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Originally Posted by Eric Roosevelt  Yes, but unfortunately we don't become wise just because we realize how little we know. If only it were that simple... |
It is that simple. When you realize how little you know, you realize that you have a lot more to learn, which in feeds the desire to learn more, to become wiser, etc.
If you think yourself to be wise, then you are no longer open to the idea of learning new things because you think you already know everything. I call it the "teenager" syndrome. We spend so much time as young people thinking we've figured life out and know everything, and as a result we end up shutting out the advise and wisdom of those who are older than us, who've already experienced the thing we are trying to experience, and as a result we end up repeating their mistakes.
Where, if we realize that we DON'T know everything, then we recognize that there is something we can learn from every person and every situation (no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to us), and it's those small, finer points (that we would ignore if we already thought we knew them) that are most important to remember.
So, yes, it IS that simple. It's a mindset, basically. If you think yourself to be wise, then you are no longer as receptive to learning new things. If you realize that you are ignorant, you are more receptive to learning new things.
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Originally Posted by Eric Roosevelt So no matter how good I become, I can never be better than someone else? |
Exactly. That's because your self-worth isn't tied to how good you are or the things that you accomplish. Your self-worth is tied to your value as a human being, which is independent from what you've acheived.
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Originally Posted by Eric Roosevelt There's only a few ways in which this can make sense. One is that everyone is always so far ahead of me that I'll never catch up. |
That's why I said "no better or NO WORSE" than anybody else. You focused in on the "no better" part and completely ignored and/or glossed over the "no worse" part, which is why it didn't make sense to you.
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Originally Posted by Eric Roosevelt Another possibility is that there is no measure of "greatness" and no concept of "better and worse" to be used in the first place, which sort of brings up the question of why you phrased it that way.
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There is a concept of greatness, but it's not tied to self-worth. It's tied to acheivment, which is a completely and totally different area altogether. Humility, however, is a measure of self-worth, not acheivment.