How wise are you?

From a US newswire story:

When asked to define wisdom, Socrates just shrugged. He said he couldn't find it, whatever it was, either in himself or in any of his fellow citizens.

The news from Monika Ardelt is more encouraging. Yes, she reports, wisdom is rare. No, it is not extinct. If you know where to look, you can catch glimpses of it, darting in and out of its usual habitat.

Most scholars seek wisdom in folklore, ancient texts and the spiritual visionaries of the ages: Siddhartha, Confucius, Lao Tsu, Buddha, Abraham, Muhammad, Jesus Christ.

Ardelt, a 47-year-old University of Florida sociologist, bypasses the usual suspects, searching instead among ordinary souls.

She finds wisdom in a 77-year-old retired school administrator who learned, over his lifetime, to see problems as games, meant to be played out rather than feared.

``I've never allowed any outside force to take possession of my being,'' he says.

She finds wisdom in an 85-year-old homemaker who lived by the creed: ``Do whatever has to be done, whether you want to do it or not.''

...

Most dramatically, while wise individuals rarely complained and talked often and with obvious delight about the welfare of those they loved during interviews, their low-scoring counterparts much preferred to discuss themselves and their own never-ending catalog of complaints.

Self-absorption, and the unhappiness that comes with it, has become a recurring theme in Ardelt's observations.

``It's striking to me just how harmful self-centredness is to the individual,'' she says.