The Love of “Love of Wisdom”

The title of this post may sound like a tautology at first glance but the key is remembering the cliché definition of the word ‘philosophy’ that you perhaps discussed in your undergraduate intro courses. As a teacher of Philosophy courses, I can attest to researching or gathering knowledge on the field of philosophy, which by definition means ‘love of wisdom’ or love for the ‘search of wisdom’ In short, I find myself having a love of the ‘love of wisdom’ thus the title of this post. Having a passion to research your field or business is a key takeaway I discovered from case studies on success in entrepreneurship.

Philosophy as a subject matter is the secondary focus for this post; the first being the search for wisdom/knowledge in entrepreneurship. After listening to the NPR podcast “How I Built This,” specifically the episode on Mark Cuban, several takeaways stood out. One of them was how passionate Mark Cuban was about researching and learning the details of his field and business. Cuban read every manual he could get his hands on, and researched every technical aspect of his field. This behavior can be repurposed to fit other aspects of one’s personal development.

Having a passion for your field is important for success. First, it makes it easier for you to research your field because you are already naturally interested in it. Having knowledge of the technical aspects of your business or field is also key to success. Mark Cuban was able to profit from consulting or giving advice to people based on knowledge he acquired merely by studying his field. At one point, he even began investing in companies based on what he knew about their software and technology. He was able to ‘see’ the opportunities and success of those products. Having insight into certain technologies and companies allowed Cuban to go from a net worth of about $3-6 million to about $30 million; just by investing in his personal knowledge of the field.

Most of us in education have heard the George Bernard Shaw quote, “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches”, which out of context, may level a sort of jab at educators. Personally, I can attest to learning and acquiring more knowledge because of teaching. In fact, I am of the belief that I learned more of the field of Philosophy by teaching Philosophy than by sitting in a Philosophy course taking notes. An educator is ‘doing’ and is also ‘learning’ and ‘teaching’ all at the same time. The spirit of philosophy is anchored in the passion for gaining wisdom. Knowing your field, both through the universal ideas and also the particulars, may give you the advantage that you seek.