know if I'm getting my point across...
And obviously, that doesn't mean you have to go out and hunt down every little piece of junk or try to fix every single thing that breaks... It’s just that you shouldn't run for the hills when something unexpected pops up either. Even those things can actually hold some value if you look at them the right way... 😁

No, no, I totally get where you're coming from. It’s just that, in my view, you’re bound to get burned if you don't truly grasp the nature of the "fire" itself... You can lecture me all day about the physics of fire—the causes, the effects, the mechanics—but if you haven't internalized what fire actually *is*, you're going to get scorched sooner or later. There really isn't any way to outrun your own mistakes; in fact, if you spend all your energy trying to dodge them, you'll just end up tripping over new ones.

A lonely soul, clearly. 😁

It’s lonely up at the summit, sure, but that’s where you have to be if you want the view. 😉

She’s out there claiming you can't truly understand fire unless you actually stick your hand in it, whereas you’re arguing that you can... 😲 personally (haha), I don't think anyone needs to go sticking their hand in a flame just to learn a lesson; humans have this innate instinct that tells them exactly what's coming. As for the things we haven't instinctively mastered yet, I suppose they eventually become second nature over time, especially since knowledge is passed down through our environment, genetics, and through oral and written traditions...
If every single one of us had to physically burn ourselves just to realize that fire is hot, I honestly believe we wouldn't even have electricity by now, let alone satellite technology.

Jack Harris3, if I’m reading her correctly, she’s a total believer in that "street wise" doctrine—the idea that you can only truly gain wisdom through your own firsthand experiences.

Now, personally, while I certainly don't want to downplay the value of living through things yourself, I’ve always felt that wisdom can also be gathered via a more "book-wise" approach—essentially, by learning from the lived experiences of others.

In fact, if we really look at it, I think those two methods end up overlapping quite a bit in most situations.

hollowviper72 said:Jack Harris3, if I’m reading you right, you’re a total believer in the "street wise" doctrine—the idea that real wisdom only comes from getting your own hands dirty and living through it personally.

Personally, while I’m not discounting what you learn on the ground, I think there’s definitely a "book-wise" way to get there too... learning through the lived experiences of everyone else.

In fact, I’d go as far as saying those two paths cross more often than people realize.

It can't be just one or the other. That would be ridiculous... nobody has enough lifetimes to experience everything themselves, and nobody lives in a vacuum where they aren't shaped by the world around them.

Look, let's say I believe your own direct experience accounts for a veeeeeeeery large chunk of wisdom. 😁
And what we learn from others? Maybe a tiny, tiny bit... 😁

And I’m not saying that to dismiss yours, I truly just feel like the scales tip heavily toward what you go through firsthand.

Relying solely on one method is impossible. You can't collect every single life lesson yourself, and you certainly can't shield yourself from reality just by sitting around reading books.

So, it’s a mix of both yours and everyone else's... though your own path is going to lead you much further toward actual wisdom. 😁
Or maybe not... 😂

Personally, I’m much more inclined toward a balanced 50:50 split.

Surprised? 😛