I was 21 years old (that would have been 28 years ago) and just before leaving Germany I went to a dentist (Dentists were still covered by general health insurance then). The dentist informed me that I should have my 4 wisdom teeth removed, otherwise they would give me never-ending agony for decades. One of the wisdom teeth was slightly crooked, pointing out towards my check.
Can wisdom enter a person's head if the wisdom teeth are no longer there?
At that time I decided to keep my teeth. The wisdom tooth that was pointing outward 28 years ago was able to move into the vacant spot of a molar pulled 10 years ago, giving me a decade of a better chew. Today I have an appointment to have it pulled, because every 6 month it is giving me an episode of being inflamed for about a week.
What is wisdom? Does old age necessarily equal high wisdom levels? Does the term Elder used in many cultures describe the old or the wise? Is there any truth to the motto "so rich in years, so poor in wisdom"? Does wisdom not come automatically with age?
Is wisdom stored in one's wisdom teeth? Or do they only carry that name because they're associated with the old? And why would they be associated so? Will I loose wisdom in today's procedure or learn something new by exposing myself to a new dentist and to a new feeling (the feeling of having only two wisdom teeth left), thus increasing my wisdom level? Why are there so many old people who don't seem wise at all? Am I simply not wise enough to detect or appreciate their wisdom? How can some people be wise at the age of 30 (pay attention to some Pink Floyd or Bob Dylan lyrics or talk to someone who has been living on the street for a year)?
Why do I have the feeling that my wisdom level had been hovering at a rather abysmal level until not too too long ago? Let's just say my wisdom wasn't too great when I still had all 4 wisdom teeth ;-) What changed that? What prevented it before? Why would one 'choose' any of the two states of being?
What does it take to accumulate wisdom? Is simply living long enough sufficient? Or is it necessary to expose oneself to a wide variety of situations (i.e.: can wisdom find us if we do the same boring thing every day for 50 years?). Is exposure to life enough for wisdom to enter our heads or does it need some kind of processing, some kind of after-the-fact evaluating step? Does this 'stepping outside one's comfort zone' thing have anything to do with it all? Could there really be any wisdom to be found outside our comfort zone? And I don't just mean physical comfort zone. The mental comfort zone seems more relevant here. Do the two coincide?
I don't really know, but I'm sure that any person who only sees questions in this post and no answers better kick themselves in the butt to do some serious life-living.
After all, procrastinating on living doesn't pay off. You'll miss the deadline!
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